The following is an interview with writer Ben Crane and artist Andy Alves regarding the recent release of their sequel graphic novel, Cosmic Cadets: Accused!, with Top Shelf. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Crane and Alves about their shared creative process in returning to the world and characters of Cosmic Cadets, what readers may take away from the story’s themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the release of Cosmic Cadets: Accused! For those who may be new to the series, how would you describe its premise, and where will returning readers find themselves with this new story arc?
Ben Crane and Andy Alves: Thank you so much, and thank you for having us here to talk about the book! Cosmic Cadets is an all-ages sci-fi series following the voyages of the ESS Khonsu, a ship on a mission to explore the galaxy, meet new aliens, and spread diplomacy. I think our inspirations should be fairly obvious. What makes Cosmic Cadets special is that it follows the kids of the crew of the Khonsu as they have their own adventures alongside their parents.
We wanted to tell stories that celebrate empathy, patience, considering your actions from someone else’s point of view, admitting when you’re wrong with humility and grace, and changing what you’re doing to actually correct the error—all these skills and virtues that are critical for society, but which you don’t see action- and thrill-filled adventures written about.
People new to the series should be able to jump straight in to Accused!, as each book tells its own self-contained adventure, though we do hope folks will check out our first book, Contact! which we think both is great fun and establishes the characters.
In Accused! the Khonsu’s captain is sent to negotiate an alliance with the residents of an isolated nebula, but those talks are interrupted when somebody robs the meeting’s hosts and frames the kids for the crime! Now, it’s up to the Cadets to investigate the heist, ensure justice is done, and clear their own names, all while dodging security and trying to keep the station from falling into chaos in the theft’s aftermath.
BD: How would you describe your shared creative process in bringing the Cadets’ story and characters to life on the page, and do you feel that you have developed a creative “shorthand” in working together?
BC & AA: We have an advantage in that we’re married, so we have years of practice learning to communicate with each other. Andy has a great sense for continuity and character, so Ben keeps working at a script until it gets their approval. They’ll also start designing characters and environments as he writes, and he lets those designs go back and inspire and inform the script.
Then once they start drawing, if anything is unclear or they need to change pagination or paneling or anything like that, Ben is just in the next room to answer any questions.
BD: What has made Top Shelf the ideal publishing partner for this series?
BC & AA: Chris Staros, the editor-in-chief at Top Shelf and our editor on Cosmic Cadets, has been working in comics for over 30 years, working with folks ranging from Alan Moore and George Takei to brand new creators. And he brings that breadth of experience and expertise to bear with absolutely no ego. Every note he’s given has not only been spot-on and made our books stronger, but has also made them better versions of the books we want them to be. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide or champion.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that the Cadets’ story may connect with and impact today’s middle grade readers (and readers of all ages)?
BC & AA: When we were first trying to figure out what this series was going to be, we started from two touchstones: We wanted to make the books we wish we could have read when we were 10, and we wanted to make books as full of excitement as anything else out there, but where violence would never be the solution.
Getting to tell stories for kids is such an incredible honor, and we take it deeply seriously. Stories give us the patterns and frameworks that we will use to understand the world around us and our own place within it, and the stories we read when we’re young will shape us for the rest of our lives. That’s a heavy responsibility.
With the five kids who make up the core cadre of the Cadets and all the friends they meet on their adventures, we hope to model all the kinds of heroism that so often get left behind in most of our media, all those things we listed before—things which are so un-thought of that we needed a whole paragraph to explain them. We hope our readers, be they eight years old or eighty, can find a little of themselves in these characters and find a way of looking at the world that helps them find a bit of grace and a bit of gentleness which is so sorely lacking from our current culture.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
BC: Other than the first Cosmic Cadets book, I hope folks will check out the sci-fi anthology, Systemic, I edit which will be releasing its first volume in January after a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. I’m also working on a short comic collection that I intend to crowdfund in early 2026.
AA: I’m working on a fantastic project right now called Shrub that your readers might learn more about in the future.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell readers who want to learn more about the Cosmic Cadets: Accused! and your other work?
BC: I have a newsletter and website at www.bencranewrites.com which is the best way to keep up with all my latest work and upcoming events. Folks can also find me on Bluesky, where I post mostly about comics and board games, with the occasional picture of our dogs being doofuses.
AA: I have a TikTok (@andyalvesarts), Blusky (@andyalvesart.bsky.social), and YouTube (@AndyAlves-art), where I post time-lapse drawings of fan art and fantasy characters.
