We have a special post today. This is a presentation of an interview that we did with writer Cecil Castellucci a few weeks ago as well as a review of her newest graphic novel, Shifting Earth.

Cecil is a fantastic writer and never fails to capture my attention. She has written comics, graphic novels, prose, opera, and was a rock singer at one point. Some my her favorite works of hers include: The Plain Janes, Shade: The Changing Girl, Girl on Film, Batgirl, and Female Furies just to name a few. We are very excited to get this recorded conversation to our audience. We delved into some of the interesting process that she uses in her writing and talked about her motivation for the stories she tells.

Cecil created her latest book, Shifting Earth, with artist Flavia Biondi for Dark Horse Comics’ Berger Books imprint. It is in stores now and it is wonderful.

The Squadcast linked below is a fun conversation that covers a lot of her work as well as her super interesting hobbies. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Shifting Earth
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Art by Flavia Biondi
Colors by Fabiana Mascolo
Letters by Steve Wands
Cover Art by Biondi & Mascolo

Original Solicitation:
In a not-so-distant future, a freak particle storm has landed botanist Dr. Maeve Millay on an idyllic yet strange parallel Earth, with no way back home.

Here, two moons rule society, and nature outshines science. But just like her own climate ravaged planet, this verdant Earth has a sinister side. Children are rare. Humans must serve a purpose or pay an unthinkable price. Astronomer Zuzi battles this underlying darkness every day—just like Maeve did at home. Both women are fighters, and both face a choice: forge new paths, or save the worlds they’ve always known? Maeve will have to decide, and fast—because she’s fighting for more than just herself.

PCS Review:
I was blown away by this book. There are a lot of moving parts to the plot to this book and it is difficult to land on the proper cadence and pace of the story. Castellucci does not falter in that endeavor. The plot reveals seem to always come at the appropriate moment throughout the book. The interesting environmental and political topics that are explored in this book serve as a backdrop to a tale of two brilliant women and their struggles to both be heard and save their respective worlds.

I have been a fan of Flavia Biondi for quite a while. Her work in this book is stellar. The subtlety that she employs to differentiate the settings is wonderful. There is a true synergy between visual and written narrative. There are clear moments of tension and the art reflects them perfectly to give the reader a complete experience. This book is a visual virtual excursion to two intriguing worlds and it is beautifully executed.

The characters created in this book are compelling. Truth be told, I consumed this graphic novel in one sitting. It was riveting. I was immediately invested in the fate of the dual protagonists and their life goals. The thing that struck me the most about this story is how well they stuck the landing. The pace picks up about halfway through and leads the reader to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend this book.

I hope that you will listen to the podcast above to hear Cecil Castellucci’s motivations and process for writing this book. We also talked about her other work including: Shade: the Changing Girl, Female Furies, Girl on Film, and more.

She is a fun follow on social media as well. You can find her on Twitter at @misscecil and also on Instagram at @cecilseaskull.