Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft are two old friends and co-writers. You may already know Scott Snyder from the awesome comics he writes, but Scott Tuft is a new kid on the block, I’m not saying he’s a terrible pop star, just he’s a new name to comics and such. They’re currently working on Severed, a period horror published by Image, and I was incredibly eager to find out more (and ask Scott Snyder a bunch of geek-crush questions about American Vampire).

Good Comic Books | Firstly, is it alright referring to you as ‘The Scotts’?

The Scotts | Absolutely. As long as The (actual) Scots don’t think we’re moving in on their territory. We’ve seen Braveheart – and read WANTED and KICK ASS – and know of what they’re capable.

GCB | So, Scotts… Severed is a period horror… What’s so attractive about the genre? Is there something about challenging idealised periods of history that lends itself particularly well to horror? Especially as American Vampire falls into the same category.

The Scotts | Absolutely. America’s past isn’t all Norman Rockwell paintings. America has always been a dark and violent place and the tension between the idealized past that people dote on and the gritty reality that existed makes for a fun place to explore.

Also… history can be pretty darn creepy and it’s fun to play in that sandbox. The spaces, the technology, the people… they’re both familiar and foreign in a way that is truly haunting.

But while Severed uses the antiqueness of the period, it is as much about now as 1916. Today the internet is connecting the world in new ways. All the rules and expectations are being rewritten. And this allows people to alter their identity… to become who they want to be. Some find their real selves, others use this anonymity to trick others. To prey on the weak. These two archetypes are our main characters in Severed but we thought a kid on the road in 1916 would make for a creepier comic than a kid on the computer in 2011.

GCB | How scary is Severed? Is it Buffy the Vampire Slayer scary, “turn it off before they drop the blood, because Carrie’s having such a nice time” scary or “OH, JESUS CHRIST!” scary?

The Scotts | It’s meant to be “can’t get that out of my head” scary. Or, “I wonder if my mailman is a serial killer” scary. We hope that the scares build throughout the 7 issue arc in an effective way so while it starts out creepy, it gets more and more twisted. By the end, we hope to get to that “Oh, Jesus Christ!” scary.

GCB | How did Severed come together between you two and Attila Futaki, and what’s the writing process? Is beer involved?

The Scotts | Us Scotts had the idea a while ago… we wanted to write something that would scare you deep down- in your soul. We thought about fairy tales and serial killers and how they bizarrely complemented one another. We plotted out the whole story together and as far as the actual writing goes- when we started, Snyder was neck deep in Vampire and Detective so Tuft took the first pass…. Then Snyder gave notes, revised, tweaked. We did this for every phase of the process for every issue. There were lots of discussions throughout the process but because we’ve worked together before and known each other for 20 plus years, it was easy to collaborate on this one.

With Attila, we gave him the first script and he seemed to get it right away. The first storyboards he showed us were nearly perfect with his story telling… his storyboards really capture the feeling and tone of the story and throughout the process, it only gets better. He’s really passionate about the story which is important to us and so while he pretty much follows the script to a tee, sometimes he’ll add a panel or background detail. And it’s all for the better. The notes are usually pretty minimal but Tuft and Futaki talk daily on gchat like schoolgirls… twisted and demented schoolgirls but schoolgirls all the same. “Like Oh My God, In panel 2… you should totally see more bone”

GCB | How long have you had the ideas for Severed? Has it been a long gestation period or did the baby spill out unexpectedly?

The Scotts | Feels like both now that it’s suddenly coming out but we’ve been thinking bout this story for a while. The story is pretty intricately plotted and it took a while to line all the ducks up in a row. At one time we toyed with it being a movie but found that we’d be freer to tell the story that we wanted to tell as an indie comic. But finding Attila and setting it up with image… all these things take time, which makes for a good gestation period.

GCB | How long is the story you have planned?

The Scotts | It’s a 7 series arc that is a pretty solid story on its own. But there is definitely room for spinoffs and we have been so happy with the way it’s coming out, that we’re thinking about doing another one.

