Josh: The story follows an assortment of college kids obsessed with a new dating app, of sorts, called Crave. Can you explain the Crave app to us? How it works and what exactly it is?

Maria: Sure! The app has appeared overnight in every cell on campus, and everyone is using it as a hookup app, even though Crave's message is much more broad: "Tell us what you crave, we'll make it happen".

You submit a request to the app, and it can be accepted or rejected. If it's accepted, Crave will give you instructions to follow in order to "satisfy your craving".

At the moment everyone is using it as a dating app, because well, you know how these things are! But things are going to start escalating in other directions pretty soon...

About how it works, that's one of the mysteries from the series, so you'll need to keep reading!

Josh: The first issue explores the relationship between social media and mental health. How accurately do you feel you captured that relationship?

Maria: This is such a big topic to talk about, very extensive and very nuanced. I just wanted to talk about it, even if it was just to brush its surface, because what the Crave series is really about is how we relate to and interact with each other. And of course, social media is where we interact with each other these days.

Social media can be pretty toxic, but as with everything else in this world, it's us who can control how we make it toxic or otherwise with how we use it.

But of course, sometimes we don't know or don't expect something to have a negative impact on our mental health, and yet it does. Not knowing it makes us more vulnerable, and I think this is the problem with social media sometimes.

Josh: The relationships between the characters seem kind of random - as the series progresses, do we get to see how they all fit together?

Of course, their relationships are not random at all. They are a group of friends, but some of their relationships are not what they seem.

Maria: How much do we really know about the people around us? About their dreams, what hurts them, their secrets. This is a subject that interests me so much, and one of the things I explore in Crave.

Josh: The first issue introduces us to a character named Kei Saito. Kei is basically a cameo but he does leave behind an ominous warning about the Crave app. How does this impact our cast of characters moving into future issues?

Maria: Kei still has a lot to say in this series...

But yes, his warning goes unnoticed and therefore our main characters are sucked into the spiral. But honestly, even if they didn't use the app at all, the campus is in such a state at the moment, that no one can escape Crave's influence.

Even teachers are being seduced or hurt by the effects of the app. And things are going to get very serious very soon.

Josh: As the series progresses the Crave app almost feels like Big Brother. Is there a plan to evolve the app as a larger threat?

Maria: Well, the app as we see it here is presented as a "Test". Right now this is something contained within the campus, but yes, this is something the characters will worry about and discuss; what would happen if this goes large scale.

Also, the app evolves during the series, unlocking some features like "collaborative mode" where people can help each other anonymously, fulfilling prompts Crave sends them through the app when they are near a specific area. This creates a whole new set of problems, of course...

Josh: The series features an entire cast of colorful characters. Yet, the most mysterious character we meet is Alexandra. She’s featured heavily in the marketing and covers for the first two issues, out now from Image Comics. Does she have a larger role throughout the remainder of the series?

Maria: Well she's one of the main characters along with David. This is pretty much their story. Some other characters that can seem trivial now will turn out to be much more important too...

I'd say issue 4 is key to understanding what's really going on here, both with the pair of David-Alexandra, and with Crave in general.

Josh: You did both the writing and art for the book. Which comes first for you - the story or the art? What’s your process look like?

Ah, that's really the most interesting thing, because it's a bit of a mix, really. Of course ideas come first, but I tend to visualize them quite clearly in my head before even writing anything. So very often it is just like seeing a scene played in my head, other times is just an idea and gets developed bit by bit.

In the past I tended to write anything that came to mind right away, but now I try to give it more room before putting it to paper. I play more with other options first.

When I think I have a more clear direction I start really writing what I have and giving it a proper shape.

I know it's not common in the comic industry, but I write all the scripts beforehand. Then I start working on the art. But as I tell you, much of my writing already contains elements of the visual narrative, this is "sequential art".

So it's really like the comic itself is one big thing composed of different parts, but they are very connected, it's not that easy to judge one without the other.

I know it's common to try to rate scripts and art separately and things like that, and I get it because usually there are teams of different people working on each comic.

But think about it, once we're reading the actual comic, the partition is an artificial one, because we're experiencing it as a whole. Each part influences the other.

Josh: With the art, in particular, there are a lot of softer toned colors to offset from some of the more intense storylines. How did you arrive at doing brighter colors against a more ominous plot?

Maria: Color is so complex, there are so many aspects to have in mind of how each color interacts with the others around it, I love it but it drives me crazy.

For a while now, I've been trying to find a way of coloring that really suits my lines, something that makes a perfect match so to speak.

I'm currently working on a new project where I'm taking bolder steps to try to reach this goal, but I think Crave was a timid step in the right direction.

I tried to use complementary colors in each scene and also in every character's personal colors. Alexandra is yellow/orange while David is blue/purplish, so their colors are complementary too. This kind of thing.

But what I'm trying to do now is make it more simple, so it's bolder and more compatible with the ink, and yet expresses something more specific. Simplify to gain strength, if it makes any sense.

Josh: Crave seems to explore the present nature of hookup culture. Can you talk about the process for capturing this as honestly as possible for this series?

