Tag: interview

Lawless returns in Judge Dredd Megazine #415 – out on 18th December!

Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade take us back to Badrock in ‘Boom Town’, where Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson IS the law.

But things have changed, with the events of ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (Megazine 400-409) transforming everything and everybody. Badrock is now the Free Town of Badrock, an incorporated free trade settlement zone, something totally new, totally different. We’re into unknown territory with Lawless, but then again… weren’t we always?

So with the beginning of ‘Boom Town’ in the new Megazine, Richard Bruton chatted with Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade about just where things are going in Lawless…

Now, after the events of ‘Ashes to Ashes’, things in Marshal Lawson’s world on Badrock and things affecting the Justice Department when it comes to Badrock have changed dramatically. Can you bring readers up to date with things and give us some idea of where you’ll be taking us in this new series?

Dan Abnett: The town of Badrock was established as a ‘service town’ for the mines and corporate developments of Munce Inc. Having survived Munce’s efforts to wipe them off the map, the people of Badrock have won an experimental ‘free trade’ status to help them stand on their own two feet. Lawson is driving that initiative, but it means she has to play by the book a little more and abide by the Justice Department terms and rules. It could be a new ‘lawful’ era for Lawless, which doesn’t quite suit Metta.

So the strip is shifting from ‘frontier survival’ to a new era of growth and stability. Which sounds lovely for the people of Badrock and as dull as ditchwater to for the readers.

But don’t worry… with new characters, the return of some old ones, new problems, and new threats – it will combine to keep things lively and “lawless”.

Again, the title of this one harks back to Westerns, the idea of the Boom Town of gold rushes and the like.

DA: It IS a western, and Phil and I are gleefully and shamelessly exploiting all the western tropes. Though not large scale like the “Alamo” warfare of the Munce fight, this first story may be the most brutal yet, in terms of violence and personal trauma.

Are we going to see major changes in the way Lawson has to deal with things now that she’s distinctly higher profile and under the watchful eye of the SJS and Justice Department?

DA: Some of the main new characters are the SJS watchdogs placed in town to oversee Lawson’s handling of the new status quo. There’s going to be some interpersonal conflict. And though several of the main storylines have come to an end, there are still some ongoing threads. Lawless is a bit of a soap opera, in many ways, and right from the off, all our series leads (Metta, Pettifer, Roy, Rondo, Hetch etc) get interweaving storylines of their own. There’s a lot going on, and some of them are going to go to some surprising, not to say shocking, places.

And whilst we’re talking about the SJS team that have been foisted on Lawson, it strikes me that there’s comedy gold in Lawson’s relationships with these SJS intruders, some of which we’ve already seen.

DA: Indeed. There’s Drury, who seems pretty ‘nice’ for an SJS guy (and he’s a bit of a hunk), and there’s the brittle and severe McLure (BTW – those character names are no accident, as any fan of The Virginian will notice). I am particularly enjoying the Lawson/McLure dynamic.

And the comedy is something that’s always featured throughout Lawless, something that comes out of the characters you’ve fleshed out so well.

DA: For a brutal story, there’s a lot of character comedy. I think it’s vital, otherwise everything gets too grim. But the humour comes from the personalities – and, hopefully, just sometimes from the vernacular. Some of the lines that people say seem to me to be funny not because they’re inherently funny, but because of the way they’re phrased. Each character (including new ones like Tony Dancer) have their own ‘voice’. Humour is an antidote to the bleakness. And there will be some bleakness.

Phil Winslade: And some gunfights!

Oh, yes, the gunfights!

There’s a real sense of the different in Lawless, that sense of collaboration and understanding that’s all through the saga. That idea that this community of humans, meks, uplifts, and mutants have found a way to work and live together, all of it brought about by the different attitude and approach of Lawson.

DA: We’ve always wanted to capture that sense of the immigrant community, very much based on the Old West model – different communities, different ‘ethnicities’, pulling together, each with their own specialisms, and some of them biased against others. Lawson is (for a judge) very much a supporter of equality and things here are somewhat an extension of themes begun back in Insurrection.

It is, I suppose, the cliché of the American ‘melting pot’, that can produce greatness but which can also manufacture prejudice and inequality as a by-product.

PW: I think we both saw more possibilities in quite complex dynamics. Dan’s really good at interweaving emotional or character plotlines, where the layers provoke ideas and interesting twists along with a real emotional punch. (It’s sometimes taken me by surprise when I’m reading the scripts or drawing it.)

We’ve talked of this before, but it bears repeating, the way that Lawless has always been a strip not just featuring strong female characters but one where they drive the story.

DA: I’m glad about that. We don’t plan it that way, but it’s nice to apply it in hindsight and see that we passed.  Right from the start, the characters were just the characters. I didn’t sit down and decide to make the main leads strong female characters.  Actually, that sounds dangerously like a white cis-gender male saying, ‘I don’t really see colour/orientation’, which is a bullshit response.  What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t pursue a consciously ‘woke’ (ugh) agenda. I just came up with some characters and a storyline, and the story went where it went, and the characters were strong enough to react the way they were going to.

I think there’s every reason, in this day and age, for all writers to be more positively discriminating, but there’s a danger when that’s done deliberately of make it seem forced or artificially diverse.