GCB | What kind of research was undertaken for Severed, and did you find any particularly interesting/horrible real life horror stories? The more horrific the better I reckon.

The Scotts | Beyond researching the time period and American serial killers, we actually took a trip that nearly charted the entire course of the book. We really wanted to get a deep sense of the spaces that we were exploring. We went to some creepy places and spent several nights in motel beds that probably accommodated a serial killer or two.

GCB | Scott (Tuft), I believe this is your first foray into comics, how have you found it? Was it a maelstrom of late nights and deadlines? How does it compare to writing for other mediums? Do you have any other projects in the pipeline now that you’ve got a taste for the medium?

Scott Tuft | It is. I cant express how lucky I feel to have SEVERED be my first comic. To work with Scott and Attila on a story this rich is a dream come true. And to have it be my first… I’m sure I must have made a deal with the devil some drunken night.

It’s also been incredibly challenging. Deadlines and late nights for sure. Writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and then some more rewriting. I’ve written a lot of screenplays in the past and directed films but comics are a whole new ballgame. Every day I learn something new, not only about the comic book form, but about story telling in general.

I’m constantly inspired by the subtle differences that crop up between films and comics. I feel like there’s a slew of obvious ones, like one has sound and the other has lettered words. One moves on a screen and the other is static on the page. But there are subtle differences that I never thought about… and I think addressing these differences is making me a much better writer. Writing comics is a fantastic process and now that I’ve caught the bug, I definitely want to do more. I’m currently working on a bigger ongoing Sci-Fi idea and Scott and I had an idea a while ago that would make for a really awesome comic – a Sci-Fi Thriller.

GCB | Scott (Snyder), you must be really busy, are you really busy? What with AV, AV:SOTF, Detective, the DC reboot, cooking, cleaning, going to the shops (I’m just assuming the last three).

Scott Snyder | You assumed right! We have a newborn, too. Emmett Aaron! Our second son. So yes, I’m very busy but the work is staggered and more than this, it’s work I love. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have this job. I promise never to complain or take it for granted.

GCB | Scott, (Snyder), how much a fan of Sergio Leone movies are you? Will wants to know (a writer on the site) he says American Vampire suggests you are…

SS | Very big fan. I have a poster of Fistful of Dollars in my office

GCB | Scott (Snyder), just one more AV question, do you have plans for any historical period you’re particularly excited about? I’d love to see an issue of AV set at Woodstock…

SS | Right now, I’m working on issues 22-25 for Rafa, which take place in 1955. It’s all death-races and diners and greasers and suburbs… It’s a decade Rafa and I have been dying to get to for a long time. And, we introduce our version Van Helsing: a badass rockabilly (psychobilly) teenager who drives a ’55 hot-rod and has a secret past involving a previous arc. He’s like a teenage Elvis vampire killer. Rafa was sending sketches today – I can’t wait for you all to meet him. He’s a real favorite.

GCB | What inspired you both to get into comics?

SS | I’ve always been a comic fan. My dad used to read them to me when I was a little kid. He’d take me on Wednesdays to Forbidden Planet in Manhattan. He’d send me comics when I was away at camp. All through high school and college. It’s his fault.

ST | Honestly… I am super new to the medium. When Scott started writing them, I started reading them. The past couple years has been all comics. I can’t remember the last time I bought a literary book. The first comic that totally hooked me was THE FILTH. While I had read other comics before that one… this is the one that I will always consider my first. Where I saw that the medium was something to take completely serious as a genuine art and a solid form of entertainment. And since then, not a day goes by without me reading at least a couple comics. But I’ll tell you what’s inspiring me to STAY in comics – it’s a way to tell visual stories and it’s totally uninhibited by anything other than your creativity, the talent of the people you are working with and the tastes of readers.

GCB | Do you have any recommendations for comics we should be reading?

ST | Ongoing – American Vampire, Detective Comics are must reads. (really – they’re great) I also like Sweet Tooth and Chew. I also pick up minis a lot – I like close ended stories.

