BY JOHN CARTER JR
5 Years Later is a science fiction and action-oriented webcomic. The Comic is based on popular cartoons Danny Phantom and Ben Ten, which is exciting, to say the least. With more and more fan projects coming out — whether in the form of video games or webcomics — few really shine, but 5 Years Later is one that does shine bright. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Rob Orpilla (Kuro the Artist) from the Ink Tank about his work on the webcomic 5 Years Later.
John Carter JR- Where did the concept for 5 Years Later come from?
Rob Orpilla- The concept came from my core love of both shows. Each show had a significant impact on my life for their own reasons – my art style perhaps the most prominent example.
Back when I was just a Facebook Page doing free art requests, one fan asked for a picture of Danny Phantom fighting Ben Tennyson. The drawing itself wasn’t much, but seeing both of them together in that illustration made something click in my mind. I proceeded to draw more pictures of them in various scenarios over the next few months, and eventually became attracted to the idea of how their lives would be like as adults.
JCJ- Are you a fan of big crossovers? What is it like amalgamating two big Cartoon Network and Nick Cartoons into a fan project?
RO- I always think crossovers are a fun idea. The concept of franchises allowing their worlds to mingle has always fascinated me. I don’t really think of Danny Phantom as a Nickelodeon property and Ben 10 as a Cartoon Network property when concerning 5 Years Later.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these characters and developing how their worlds work and how the story will play out, that in my mind, I think of their 5YL versions as their own entities.
I try to write 5YL to be as canon to their continuities as I can, so that’s not to say I treat the 5YL versions as separate characters from their canon counterparts. I’m constantly going back to watch episodes and review their wikis and whatnot. But over the years, these characters have grown with me and became a lot more complicated than just future versions of Danny and Ben. They’ve matured through the expanded storytelling and mythology that I’ve created, and the fans hold them to a much higher standard than one might normally expect for what is pretty much just fan fiction.
5 Years Later has shown that both of these worlds had many more stories to tell, and I’ve taken the time to understand how to write these characters well enough to not only be on par with actual canon, but allow them to become so much more than where we last saw them.
JPC- How long have you been working on the series and what has been your experience been with its fanbase?
RO- I’ve had the idea kicking around since 2016, but did not start actually drawing it until around February 2017. The whole first Chapter was very experimental, and was restricted by my inexperience with Photoshop, and desire to make the art style simple so I can produce Chapters relatively quickly – and that pretty much went out the window!
I get messages from all over of fans telling me how 5YL inspired them to draw, write, and simply reignite their love for these shows. It’s an incredible feeling knowing that I’m doing something that I care about deeply, and there are people out there that care about it, too.
It can be overwhelming sometimes, to say the least. It’s a bit concerning when you have so many people demand your attention and become irate when they don’t receive it, and it is hard not to let it affect your work ethic and overall opinion on the fandom. But these people are doing it out of love for what The Ink Tank and I have created, so I try to stay interactive with the fans on Discord and Twitter so they understand that I deeply appreciate their support.
JCJ- Recently you had the opportunity to have a fun crossover with the FusionFall Retro Team, What was that like and can we expect more?
RO- The FusionFall Retro team are incredibly easy to work with, and we both have a high regard for each other’s work. We plan to have this collaboration expand into a long-term partnership, which opens up the opportunity for more 5YL items and outfits in the game. We have a few things scheduled out for the near future, but nothing that I should stir up hype over just yet.
JCJ- Which characters have been the hardest to emulate in 5 Years Later?
RO- 5YL Danny can be a pretty big challenge to write for.
Danny was a character who never really wanted to be a hero. Many times in the franchise he has taken the opportunity to give up his heroics when the opportunity arises.
The Disasteroid phasing through Danny’s Earth with the help of actual ghosts is far too significant of an event to not have major changes on how the entire world would think and operate from that point forward. It just makes sense that law enforcement from every country would start arming themselves with more appropriate means of dealing with future tragedies, which gives Danny yet another chance to take the easy life.
Danny was very prominently an introvert in the series, but being Danny Phantom brought out a beam of wise-cracking, ass-kicking confidence that only the rush of being a teenage superhero can give you. 5YL starts off with Danny that has long since sobered up from that rush, and carries a much more reserved presence.
The challenging part with writing this version of Danny is to give him three-dimensional character traits without compromising the personality I believe this Danny would grow into. When working with comics, you don’t hear dialogue or music, or even see any motion at all. You get still images and words. And a reserved ex-hero who keeps to himself is very hard to breathe life into in comic form, especially as the main character. I get around this by writing more scenes with Danny interacting with other characters with a much more defined personality, as opposed to the inner monologue I did with him in Chapter 1. Fighting with Vlad makes Danny more cocky, but abrasive. Ben Tennyson challenges Danny’s overall views of the responsibilities a hero has. And Eon, well, I guess you’ll have to wait and see…
JCJ- Are there any new projects you are excited to be working on?
RO- Yes.
JCJ- What is the emotional investment in your work like?
RO- I have a very strong love-hate relationship with what I do. This career path is very optional, and I believe that I could easily apply my work ethics to something much more concrete and be just as successful, but a million times less stressed out.
But in the end, I’m a storyteller, and I have irrefutable urge to tell these stories. It’s just who I am.
For a laundry list of reasons I could spend hours complaining about, there is much more that goes into what The Ink Tank does than what may appear on the surface. When concerning 5YL, drawing the comic is perhaps the easiest part, because it’s the only one I know for sure how to do. When designing characters, items, and sets, writing scripts, and oh boy – the marketing, there’s so much to learn and so many crazy methods you’re going to have to figure out in order to adapt to every curveball that will inevitably get thrown your way every couple of days.
Work-related stress and the long hours I’ve put in has given me a marathon of health issues lately, so it’s very dangerous to love your work so much, that you start to love yourself less.
If you really want to do something like what I do, you really, really have to want it. You can’t give up when it stops being fun. You can’t put off your priorities when it seems too hard to figure out. And most importantly – you can’t lose yourself in your work.
Balancing a healthy lifestyle, a social presence, and a strong work ethic is probably the biggest issue that never gets talked about as an artist or creator. You can’t isolate each side and tackle them as separate problems. Everything correlates with everything in life. And if you want a future in telling stories to the world, you have to live long enough to make it happen.
JCJ- How has the response to your work on this comic and your work at The Ink Tank affected your life?
RO- I’ve had the opportunity to talk to so many people. People I’ve looked up to, people in a similar field as myself, and people who want my talents to help bring their projects to life. I feel like my voice is finally heard when I say something that is important to me. I have a fantastic team behind me to help our projects grow. And I have fans who remind me every day that what I’m doing is worth it.
The fact that I can touch people by helping them feel less alone through my videos, comics, and Discord, is exactly what Ben 10 and Danny Phantom did for me growing up. I’ve lived a pretty eventful life to say the least, but watching these shows and talking about them with people on the old message boards gave me clarity, and something to look forward to. This is what I want my work to be for others – something that gives them hope.
Thank you so much to the Ink Tank and Rob Orpilla for the opportunity
Webcomic Link: https://www.kurothewebsite.com/5yearslater
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/InkTank
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9n7anTerwMe-RUVKvCBiqw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kuroartist