Mark Russell is a big name in the comics game. Whether you discovered his work via DC with his Wonder Twins run, Marvel with the series Fantastic Four: Life Story, Dynamite with his Red Sonja run, or maybe even with the AWA with Not All Robots, there are plenty of things to love about this guy’s writing. I love how he can take an established, somewhat flat character, imbue them with nuances, and use them as a vehicle to criticise systems in that world in a way that doesn’t feel too preachy. Now, Mark has partnered once again with AWA and Futuristic Studios to pen the debut issue of the new sci-fi anthology, THE PROTOPIAS COLLECTION, named POLIS.
POLIS is the double-sized, 48-page debut issue that spins the tale of Natalie, a Florida teen at a crossroads in her life. She faces one of the most important decisions in her life – to remain in the home she’s known for her life, ravaged by the effects of climate change as it were, or to strike out in search of the floating city of Miragua. This safe haven is populated by refugees and is the sole beacon of hope for the people beset by disaster and civil conflict.
Here at Couch Soup, we sat down with Mark to chat all about his new comic, POLIS.
Rohan: Publishers Futuristic Studios and AWA have announced an upcoming sci-fi anthology series – THE PROTOPIAS COLLECTION, of which you have penned the debut issue – POLIS. Now, I had never heard of protopia before, and for those who were like me, it’s described as a more realistic way of thinking about the future, somewhere between utopia and dystopia. However, there’s a lot of disagreement amongst proponents of this thinking. What’s your view on protopia thinking, and is that what piqued your interest in writing this story?
Mark: To me, “protopia” is a vision of our world that recognizes the enormous civilization-threatening challenges that lay ahead, but also imagines a way that we might survive them, which is precisely what appealed to me about this project. At a time when hope is increasingly hard to come by, the best way to have hope is to make your own. And this is what I tried to do when writing POLIS.
POLIS imagines a future when rising sea levels and the increasing intensity of hurricanes make coastal cities (which is to say, most cities) largely uninhabitable. But, also a future where floating modular cities offer us a new and better way if only we’re willing to give up on our past mistakes.
Rohan: The overall tone of this comic is a positive, uplifting message about the triumph of humanity in the face of adversity and having people coming together regardless of creed or race and building a better tomorrow. What did you enjoy most about being able to embrace a lighter side of science fiction, and do you think there is an important place for protopian thinking in wider society as opposed to the more binary utopia vs dystopia thinking we seem to be embracing?
Mark: All science fiction is ultimately about the time and place in which it is written, regardless of whether it takes place in a distant galaxy or the deep future. It works as a sort of thought experiment on the current state of the human condition. And our current condition, as I see it, is that we are at the beginning of a massive global ecological crisis that will inevitably turn into a massive refugee crisis, some of which we can already see happening. The human race is basically in a lifeboat situation.
The dystopia is if we start killing each other off to horde the few remaining resources for ourselves. If we do that, then most likely we will die one by one until all that is left is a boat full of skeletons, forever lost at sea. The utopia would be if a ship just came by and rescued us, which would be nice, but we can’t really count on it. But if we are willing to work together, utilizing everybody’s skills and knowledge, we might just steer the boat to shore. The joy, for me, is in writing a story with a happy ending that also feels plausible. And realizing that this could be more than just a work of fiction.
Rohan: Reading the copy kindly provided to us by AWA, there seems to be a lot of parallels to be drawn between this future setting and projections scientists have put forth for the future of our own planet. In the comic, we see that, for the most part, society has adapted to climate change instead of outright combating it. When you were designing how this world would function, was the idea of the floating city at the top of your mind, or did that develop later on in the writing process? How do you think we can take some pointers from this comic in our own climate change problem?
