Fate: The Winx Saga, a live-action, YA-focused reboot of the cult classic animated series Winx Club, aired for two seasons on Netflix. Then, in 2022 it was canceled — leading to the requisite fan campaigns, agonizing, gnashing of teeth, etc. But worry not Winx fans! Maverick, an imprint of Mad Cave Studios, has brought the show back in graphic novel form with an official continuation of the series.
Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs, with art by Christianne Gillenardo-Goudreau, Fate: The Winx Saga – Dark Destiny was released as an e-book in July, tying into this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and then hit bookstores proper earlier this month. As Cuartero-Briggs told Comic Book Club over email, finding the right way to continue two seasons of TV in comic book form was a challenge.
“When you are working on a season of television, you have a lot more room for plot and character development,” Cuartero-Briggs said. “With these graphic novels, we had about 120 pages each. So, the challenge then became picking and choosing which character arcs we could really pay off, and which characters had to wait for volumes 2 or 3 to be serviced.”
You’re definitely going to want those next volumes after the wild cliffhanger(s) at the end of Dark Destiny, too. We chatted with the writer about continuing the story, the romance between Kat and Terra, and what to expect from Volume 2. And spoiler warning past this point!
Comic Book Club: You’ve got an interesting balancing act here, pivoting off the TV show but bringing it into comics… What changed for you in terms of translating from the series to the printed page?
Olivia Cuartero-Briggs: A balancing act, indeed! But also a very welcome challenge. We wanted to continue the story fans loved so much, but also make this the beginning of a brand new story arc for folks who might not have seen the show. So, for that reason, I decided on creating a 6 month time gap between the end of season 2 and the beginning of Volume 1 of the graphic novels, so I could reset things, and start off with where Alfea found itself at the beginning of the next school year. That allowed me to reset the stories enough to build a new arc.
But in terms of storytelling, when you are working on a season of television, you have a lot more room for plot and character development. With these graphic novels, we had about 120 pages each. So, the challenge then became picking and choosing which character arcs we could really pay off, and which characters had to wait for volumes 2 or 3 to be serviced. So, that was tough, because Fate: Winx is loaded with great characters, and I wanted to tie up loose ends and create new arcs for all of them. That said, it’s a champagne problem, right? Too many great characters and possibilities! To me, that just means we need to keep the series going!
But, perhaps the biggest difference in going from screen to print, was that I was free to let my imagination run wild. Volumes 1 and 2 of the graphic novel deal with full scale attacks by possessed animals. There is no way a television show with the budget of Netflix’s Fate: Winx would have been able to pull that off. It’s just too expensive with live action and the TV landscape where it is today. So, for that reason, I took great joy in being able to bring Fate: Winx fans an incredible, adversarial force they wouldn’t have been able to experience otherwise.
How much are you channeling the actors’ voices when you’re writing this?
Always. The greatest gift of an adaptation like this is having two entire seasons of a television show to mine. And the tone of Fate: Winx is so specific, brooding, and fun, it’s really easy to fall right into it while writing. Nearly every line I wrote I made sure I could see the actress or actor saying it, hear the words coming out of their mouth, and if it fit, that meant it would go in. And for the characters I created or introduced, creating a soundtrack that was sourced directly from the television show was vital in ensuring they fit the world of Fate: Winx as well as the established characters.
What about adding to the lore? The show was canceled, but was there leftover story to pick up? Or were you creating it whole cloth?
There were a lot of loose threads. Clearly Brian Young had every intention of keeping the show going, because he really brilliantly set us all up for a killer season three. Again, it was like an embarrassment of riches, inheriting that many juicy storylines, as well as a magical world where so much lore was established, but also where discoveries could still be made. So, continuing some of those was a lot of fun. But as I mentioned, it also had to be a book that newcomers could pick up and enjoy without having to have seen the television series, so that was a challenge. And on top of that, I didn’t want this book to just be more Fate: Winx as you know it. I wanted the volumes in this graphic novel series to be able to stand alone. Be their own, new interpretation of this magical world that reflect the types of stories I want to tell and read. I mean, why else put Fate in the hands of another creator if not to feel that creator’s voice in the characters and what they go through? That’s what I look for in what I read, and that’s what I always strive to give my readers. A personal experience as only I can tell it.
Kat and Terra are a pivotal relationship in the middle of this, and it’s pretty sweet… Why were you drawn to them, in particular?
When I was writing this story, my own partner and I were embarking on a very new, very challenging relationship, and dealing with a lot of unexpected issues. I love being able to explore my own experiences on the page, give them to other characters, and see how they deal with them. It’s cathartic for me, and another way I keep my work honest for my readers. So, that was one reason. The other is that, while I love a good coming out story, I also think it’s important to depict queer relationships like any other: two complicated individuals with the best of intentions trying like hell to come together. I want to see queer folks living their lives in ways that have nothing to do with their sexuality, but who they are as people, and picking up Kat and Terra where I did in the story was a great opportunity to do that.
Bloom is very much refusing the call in this volume… What was your goal with her?
Bloom is the most complicated and nuanced character in Fate, and I really wanted to maintain that. You love her, but she also makes choices that have you banging your head against the wall. She’s that friend who you see so much potential in, that you just want to shake them and say, “stop running away from your life! You can handle this, I promise!” So, I guess my goal was to frustrate the reader a bit, but also make her grounded and a hero you can really identify with. Too often, heroes refuse the call and then easily rise to the challenge. That’s hard to connect with, because oftentimes it takes a while to get to that point – for most of us, anyway. If Bloom was going to come back from the Realm of Darkness, I decided she better have a damn good reason. The only reason. And one that connected directly to her core wound. I wanted to make Bloom’s journey deeply personal and resonant, so that as frustrated as readers might get by her refusals, they couldn’t wait to see what it would take to get her to come back. Because, let’s face it, you know she’s coming back.
Particularly through Stella, it seems like you’re dealing with a theme of what power does to people (or fairy people)… Is that what you were going for? Or if not, what was the theme you were playing here?
Yes, that was a major theme here. Even though Stella is compromised by an Agent of Darkar, it’s bringing out the darkness inherent in her. So, the power-hungry, ruthless Stella we see isn’t her, but it is a part of her, and that’s important to note. Not everyone is ready to rule. But Stella’s journey is also one of identity. Throughout the television series and these books, she is wrestling with her own destiny, who she truly is, and who she has had to pretend to be for the sake of her family, and a member of the ruling class. That’s a lot of pressure for a teenager, and we really get to see how that manifests in these volumes.
Spoilers past this point, but you go full-on apocalyptic in the final few pages, killing multiple characters (or seeming to). Is everything as it seems? Is Terra dead, Olivia???
Duuuude, you know I can’t answer that, but I LOVE that you had the guts to ask! That’s a first!
What can you tease about the second volume, if anything?
I am stoked for readers to get their hands on volume 2! There’s more action, but we are closer to it. It’s much more intense, and you’ll get to see Bloom face herself in some really impactful ways. New characters are introduced that will have a big impact on the stories moving forward, and there may or may not be a big, ol’ transformation coming that folks have been waiting on for a while!
Fate: The Winx Saga, Vol. 1: Dark Destiny is now on sale in bookstores everywhere.
