DF Interview: Anthony Del Col talks new arc for Assassin’s Creed

By Byron Brewer

A brand new historical period, and a brand new character in the second arc of the Assassin's Creed comic! Join Charlotte de la Cruz as she leaps into her genetic memories of the Inca Empire, searching for the secret hidden in her past that could lead the Assassins into the future.

New arc, same great creative team of writers Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery and artist Neil Edwards. Still, DF wanted to know more, and Anthony Del Col was happy to help us out. To wit:

Dynamic Forces: First question right off the bat, Anthony: The subtitle of this newest Assassin’s Creed arc is “Setting Sun.” This does not foreshadow the end of this most exciting and promising series already, does it?

Anthony Del Col: Always looking for spoilers, aren’t you? The title’s actually a reference to the fact that the sun played a huge role in the belief system of the Inca culture, and our story takes place as the Inca faces its toughest challenge in fending off the Spanish Conquistadors. Will the sun set on the Inca Empire? On our characters? You’ll have to read on to find out!

DF: Tell us about the ways new fan-favorite Assassin Charlotte de la Cruz may have changed since this series first began, who she is as a character.

Anthony Del Col: Well, I guess you could say she’s lost a bit of her innocence. When we first started (five issues ago) she had heard of this mysterious, shadowy organization called the Assassins and thought it was the coolest thing ever (actually get things done to change the world). But now that she’s been involved and actually seen people die, she realizes that it’s not as simple as playing a video game. There’s a lot of complicated factors that go into helping out the world.

DF: I heard that Charlotte travels back in time this go-round to the final days of the Inca Empire. You guys are notorious for historic research. What did that entail this time?

Anthony Del Col: The entire series was inspired by Conor’s honeymoon, actually. He and his amazing wife Crystal traveled to Peru to visit Machu Picchu and while there Conor soaked up a lot of information about Inca culture and history. It’s a really fascinating part of history – they were so far advanced in many ways! From there we figured out what the entry point would be – we became fascinated with the Incan communication system, with couriers (Chasqui) and messages on ropes (Quipu) and thought it would be great to tell a story about a female messanger.

DF: And – AND – what kind of research did artist Neil Edwards pursue? His work literally dripped historic atmosphere last arc!

Anthony Del Col: Neil is doing an incredible job in the series. The Inca Empire is a time period where there’s barely any photographic or illustrated remains left so he dove into reading up on as much as possible. What I think most people don’t realize is that it’s tough when you’ve got such a tight production schedule to not only work on the issue but spend time with the research and somehow Neil’s been able to find that balance.

DF: Can you tell us about the overall storyline for this new arc, “Setting Sun,” please?

Anthony Del Col: Like the first arc, we have two stories going at the same time. In the modern-day, we have Charlotte de la Cruz, an overeducated, underemployed young woman whose been recruited by the Assassins. She’s just gone through her first mission, which didn’t go as they all expected, and they’re now in hiding in Mexico. While the team is trying to find the traitor from last series, Charlotte is convinced she’s meant to find a mysterious organization called Erudito, a hacker group similar to Anonymous.

In order to do so, she must delve into the memories of her ancestor Quila, an Incan courier who inadvertently finds a message that details a planned assassination of the Inca Emperor, and she must figure out a way to stop it from happening.

This series features two really strong (and headstrong) female characters thrust into dangerous situations and it’s great to see how they react.

DF: Who are Quila and Don Gonzalo Pardo (the latter no relation to Don Pardo, former Jeopardy and Saturday Night Live announcer, I take it, lol)?     

Anthony Del Col: Quila is one the most fun characters we’re created thus far. As mentioned above, she’s a Chasqui (courier), the only female one of them. As such she’s faced a lot of discrimination but is determined to prove that she’s the best. She’s focused and stubborn – perhaps a little too much so (it can get her into trouble). At the end of the day, though, what she loves most is running. It’s pure delight for her and gets her away from everything – people, her past, etc.

Don Gonzalo Pardo is the complete opposite. The only time he’ll ever move is if it’s to get another bottle of alcohol. Or so we thought. We modeled him a lot on Shakespeare’s Falstaff, so he at first appears to be a fun drunk but as we follow him in this arc we find out that he’s got a very interesting past that he himself is actually running away from.

DF: Will we get to see the Conquistadors, who were heroes when I was studying high school Spanish but in this crazy new world (pun, lol) are often cast like Columbus as villains?

Anthony Del Col: The Conquistadors play a large role in this series (Pardo is one) but what we’ve really wanted to do is focus on the Inca culture and some of the people within it. What makes this siege in the battle really fascinating is that there isn’t one side that’s completely right – they have both done some bad things in the name of survival.

DF: Anthony, any other projects would you like to discuss?

Anthony Del Col: We have a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline, not only in comics but television, audio and others. Nothing we can officially announce yet but you’ll be hearing about stuff a great deal in the coming months.

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Anthony Del Col for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Assassin’s Creed #6, beginning a new arc, is in stores now!

For more news and up-to-date announcements, join us here at Dynamic Forces, www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/, “LIKE” us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dynamicforcesinc, and follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/dynamicforces

SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. HARRY HOUDINI TRADE PAPERBACK written by Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery

2. 04/15/2024 - TONY FLEECS

3. 04/11/2024 - JOE CASEY

4. 04/09/2024 - RICH DOUEK

5. 04/04/2024 - PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON

Show All