Mark: POLIS is based largely on what the future will look like based on climate tipping points that we’ve already crossed. So even if we do try to actively stem the tide of global warming, we’re still going to have to adapt to the conditions we’ve already signed on for. This will not be pretty. But the silver lining is that we can like others in history have done, build something better out of the bones of the old world. Ironically, the idea for the floating city came from an article I read about a group of Silicon Valley billionaires who drafted a plan to build an artificial island off the coast of San Francisco to escape whatever oppression they imagined they were enduring as the planet’s most entitled people.
It occurred to me that this would be a great idea if used by people who actually needed it. And the idea of a floating city works as a solution on so many levels, not the least of which is sea level. It would simply rise with the tide and could be mobile to stay out of the way of storms, the way a land-based city can’t. And, just as crucially, it would not be under the jurisdiction of a nation-state, so it could play by an entirely new set of rules.
Rohan: The floating city of Miragua is heralded as a beacon of hope and is held as the only way humanity can survive and thrive in this new world. This is juxtaposed by the citizens of Ponce De Leon, Florida, who have to deal with roving gangs and climate disasters, something that Miragua can disengage itself from by simply floating away or submerging under the sea. What would you say to people who see that as a comment on the inherent inequality of a society where a majority can avoid issues affecting the minority due to the group they are associated with?
Mark: Miragua, the floating city, is not intended as a metaphor, but as a very real concept. The irony in this case is that, with a solution like this, it could be the rich and powerful and those who are very invested in the current way of doing things, who can be left holding the bag for once.
Rohan: What was the reason behind setting the story around Ponce De Leon, Florida, and centering the narrative on the point of view of Natalie instead of solely on the people running the floating city?
Mark: A story, even a protopian story, is ultimately based on conflict. Journeys. Meeting obstacles and overcoming them. So by telling POLIS from the perspective of someone trying to reach Miragua, I not only get to paint this vision of a world that works, but also have it work as a story.
Rohan: Considering this is just a one-shot and the comic has such an open ending, is there any personal interest in continuing this story or exploring more stories in this universe?
Mark: Yeah, I would be open to returning to the world of POLIS. If I were to write POLIS as a series, it would be about the collapse of nation-states as the dominant way in which humans have organized themselves politically and how networks of cities, floating and non-floating, come together to help each other survive, rather than drawing borders and raising armies to keep each other at bay, which is the essential function for which nation-states and empires were formed.
Rohan: This is an admittedly personal question, but I have to ask it… Australia. Did we make it, or are all the kangaroos and koalas dead?
Mark: I like to imagine that, in this world, Australia has built a series of sub-aquatic stations to preserve and revive the Great Barrier Reef, which is connected to a chain of sea walls that protect the east coast from rising sea levels while the kangaroos and wombats look on with pride from their elevated viewing stations.
Rohan: You have written stories for Marvel, DC, Dynamite, and IDW as well as AWA in 2023 with Rumpus Room. With AWA being established with the goal of developing a creator-first company, how did you find the development process with AWA compared to other publishers you have worked for?
Mark: One thing I admire about AWA is that they like big swings. As a writer, you feel encouraged to push the envelope, and the proptopia project in and of itself feels like a dare. I don’t see the point in telling safe stories about well-trod subjects, and it’s nice to feel that the publisher doesn’t either.
Rohan: Anything else you would like our readers to know about POLIS and THE PROTOPIAS COLLECTION?
Mark: Just that I hope people read it and, in doing so, take the time to think up their own ways forward.
The Protopias collection contains six one-shot short stories from fan favourite creatives full of original imaginative stories set in the better tomorrow many people hope for today. It looks to explore the many possible futures that can come to pass as our heroes fight to make the right choices in imperfect realities. While the stories are thematically linked, each one-shot is unique, spanning different sub-genres that take place in independent settings.
For more information about POLIS or to buy the first issue, check out this link to the AWA website. Also, keep an eye out for the remaining issues coming soon as part of the Protopias Collection:
A big thanks to Mark Russell for taking the time to talk to us and tell us about this awesome comic.
Are you interested in reading POLIS? What’s your favourite Mark Russell story? How do you think Australia would survive in a world of floating cities? Let us know in the comments section down below.
