Over the years, Star Wars has introduced us to some of the most amazing and fantastic settings ever seen. With “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” debuting on December 15, we’ll find ourselves on another new planet by the name of Crait.

Like everything in the Star Wars Universe, though, this locale has a deep history, ready for exploration in comic book form! That’s where STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – STORMS OF CRAIT comes in by writers Ben Blacker and Ben Acker along with artist Mike Mayhew. The series will rewind to the time when Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo checked to see if Crait would make a suitable home for the Rebellion.

We talked with Mayhew about getting a first look from Lucasfilm, working with these iconic characters, and how he changed up his style for this project.

Marvel.com: You’ve worked on the Star Wars books before, but this is a direct tie-in with one of the movies. Has that changed the process for you at all?

Mike Mayhew: It did change my process somewhat.

My Star Wars art has gone through an evolution, starting with my adaptation of George Lucas’ original screenplay “The Star Wars.” With that book, I wanted the cinematic, photographic art to make readers feel like they were watching an alternate universe version of the first film, and was less interested in making “comic art.”

That photo-real sensibility carried over into my work on Old Ben’s Journal from STAR WARS #15 and #20, where it made sense that the stories would feel like “prequel” films on paper.

This year I was able to move the “realism” bar higher on my series of STAR WARS covers for issues #33–37. It was my first time using some new 3D rendering techniques, like PBR rendering, or “physically based rendering,” which allowed me to get very realistic images without spending time setting up “lights” around [a] 3D model.

When the opportunity came for STORMS OF CRAIT, I wanted to see if I could make a Star Wars story with that technique I used on the recent covers.

Marvel.com: I’m sure you can’t get into specifics, but were you able to get a look at elements from the film to help you get a feel for what kind of planet Crait is?

Mike Mayhew: Long story short, it was a guessing game. I remember getting some images of Crait from Lucasfilm at the beginning thinking I was getting some special insight and it turns out 90% of what I got was already online. So, I basically saw what was available for you all to see and had to figure it out from there.

For the purposes of our story, it made a lot of sense to show how Crait was similar to Tatooine. In the beginning of our story that connection plays in the mind of Luke Skywalker. This story takes place after Luke has blown up the Death Star. He’s on the road to being a Jedi and all of the sudden finds himself on a barren planet doing soil samples with farming gear for the Rebellion. It’s not quite the high adventure he’s always dreamed of, and feels he’s worthy of.

Marvel.com: The classic, original Star Wars heroes feature in this story. What was your approach to capturing old school Han, Luke and Leia?

Mike Mayhew: I had a lot passion to make a “film on paper” that featured the original cast from the movie. There are so many tales about how long and arduous it was for George Lucas to cast the first film, but we can all agree on how incredibly charming they are and that they have undeniable chemistry.

While admiring the work of artists like John Cassaday on Marvel’s current incarnation of the STAR WARS comic, I’d always been conscious about how much extra work it would be to have to create hundreds of images that feature the original cast. Capturing the likenesses [is] a very tricky and unique problem. There isn’t the latitude you might have in portraying Tony Stark or Steve Rogers in a comic. The world knows Han, Luke, and Leia by the actors that originated them. They weren’t originally “comic characters” who could be open to some interpretation. So, the expectation of seeing the actor is there on some subconscious level. And that’s a very, very hard thing to fake or make up, especially consistently over a larger body of work. I think I came close to what I hoped was possible in terms of creating images that felt like “film stills” from a long, lost Star Wars episode. That’s pretty much my approach to all my Star Wars art.

Marvel.com: The story features Luke and Leia looking to see if Crait could be a new home for the Rebellion. What can you say about the obstacles that stand in their way and the process that went into designing them?

Mike Mayhew: The main thing that [that] hinges on whether Crait is a viable home for the Rebellion is a friend of Leia’s father named Trusk Berinato. I really enjoyed exploring who he might be visually and character-wise. I imagined him to be a rogue, like Lando, which is my favorite type of character in Star Wars. I was excited for him to make an impression, since he was the first “original” character I’d visually created for Star Wars.

