When it comes to comic book characters, there’s endless possibilities for the types of stories that writers and artists can tell. Sure, there may be certain timelines and story beats that a film universe or TV franchise must abide by. But graphic novels have the choice to create wholly unique backstories and adventures that are separate from established canon, whether in previous comics or in current on-screen appearances. That’s exactly what we get with Scarlet Witch: House of Harkness, a YA graphic novel written by longtime Marvel collaborator and pop culture mainstay Preeti Chhibber, with artwork by Jodi Nishijima and Kiichi Mizushima.
The story follows Wanda Maximoff, a 16 year old student who just arrived at House of Harkness, a famed school of magic for talented teens. Things quickly go awry when she makes a fast enemy of Agatha Harkness, whose family just so happens to own the school. Their ongoing feud soon takes a back seat to a bigger mystery that forces the duo to combine their powers to save everyone. We caught up with Chhibber to chat about crafting this wonderfully witchy tale and so much more.
Nerdist: Tell us about House of Harkness and why this witchy adventure between Wanda and Agatha felt like the right one for you to write.
Preeti Chhibber: It is a magical kid alternate universe with all of our favorite magic users from Marvel where a lot of them have been de-aged to being teenagers. There’s this mystery that’s going on at the school. Wanda’s the new kid, and Agatha’s the legacy. Marvel approached me and was like, “We want to do this kind of dark academia YA, manga-inspired Scarlet Witch story.” I was like, “That sounds awesome! I’m super into it. ”
One thing I’m really interested in on the kidlit side of storytelling is the heightened experience you have with friendships and relationships when you’re in school. And so bringing some of that fraught energy that exists in the comics between Wanda and other people, including Agatha, into a school setting was something I was really excited to do.
It’s also a great entry point for kids who maybe don’t know where to start with Marvel. What’s so fun about comics is that there are a lot of ways you can come into it. But in this day and age, it can feel really daunting to find a place to begin. So I hope this is a really fun intro to the characters that will inspire kids to be like, “Oh, I want more. Let me go see what else is out there.”
I love that! Of course, a graphic novel isn’t a project that a writer tackles alone. How did you partner with the illustration team to craft something that feels both narratively and visually compelling?
Chhibber: [Artist] Jodi Nishijima came on board and created these incredible character studies for a lot of the main characters like Wanda, Agatha, Stephen Strange, and Loki. Jodi thought about the look and feel of the uniforms and how they would be wearing them differently given their personalities. And we all went back and forth. She sent over a bunch of ideas and we were like, “Oh, we like this one. We like the pants from this one, the shirt from this one.”
When I write my scripts, what I hope for is a true partner. I try to leave some room where I drill down what I need in a panel for the story to keep going. And then everything else is like, have fun with it as the artist!
It all came together beautifully, you make a great team. And I love that all of the students are diverse. There’s queer representation, which is so important for kids because it reflects the world they live in and maybe their own identity, too. What were some of your favorite characters to develop, outside of Wanda and Agatha?
Chhibber: Loki was particularly super fun. I was so excited. When I pitched the idea, I was like, “This is going to be Team Wanda. This is going to be Team Agatha.” Team Chaos always existed as is with Nightmare and Loki. Loki was really fun. And then also I love Nico Minoru in Runaways, and so I wanted to bring her in. I’m sure some people might be like, “That’s kind of a weird pairing between her and wildly different characters from wildly different eras of comics.”
But that’s the great part about comics! You can create alternate realities and play with known characters. I love the way that Wanda and Agatha teamed up together to solve a big problem, which I’ll let people figure out when they read it. The ending does leave room for more stories. Do you have plans to continue with these characters or is this more of a one-shot deal?
Chhibber: I would love to! I left it open because I think the characters are so fun and it would allow for the opportunity… I think it’ll depend largely on if people will come to the table for this kind of book. Will it get a foothold with younger readers? And that will dictate if there’s more, but there’s definitely ideas for more.
Very fair. Let’s have a little fun. Which House of Harkness character are you most like and which one would you want to be more like?
Chhibber: I mean, obviously I wish I was more like Wanda. I think Wanda has such confidence and she has true belief in her own abilities. A lot of us, including me, have to deal with imposter syndrome and things like that. Wanda has her moments of wondering, “Did I do the right thing?” But largely she really believes in herself and she believes in her work, which I love. In terms of who I’m really most like in the book, I don’t know. I think there are aspects of me in Shri and Loki. Some of the more kooky chaos pieces are me, but also some of that part of Agatha where she has to question everything that her parents have told her. That re-learning what the truth is and how you engage with that when all of a sudden your worldview is shifted.
Yeah, that part of Agatha’s story will definitely resonate with teens and adults, too. Sometimes, kids can see their adults as infallible or not capable of making really bad choices. They have to reconcile that and it may come a time where they have to push back against authority figures in their lives in the name of what’s right.
Chhibber: Yeah, I think learning your parents are people and people make mistakes and difficult choices and maybe choices you don’t see as right. And what do you do when that happens?
Right. I know you’re a big comic fan, obviously a big Marvel and Wheel of Time fan. But, of course, we know that nerding out goes far beyond those things. What do you nerd out about that most people wouldn’t expect you to?
Chhibber: I am deep into the World Cup right now. I love the World Cup, my friends, and I do a draft every year, every World Cup. Sports are maybe not necessarily expected from me. But I like to be a nerd about everything that I like! Crafting, LEGO, sports, this is what it looks like for me.
You can totally be into all sorts of sportsball in a nerdy way. I think there’s more overlap to how sports fans interact with each other and celebrate their favorites and how, say, nerdy fandoms interact with others and celebrate what they like. People are basically cosplaying at NFL games.
Chhibber: Yeah! Everything has a narrative. There’s a reason I love sports movies and shows. I love them because it’s the triumph, it’s the determination, and the training montage. I love all of that. And when you have real life sports like volleyball or basketball or whatever, there are these wonderful story narratives that come out of it like the Knicks.
I’m not a huge basketball person, but I love the sort of joy and excitement and the culmination of catharsis that came out of that win for New York City. And that is all narrative and story and the connection you feel. And that through line absolutely exists with all fandoms.
I totally agree. If you could describe House of Harkness in three words, which ones would you use?
Chhibber: Friendship, magic, and chaos.
Scarlet Witch: House of Harkness will release on July 7, and you can order your copy right now.