SS | Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire. Morning Glories by Nick Spencer. Echoes, a gn by Josh Fialkov was something I really liked a ton. There are honestly a lot of book coming in September in DC’S new 52 that I’m really excited about too. Brian Azzarello’s Wonder Woman. Grant Morrison’s Action #1. JT Krul’s Captain Atom. Geoff John and Jim Lee’s Justice League of course. It’s a good time to be a comic reader.

Severed is released on 03/08/2011… which is nice.

Good Comic Books | Could you tell us about Hildafolk first? How would you describe it? What inspired it?

Luke Pearson | Hildafolk is basically a short story about a girl on a brief adventure through the fantastical Scandinavian-esque landscape she lives in. I wanted to create a fantasy world that appealed to my adult self and the child in me, taking inspiration from some of the fantasy worlds that have most affected and inspired me, such as those found in the work of Tove Jansson, Studio Ghibli, His Dark Materials and the tales of Scandinavian Folklore.

I really wanted it to be a good read for kids, without being crammed with the kind of cloying, phony values that are shoe-horned into a lot of the awful guff that kids have to read or watch for fear of outraging parents. I wanted to create a world that’s as creepy as it is cosy, but in a way that’s never too far from safety. The stuff that adults always remember about cartoons they watched when they were kids is the stuff that scared them or that was unintentionally creepy. I think kids really like that stuff but it’s watered down and siphoned out of most of what they get. I realise my readership is mainly adult though and I wanted it to be a good read for them too, by being pretty and weird and hopefully telling a good, adventurous story. I don’t feel like I succeeded or touched on all of my aims, but the intention was always for it to be a world that evolved over a series and this was an introduction/practice run.

GCB | Everything We Miss has a darker tone to Hildafolk, what was the catalyst for writing it, could you give us a short synopsis?

Luke | I was wary of following Hildafolk with another Hildafolk or something similar in tone as I knew I wanted to create adult works as well as more family-friendly stuff. I didn’t want to build a readership of people who might not appreciate me going in a darker direction so it was an intentional move to make sure my first two comics somewhat represented the two different paths I want to move down simultaneously.

It’s hard to give a proper synopsis as it’s only partly narrative. It’s essentially a straight forward break-up story but filtered through the darkly surreal and the ridiculous to make something that I hope has a unique atmosphere to it.

GCB | The preview I’ve seen makes me think it’s a very cathartic experience, presenting moments in a relationship I’m sure many people can relate to, is it drawing from personal experience? And if so, is it hard to show that much of yourself on the page?

Luke | I imagine a lot of people will assume this but it’s not really the case. There is obviously a lot of my personality in it. Everything comes from thoughts or feelings I’ve had at some point, so in that sense it’s truthful and I’m definitely hoping people can relate to it, but it’s not actually drawing from any specific experience or point in my life. I actually imagined the characters as being a good few years older than me. Maybe it’s a pessimistic prediction of the future.

GCB | What was your process for writing and drawing it?

It was a lot looser than some stuff I’ve done. I didn’t sit down and write it from start to finish. I worked out generally what I wanted to happen on each page and fleshed them out just enough in thumbnail form to convince myself it would all work naturally. I then drew it page by page and wrote the dialogue/conceived specific details and imagery as I went. Once I actually began to do the final artwork it was a very intense process and it was done from start to finish in a relatively short period of time.

GCB | And where should people be buying it?

You can buy it online from Nobrow HERE, in various comic shops across the UK soon including Nobrow’s shop at 62 Great Eastern St in London or (if this goes online in time) at one of my signings in Brighton July 16th (sorry, my bad – ED), Leeds July 23rd or Newcastle July 30th (details HERE)

GCB | A lot of your work seems to have a focus on nostalgic memories of childhood, would you agree? Where do you think this comes from?

I feel like there came a point not too long ago, when I stopped moving forward, turned around and I’m now going to spend the rest of my life scrutinising my childhood and bringing to fruition all the half-baked ideas I had as a kid and didn’t have the ability to do then. I’m always trying to tap into the way I thought as a child, it was all raw ideas and optimism and innocence and fun (when it came to drawing anyway, I have always been miserable and no fun). I’m also kind of naturally sorrowful and constantly looking back and worrying about how I could have done things differently, so childhood is basically my mind’s first port of call.