The white, salt crust and red dust and earth of Crait have a lot of visual potential. For instance, the red dust can have all sorts of characteristics when the Rebellion Ski Speeders leave trails of it, or it might be different when something crashes into the ground. We get to dig deep into the depths of the planet surface as well in trenches, and even in mines that are of interest to the Rebellion.

And, spoiler alert, there is a storm. I wanted [the] storm to be visually distinctive and lend itself to the action. During the storm there is a chase, so I use the storm to heighten the sense of speed, or during battles I use the storm to add to the danger and drama. I think it’s going to make for a dynamic and unique visual, especially following the blue sky pre-storm scenes that look more like the Crait we’ve seen in the “Last Jedi” trailer.

Marvel.com: How has it been working with Ben and Ben on this project?

Mike Mayhew: Ben and Ben were great to work with! From the first reading of the script I knew we had the right mix of great character moments and hardcore Star Wars action that would give readers the story they deserve. There are all the hallmarks of great Star Wars storytelling, from space battles, to strange planets, otherworldly characters, and even the familiar climax that cuts back and forth from one hair-raising action set piece to another. I can’t wait to see “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” and think Ben and Ben really crafted a story that will stand as a companion piece to the film.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – STORMS OF CRAIT #1, by Ben Acker, Ben Blacker and Mike Mayhew strikes down on December 27!

The newest X-Men series explodes on the scene in fiery red, signaling danger, destruction, and a desperate drive to save everyone on the planet, human and mutant alike. X-MEN: RED, brought to you by writer Tom Taylor and artist Mahmud Asrar, also provides a new home, mission, and team for one of the most beloved Marvel heroes of all, the newly-resurrected Jean Grey.

Marvel.com: Tom, overall, how exciting is it to be guiding the character of Jean Grey in this book? What does she mean to you as a writer and a fan?

Tom Taylor: She’s one of the original five. She’s right there on the cover to the very first X-Men book. She’s been at the center of some of the biggest stories ever seen in comics, with some of the greatest writers and artists behind her. So, to be asked to steer her new path is huge. I think Jean has been sorely missed. It’s often said Jean Grey is the heart of the X-Men. As a fan, I’m glad that heart is returning.

Marvel.com: Well-said. We hear Jean feels the anger and anxiety of the world in X-MEN: RED—what form does that take and how does the initial sense of it impact her?

Tom Taylor: Jean’s been gone a long time. When I set out to write this, I thought about what that would actually mean, showing up in this time and place. The world has changed so much. The advances in technology, the impacts of social media, the political, racial, and social division. Jean is stepping into it for the first time, as an incredibly powerful telepath, and someone who’s uniquely empathetic. What does this world feel like to someone like her? It feels afraid and angry. And Jean, being Jean, with the added burden of what she’s been part of as the Phoenix, she wants to do what all true heroes want to do. She wants to help. She wants to make the world a better place.

Marvel.com: Nightcrawler, Gambit, Namor, “Wolverine” Laura Kinney—the new team members are incredible. What are Jean’s parameters in gathering them, or is this a case where they seek her out?

Tom Taylor: I don’t want to spoil it, but part of this team comes together in the middle of something big as will be seen in issue #1. But they don’t all come together at once. There will be more members later down the line, as Jean needs them, or as they need her.

Marvel.com: Namor in particular seems to be a fascinating choice. How’s it feel to be handling literally Marvel’s oldest character?

Tom Taylor: Namor is a character who I’ve always been pretty fascinated with. I actually found drawings I did of him when I was very little, from 1980s repeats of the old 1960s Sub-Mariner cartoon. Why he shows up will be clear in X-MEN: RED #1 and his presence will be clearer as our story progresses. Some people will be aware of “The Deep” animated series, which I’m the co-creator of. Spending so much time writing in this environment has meant I’ve wanted to bring some of the deep sea to the X-Men too. You’ll see in the first pages that the ocean has a part to play.

Marvel.com: Who or what will be the team’s greatest hurdle? Anything you can say about the villain we hear is going to turn the heat up on Jean?

Tom Taylor: Nope. We’re definitely not revealing the villain now, but I will say that Jean is attempting to upset the Status Quo. And the Status Quo…well, it gets upset. Very upset. Prepare for some shocks.  

Marvel.com: Okay, let’s try this—who is this Trinary character?

