Interviews: Liam Johnson on ‘Getting Devlin and Armitage to shut up,’ for the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special
9th July 2021
This summer, the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special takes a Zarjaz trip around the world of Dredd – with a stellar line-up of creators bringing us tales featuring Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson, Cursed Earth Koburn, Chopper, Armitage, Devlin Waugh, and Judge Inaba – all in one big, Earth-threatening mystery!
Planned by Tharg (Matt Smith) with writers Michael Carroll and Maura McHugh plotting out the overall arc and writing framing chapters, this is a Sci-Fi Special that’s very special indeed!
Richard Bruton sat down with Liam Johnson, writer of the Sci-Fi Special strip Armitage: Natural Fern Killer, featuring the dandiest, vampiest Devlin Waugh to chat all things Brit Cit, global threats, writing in a pandemic, and trying to get two classic characters to shut up!
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Liam, good to speak to you again. It’s been something of a rollercoaster couple of years since your 2019 win at the annual 2000 AD writer and artist talent search at the Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival.
I can bet nothing you could imagine writing would have matched just how the world was going to go to hell in the couple of years since that win!
LIAM JOHNSON: It’s great speaking to you too, Richard. Ironically enough, I quit my job in March 2020 to give this being a writer thing a proper go. Good timing, eh? Hopefully, now there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, we can all get back to some level of normality. Not physically going to Thought Bubble last year was really strange. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t attend and I really want to get back there.
In the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special this year, things are a bit different, with an overarching storyline tying everything together. Your strip is Armitage: Natural Fern Killer, featuring not one but two iconic Brit Cit characters in Armitage and Devlin Waugh.
Without giving too much away of the bigger story involved, what can we look forward to in Natural Fern Killer?
LJ: Natural Fern Killer is at its core a Brit Cit buddy cop story. Armitage, now very much feeling his age, is forced into teaming up with Devlin Waugh to try solve a series of murders throughout Brit Cit. How does that tie-in to the larger story? Well, buy the book and find out!
And the title? Top punning!
LJ: I think I’ve received more praise for that title than anything else I’ve written. Ha! I’m glad it’s gone down so well. Titles are a weird one. It can take you 3 seconds or 3 months to come up with the perfect title.
I imagine it was plenty of fun dipping into the decadent world of Armitage and Devlin and playing with the fun dynamic between two of Brit Cit’s finest characters?
LJ: Honestly, the hardest part of writing this strip was getting Devlin and Armitage to shut up. I could’ve easily written a whole epic-length tale of them just locked in a room. The characters couldn’t be more opposite and that’s why their chemistry is so perfect.
My one wish for the strip, besides obviously people enjoying it, is that it leads to more stories with the two working as a team. Even if I don’t get to write them, I want to read them.
It’s something of a strange situation to be writing these stories, as they’re all feeding into the overarching storyline that’s being masterminded by Mike Carroll and Maura McHugh – how did you go about writing your part of the Sci-Fi Special?
LJ: I really loved the collaboration aspect of working on the Sci-Fi Special. I describe myself as having two parallel careers, in that, besides writing comics, I also write for television. In television, Writers Rooms are the norm. Throwing out ideas, breaking story, coming up with fixes – I live for that stuff. Getting to do that with Maura and Mike was really fantastic. I’ll admit it was intimidating to begin, saying those two know what they’re doing is a massive understatement, but they couldn’t have been more generous, helpful and gracious. I’d like to see more of this type of collaboration. I think it only leads to better stories.
What sort of instructions came down from on high from Matt (Smith), Maura, and Mike?
LJ: We got given an overall plot with the Sci-Fi Special. The sections Mike and Maura went on to script were more fleshed out to establish the sense of “This is where we’re starting and this is where we need to end.” Then they provided us with suggested plots that highlighted the particular beats we needed to hit for everything to come together. From that point, we had a big video meeting, where we were welcomed to throw out our own ideas and suggestions. There were no egos in the room. I was very much the new kid in the class but everyone, including Karl Stock and David Baille, where so welcoming and friendly.