Maria: Oh yeah, I researched a lot through the internet, also in real campus Facebook groups and things like that. It was really interesting! The research part is always so cool, because you're in a moment where everything is still possible for the work, nothing is settled and it's so much fun to find ideas, and information that is potentially useful. Later much of what you find in this process is really of no use at all, but the experience of having done the research is what really helps you write.

It's one of my favorite parts of the whole process, and helps you speak a certain truth, not necessarily literal truth, but truth for the particular story and characters you're writing. This is very important to me, coherence on the inside of this microcosm that is your story.

Josh: With hookup culture, there is a sense of rejection and ultimately how that affects our mental health. This is an aspect that isn’t brought up too much in the conversation of this culture, yet you showcase it heavily in the second and third issues. Why was it important for you to feature the rejection aspects on these characters?

Because Crave is promising something that is impossible. Human beings are predictable to a certain extent, but the insight of our feelings is our own. Nobody can know how another person will react when presented with certain situations. There are many factors that play a part.

Crave is trying to manipulate the characters into certain situations, sometimes it will work, because the individual is already predisposed to a given situation. But of course this won't always be the case.

I think this is a very interesting topic, very present at the moment, given the advances of AI and the potential challenges that it presents in many areas. Not something so fictional at all. What are advertising and marketing if not a certain form of manipulation? What can the AI technology change in this field?

Josh: As the series goes on, there is an increasing amount of heartache we see. Would you describe Crave as the ultimate “be careful what you wish for” type of thing?

Maria: There is definitely a point about this because, as some of our characters will learn harder than the others, there are consequences to our actions. However, it's not only about the actions they triggered through Crave, but what they decided to do themselves outside Crave's influence. I think that's one of the most interesting parts of this story, how both get intertwined.

Also the fact that when it's through the app, people are more prone to get involved in things that are clearly bad, things that they wouldn’t do if they were alone. This of course happens with certain things in real life, violence or sexual violence done in group. There's this feeling that it's not their responsibility, but it actually is.

Josh: The third issue, out today, has a real mic drop ending. What are readers in store for in the remaining issues?

Maria: Yes, at that point it felt important to show this is not a game anymore.

Issue 4 is a turning point, and as I was telling you before, many things are revealed that change everything in the story, new things set in motion.

All cards are put on the table, but Crave is already wreaking havoc. The corridors are not filled with horny couples anymore, but with tears and yells...

Josh: The third issue, in particular, is really heavy on mental health. Yet, it feels specific as a showcase of how sex can affect mental health. What’s your take on the impact sex can have on one’s mental health?

Maria: I think it can have a huge impact, both positive and negative. I guess that's true with most things in life, but sex is potentially a very sensitive subject. Of course it can be horribly damaging, and also it can be something beautiful and healing.

One of the main points in issue 3 is not about the sex itself, but about exposing someone, as a video of the main characters having sex is spread through the campus.

There's no doubt about how damaging this is for someone, as their privacy is being exposed against their will, and here they're being judged by everyone in a very insensitive and harming way. It also shows how the actual sex was not necessarily the problem it this case, but what everyone else thinks about it, and the prejudices associated with it.

There's also the fact that sometimes we don't know exactly what we want. I tried to reflect that with David and Alexandra. Even if they argue, they are talking, and that is always good. They are slowly finding out what they want.

And of course there's also the big topic of trying to force your will over someone else's. I think this is treated in a very uncommon way in this issue, and I think that is important; just because something is not the worst that can happen (like rape, for example) doesn't mean it's not still something bad and damaging.

Josh: I would argue that sex can be a positive for your mental health. Yet, what I really appreciate about some of these latter issues of Crave is that things like one night stands and shallow relationships can have a negative impact. How does this practice play into Kei’s warning from the first issue but also in the remaining issues?

Maria: As Crave is only 6 issues, there was really not much space to focus on the many side stories that are happening around the main characters.

But I tried to find a way to get the sense that chaos is ensuing in the corridors.

I don't really find these one night stands as something necessarily negative, but the campus is turning into something strange and not safe. This is not an effect of the sex per se, because requests to the app about sex are slowly being replaced by other kind of requests, fueled by meanness and envy. It's more like this lawless feeling that everything is possible without giving much thought to the consequences of our acts.

That was the point since the beginning, seeing how things start to shift from lust to a different kind of lust, for power, for control.

But I think it could be very interesting to delve further into the parallel stories that are happening in the sides of this main story. Who are these strangers we see hooking up around the school. How is this affecting their lives for good or bad.

I thought about doing a special number where things are reversed, we see these anonymous characters, while our main story is happening in the background.

Maybe I'll do it in the future :)

If you or someone you know is reading this right now and struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message, or tweet at us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or 1-800-273-8255. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!

Victims and Villains is written (and produced) by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey and others, and edited by Cam Smith. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. We do not own nor claim any rights. Crave is property of Image Comics and Maria Llovett. We do not own nor claim any rights. Crave issues one through three are now available everywhere.

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