Tom Taylor: I’m not sure how much I can say, but I will say she’s a young mutant from India, and a powerful technopath. It feels like the right time to introduce a new technopath to the X-Men, and a technopath working in tandem with an Omega-level telepath creates some very big possibilities for X-MEN: RED.

Marvel.com: How will Wakandan mutant Gentle figure into the story? What kind of impact will he have on the over-arching mission?

Tom Taylor: Everything happens fairly organically in this series, and his introduction won’t be immediate. But he will have a very big part to play. Nezhno Abidemi has always felt a little underused for such an interesting character. He’s a placid soul who could potentially be as strong as the Hulk. But the stronger he gets, the more pain he finds himself in, which is partially the reason he’s hiding out in Wakanda and rejecting violence.

Marvel.com: And how does it feel to be working with Mahmud Asrar on the series?

Tom Taylor: Mahmud is just fantastic. I was already a fan of his art, and I was very happy when editor Mark Paniccia first suggested him. The pages coming in are as good as I could hope for. The action is there, but it’s the emotion that’s really getting me. He lifts the book every time he lifts his pen.

Marvel.com: Great! So, let’s turn it over to Mahmud to get his take on X-MEN: RED. Mahmud, what was the single most exciting thing about the book for you when you were first approached about it?

Mahmud Asrar: Jean Grey! I have always loved the character since the Dark Phoenix Saga times, which is also one of my favorite storylines. Getting to draw a returning Jean leading a new team of X-Men that I’m designing—couldn’t pass that up!

Marvel.com: Glad you mentioned the new costume designs—why a new look here?

Mahmud Asrar:  There is a reason why the team is wearing new costumes, but I guess that should reveal itself in the story. The designs revolved around the initial look I came up with for Jean, which was inspired by her 1990s look mostly. To reflect the name of the team, I put red on her costume.

I like it when a team of super-characters have a unified look so when giving a new look to the others, I spun off from Jean’s look while retaining some of the elements of their own previous costumes or backgrounds. Laura is based quite a bit on Wolverine’s brown and orange look, while our new character Trinary, who’s from India, has a look that is inspired by the traditional sari. All the while I kept the “x” on the mid-section and gave a subtle “x” to all of the costumes.

Marvel.com: We bet the team’s new headquarters was fun to work on…

Mahmud Asrar: The new HQ’s design is mostly based on its environment and founders. It’s deep underwater and built with Atlantean technology and sensibilities. Plus, there is the brand new underwater Cerebro which Tom has dubbed the “Searebro” among ourselves. It’s going to be a unique base for our heroes that is probably one of the biggest ones ever, too, which has its reasons as well.

Marvel.com: You brought up Tom, so let’s go there: what’s he do as a writer that you as an artist love?

Mahmud Asrar: Tom is someone I truly admire for his skills as a writer and ability to weave stories. He is also a wonderfully nice person whose personality traits and world view I really appreciate. I feel that the writer that he is and the person that he is, is just a remarkable combination to tell an X-Men story. I’m very happy to be paired with him as I’ve been a lifelong X-Men fan. Finally we get to tell stories about some of our favorite characters in comics together.

The ball gets rolling this month in PHOENIX RESURRECTION: THE RETURN OF JEAN GREY, then look out for X-MEN: RED coming from Tom Taylor and Mahmud Asrar in 2018!

The newest X-Men series explodes on the scene in fiery red, signaling danger, destruction, and a desperate drive to save everyone on the planet, human and mutant alike. X-MEN: RED, brought to you by writer Tom Taylor and artist Mahmud Asrar, also provides a new home, mission, and team for one of the most beloved Marvel heroes of all, the newly-resurrected Jean Grey.

Marvel.com: Tom, overall, how exciting is it to be guiding the character of Jean Grey in this book? What does she mean to you as a writer and a fan?

Tom Taylor: She’s one of the original five. She’s right there on the cover to the very first X-Men book. She’s been at the center of some of the biggest stories ever seen in comics, with some of the greatest writers and artists behind her. So, to be asked to steer her new path is huge. I think Jean has been sorely missed. It’s often said Jean Grey is the heart of the X-Men. As a fan, I’m glad that heart is returning.

