Agents of the Realm is the answer to the long awaited need for modern, magical girls that fit the diverse world we live in. Its story is complex and compelling, and its characters are incredibly relatable from the moment you meet them. And this month, Agents of the Realm is on Kickstarter! Artist and creator Mildred Louis talked to us about this wonderful comic, giving us a look into the inspiration behind it all.
EW: So tell us a little about Agents of the Realm! What’s the basic premise?
ML: Agents of the Realm is a magical girl inspired story that focuses on five young women — Norah, Adele, Kendall, Paige and Jordan as they find out that they’re basically super heroes and have to save the world. Right now at this point, all five of them are just starting to get to know one another while simultaneously trying to figure out what on earth is actually happening.
EW: This is a great take on the magical girl genre! I especially love the introduction to the newest character. Do you have any other influences?
ML: You know, I’ve actually spent a lot of time thinking about this and realized how much other stories from my childhood influenced it. Gargoyles, the old Disney cartoon is, in a lot of ways, left a huge impact on me and my perception of storytelling. I’ve re-watched it several times as an adult and I’m still in awe at the kind of respect the show had for its viewers and its willingness to take risks in touching sensitive subjects and handling the dark and heavy very well. I also really love shows like Parks and Rec and Brooklyn Nine-Nine with how they handle close relationships and friendships and really strive to highlight that kind of skill in my own writing.
EW: I friggin loved Gargoyles too! I can see the influence now that you bring it up! I’m a big fan of bringing darkness and a little bit of seriousness into something lighthearted, and you manage that balance so well!
ML: Gargoyles is AMAZING!! Like I am so shocked at how well it’s managed to keep up over the years. And thank you!! It’s weird to say but I’m kind of looking forward to when the story gets a lot darker and heavier ahahahaha.
EW: What inspired you to create Agents of the Realm?
ML: Honestly, I got very cranky over Sailor Moon Crystal appearing! Like really! The concept itself started off partially as a joke but became very serious a lot faster than I was expecting it to. Eventually I just decided to take the dive into it and haven’t really looked back!
EW: I totally get what you mean about Sailor Moon Crystal, it sort of promised to bring back this wave of nostalgia but I think all it really did was show how dated the show was in some ways.
ML: It was honestly a bummer! Between the delays in it actually airing and then seeing the drastic drop in quality, it was just such a disappointment. I also still haven’t gotten over how apparently the animation and art is a lot better in the dvd/blu-rays but for some reason they didn’t let that translate to the episodes that actually aired?? meehh, such a disappointment.
EW: So how long have you been working on Agents of the Realm?
ML: I first started Agents of the Realm back in 2014 so… hoboy, 2 years in March!
EW: What is the goal for the Kickstarter?
ML: The goal over all is to just get the webcomic into full colored book form. The base line is shooting for soft cover but it’d also be great to have a chance to see the books printed in hardcover as well. The book is pretty hefty! Standing at about 8″ x 10″ and is going to be made of almost 300 full colored page. It’s going to be composed of the first five chapters of the book, including all of the mini chapters that have gone live (and one more that will be at the end of Chapter 5), as well as an extra bonus chapter to lead into the start of volume 2!
Sounds like a comic you’d like to check out? The Kickstarter is running HERE and you can also read all of the webcomic so far HERE!