In the new sci-fi manga series World Piece, Lucas Densen's discovery of an ancient artifact transforms the Earth into a basketball-sized orb and he is transported, along with the miniature earth, to an alternate realm. Creating an entirely new world comes with its share of complexities, namely creating a new species of animals, distinct villains and a wholly new landscape. Josh Tierney and Agroshka offer us a bit of insight into the makings of Affin and its fanciful inhabitants.

LULLY
 
Agroshka: Here are a few alternate ideas for Lully’s hair and outfit. I explored adding more complexity and detail to the initial design. In the end, we decided to keep the outfit simpler to reflect she is a regular girl, especially since later it’s revealed Lully made her outfit herself.

Josh: Lully dresses like a fairy tale princess because that’s how she thinks of herself, though that comes less from a sense of self-importance and more from her experience of being trapped on her rich family’s property. I pictured her with long hair, a light and airy outfit, and a sparkling black crown that recalls a starry night.

LUCAS

Agroshka: Lucas’s design changed the most during the development phase. Here I experimented with exaggerating his hairstyle and adjusting the balance of black and white on his figure.

Josh: One of the reasons Lucas keeps his basketball uniform on is because of how distinctly of Earth it is. Anyone can look at a picture of World Piece and wonder “why is a basketball player in this sci-fi world?” It tells a story on its own. To make him stand out a bit more, I wanted Lucas to have a stylish jacket with a starry design.

AFFIN

Agroshka: An early concept of Lully’s house. Striking the balance between making the buildings both recognizable and alien was difficult at first. In the final version, I decided to base the Affin architecture on smooth curves.

GADDI

Agroshka: Gaddi’s outer armor was inspired by the broken tile mosaic style present in Antoni Gaudí’s architecture. The pieces have varied shapes and colors, as they were collected from various sources and assembled in an underground lab.

Josh: If there’s one character in Vol. 1 that I wish could’ve been presented in full color, it’s Gaddi. Gaddi is the only sentient probot in Vol. 1, and I wanted her sense of individuality to come across in her design.

ANIMALS

Agroshka: Some of the Affin animals look familiar, but Sect is definitely something we don’t have on our Earth. I can’t believe it’s edible...

Josh: It’s been a lot of fun sending Agroshka some of my favorite animals as reference for Affin fauna, such as the saiga antelope, polecats and clione. Personally, I think the Sect looks kinda tasty.

INFORMATION BROKER

Agroshka: There’s a lot of freedom in drawing non-human characters so once I started sketching the alien frogs, I couldn’t stop.

Josh: Non-human characters are one of the most fun parts of sci-fi for me, and with World Piece we have an opportunity to fill an entire universe with them. I hope readers will take their time looking at all the unique aliens Agroshka added throughout the book!

Order your copy of World Piece, written by Josh Tierney, illustrated by Agroshka here.