Marvel.com: Well-said. We hear Jean feels the anger and anxiety of the world in X-MEN: RED—what form does that take and how does the initial sense of it impact her?

Tom Taylor: Jean’s been gone a long time. When I set out to write this, I thought about what that would actually mean, showing up in this time and place. The world has changed so much. The advances in technology, the impacts of social media, the political, racial, and social division. Jean is stepping into it for the first time, as an incredibly powerful telepath, and someone who’s uniquely empathetic. What does this world feel like to someone like her? It feels afraid and angry. And Jean, being Jean, with the added burden of what she’s been part of as the Phoenix, she wants to do what all true heroes want to do. She wants to help. She wants to make the world a better place.

Marvel.com: Nightcrawler, Gambit, Namor, “Wolverine” Laura Kinney—the new team members are incredible. What are Jean’s parameters in gathering them, or is this a case where they seek her out?

Tom Taylor: I don’t want to spoil it, but part of this team comes together in the middle of something big as will be seen in issue #1. But they don’t all come together at once. There will be more members later down the line, as Jean needs them, or as they need her.

Marvel.com: Namor in particular seems to be a fascinating choice. How’s it feel to be handling literally Marvel’s oldest character?

Tom Taylor: Namor is a character who I’ve always been pretty fascinated with. I actually found drawings I did of him when I was very little, from 1980s repeats of the old 1960s Sub-Mariner cartoon. Why he shows up will be clear in X-MEN: RED #1 and his presence will be clearer as our story progresses. Some people will be aware of “The Deep” animated series, which I’m the co-creator of. Spending so much time writing in this environment has meant I’ve wanted to bring some of the deep sea to the X-Men too. You’ll see in the first pages that the ocean has a part to play.

Marvel.com: Who or what will be the team’s greatest hurdle? Anything you can say about the villain we hear is going to turn the heat up on Jean?

Tom Taylor: Nope. We’re definitely not revealing the villain now, but I will say that Jean is attempting to upset the Status Quo. And the Status Quo…well, it gets upset. Very upset. Prepare for some shocks.  

Marvel.com: Okay, let’s try this—who is this Trinary character?

Tom Taylor: I’m not sure how much I can say, but I will say she’s a young mutant from India, and a powerful technopath. It feels like the right time to introduce a new technopath to the X-Men, and a technopath working in tandem with an Omega-level telepath creates some very big possibilities for X-MEN: RED.

Marvel.com: How will Wakandan mutant Gentle figure into the story? What kind of impact will he have on the over-arching mission?

Tom Taylor: Everything happens fairly organically in this series, and his introduction won’t be immediate. But he will have a very big part to play. Nezhno Abidemi has always felt a little underused for such an interesting character. He’s a placid soul who could potentially be as strong as the Hulk. But the stronger he gets, the more pain he finds himself in, which is partially the reason he’s hiding out in Wakanda and rejecting violence.

Marvel.com: And how does it feel to be working with Mahmud Asrar on the series?

Tom Taylor: Mahmud is just fantastic. I was already a fan of his art, and I was very happy when editor Mark Paniccia first suggested him. The pages coming in are as good as I could hope for. The action is there, but it’s the emotion that’s really getting me. He lifts the book every time he lifts his pen.

Marvel.com: Great! So, let’s turn it over to Mahmud to get his take on X-MEN: RED. Mahmud, what was the single most exciting thing about the book for you when you were first approached about it?

Mahmud Asrar: Jean Grey! I have always loved the character since the Dark Phoenix Saga times, which is also one of my favorite storylines. Getting to draw a returning Jean leading a new team of X-Men that I’m designing—couldn’t pass that up!

Marvel.com: Glad you mentioned the new costume designs—why a new look here?

Mahmud Asrar:  There is a reason why the team is wearing new costumes, but I guess that should reveal itself in the story. The designs revolved around the initial look I came up with for Jean, which was inspired by her 1990s look mostly. To reflect the name of the team, I put red on her costume.

I like it when a team of super-characters have a unified look so when giving a new look to the others, I spun off from Jean’s look while retaining some of the elements of their own previous costumes or backgrounds. Laura is based quite a bit on Wolverine’s brown and orange look, while our new character Trinary, who’s from India, has a look that is inspired by the traditional sari. All the while I kept the “x” on the mid-section and gave a subtle “x” to all of the costumes.