Was there plenty of space in the brief to tell the story you wanted, whilst still contributing to the overall storyline?
LJ: While Maura and Mike had provided us with the blueprint, they encouraged us to make our stories our own. I can’t speak for everyone else but I never felt constricted. Personally, I enjoy working with a set of guidelines. When someone says to me “Do anything you want”, that’s a little too freeing. I like to know what the boundaries are so I can push against them. Later, we were provided with notes on our scripts, which we are all massively constructive but, like all good edits, while problems were pointed out, we were encouraged to come up with our own solves and fixes. The only way it could’ve been a more positive experience is if I’d had the chance to meet everyone in person and thank them.
One of the wonderful things about the Sci-Fi Special is seeing the talent involved, with the new breed of writers and artists mixing it up with some classic names. And there’s none more classic than the artist on Armitage here – the legendary Robin Smith, one of Tharg’s early art droids, later to go on and co-create The Bogie Man with John Wagner and Alan Grant.
What was it like hearing you were writing for Robin?
LJ: It was an absolute dream. I’d literally just been reading some of Robin’s old Progs when the email came through and I couldn’t have been happier. It’s been a while since Robin’s been in the Prog but he hasn’t missed a beat. I really hope we get to work together again someday.
Have you had a chance to see the finished strip yet?
LJ: I haven’t seen it lettered and coloured yet, but the artwork blew me away. The best part of making comics is seeing the magic the artist or art team produce. There really isn’t a better feeling. It’s like Christmas morning but it can happen out of the blue at any time. I’ve been privileged to work with nothing but amazing artists at 2000 AD, colourers and letterers too, so I have no reason to doubt the finished product won’t be outstanding as always.
Since winning the Thought Bubble competition, you’ve seen the publication of your and fellow winner, artist Robin Henley’s Future Shock, A.I. Love You (Prog 2182), a second Future Shock in Prog 2197, Stream M For Murder, Venus Bluegenes in the Regened Prog 2206, and Cadet Dredd in Regened Prog 2233.
Looking back on your last couple of years, how’s it been for you?
LJ: I’d wanted to write comics, and specifically for 2000 AD, for years and years. It still doesn’t feel real, I think partly because of these last 18 months. Only A.I. Love You was written pre-pandemic so I’m looking forward to soon writing a strip while not surrounded by a global sense of dread (no pun intended). As a side note, purely a reader, can I applaud 2000 AD and Matt Smith especially, for not missing a beat this whole time? They provided some much-required escapism for us all.
I couldn’t be more grateful that Matt’s invited me to write for the Prog several times more now. And I’d like to thank the readers too. Without their kind words and encouragement, I wouldn’t have had those chances. I hope to get to do more but if, for whatever reason, that doesn’t happen, the experience has been everything I wanted it to be and more.
What have we got to look forward to from you in the future?
LJ: I’m thrilled to say that I’ve been invited back to write another Cadet Dredd strip. I had so much fun writing Joe and Rico last time, it’s great to be able to do it all again. I really love the Regened format, it’s such a great space to play in.
Besides that, I’ve got some short comics popping up at other publishers over the next six months or so. A mini-series I wrote years ago, called Missing Persons, is finally seeing print in August. Though I’m not sure of the audience crossover, I’ve got several episodes of Emmerdale, due to air later in the year.
And, now that I feel like I’ve found my feet as a writer, expect to see some creator-owned work from me down the line.
Thanks to Liam for taking the time – you can find him at his website, on Twitter… and chained to his desk writing!
You can find the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special at your local newsagent, local comic shop, and, of course, at the 2000 AD web shop from 7 July.
For even more on the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special, you’ll be able to see more interviews over the coming week, plus we chat to Neil Roberts about putting together that great cover in this Covers Uncovered feature. And for more from Liam Johnson and his 2019 Thought Bubble/2000 AD win, check out our interview with Liam and Robin Healey.