GCB | Why do your comics smell better than all the other comics?

This is due to my publisher Nobrow. They use high quality paper stock and offset printing. All their books look and feel great. And smell.

GCB | Why did you get into comics?… How did you get into comics? And how did you become involved with Nobrow?

I really started properly drawing comics in the last year of my illustration course. I’d always like comics to an extent, but I didn’t really discover indie/art/small press comics until going to university and that sparked it off. I hadn’t really done too much when I submitted an illustration to Nobrow’s ‘People I’ve Never Met’ competition and they asked me about doing something for their 17×23 series (which became Hildafolk). I’ve just kept doing them since then.

GCB | What are you working on at the moment?

Right now I’m working on the first book in a series of bande dessinee style Hildafolk books called ‘Hilda and The Midnight Giant’ which will be out in November.

GCB | What would you have us read?

I would recommend checking out all the Nobrow folk, Nick Edwards, Louis Roskosch and Philippa Rice.

GCB | Where can the people find your work?

You can find all my work HERE. If you click on the comics button at the top you can get a fairly comprehensive run down of every comic I’ve drawn and where you can read and/or buy it.

Thanks Luke! Nice one.

GCB

Good Comic Books | How did you originally come to work on Hellboy with Mike Mignola?

Duncan Fegredo | Scott Allie emailed me in November of 2005, the email just asked “is it a good time to talk?” We’d talked about a bunch of stuff in the past that had come to nothing, oddly enough that included a Lobster Johnson series. Anyway, Scott duly calls a few minutes after I respond and asks if I’d like to draw Hellboy. It was that simple. Except I was already drawing a book for Vertigo, and Dark Horse wanted a big commitment from me… I think it came down to, if I couldn’t do the first series they wanted me to commit to the second and third. I didn’t like the idea of somebody coming in before me so that meant committing to all of it and on top of that, I had to extricate myself from the Vertigo book. I felt bad as I really didn’t want to piss anybody off…. but it was HELLBOY! I think all wounds have healed now, I hope so.

GCB | What is it like working with him? Does he have specific guidelines that you work with to draw Hellboy and the wider universe? How does it work?

Duncan | I get a script, read it, Mike calls and we talk through the beats. I draw layouts, send them to Mike and Scott, I get notes back suggesting/requesting tweaks. All the reference points either already exist in Mike’s work or he may send reference. Other times I’ll do sketches from his descriptions, and we send them back and forth. If I’m not getting it then Mike will often do sketches as well. That happens on page layouts at times, Mike is a writer who scripts in images and sometimes I can tell he has a very specific layout in mind that words don’t quite convey. We may go back and forth several times until a solution is reached, if that doesn’t work Mike will do a thumbnail. What’s nice is that Mike’s solution will take on board stuff I’ve contributed, best of both worlds.

GCB | Like Rocky Balboa trains for a fight, do you have a workout to keep your drawing muscles strong and stuff? If not, John Paul wants you to make one for him…

Duncan | I used to draw in my sketchbook first thing each day, silly nonsensical stuff. I’d sketch whilst lounging in front of the television as well, I think all that used to help. Now, not so much, which is a shame, I need to get back to it. I always recommend drawing in coffee shops, quick studies of random people doing random things. It’s the sort of thing that helps populate the backgrounds of comics, learn a vocabulary of normal gestures that can ground your artwork in reality.

GCB | Hellboy in the little blue hire car in The Storm is my favourite Hellboy moment, is it a challenge to capture those subtle moments and expressions that you do so brilliantly? Or does it come as naturally as having him punch something monstrous in the face?

Duncan | I guess I just answered this one, I actually find those little moments easier than the big stuff! I suppose a lot of the work I did in the past for Vertigo inform these soap opera moments. I remember that Mike’s one concern about that scene was that I didn’t play up the humour of Hellboy being too big for the car, to keep it natural. Not easy for a big red guy with horns and a tail!

