One of the hottest books of this past summer was the indie darling, Our Love is Real by Sam Humphries and Steven Sanders. Self published and instantly sold out, Our Love Is Real became the talk of the conventions. Smartly, Image Comics picked up the indie book and today, the wide release of Our Love is Real hits comic stores.
Much like it’s initial self published release, the Image Comics release of Our Love Is Real has the book set as a hot commodity. We’ve already heard reports of comic stores getting limited quantities of Our Love is Real from Diamond, so if you DIDN’T pre-order it from your local comic store, you might want to get to your store early today to make sure you can snag a copy! If you didn’t get a copy, just scroll down and you can read Our Love is Real on Graphicly!
We wanted to celebrate the wide release of Our Love is Real from Image Comics with something special. After speaking with writer Sam Humphries back in July, we wanted to give more than just a re-hash of the story of Our Love is Real. Lucky for us, Sam was game and provided this exclusive, behind the scenes look at the creation of Our Love Is Real. Below we’ve got concept art from artist Steven Sanders, along with Humphries commentary about each piece. This is some great insight into the creation of one of the most creative books of 2011.
Sam Humphries: In comics, if writer is only as good as their artist, then in the case of my Our Love Is Real collaborator Steven Sanders, I was dope. Sanders’ talents with action, world building, emotional characterization, and storytelling transformed the comic from a cheap tale of dog sex into…well, a cheap tale of dog sex that looked really bad ass.
These advance sketches, done in preparation for the book in December 2010 and January 2011, show how much though and consideration Sanders put into the world of Our Love Is Real. It’s liberating to work with an artist who treats everything from gun design to vegisexual fashion with serious determination. I felt like I could throw any ridiculous idea his way and he’d crush it. Unfortunately we only had 24 pages to test my theory, but these sketches reveal another dimension of Sanders’ process.
"Brin" Character Sketch
For reasons obvious if you’ve read the book, nailing Brin’s physical presence was key. I think we went back and forth a couple of times on the face. Lucky for me, Sanders excels at facial expression, like a twisted Kevin Maguire. When I had a chance to obtain original pages from Our Love Is Real, I took pages of conversation, not action, for this very reason.
"Dropship"
I think this was the first piece of art I saw from Sanders and I was immediately psyched. Just look at this beast! It doesn’t even have windows. How oppressive is that?? Look for this mechanized menace over your local Occupy protest in a couple weeks. #wearethe99percent
"Guns"
This is a perfect example of why I love working with Sanders, because the dude is smart as hell and thinks about things I would never consider. For example, there was some explanation about how these guns work, something about electromagnets and passive…ass kickery? Whatever it was, it was some crazy talk way above my head because apparently Sanders is secretly an engineer. The best part, of course, is how sweet they look.
"Jok" In Armor
The term “BITCHMAKER” is all Steven. I love Jok’s armor here because it looks injection molded, lightweight, and cheap. When you hear about families of the military shipping bulletproof vests and flack jackets to their loved ones serving overseas because the Pentagon doesn’t outfit them properly, you understand that war is a business, all profit and loss. Same thing when the war comes home.
"Jok" In Uniform
Again, Sanders’ physicality excels here. Jok looks like a pissed off brick wall. We never ended up using this uniform, which is a shame. Another example of the depths of world building Sanders did before diving into this book. We could do a follow up story, JOK AT THE FANCY DRESS SOCIETY BALL. Who would be his date??
"Vegisexual" Character Sketch
Sanders nailed the Vegisexual look so hard, I laughed my ass off. It’s so hippie and crunchy and freaky. Do I hear Stevie Nicks playing in the background??
Concept Vehicles
Loved these concepts because they come from opposite sides of the spectrum. The truck reminded me of the junker truck culture in Asia, and the streamlined speedster reminded me of the pod vehicles in Sleeper. It’s fun to imagine a world where both can exist, and write for an artist who loves playing around with extremes. If only I had space for a 100-page car chase…not in self-publishing, I’m afraid.
"Yis" - Black Costume
Yis, the one who fucks it all up. We went with a more hand-to-hand combat version of Yis, but I love this vision of her loaded down with ordinance like Cable. Love those platform shoes, although Jok did not appreciate them as much.
"Yis" - Grey Costume
Yis, ready for a night on the town. We could have just as easily used this version too, it’s pretty dope.
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…so it’s basically a book about fighting for your right to sleeping with “man’s best friend”? Honestly WTF?! People are bitching about Catwoman being promiscuous, but praising a about a book talking about f*cking your dog? C’MON MAN!
@tschafer they are 2 so completely different books, executed in very different ways, it seems odd to me that you would even draw a comparison.
I love this concept art. Diverse looks, but all comfortable next to one another.
@har13quin – My point is on where Cheers and Jeers get placed.
Catwoman’s sexuality has been getting Jeers lately.
