Behind the Scenes with Jeremy Robinson, Tiago Palma, Manuel J. Rodriguez, and Kane Gilmour
What would occur if a nun who had been expelled from the church and a demon who had been expelled from hell found that they might be the only ones able to save creation?
At the heart of Excommunicated is an unusual partnership for the supernatural horror graphic novel by New York Times bestselling author Jeremy Robinson, artist Tiago Palma, colorist Manuel J. Rodriguez, and editor Kane Gilmour.
After a botched exorcism leaves Sister Josephine excommunicated and the demon Edimmu with nowhere to go, the two are forced into an uneasy alliance to unravel a conspiracy built on lies, possession, and forces that aren't quite what they seem. The result is a story filled with supernatural horror, explosive action, unexpected humor, and a world where the boundaries between saints and sinners aren't nearly as clear as they appear.
In this edition of Notes On, the team behind Excommunicated takes us behind the scenes of the graphic novel and hides a few Easter eggs along the way.
For writer and creator Jeremy Robinson, the visual identity of Excommunicated began with finding collaborators capable of bringing both cinematic action and character-driven storytelling to the page.
When I first came across Tiago Palma’s art, I knew I was looking at a superstar in the making and immediately hired him for ONE ZERO ZERO ONE SAVES THE WORLD. And then, EXCOMMUNICATED. And now…now Tiago is working on X-men United for Marvel! Tiago’s work is cinematic, perfectly captures action, and he has a way of instilling emotion in both characters and scenery. Every panel, every page, is fun to look at and perfectly tells the story in images. But Tiago didn’t stop at art! He also lettered 1001 and captured the characters’ voices in ways that were unexpected and creative.
It wasn’t long after discovering Tiago that I came across Manuel Rodriguez, who has become Breakneck’s primary colorist, working on 1001, Excommunicated, and several upcoming titles. Tiago and Manuel are a dream team and worked together to make the colors shine. I hope I get to work with both of them again. We just need to woo Tiago back from the big M!
— Jeremy Robinson – Writer / Creator
For editor Kane Gilmour, that meant watching the book take shape through a constant exchange of creative decisions, from major visual motifs all the way down to details readers might only notice on a second or third read.
Sometimes in publishing, while things still work out, they don’t always do so in the way you thought they would. When it came to our Breakneck Comics production house, we had planned out a series called ONE ZERO ZERO ONE SAVES THE WORLD to be our first release with Vault Comics, but as it turns out that series will now be our third release this fall, after NECTAR and EXCOMMUNICATED. Jeremy Robinson had written the 1001 script, I had edited it, and Tiago Palma had drawn the heck out of it, before we brought Manuel J. Rodriguez on to color. So that entire series had been completed (with Tiago adding lettering himself) before we began work on ‘Excomm.’ We were reuniting a spectacular team who had already worked well together, so by the time we got deep into the weeds on Excomm, we were all bristling with ideas, and sparking off each other, each bringing their own little touches to the project.
For instance, Manuel was the one who came up with the idea of keeping the energy glow from Edimmu (whether his eyes or other energy manifestations) always green. Initially we had it all kinds of colors. But it made sense, and helps the viewer identify Edimmu. The other demonic creatures through the story (and in the series that will follow) will have all kinds of colored energies. Tiago slipped in great little touches like the pentagram tag on the dog collar Edimmu wears, when in his Golden Retriever disguise. Jeremy was inspired to ask for Josephine’s T-shirt to have a “Kynolari” football logo—connecting to his Good Boys trilogy of novels—making a fun little Easter Egg for his novel readers. (He also asked Manuel to slap a Nemesis sticker on a Boston Wrong Way sign as another one.) Tiago made a background panel truck belong to the fictional “Gilmour Moving Company.” We were clearly just having so much fun on this one. I even got in on the action, suggesting that when Edimmu impersonates Father Santos, his Clerical Collar should be red, rather than white. We each had inspiration, and the others built off those in a perfect frisson of fun. And believe it or not, the thing that drove the most debate through the whole creation of the series was what the stained glass should look like!
In short, editing this project wasn’t work; it was fun. By that point we were a great team, inspired by the material, and just adding all the cool finishing touches we could, to make the ultimate product fantastic! Hopefully you can feel that fun leaping off the page when you read EXCOMMUNICATED.
— Kane Gilmour – Editor
For Tiago Palma, one of the central artistic challenges of Excommunicated was finding a visual language for its supernatural characters that avoided the imagery audiences immediately associate with demons. No obligatory horns. No bat wings. No easy visual shortcuts.
I had a blast working with Jeremy to create something new and exciting in EXCOMMUNICATED. From all the concept art, the visual representation of our demons, all our characters, it was all new and with the intent of being inspired by something that wasn’t obvious. No horns, no bat wings… So I had to really go out of my way to think outside the box. And I really hope that comes across on the page. My biggest challenge on this series was really setting the tone to bring the reader in and live the story with our characters. From the quiet moments to the burst of maximum energy.
Horror isn’t easy to achieve on paper, but Jeremy made my job so much easier building the rhythm of the narrative so well that we could get some gnarly and explosive moments, paired with some great character development. And some great twists throughout the plot that I hope all of you enjoy. When Manuel came on the project everything got leveled up even more, adding a whole new layer of intensity and life through his use of texture and color. I couldn’t be prouder of what we made together!
— Tiago Palma – Artist
In another layer of storytelling, Manuel J. Rodriguez coloring Excommunicated reinforced the intensity, horror, intimacy, and supernatural energy already present in Palma's pages and Robinson's script.
I’ve been a comic book colorist for over ten years, and my time on EXCOMMUNICATED has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Working with a team like Jeremy, Kane, and Tiago is both a thrilling challenge and incredibly seamless—it truly feels like a family supporting each other to create a masterpiece. As a colorist, receiving Tiago’s pages can be intimidating at first because of how incredible they are, but they quickly become pure inspiration. Jeremy’s scripts are clear, evocative, and instantly spark sharp, concise imagery in my mind.
We have all rowed in the same direction, and that shared vision shines through on every single page. This story is intimate, intense, and terrifying—you can feel it in every word and every line of art. I truly hope the final pages emanate the raw cocktail of emotions I poured into the colors, and that reading this book is as deeply gratifying for you as painting it has been for me.
— Manuel J. Rodriguez – Colorist
Saints, Sinners, Angels, and Demons
Excommunicated is built around contrasts: faith and doubt, heaven and hell, horror and humor, quiet character moments and bursts of supernatural.
When both Sister Josephine and Edimmu are cast out of the worlds they know, they're forced to question who they can trust. And whether the forces claiming to represent good and evil deserve those labels at all.
That same willingness to play against expectations extends throughout the graphic novel's creation. From demons deliberately designed without familiar clichés to a carefully established language of its supernatural color. Excommunicated clearly shows it's the product of a creative team having fun building a world together.
And if there's one rule to remember before entering that world, it's this:
The world is full of saints and sinners, angels and demons, good and evil— pray you can tell them apart.