Marvel.com: We bet the team’s new headquarters was fun to work on…

Mahmud Asrar: The new HQ’s design is mostly based on its environment and founders. It’s deep underwater and built with Atlantean technology and sensibilities. Plus, there is the brand new underwater Cerebro which Tom has dubbed the “Searebro” among ourselves. It’s going to be a unique base for our heroes that is probably one of the biggest ones ever, too, which has its reasons as well.

Marvel.com: You brought up Tom, so let’s go there: what’s he do as a writer that you as an artist love?

Mahmud Asrar: Tom is someone I truly admire for his skills as a writer and ability to weave stories. He is also a wonderfully nice person whose personality traits and world view I really appreciate. I feel that the writer that he is and the person that he is, is just a remarkable combination to tell an X-Men story. I’m very happy to be paired with him as I’ve been a lifelong X-Men fan. Finally we get to tell stories about some of our favorite characters in comics together.

The ball gets rolling this month in PHOENIX RESURRECTION: THE RETURN OF JEAN GREY, then look out for X-MEN: RED coming from Tom Taylor and Mahmud Asrar in 2018!

After a brief détente, Moon Knight’s personalities seem to be in conflict once again.

The cracks between Marc Spector’s identities have begun to be reveal themselves…and in MOON KNIGHT #190, they threaten to fracture. On December 27, writer Max Bemis and artist Jacen Burrows send The Sun King to turn those cracks into yawning gulfs.

We reached Max in the middle of the night in a foreign country—really!—and he filled us in on the conflicts to come.

Marvel.com: So it seems that the honeymoon of Moon Knight’s personalities may be drawing to a close in MOON KNIGHT.

Max Bemis: Sure, yeah, that’s definitely an element to it.

In a way, the discourse between his personalities has been almost healthy. People who don’t have dissociative identity disorder would experience it as a clash within their own personality and that can be confusing, but for Marc it feels almost normal and literal. Obviously, then we take it to an exaggerated place.

I’m interested in telling a story about what it is like to be mentally ill in general. I think [writer] Jeff Lemire did a really good job of examining what it’s like to suffer from that disorder and he sort of resolved that part.

Now it’s about Marc trying to function with these disparate parts of him that all have such strong identities. Now, he’s okay with being “crazy,” but it’s really difficult.

Marvel.com: How does it feel to see The Sun King—a character you created—fully realized on the page?

Max Bemis: It’s always wonderful. I do this job because I love it. And because I’m obsessed with comic books. As most comic readers are.

I think any fan of Jacen Burrows or MOON KNIGHT or comic books can imagine what it might be like to see a character that you’ve come up with becoming canon in a MOON KNIGHT comic…in the Marvel Universe…with an amazing artist bringing it to life. It’s a rush.

You see people like Mark Waid who are comic book obsessives, and still are, after doing comic books for all these years. It is such small industry relative to music or movies. It feels easier to hold on to that fresh perspective; “Wow, this is a really amazing thing.” Not everyone in the world understands how cool it is to see Jacen Burrows draw a character you created. It’s a niche thing. But for me, it feels like the biggest thing that could happen at this point in my creative life. So it’s hugely humbling. It actually makes me feel more humble because I am working amongst people who have been doing this for so long and I’m at the beginning of my career relative to most of the people involved in this comic and it’s an honor to work with them on it.

Marvel.com: From what we know of issue #190, it seems The Sun King plays into some of the problems Moon Knight tends to experience between his personalities. Without getting too into spoilers, can you give some insight into how the King triggers those conflicts?

Max Bemis: Basically, The Sun King admires Marc, I think. But he also despises him.

His modus operandi is to try to turn Marc’s flaws and the things that make him a great hero into liabilities. That includes his dissociative identity disorder and that includes his nature of being a tortured soul.

Sun King is pretty much a psychopath. So he’s very overly confident, whereas Marc is neurotic. I think it seems easy to see Moon Knight as stoic but he’s actually pretty tortured. I think that’s how Sun King will use that division. Marc worries if he’s a good person while Sun King feels very assured that what he does will always be the right thing.

