2021 saw the beginnings of a new tokusatsu inspired super hero comic, Inferno Girl Red. Funded through Kickstarter, the first volume was an immediate success, and was quickly reaching its goals. The book, featuring script from Matt Groom, and art from Erica D'Urso and Igor Monti, combined the best parts of teen high school drama and character driven story with the action, adventure, and excitement of Japanese tokusatsu entertainment. And this year the first book made its way to comic shops, giving an even larger audience a chance to enjoy the series.
And now it's time for the second book in the Inferno Girl Red series. As previously, Matt Groom has offered fans the opportunity to back the book via Kickstarter, complete with the chance to own an exclusive version of the book, along with a host of other extras such as art prints, and the opportunity to be in the book itself.
I got the chance to chat with Erica about working on the series, and co-creating these amazing new characters.
How did you get involved with Inferno Girl Red?
It was thanks to Francesco Manna, who was already working with Mat and Kyle on Ultraman at the time. He suggested my name and they reached out, I’m really happy we found the right chemistry to work along!
What was the initial process like of creating IGR with Matt? The first volume graphic novel shows some of the design work to creating the characters, was this a long process or were there certain areas that you found came pretty quickly?
I have to be sincere, there were some designs where I had already in mind a specific idea, drawn it, and even the team was like “this is it!”, Cassia and Thomas for example are one of these cases. Instead there were some points where I’ve been stuck for some time but nothing that a good brainstorm couldn’t fix!
Were you a fan of tokusatsu characters before this, and if not did you do any research into the looks and styles of the genre as part of the creation process?
Honestly, I didn’t know much and I’m a little embarrassed about it because many of my generation grew up with a lot of tokusatsu titles. I was aware of some of the biggest characters like Super Sentai or Kaiju monsters, but I didn’t have a precedent visual baggage to draw from. At the time of the creation process I needed to create a “mood board”, that’s usually in my head with my visual and reading experiences, with tons of images researched and sometimes also with the help of some more knowledgeable person than me. After finished Inferno Girl Red I started to look more into tokusatsu and I’m slowly catching up with Godzilla and Kamen Rider!
I absolutely love the monsters that feature in the book, and the style you’ve chosen for them is fantastic. What was it like coming up with them, and with them seeming to vary quite a bit each time they appear are there any particular things you’re looking forward to doing with the designs?
When I read Mat’s description about the Entropy monsters, I was thinking to that smoky stuff they’re made of, but I wanted to give them a magic effect, so the bones and the glow effects. I’ve also been inspired from some Salvador Dalì artworks and I tried to give them the long, quite-insectoid legs. I’ve never drawn much “horror” stuff before and maybe they’re still not scary like I wanted, but my goal was to make them the representation of the void and how the concept can be both ephemeral and concrete at the same time. The reason they’re always different, is because I thought of them as many shapes, every shape is close to an animal and they have different targets. I hope to draw more of them and be able to make them more scary!
The world of IGR has some fantastic looks to it, and Apex is always interesting to see. Some of the images released for the new Kickstarter have revealed even more of the city, with buildings built into trees. What’s it like coming up with the environment, is there an overarching theme that you’re sticking to, or are you being a bit more experimental with it?
Apex is an ideal city that works with green energy. Me and Mat worked a lot on it, he suggested some ideas providing references and I re-imagined it. I didn’t want to go too much into the future/sci-fi, but giving the reader the feeling that Apex could be a reachable possibility. For example I took photos in Milan, my city, where some buildings looks the same that are in Apex! I imagined how my city could appear with more of these flats and structures, without going too far into future, and Apex is the result! Also the Helix campus is based on a big park in Milan, Parco Sempione. It doesn’t seem because it’s filled with school facilities, but I’ve used the park map as a base for it!
The new book is introducing some new characters into the mix, including some new villains for Casia and her friends to have to deal with. Is there any particular character that’s been the most enjoyable for you to create and to make the art for that you get excited for whenever they turn up on the page?
Oh yes, I have to say that I can’t wait to draw the two twins. They’re two new characters introduced in book two, you can have a sneak on their study on our Kickstarter page. I love to design clothes and I was looking into tech wear from a while, but none of the characters I designed so far would have fit well with that aesthetic. When Mat made me read the first draft of the new book I was finally “Twins? You got me”. I was already thinking ‘bout them in tech wear and with both a yin-yang theme or with highlighter colors. They’re also some intriguing figures, I hope you’ll like them as much I do!
Aside from the fantastical creatures and the super heroes, who’s been your favourite human character to help to create?
I think Thomas is my favorite. It’s hard to choose because somehow they’re all “my kids”, you know? But Thomas is a guy I enjoy drawing a lot. Moreover, I like the chemistry between him and Càssia and I hope to show more of them in this book!
The first volume of IGR did very well on Kickstarter, and since then it has been released via Image Comics as well. What has that process been like for you, and is it different to working with some of the other publishers you’ve been with in the past?
The biggest difference between Image and other publishers, is that we have some control. I’m able to present my own characters and ask my timings that, due to my poor health, is a plus. I had to decline some nice gigs from other publishers because I couldn’t afford to work on a regular issues in their timings. It’s something that I miss, but I’m also learning new experiences in this market that teaches me other ways to do comics.
In my interview with Matt he spoke really highly of your work, and he said how the opening pages of the book, with Inferno Girl flying through the air reflected on buildings as she goes past them made him gasp out loud. What’s been something in the series that you’ve looked back at and thought ‘yeah, that was amazing’?
(Thanks Mat, you’re too kind!) He knows I have some difficulties to see my work as “a good work”. I think of myself as an ambitious person, so I tend to confront my work to who I admire the most, ending to see my art always improvable, always “not enough”. Adding how often I get sick, I feel even more inadequate looking how much work other artists are able to do.
But I have to admit, that looking at the previous Kickstarter, the messages received when I was feeling bad, and the result of the book after all we went thought, that time I thought “Yeah, it’s amazing. I did something I’m proud of”.
Is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to people seeing in the upcoming book?
I hope they’ll see the growth of our characters and as well, the growth of us as persons. And I can’t wait for them to see the news we’re preparing for them!
And finally, if you had to sum up the second book in one sentence to get people to pick it up, what would that be?
Inferno Ignite!
If you're interested in backing Inferno Girl Red Book Two make sure to check out the Kickstarter!
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