Interview: Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans Talk Returning to Die in Die: Loaded

Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans return to the fantasy world of Die in Die: Loaded, combining comics and RPGs in a unique story that’s been described as Jumanji but with a TTRPG twist. With the return of the series, I spoke with the talented writer and artist about the comic, what readers can expect, and the world of Die as a whole. Check out our conversation below.

DIE returns for an epic new story of a dark fantasy adventure game gone horrifically right or wonderfully wrong. A year after their return from the hellish game world, the players gather for Chuck’s wake. They’ve finished with the game. The game isn’t finished with them. The three-time Hugo Award-nominated series is back in November. Get ready to roll initiative. Who’s going to DIE this time?

How important was it to make this series a continuation of the original, but keep things accessible for new readers? Was it always in the cards to keep this going?

KG: It's always important. It's got a #1 on the cover. You have to respect that. It's a sequel, but it's also a story by itself. None of my stuff spoon feeds, but you write so an attentive reader is going to get all the personal relationships they need to know. I'm fine with wanting people to read the sequel to know more (as it's work we're very proud of), but we want them to enter this world too. That's also true of people who have read a series. It's been a few years since we wrapped DIE. Everyone's had a life, and you may have other things you need your brain cells for other than our comic. We need to introduce them back to the world, too.

It was always the plan, if we had something to say - I compare DIE to Phonogram, in the same way that Phonogram was a device created to be able to tell stories about humans and music for as long as Jamie and I want to, DIE is created to tell stories about humans and games. We had something to say, and DIE was there to receive us.

What were the biggest challenges/exciting aspects of drawing such a wide-ranging world of DIE? Were there any literary elements you were most excited to bring to life?

SH: I think the biggest challenge is to actually restrain myself to stay coherent. I would love to go all in on each panel, but Die has a lot of different zones, and each issue has its own mood.

It’s like composing a song. You have access to all the notes, but you cannot use all of them at the same time if you want to communicate harmony, a mood, a color. Same goes for designs. Something can look good on a color, but you will kill yourself if you have to draw them on each panel. Restraint is key - which is not something I am always good at - allegedly. 

I do not want to spoil, but issue 2 is certainly the one that brought the most moments of pure awe in the challenges that Kieron gave me. It was just a pure moment of art indulgence. 

Can you tease any of the literary references coming to this new chapter? 

KG: I think the bigger tease is that we're not quite as all-in on literary references this time, rather than having other references. DIE's worldbuilding is basically a critical argument about RPGs put onto the factions in a world, and the factions mainly being "led" by a figure who influenced the RPG, either directly or indirectly. These are the Masters. Now, the ones we've had on panel have been literary ones - Lovecraft, Tolkien, Charlotte Brontë, HG Wells. But we have referenced the von Reisswitzs, who are responsible for German Kriegsspiel, a major influence on RPG history.

But the first master we meet is neither from mechanics or literary forebears. Issue 2.

That said, we do have a fun literary master cameo later, too. It's not as if it's gone away entirely. There's a lot of people in D&D's Appendix N, and a whole lot who weren't.

How important was it to expand on the real-world lives of these characters?

KG: All important. In a real way, if you don't have the real world, you don't have DIE. DIE is about making people with real-world traumas, hopes, and fears and then dragging them into a fantasy world where those traumas, hopes, and fears are thrown back at them, in warped, horrific fantasy forms. The realer the characters, the better the experience in DIE.

Die is the longest-running interiors you've done so far. What makes working on this book so special?

SH: Die is the longest and also the only one that I had to build from the ground up. I am very used to bringing my brush and imagination to pre-existing universes and profiting from the hard work of the giants who built it before me, but it is very different and unique to be able to be the one to craft a whole universe that so many people will populate and use for their own imagination or stories. 

It is, at times, nerve-wracking because it is based as much on your history, your culture, and your emotions. And at some point, it doesn’t belong entirely to you anymore.

But also, it is so special because Kieron and I knew each other before, had worked together before, and creating something together was not only a career choice but also a desire to create something with someone because I knew we could do something that would be honest, and exciting, and at times exhilarating. I mean, it is such a hard job, to work so much, and life is way too short to waste years on a project in which you are not having fun.

We are telling a story together; it has to be beautiful. 

Is there anything you're most excited to draw returning to this world?

SH: Always, the next one. Kieron is very good at surprising me. He knows I hate boredom. 

Duality was a major theme throughout the first series, how does DIE: Loaded continue this while further exploring Ash's identity and relationship with Sophie? Going from the dangerous world of DIE to the Covid-19 pandemic feels like no matter where they end up, (different kinds) of danger will always persist.

KG: I think it's a truism that wherever there is life, there is also death. They kind of lead into one another.

How exciting is it to continue this world into a real RPG and build it into something real? 

KG: Honestly, I don't even see it like that - I was working on both of them simultaneously. There were even times I was thinking, "Wait - is this an RPG with a tie-in comic?" Eventually, they basically merged and became the same project. I consider DIE (the comic) and DIE (the RPG) as two ways of talking about the same thing. 

That said, I'm really happy with the comic-format DIE RPG Quickstart we've got out via Image alongside issue 1 of DIE: LOADED. It's a 56-page booklet which gives you everything you need to try the game, except dice and friends willing to make their own entertainment. That is a thrill - seeing how so many people have made DIE their own. That was always part of the joy of RPGs. 

SH: It is quite incredible to think that at some level, our story is living its own story in the hands of other people. That they are becoming architects too. 

Die: Loaded #1 from Image Comics is in comic book stores NOW!