Marc’s separate personalities act as a way for him to deal with his trauma and the way the world works—and Sun King wants to exploit that. He sees it as a weakness; I see it as a strength and a beautiful thing.

Marvel.com: A very interesting and prominent feature, especially in the last issue, was how Mat Lopes seemed to use coloring to differentiate Sun King from the all other people.

Max Bemis: Yeah! For me, he’s the odd man out in those situations even though he blends in “in real life.”

Like, if you stood in a soup kitchen and Sun King was there, you probably wouldn’t notice him. He would just be another similar looking street dude. But he’s a bringer of death. He’s a primal dark force.

So, for me, it became about singling him out in these situations where people would blend in. I think that was my reasoning. Only our focus as readers singles him out. For anyone else, he’d just be another person on the street.

Marvel.com: You’ve mentioned that Bushman might end up as Moon Knight’s main villain. How does Sun King, representing Moon Knight’s opposite, change Bushman’s place in the cosmology of Moon Knight’s nemeses, if at all?

Max Bemis: As a MOON KNIGHT reader, I did always see him as the main bad guy and I think he is to a degree.

For me, the creation of Sun King was about trying to create the opposite of Moon Knight. So for me, he’s the person in the world who probably has the most sort of like “I love him but I hate him. He’s defined me but I want to kill him. I feel less than him but I want to be more than him” kind of relationship.

I think Bushman is a really scary powerful person. I think he gets off on petty power plays. He’s a murderer. He’s been a paid mercenary. He’s held positions of power and used them to ruin entire countries just to get his way. I see him as more of a bad dude rather than this completely spooky case that Sun King feels like. I think of Bushman as an angry, terrorizing individual.

Also in our story, he’s been ravaged by Moon Knight repeatedly. And the Marvel Universe outside of Moon Knight. I wanted to explore what it might be like to almost be yesterday’s news when it comes to being the bad guy.

Marvel.com: The cover of MOON KNIGHT #190 promises a physical confrontation between Moon Knight and Sun King. For you, what could that conflict herald? How might it affect the book and the players?

Max Bemis: I think just the idea of someone so metatextually opposed to Marc coming to a place where they actually fight, it carries some weight—a different weight than all the other people Marc has come up against.

He’s fought Khonshu in his mind; in his head he’s fought larger than life concepts. In life, he’s fought werewolves, he’s fought all kinds of things. But to fight something directly tailored to be his polar opposite will be an interesting confrontation.

Also the situation where they finally get into it will be a very heightened situation and it’s certainly more than just them about to fight.

In fact, most of issue #190 presents much more than just their physical confrontation. In terms of what happens leading up to it, it is actually even more explosive.

MOON KNIGHT #190, by Max Bemis and artist Jacen Burrows, catches fire on December 27!

After a brief détente, Moon Knight’s personalities seem to be in conflict once again.

The cracks between Marc Spector’s identities have begun to be reveal themselves…and in MOON KNIGHT #190, they threaten to fracture. On December 27, writer Max Bemis and artist Jacen Burrows send The Sun King to turn those cracks into yawning gulfs.

We reached Max in the middle of the night in a foreign country—really!—and he filled us in on the conflicts to come.

Marvel.com: So it seems that the honeymoon of Moon Knight’s personalities may be drawing to a close in MOON KNIGHT.

Max Bemis: Sure, yeah, that’s definitely an element to it.

In a way, the discourse between his personalities has been almost healthy. People who don’t have dissociative identity disorder would experience it as a clash within their own personality and that can be confusing, but for Marc it feels almost normal and literal. Obviously, then we take it to an exaggerated place.

I’m interested in telling a story about what it is like to be mentally ill in general. I think [writer] Jeff Lemire did a really good job of examining what it’s like to suffer from that disorder and he sort of resolved that part.

Now it’s about Marc trying to function with these disparate parts of him that all have such strong identities. Now, he’s okay with being “crazy,” but it’s really difficult.

Marvel.com: How does it feel to see The Sun King—a character you created—fully realized on the page?

Max Bemis: It’s always wonderful. I do this job because I love it. And because I’m obsessed with comic books. As most comic readers are.

I think any fan of Jacen Burrows or MOON KNIGHT or comic books can imagine what it might be like to see a character that you’ve come up with becoming canon in a MOON KNIGHT comic…in the Marvel Universe…with an amazing artist bringing it to life. It’s a rush.