GCB | Just exactly how furious will The Fury be? Is it as monumentous as we’ve come to imagine? Can you tell us as much as possible without spoiling anything?

Duncan | Big fury. I really don’t want to say any more, comics and movies are ruined before we ever see them, I won’t be the one to ruin this one! I will say I just received the colours for the last issue from Dave Stewart, it’s just fantastic. Bearing in mind I drew it and knew what was coming, I still found myself being surprised, blown away with the difference. Normally I just wince when I look at my work, Dave saves me from that, has done so many times previously come to think! I’ll leave it at that.

GCB | What’s the deal with those weird aliens that have been hinted at since Hellboy started, will we ever find out more about them?

Duncan | Not a clue, you’ll have to ask Mike.

GCB | Now red’s re-joining the B.P.R.D, will there still be seperate series, or will they all be thrown together in one?

Duncan | I believe that’s still in discussion, plans for both.

GCB | What can we expect from Hellboy after the conclusion of The Fury, will you still be working on it?

We can look forward to Mike’s art on the main storyline, so like Richard Corben I’ll be doing one-shot Hellboy books, we’ve discussed a few possibilities already. I’ll also be doing some covers.

GCB | Does that free up a significant amount of time for you? Can we expect you to fill it up on anything in particular?

Duncan | Although I’ll be doing one shots, we’re talking about 50 or so pages each, so whilst the pressure will be off regarding schedules, I still need to work! So it’s more a case of restructuring my time than free time. It does allow me to slot in covers and a bit of painting time too, I hope. Maybe a little more Halo online, I don’t get my ass kicked often enough!

GCB | That’s gold! We might get a bunch of requests for your gamertag, if you’re as awful as me then that’d definitely be news! Do you have any solo projects in the pipeline?

Duncan | Not as yet, but it’s a possibility down the line.

GCB | So, here’s a stock question… What or who, has had the biggest influence on your art? And what inspired you to pursue a career in comics in the first place?

I always wanted to be an artist, it started with Disney when I was about 6/7, then Marvel books when they were published as Power comics before the launch of Mighty World of Marvel in 1974, I was 10 then. Then all the outrageous stuff in 2000AD, amazing art. Star Wars was the icing on the cake, I was obsessed with that film for years. I’m not naming artists as there are so many and I know I’ll miss people. It all had and continues to have an effect on me, I’m moved by art and movies and I have a desire to make work that similarly moves the reader.

GCB | And another… What comics are you reading / would recommend (if any) at the moment?

Duncan | I don’t actually read so much stuff so I’m sure I’m missing loads… Well, all the Hellboy offshoots, obviously. BPRD is a great book, I adored Guy Davis’s work and he’ll be sorely missed. I’m sure Tyler Crook will do a grand job though. I loved Joe The Barbarian, Grant’s story was a lot of fun and Sean Murphy’s art was astonishingly good, I was driven to send fan mail! What else? I really enjoy David Peterson’s Mouse Guard, in fact I did a pinup for his Tales of the Black Axe, that was a lot of fun to do. Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, I’ve known Sean as long as I’ve been drawing comics and he’d be annoyed if he didn’t get a mention! But I’d mention Criminal anyway, great stories and some of Sean’s best work ever. I’m still enjoying Walking Dead although I’m way behind as Charlie will point out… I’m afraid to read it as I know my favourite characters are all moments away from gruesome ends, and Charlie is all too happy to make there ends as bad as he can, good work there Adlard! I’m sure I’m missing stuff but I’ll end with Roger Lagridge and Chris Samnees run on Thor, so much fun to read and a joy to look at. Cut down in it’s prime.

GCB | Thanks! That was sch-WEET.

Go buy The Fury! It looks awesome sauce.

I didn’t want to wait till the April release date to find out more, so GCB got in touch with the series creator, writer/artist Nate Simpson, and we had a Q&A session… which was nice.

First though, here’s a preview that’ll make you every bit as excited as us:

How long have you had the ideas for Nonplayer?

