Midway through DC Comics‘ Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #2, written by Ram V with art by Anand RK and the late Jackson “Butch” Guice, the title character, Mitch Shelley, asks an older version of himself a question: “You think falling in love and saving the universe are the same thing?” Answers the older version, “You’d be surprised.”
Turns out, not only is that exchange the key to the whole series, but it came from a surprising source: fellow DC writer Tom King.
“There’s a funny origin story to that line,” Ram V told Comic Book Club when asked about the lines of dialogue. “I was on a phone call with Tom King, and I was talking to him about pitching this book and this weird idea, and Tom said, ‘Well, what’s the idea? Tell it to me.’ And I gave him the pitch, and at the end of the pitch, I said, ‘This is what he does, and this is how he saves the universe.’ And Tom went, ‘It can’t be about saving the universe. It has to be about saving something he loves.’ And you can’t love the universe. You can only love finite, fundamental other people, things.”
In the issue, the immortal Mitch Shelley is grappling with the idea that he lived a full, happy life with the woman he loved, died… And then came back. Now he’s stuck in the middle of these world-ending stakes, perhaps thanks to the also-immortal, cannibalistic Gashadokuro. But what does all that matter if he can’t be with what really matters, his family?
“In some way, whether [Tom] realized it or not, that is the quintessence of the story,” Ram V continued. “The greater purpose versus finer details, which is more important when it comes to the idea of existence and why we live our lives. Do we live for the next day, or do we live for that one day in the future when we will accomplish something great? That line gets repeated throughout the [series], until it becomes more and more and more poignant until at the very end… I won’t spoil the ending, but I’m quite proud of where that ended up. So yeah, when there is a collection, hopefully I will have a chance to credit that phone call with Tom for for this underlying theme that goes through the story.”
Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #2 is in stores now from DC Comics.
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