Interview: ‘Silver Vessels’ Creators Steve Orlando And Katia Vecchio Talk Hand Gestures And The Florida Keys

Summer vacation can be a time for teenagers to find themselves. It can also be a time for them to find buried treasure. That’s what Josh is counting on in writer Steve Orlando and artist Katia Vecchio‘s upcoming graphic novel, Silver Vessels. With letters by Dave Lanphear, find out more about what Josh and his friends have to contend with in the following interview with Orlando and Vecchio:

Rachel Bellwoar: We know why Josh wants to spend his summer in Key West (so he can go treasure hunting with his friends) but what made you decide to set Silver Vessels there?

Steve Orlando: That’s easy! Mad Cave makes its home in Florida, and when they reached out with the idea of developing Silver Vessels, their love and enthusiasm for the keys shone through. Their passion was palpable! And in an instant, my own drive to research and uncover the region’s hidden history became aligned with that of our heroes.

Katia Vecchio: And I can say the same! Having the chance to discover those wonderful places and represent them through my art was a lot of fun.

Bellwoar: One of the reasons Josh’s parents agree to let him go to Key West is because he can stay with his grandfathers. How important was it to you to make sure his grandfathers were fully-developed characters and not just the mandatory adult supervision?

Orlando: Very important! It’s through our supporting cast that our world gets fleshed out, and it’s through a fully fleshed out world that what could be simple or rote becomes rich and fascinating. It’s easy to write off parental figures as rulegivers and party poopers. But here, we had a chance to make them more. Yes, there are rules and they give them, but here, we know why. And here, we see their own conflicts as they struggle between being protective and being welcoming.

Vecchio: Nothing to add. I totally loved Steve’s touch with Josh’s grandfathers!

Bellwoar: Eventually Josh and his friends’ efforts attract the attention of the Apex, a wealthy team of treasure hunters. What was it like coming up with the futuristic tech they have that makes their offer to help so hard to refuse?

Orlando: It was a blast! As someone that grew up watching James Bond, Jr. and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (not to mention the original Jonny Quest), I was excited to work with Katia and develop future tech for our own teen explorers. It felt like paying forward the excitement of my childhood! And Katia’s designs and visualizations brought the tech home in a way even more energetic and cool than I could’ve imagined.

Vecchio: It was so much fun working on that! Kids don’t realize what they’re getting into, but super technology like that would intrigue anyone. As a kid, I would have been most curious to know more, despite my parents constantly telling me, ‘Don’t trust strangers.’

Bellwoar: If the Apex weren’t suspicious enough, the shark helmets they wear only make them look more duplicitous. When did you know you wanted all of the shark helmets to be different instead of one mass produced design?

Orlando: To me, it seemed to fit their characters. This was a choice we knew from the start, because these are people who think they’re superior, that their wealth makes them better. And with folks like that, the devotion to rugged individualism is often very strong — even if it’s a facade, even if it’s a lie they can’t see … even if they’re all standing out in the exact same way. These are people who, even among fellow kleptocrats, need to show that they’re each the most special and coolest, that they’re the superior among superiors. So they all were always going to have their own variation on the theme as a way of proving that.

Vecchio: I agree, they definitely needed something to give them a special touch. For them, appearing suspicious is nowhere near as big a problem as appearing not cool and superior enough.

Bellwoar: Besides the fun aspects of treasure hunting, Silver Vessels also deals with the moral dilemmas around who gets to keep what’s found. Why do you think it’s important that treasure hunting stories start addressing those conflicts?

Orlando: I think stories, tropes, and genres must by definition evolve over time. They need to! That’s the point of stories — to entertain and to make us think. So, as our world changes, as our thinking changes, our stories must evolve alongside that. More than ever today, we see calls for cultural treasures to return to their homelands from the halls of museums, places where in most cases they ended up due to imperialism. So we couldn’t just do a simple treasure hunting story, we needed to interrogate that idea and see what a modern take could look like. And of course, our heroes go through the same journey with their own eyes!

Vecchio: I think it’s very important to leave a message for the reader in order to create a deeper connection with the story, and I think Steve did a great job! For many communities, ancient treasures are much more than just historical objects. They are often seen as an integral part of their cultural identity and a link to their ancient traditions. I thought about that a lot while working on the art!

Bellwoar: Did you always want to keep the wardrobe changes in this book to a minimum?

Orlando: Hey, it’s summer vacation! You can only pack so many outfits. Joking aside — with a brand new book and a relatively large cast, consistency in design and wardrobe can be an asset in making sure our audience locks in to knowing who’s who, what they want, and what they’re doing. And for the debuting book, clarity like that is key. 

Vecchio: Couldn’t agree more. Visual synthesis and instant recognition are key factors here.

Bellwoar: When you’re a teenager, so much significance can be placed onto a hand gesture. Was there extra pressure to pay attention to body language when drawing this graphic novel?

Orlando: There’s absolutely pressure. But luckily, Katia was more than prepared to handle the nuance, care, and precision this story called for when it comes to how our leads express their emotions beyond with their voices. And if I’m being honest, I think this is uniformly important — teens may use gestures more than others, but everyone communicates with far more than their words. And those little things, those gestures, those tics, those idiosyncrasies, are how real, textured character is told.

Vecchio: Hand gestures and body language in general are always very important to me. It’s something I really appreciate seeing in comics. I think it adds a lot more personality to the characters, and it draws the reader in more to what they’re saying and feeling. So, yes, I paid a lot of attention to it!

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Steve and Katia!

Silver Vessels goes on sale March 13th from Maverick.