Exclusive Interview – Beast of Borikén writer Julio Anta and artist Daniel Irizarri

Rachel Bellwoar chats with Julio Anta and Daniel Irizarri about their upcoming comic book series Beast of Borikén …

Loli isn’t the only one upset that developers are trying to build a resort in the town where she lives. It turns out the construction is disturbing el Chupacabra as well, but will be the cryptid be friend or foe to the protestors? Set in Puerto Rico, writer Julio Anta and artist Daniel Irizarri’s new series Beast of Borikén starts in July. With colors by Patricio Delpeche and letters by Lucas Gattoni, here’s what Anta and Irizarri could share about their take on the monster:

Beast of Borikén is being released as part of Tiny Onion’s True Weird line. Is that how you got the idea for this comic or did the idea come first and True Weird proved to be the perfect fit?

Julio Anta: The idea for this comic came first! Beast of Borikén is a tropical horror comic inspired by all the Universal Monsters and Creature Features I grew up watching.

For many years, I knew wanted to explore my own take on a classic monster and wondered which publisher might be interested on this pointed and political take on the Chupacabra. When Tiny Onion and their True Weird line sprung up, I knew it would make a great home for this story. At that point it was as simple as reaching out to James [Tynion] and Eric [Harburn] (Tiny Onion’s Editorial Director) and we were off to the races!

The solicitation text has been very upfront about what kind of “beast” the “beast of Borikén” is but, writing as someone with limited knowledge of cryptids, I kind of like the ambiguity of the title. How familiar were you with El Chupacabra going into this series?

JO: Like a lot of Latino kids in both the U.S. and Latin America, I grew up with a healthy dose of Spanish language tabloid news shows like Primer Impacto which covered the Chupacabra obsessively over the 90s. They’d go into the field and bring back eye-witness accounts from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Caribbean. As a kid who loved all things supernatural, it imprinted on me a fascination with the Chupacabra.

So, I knew a decent amount about the legend, but researching this book helped me uncover a lot of the more historical information we explore throughout the series – a connection to the Taino, Puerto Rico’s indigenous population, and it’s struggle against Spanish and American invaders.

Daniel Irizarri: The chupacabra has been a part of the modern Puerto Rican subconscious for decades. Every couple of years, there’d be wave of sensationalist reporting about it any time farm animals were found dead. I would hear about it from spooky stories from other kids when I was 10-13 years old and my family lived up in the mountains of Yauco. Every night was full of thousands of different animal calls and at that age I truly believed one of them could be the Chupacabra.

I also didn’t realize “Borikén” was the original name for Puerto Rico. What’s it been like getting to set this series there and are there any inside details you’re especially proud of that those who know will know?

JO: Setting this series in Puerto Rico has been crucial to telling this story. At its core, Beast of Borikén is a story about colonialism and resistance through the eyes of a creature that, like many Puerto Ricans, is sick and tired of being displaced. Our main character, Loli, is an activist fighting to protect the land from a real estate developer. Her character is directly inspired by the thousands of Puerto Ricans doing the same. My hope for this book is that Puerto Ricans will see themselves on the page, and non-Puerto Ricans will come to understand their struggle for liberation.

DI: Yes! Borinquen or Boriken if you want to go to it’s most Taino origin as we do in our story. Puerto Ricans call ourselves Boricuas when we want to emphasize our love for the island, and ‘Bori’ even becomes a sort of prefix when we want to label things as ‘of the island’. I love filling the backgrounds of the book with little authentic details like the variety of people you see in the street. I think Puerto Ricans will appreciate seeing a more realistic and less of a “tropical vacation paradise” view of the island.

One thing you bring up in the press release, Julio, is that, “no one’s ever seen a Chupacabra this horrifyingly human.” What made you latch onto that idea of a humane monster and how did that affect your character design, Daniel?

JO: Earlier, I mentioned my love of the Universal Monster movies. My favorite is Creature from the Black Lagoon. What I love about the Gil Man is the humanity that’s always present in both his creature design and character. That, and the evolution he goes on to become the Amphibian Man in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water were huge touchstones when I was creating this character.

When Daniel came on board as the series artist, we had conversations about the importance of humanity for our Chupacabra and how it should come first. I wanted him to be capable of the totality of human emotions on his face. Happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and yes, monstrosity. Because if readers don’t buy into his humanity, our story doesn’t work.

DI: I’ve drawn the chupacabra before, so I was initially hesitant to the idea of another chupacabra story until I read Julio’s interpretation of the character and saw how different this concept could be. It made me go into a sort of Guillermo del Toro mindset of a monster that could be vulnerable, that could be intimidating but also attractive.

The first issue moves back and forth between the present day and when Hurricane Maria hit in 2017. It’s one thing to see images of the destruction on the news but how has it been like trying to capture what it was like for the people on the ground living through the storm?

JO: Research plays a huge role in shaping all the stories I tell, as does lived experience. Daniel, living on the island, of course has his experience with Maria. And I, growing up in Miami and living through countless hurricanes, also brought my own experiences.

DI: I lived it. I didn’t lose a roof but I did have to spend that day mopping up and getting rid of the gallons of water that were coming in under the doors of the house. I spent months without power drawing my last issue of IDW’s Judge Dredd by candle light. So the feeling is seered into my mind. After a few back and forths with our fantastic colorist Patricio Delpeche, I’m very proud of how we captured that moment of being caught right in the heart of a hurricane.

Is there anything you tell us about the main character, Loli Flores, and why did you decide to introduce her taking part in a debate on the radio (and is it strange getting to draw a conversation that most people will be only hearing)?

JO: Loli is a character many of us probably recognize. She’s incredibly passionate and compelled to do what’s right no matter the cost. She came of age during the natural disaster of Hurricane Maria and the human negligence and corruption that followed. And now, some 8 years later, she only knows how to be angry.

The radio debate was my opportunity to show all of that – how deeply knowledgeable she was on the issue and of course, passionate.

DI: A lot of our radio shows have their own YouTube or Facebook channels, and I was able to use a lot of that as reference for the studio, the tables and even the antagonistic posturing which is tame in the book compared to some of the more chaotic moments in local radio.

Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Julio and Daniel!

Beast of Borikén #1 goes on sale July 1st from Dark Horse Comics. The FOC date for the first issue is May 25th.

Rachel Bellwoar