INTERVIEW: Aleš Kot on Devlin Waugh
17th December 2019
Judge Dredd Megazine 415 is out this week and the ultra-stylish, ever fashionable vamp exorcist Devlin Waugh returns in a new series from Aleš Kot and Mike Dowling!
Created by John Smith and Sean Phillips, Devlin Waugh is the premier exorcist troubleshooter and paranormal investigator for the Vatican. Ever the bon vivant, even becoming a vampire hasn’t hindered his pursuit of decadance and sensuality.
Last time we joined him for another fabulous adventure (in Megazine #400), he’d trapped the spirit of the demon Titivillus in a dildo. Yep, you did read that right.
Now, he’s back in ‘A Very Large Splash’, written and drawn once more by Aleš Kot and Mike Dowling. Richard Bruton sat down to talk about everyone’s favourite fop, debonair dandy, and voluptuary vamp with Aleš.
Devlin Waugh: A Very Large Splash begins in Megazine 415, the second time the pair of you have played with everyone’s favourite vampire dandy. So what’s it all about?
Aleš Kot: Well…
1) Re-read Swimming in Blood very carefully, please!
2) The party is ON, the future is BAD, the knives are OUT.
3) I say no more!
How many parts to A Very Large Splash?
AK: Six, if I remember correctly? Six or seven. Definitely not eight!
Aleš, your first piece of deliciously diabolical Devlin came with the one-off ‘Call Me By Thy Name’ in Megazine #400. You said at the time that this was a one-off, but it’s not a one-off, implying that you had plenty more planned for Devlin: ‘questions and riddles shall be answered, but some of the doors they open shall be walked through again, in the future’. So, is this the future you were talking about? And can we expect to see more of the same fabulously over the top action that we saw before, where we glimpsed orgies and a demon trapped inside a dildo?
AK: Very much the future we talked about, yes. More orgies, more demons. The same ol’ demon dildo. But let’s just say that there’s an unconventional friendship brewing… and Devlin’s past is on a collision course with it.
He’s a unique character, more popular than Dredd at times, despite very few appearances. In fact, I’d argue that the appeal of Devlin is that he really is the opposite of Dredd in all ways, both character and how often we see him. He’s the delicious filet mignon to be enjoyed occasionally, with a good bottle of Veuve, as opposed to Dredd’s everyday steak and a beer – or something like that. Is it this mix of a fabulous character and a relative lack of back story that makes him so much fun for you both?
AK: I actually think Devlin has a massive back story as a character, it’s just we don’t have that many stories about him! But as a character, his broad characteristics and previous experiences create a really strong backbone, and that’s the thing that attracted me the most. He’s very fun… but there’s also a sense that he never takes things seriously in a way that points towards something much more complex and potentially painful, and I wanted to dig into that while maintaining the external characteristics. What’s the difference between the Devlin he allows us to see and the Devlin that’s inside? That’s something I’m very interested in exploring.
As for the future, will you be back for more outrageously over the top adventures from everyone’s favourite louche vampiric dandy with a big gun?
AK: Already working on it!
Devlin Waugh: A Very Large Splash begins in Judge Dredd Megazine Issue 415, out on 18 December.
You can catch up with Devlin’s past exploits in the graphic novels Swimming in Blood and Red Tide. And another date for your diaries… the next Devlin Waugh collection, Blood Debt, featuring the more recent tales by Ales Kot, Rory McConville, and Mike Dowling will be released in July 2020!