The weird thing about Nonplayer was how spontaneously the whole thing manifested. I think there’d been a lot of back-pressure built up over the fifteen years I’d been working on the previous space opera idea. There was just this huge release of tension when I put that aside, and Nonplayer came flooding in. In fact, most of it came together while I was on the toilet. I burst out of the bathroom babbling to my wife about fantasy creatures and dystopian cityscapes, and I’m sure the whole thing was very confusing for her. She’s a patient woman.

Is it tough both writing and drawing? What’s your process?

The whole thing is incredibly difficult for me. I’ve got some drawing experience from working in games, but the process of making a series of intelligible panels that tells a story requires a whole new toolbox. But as hard as that is, the writing is particularly challenging. I’ve been reading a lot of books on story and screenwriting, and I’ve been grappling with dialogue, especially. I’ve gotten some harsh critiques in that area, so I’m pretty revision-crazy when it comes to character dialogue. I can’t say I’m thrilled with it at the moment, but I hope I’ve gotten it to a place where it’s fairly unobtrusive.

My process starts out with a conventional, movie-style script that I break down into page-chunks. Then I do some very rough sketches over a couple of days, just to get a sense of what my characters and settings look like (but not too detailed, because I want to preserve some of that thrill of discovery for the final drawings, themselves). Everything from then on happens in my computer. I draw and color all the artwork in Photoshop using a Wacom Cintiq tablet monitor, which lets me save and revise artwork without worrying about irreversibly damaging the original page.

What or who has had the biggest influence on your art and writing?

My Big Four influences are Moebius, Geof Darrow, William Stout, and Arthur Rackham. I came across all four artists in my very early teens, and I’ve worshiped them ever since. Stout’s creatures and landscapes are marvels of balance and organic flow, and his dinosaurs in particular were responsible for my spending my first three years of college pursuing a career in paleontology. Rackham’s trees and fantasy characters are not just beautiful, they’re haunting. Geof Darrow’s work on Hard Boiled completely blew away my idea of what a comic could be — it’s still one of the greatest achievements in the history of comics, in my opinion. And Moebius is the total package — just a gargantuan imagination spewing out whole universes by the dozen. And the man can draw. And his color is juicy. I love juicy color.

As far as my writing — I’d be disrespecting real authors by implying I’ve got any direct stylistic influences. But certainly Tolkien has been a huge inspiration, and the writings of Vernor Vinge have opened my eyes to new possibilities in science fiction. Tonally, I think movies like The Children of Men and The Thin Red Line have had an effect on the way I think about story. And I really love the way Dan Akryod implied that vast Lovecraftian mythology behind Ghostbusters. It’s so great, how with just a few strategically-placed non sequiturs about “Gozer” and “a great and moving Tor,” you get this feeling that there’s some Very Scary Shit lurking on the other side of the veil.

How do you keep yourself disciplined to write/draw? Are you ever prone to procrastination or do you get to work easily?

I did the first half of the first issue at home, which was easy enough because my wife didn’t have a job and having her lurking around the house kept me pretty honest. But as soon as she went off to work, I started slipping. Eventually, I ended up renting a studio with a few other artists, and it’s a good half-hour bike ride from my house. Having to wake up at a certain time and commute somewhere has helped me to build up a routine. Now if I’m not out of the house by eight, I start to feel anxious. Habits are powerful things!

What current series’ of (comic) books are you reading/would recommend (if any )?

I’m sort of the Rip van Winkle of comics. I read them religiously up to about 1993, and then didn’t read anything except Hellboy until last year. So in my brain, Jim Lee is still drawing X-Men and Todd McFarlane has just started his new Spider Man book. And Appleseed was the last manga ever drawn. But since I’ve fallen back into comics, I’ve been gobbling up as much as I can. I think my favorite right now is Yotsuba, by Kiyohiko Azuma. I love that book. I’m also really excited about some of the creator-owned stuff that’s been coming out lately — King City, by Brandon Graham, and Orc Stain, by James Stokoe are both great examples of imaginations off the leash. I’m enjoying BPRD, too. If anybody wants to recommend some new comics to me, I’m all ears.

Thanks Nate!

Nonplayer is out on April 6, 2011 from Image Comics.

Joe Innes.