"I'm a very big fan of Kurosawa. I love how his movies feel like a strange mix between Westerns and Shakespeare, but at the same time they're very Japanese. I've also been a huge fan of Science Fiction particularly stories set on a virgin Mars.

"Around the same time I discovered Kurosawa, I read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. Apparently the two became inextricably linked in my head. I've always wanted to write a samurai tale set on the red planet, but I wanted it to feel real or at least plausible, and so (after quite a bit of research) Children of Mars was born.

"Once completing the script and convincing the talented Korshi Dosoo to commit to this mad project, I knew Zebra was perfect to host it."

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"I spent a year living in Japan, so I tried to bring my dubious skills as a cultural and linguistic expert to this project… (In my head I call the comic by its Japanese name, Kasei no Gaki, or Kasei for short). I wanted something that would be recognisably Japanese to us Westerners, but hopefully not too much of a stereotype. Hopefully, people who've been to Japan will 'get' the little cultural details, be able to hear the high-pitched, ultra helpful voice of the Welcome-bot, and understand that it's only a matter of time before Sony actually builds the Sushibot!

"At the time we started, I was really into reading European comics, the French BDs, and I tried to bring that sort of sophisticated look to Children of Mars, somewhere between the decompressed simplicity of Manga and the frenetic action of traditional American comics. There was obviously a big retro sci-fi influence in there too, but I mediated it a bit through a Middle-Eastern sensibility. Since Islamic art avoids representation, and relies on a combination of simple shapes and complex patterns, it fitted well with my picture of the beautiful but impersonal future world of Mars.

"By now I knew the style, one which is hopefully nice to look at, but at the same time provides a clear 'visual language'. I read the script a dozen times, until it was dog-eared and covered with notes and doodles. I played around with the scenes and characters in my head until I felt I knew them. Then I turned on my Kill Bill soundtrack, worked out a rough layout for the first ten pages, and with the help of my Wacom Tablet and Photoshop (Children of Mars is drawn entirely on computer!), Kasei Part 1 was slowly born.

"I've really come to love the story, the way it says a lot in so little space. My main effort has been to communicate what I see as the main themes: the contrast between civilisation and the wilderness, youth and maturity, technology and nature, and, of course, good and bad. My thanks to Zebra for providing a cool home for Akako and co."

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