But a book at your rights for doing your dog, well doggy-style (couldn’t help myself) is getting Cheers.
I hate to be overly negative but I’ll be honest here, as an animal-lover, the premise for this book kind of disgusts me and im really surprised by all the attention it’s getting. Inter-species sex is not really something i’d like to read about and im shocked this book has been so popular. I’m hardly a prude, and i can understand that it’s probably an allegory for gay marriage (which i support) but really?! a man and a dog? aren’t we better than this people?
I read the book when it came out. That’s not what it’s “about” at all. Having said that, there’s no subject that should be off limits in art, It’s all in the execution. Was this as amazing as it gets built up to be? I don’t know. It was interesting. Didn’t completely blow my mind, but I enjoyed it. It’s a satire. You really need to read it to understand.
that’s the inherent problem with something high concept like this…you either think that sounds fun, or it sounds offensive.
Unfortunately if its the latter, you’ll never have an interest in giving it a try.
@nudebuddha well I guess i’ll never really know what this book is “about” because i have no interest in reading it based on what it’s being promoted to be about. It’s being promoted to be about a future society where the main character has sex with his dog. No thanks, I’ll pass.
The fact that you mention i need to read the book to understand what its really about is kind of the inherent problem with Humphries basing his book around such an offensive concept to begin with. I give the iFanboys enough credit to assume that this book has some sort of deeper meaning (hence my gay marriage comment above) but y’know im sure some tentacle rape manga porn has deeper meaning as well, doesn’t mean im going to read it. A man having sex with a dog is really offensive, it’s almost pedophile-level offensive in my book, and having that as the initial pitch for any book means i don’t want to read it, no matter what message it tries to say about society. My argument is that if Mr Humphries has something more meaningful to say about our society, perhaps basing it around beastility isn’t the best starting point.
One other thing, i don’t agree with you that NO subject should be off limits in art. Granted, i don’t this book falls under that, but there are DEFINITELY things that some could be considered art when in fact they are just offensive and illegal images. I’d get into this a bit more but i don’t feel this is best place to discuss it… :S
It’s funny because i think im coming off as someone who is easily offended, which is actually the exact opposite, its just this is one of my few touchy subjucts. Sexual acts that are illegal are that way for a reason and, yes i am most definitely offended by a story about beastility
@mikegraham–i’m with you on that. its interesting that the book isn’t “about” the animal love but thats the part of the sales pitch you always hear about. Shock value as a sales tool? I dunno….really irks me out of even giving it a chance is what it does.
I dunno, i’m sure its a good story based on the buzz, but there are plenty of others out there for every taste level apparently.
@nudebuddha – Sam Humphries – “storytelling transformed the comic from a cheap tale of dog sex into…well, a cheap tale of dog sex that looked really bad ass.”
He’s clearly joking.
Please! It might be a light hearted statement, and to say that ‘he’s clearly joking’ is up to your interpretation of that comment.
But the fact still remains.
While this title, maybe a critically acclaimed book, it’s still a book that has sleeping with your dog as the norm.
It’s twisted, my friend, plain and simple.
Never said it wasn’t twisted. It is. But it’s also not just it’s premise. There’s actually a point to the whole thing. I’m not saying you have to like it or even read it, but if you didn’t read it, I’m not sure how you can dismiss or condemn it.
I read it out of curiosity, and the books has the premise about Zoophilia, but it’s NOT about that. It remind me of “Logan’s Run”
If you haven’t read it then how can you comment on it?
Im commenting on the premise of the book which has been promoted not only a couple of times on this site, but on many other sites as well
I never read a damn thing about what this book was supposed to be about. I saw the cover, and thought, “oh, that’s weird.” Then I read it. It’s fantastic sci-fi! It could be a side story from Transmetropolitan, easy.
Read it, or you’re blowing it. That is all.
I’m only reading it if Marvel picks it up and adds a .1 issue.
I really don’t get this book. I’ve seen previews, interviews (a good one here guys), and other stuff…and it just isn’t clicking with me. Plus I agree with @mikegraham in that the plot is kinda horrible.
Not for me.
I picked this up today because everyone was raving about it at the comic shop. I must say I have no idea why people are so excited. This book is complete garbage being passed off as thought provoking art (and I’m not speaking of the perversion or vulgarity of it). Total waste of $4.00.
I scanned through it at the LCS, found it unremarkable and put it back.
I picked this up yesterday because of all the praise I have heard. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, I think it might just be a bit too high brow for me? If it’s symbolism I’d love for someone to tell me, because I am not picking up on it. Just feels like a really weird comic.
You guys are nuts. It’s about STANDARDS IN SOCIETY. It’s about what’s acceptable and what isn’t in our society and how hypocritical it can be. Atleast that is something I took away from this.
The cover is the most vulgar thing involving a dog in the comic.
It’s the best love story i’ve read this year. Whoever says they are commenting on the “premise” doesn’t know what the premise to this is, clearly.