You see people like Mark Waid who are comic book obsessives, and still are, after doing comic books for all these years. It is such small industry relative to music or movies. It feels easier to hold on to that fresh perspective; “Wow, this is a really amazing thing.” Not everyone in the world understands how cool it is to see Jacen Burrows draw a character you created. It’s a niche thing. But for me, it feels like the biggest thing that could happen at this point in my creative life. So it’s hugely humbling. It actually makes me feel more humble because I am working amongst people who have been doing this for so long and I’m at the beginning of my career relative to most of the people involved in this comic and it’s an honor to work with them on it.

Marvel.com: From what we know of issue #190, it seems The Sun King plays into some of the problems Moon Knight tends to experience between his personalities. Without getting too into spoilers, can you give some insight into how the King triggers those conflicts?

Max Bemis: Basically, The Sun King admires Marc, I think. But he also despises him.

His modus operandi is to try to turn Marc’s flaws and the things that make him a great hero into liabilities. That includes his dissociative identity disorder and that includes his nature of being a tortured soul.

Sun King is pretty much a psychopath. So he’s very overly confident, whereas Marc is neurotic. I think it seems easy to see Moon Knight as stoic but he’s actually pretty tortured. I think that’s how Sun King will use that division. Marc worries if he’s a good person while Sun King feels very assured that what he does will always be the right thing.

Marc’s separate personalities act as a way for him to deal with his trauma and the way the world works—and Sun King wants to exploit that. He sees it as a weakness; I see it as a strength and a beautiful thing.

Marvel.com: A very interesting and prominent feature, especially in the last issue, was how Mat Lopes seemed to use coloring to differentiate Sun King from the all other people.

Max Bemis: Yeah! For me, he’s the odd man out in those situations even though he blends in “in real life.”

Like, if you stood in a soup kitchen and Sun King was there, you probably wouldn’t notice him. He would just be another similar looking street dude. But he’s a bringer of death. He’s a primal dark force.

So, for me, it became about singling him out in these situations where people would blend in. I think that was my reasoning. Only our focus as readers singles him out. For anyone else, he’d just be another person on the street.

Marvel.com: You’ve mentioned that Bushman might end up as Moon Knight’s main villain. How does Sun King, representing Moon Knight’s opposite, change Bushman’s place in the cosmology of Moon Knight’s nemeses, if at all?

Max Bemis: As a MOON KNIGHT reader, I did always see him as the main bad guy and I think he is to a degree.

For me, the creation of Sun King was about trying to create the opposite of Moon Knight. So for me, he’s the person in the world who probably has the most sort of like “I love him but I hate him. He’s defined me but I want to kill him. I feel less than him but I want to be more than him” kind of relationship.

I think Bushman is a really scary powerful person. I think he gets off on petty power plays. He’s a murderer. He’s been a paid mercenary. He’s held positions of power and used them to ruin entire countries just to get his way. I see him as more of a bad dude rather than this completely spooky case that Sun King feels like. I think of Bushman as an angry, terrorizing individual.

Also in our story, he’s been ravaged by Moon Knight repeatedly. And the Marvel Universe outside of Moon Knight. I wanted to explore what it might be like to almost be yesterday’s news when it comes to being the bad guy.

Marvel.com: The cover of MOON KNIGHT #190 promises a physical confrontation between Moon Knight and Sun King. For you, what could that conflict herald? How might it affect the book and the players?

Max Bemis: I think just the idea of someone so metatextually opposed to Marc coming to a place where they actually fight, it carries some weight—a different weight than all the other people Marc has come up against.

He’s fought Khonshu in his mind; in his head he’s fought larger than life concepts. In life, he’s fought werewolves, he’s fought all kinds of things. But to fight something directly tailored to be his polar opposite will be an interesting confrontation.

Also the situation where they finally get into it will be a very heightened situation and it’s certainly more than just them about to fight.

In fact, most of issue #190 presents much more than just their physical confrontation. In terms of what happens leading up to it, it is actually even more explosive.

MOON KNIGHT #190, by Max Bemis and artist Jacen Burrows, catches fire on December 27!

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