One Small Step For Pet-Kind: An Interview With ‘Man’s Best’ Creators Pornsak Pichetshote And Jesse Lonergan

From the very beginning of the space program animals have been sent into space. In writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist, Jesse Lonergan‘s upcoming series, Man’s Best, though, it’s the animals who taken it upon themselves to come to their humans’ rescue. With letters by Jeff Powell, find out more about the series in this interview with Pichetshote and Lonergan:

Rachel Bellwoar: Seeing the series described as “Homeward Bound on an alien planet” in the solicitation text really set off some nostalgia bells for me. Was that a film you watched during your childhood as well (I think I still have the VHS tape)?

Pornsak Pichetshote: I definitely watched it as a kid, but to be honest, it was watching The Incredible Journey, the movie from the 1960s that Homeward Bound was a remake of, as an adult that had a bigger influence on Man’s Best. In that movie, they had all these stunts involving real animals as they went through their journey through forests and rivers that was on the one hand amazing to watch, but on the other hand, harrowing, because they clearly put those animals in jeopardy. But at the same time, I could understand how kids who had no idea of what the reality of filming was like could have been mesmerized by those scenes. Those memories would stay with me as I thought about how fun it could be to see pets in grand sci-fi space adventures without having to worry about their safety.

It was the emotional story of Homeward Bound, though, that was in many ways the blueprint for Man’s Best. I describe the series as Homeward Bound in space, following these three emotional support animals living on a spaceship – a ragdoll cat with cat mech, a bionic golden retriever, and a French bulldog with a rocket strapped to its back – as they try to rescue their humans after their space ship crashes. It asks where the creatures we go to for hope and inspiration look when they need it. But it’s also about three very different best friends who are used to living in safety and what happens to their friendship – and friendship in general – during crisis. So it kind of takes Homeward Bound’s themes of friendship and family and updates it for the contentious times we’re in now.

Jesse Lonergan: I think I’m a little old for Homeward Bound to hit me in that way. I think I was a teenager when it came out and only interested in sophisticated films like Robin Hood: Men in Tights. But in terms of movies with animal leads that hit me hard as a kid, there was The Black Stallion and The Bear, both of which are fantastic and have had a pretty big influence on me.

Bellwoar: How much debate went into what breed of cat and dog to make Porthos, Athos, and Lovey?

Pichetshote: Lovey was actually an entirely other breed of dog in the original pitch. I don’t even remember what it was, just that it was another small dog. Jesse convinced me a bulldog was a better and cuter way to go, and he as usual was 100% right. Otherwise, I knew the general categories of animals I wanted: one cat, one big dog, and one small dog. And then it was about the personality types I needed for the dynamics of the story. I knew I wanted their leader to be a cat and for him to be a neurotic leader who thinks the weight of the world is on his shoulders. A ragdoll from there made the most sense because all the ragdolls I’ve seen are such people pleasers, as opposed to most cats who are generally pretty independent-minded. Plus, I have to admit, my friend’s ragdoll who I modelled Athos from is very much this personality. And nothing says eager-to-please enthusiasm more to me than a golden retriever.:

Bellwoar: Similarly, how did you decide which tech enhancements to give which animal?

Pichetshote: They were all made to off-set what Dr. Winters, their owner, sees as their limitations. Athos is a soft ragdoll, so he got some armor to toughen him up. Lovey can be slow and lazy, so a jetpack helps him keep up with the others. Porthos is all energy and enthusiasm with a tendency to look before she leaps, so she gets a force field to keep her safe.

Bellwoar: To Doc having the pets undergo simulations is playtime, but when you realize how much pressure Athos is putting on himself it doesn’t seem like fun and games at all. Do you think that’s the danger of humans assuming they know what their pets are thinking?

Pichetshote: Oh, 100%. So much of the inspiration for the pets’ mech suits are from Instagram and TikTok videos of people dressing their small dogs in UPS outfits or horror movie serial killer costumes and having them run around. And whenever I see that, I think what do those animals think of that? Do they actually like people looking at them and laughing? We put our pets in all kinds of costumes and scenarios for our own amusement, but what do our pets think of them?

Bellwoar: Far from the cylindrical rocket ships we’re used to, did you always want the spaceship in Man’s Best to stand apart?

Pichetshote: The design for the ship was all Jesse’s brilliance. I love how unique he made them.

Lonergan: I love the beauty of those cylindrical art deco spaceships. They’re fantastic and present this wonderful dream-like view of the future. But our story’s future isn’t so wonderful, so I felt like a bit more of a dirty heavy-vehicle look was more appropriate. I took inspiration from semi trucks with big trailers and tanker ships. It was Eric Harburn, our editor, who had the idea to put the orange and black striping around the ship, which immediately evokes construction sites and construction vehicles, and I think really locks in the industrial feel of this space ship.

Bellwoar: There’s quite a discrepancy between the Klangers the pets face in the simulations and the real Klangers on Epsilon-32. Was it fun coming up with two designs for the same “monster”?

Pichetshote: The Klangers design was all Jesse. I might have given him some vague direction like, the first one’s cute and funky, the second one’s alien and scary, or something dumb like that, but otherwise, I just got to enjoy him doing his amazing design work.

Lonergan: I love to draw robots. I’ve got piles and piles of drawings of robots. I’ve got robots all around my studio. The profile picture I use everywhere prominently features a robot. If there’s a movie with a sad robot in it, I will love it (even Bicentennial Man). So yes, designing the robots was a lot of fun. With the first version of the Klangers, we were looking for that more optimistic and bright future feel. They’re fun robots, and so I was thinking along the lines of Astro Boy and Gigantor, with very rounded shapes, very human looking, and kind of cute. The later Klangers are darker and more sinister, so they’re all exposed workings and have a bit of a junkyard look about them. They’re still somewhat humanoid with arms and legs, but they’re much more amorphous and it’s a little harder to understand how they work, and my hope is that makes them a little bit more intimidating.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Pornsak and Jesse!

Man’s Best #1 goes on sale March 20th from BOOM! Studios.