Image’s Roche Limit Faces Its Clandestiny

Michael Moreci likes to push science fiction into the red zone. With Roche Limit: Clandestiny #1 (MAR150507) coming May 6, we again talked with the writer about jumping into the blackness, and what lies ahead next in his creator-owned series.

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PREVIEWSworld: So what’s the next hurdle to jump for Roche Limit? How do you plan to take things to the next level?

Michael Moreci: I think the biggest thing that scares me is people missing the characters from the first volume so much that they have trouble investing, similarly, in the characters that populate Clandestiny (MAR150507). It’s tough to wipe the slate clean and push aside everything that readers grew to love, it’s tough for me as well. But these new characters, this new story, has something really valuable to add to the Roche Limit universe. Clandestiny is going to be a great ride.

As for the next level, I’m always pushing myself. Always, always, always. There’s no one harder on me than me, without a doubt. I think, with this new volume, I want to level up by creating an all new experience for Roche Limit readers, new and old alike, that is just as good, if not better, than the first volume. Since that series is probably the best thing I’ve done, we’re talking no small feat here!

PREVIEWSworld: What footnotes/journal entries have you made along the way that played into crafting the next storyline?

Michael Moreci: I’m a copious note-taker. It’s where most of my writing happens. When it came to crafting Clandestiny, I had to really burrow deep into the first, original volume of Roche Limit and get the best idea possible of what it was all about—and then toss it all out of my mind. Because the last thing I want to do is just make Roche Limit again.

Clandestiny is much more than “you like Roche Limit? Here’s more Roche Limit!” It has to build on what was accomplished in the first volume but also stand as its own thing. And I think it does—the story feels like a Roche Limit book without hitting the same story notes as before. This new world, these characters, they are all very much their own, and the places they’ll go in the book will work to enhance what I’m trying to say about existence and reality.

PREVIEWSworld: Has the story changed for you from where you started to where you are now?

Michael Moreci: It has, in some ways. By the time the book launched, I had a pretty clear idea of where this was going, and I still do. But the great thing about writing are the little discoveries you make along the way. Some characters have lasted longer than anticipated, for example, and others took on a whole new meaning. As thorough as I am in the planning stage, I’m always ready to be surprised and look at things in a new light.

PREVIEWSworld: What’s been the biggest challenge for you writing Roche Limit?

Michael Moreci: Mainly it’s been tough to confront my own philosophies about life, death, and humanity in such an active way. Roche Limit is a heavy book, there’s no getting around that, and sometimes it gets hard to really qualify what you think about these important things. It’s taken me down some dark paths, but I’m a firm believer, as Nietzsche, of staring into the abyss and letting it stare back into you. I think that’s when you start to realize how random and chaotic our universe is, but it’s also where you can draw real hope.

PREVIEWSworld:  If you had to sum up the passion that goes into this project, what song would you play to best describe where your head is for the series?

Michael Moreci: Whenever I’m stuck, I play one song that, to me, best sums the Roche Limit universe: Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor.”