I love Metta, and I adore Nerys. It never occurred to me that they would be anything other than they are. When, long after the strip’s debut, it was pointed out that it was a story lead by strong female characters, I saw what we’d done. And now I’m fully aware that I’m sound smug on top of everything else, so I’ll shut up.

PW: I’ve had the good fortune to work on really good female characters and find myself drawn more to them than anything else. Some artists are really into the grim and gritty or super guys or cheesecake but I’ve always found that stories with strong female leads appeal because of the emotional complexity, nuance and subtlety they can bring, as well as a different kind of strength.

In ‘Ashes to Ashes’, you finally had Lawson come clean to Nerys (of sorts) about the connection between Lawless and Insurrection, between Lawson and Freely. It established, in stone, that connection that was always hinted, glimpsed, there for readers who caught it.

DA: Yes, it’s always been there. I’ve never thought that people should have to read Insurrection first: they are separate entities. But the connections are there to be enjoyed for those who are aware. It’s time to pay that off, or the resonance is meaningless. And so, we’re about to.

Now, let’s talk about one of the big draws of Lawless; the glorious and different look to the art with Phil’s black and white style really making this a strip that stands out.

DA: Phil’s work is, and always has been, mind-blowingly good; the character work, the insane detail, the storytelling. It’s a proper honour to work with him and to develop a long and satisfying run on something with him. We have a rapport (I hope) and pass ideas back and forth, and they evolve. To be honest, I just do what I do – Phil’s the main draw. His work is the reason to follow this strip.

PW: Aw shucks (blushes) – I get really excited every time a new script is due, I cannot wait to read the next part and find out what’s happening to the characters who I see as friends (I certainly spend more time with them than anyone else in my life). It’s the characters that make this strip and Dan’s the lucky guy who hears their voices.

Dan, you work with artists using lush colour schemes, such as Mark Harrison on Grey Area and INJ Culbard on Brink, but you’ve also been involved with two great black and white series in Insurrection, with Colin MacNeil, and Lawless with Phil.

DA: I could myself very lucky to have built ongoing partnerships with such talented artists. As I said, I feel a real rapport with Phil, and I do with Ian and Mark too, but those rapports are all very different. Each collaboration is distinct, and works in a different way, and allows stories to grow individually. Grey Area, Brink and Lawless couldn’t be more different, really. I’m kinda delighted when people express surprise that, say, Brink is written by the same writer as Lawless.

What is it that determines the decision to go bold colour or equally bold black and white?

DA: Publication budget! To be fair, I’ve always loved black and white graphic strips. Buscema and Alcala on Conan is an all-time fave. But Phil’s work doesn’t need colour – it’s there intuitively. I think colour might even spoil the art or diminish his work. Lawless has the perfect look, and it’s the finest showcase of Phil’s work and visual effect I can think of.

PW: I KNOW there are things you can do in black and white and just line work you can’t in colour. I’m still discovering most of it, that’s what’s really fascinating and keeping me on the edge of competence. I learn from every page and see opportunities to constantly evolve, improve and create. One of the great things about a long strip is the chance to take creative risks, play with texture and light, character, mood and tone. Sometimes it’s tricky as you end up in a sort of no man’s land where you feel so far from what comic art is expected to be these days you struggle with confidence but then what I’m doing is hardly as radical as Mike McMahon or Kev O’Neil.

And Phil, if you wouldn’t mind taking us through what your process is for Lawless now, and has it changed much since you first started the strip?

PW: Well I’m annoyingly old school, the drawbacks of digital outweigh the myriad advantages for me – the main being the physical presence of the art. So I read the script a few times and break it down (roughly working out the shape of the layout, which are the bigger panels, etc.) I draw these as 10cm by 8cm thumbnails (it stops you getting too fussy with details), Then I transfer those by eye to an A4 sheet to look at body language and storytelling flow, then roughly make those more refined (usually by way of a lightbox), this is mainly characters, faces, indications of backgrounds etc. Then I put those on a lightbox and ink them (I don’t like erasing out on inks as the ink fades and I can see the inks as they form and can be sure the weights are right (well as right as I make them). I like there to be some drawing in the inks as tracing is boring and loses the spontaneity of line I like. I have done layouts on a few episodes digitally but found that I over-fussed and spent too long on them.

Nothing much has changed in the process since I started but each new episode evokes creative ideas to build on what’s gone before and explore from that to achieve the mood or feeling I get from the script. Sometimes it’s in the finish or the layouts or the character work. It’s very intuitive.

We’ve seen Lawless go through a fair few changes and just as we thought we knew where it was going, you threw us a fake and switched it around to bring us right where we are now, with a whole new set of rules alongside the old ones. It’s a big, bold new future for Lawless… but is this a brand-new direction or the beginning of the end of the saga? Just how many more tales do you have with Lawless?

DA: Right now? A lot!

Phil and I are so happy producing it, we don’t see an ending soon. It’s about the most fun either of us have ever had in comics, and the creative freedom of the long-form is wonderful. To my mind, we’ll stop the day we run out of ideas. When it feels like we’re just doing it for the sake of doing it, and forcing stories, or scraping barrels, then we might step back. I hope that’s not any time soon, and I don’t think it is.

PW: Agreed! I’m working with the best writer on the best strip with the best characters for the best publishers and the best, most supportive readership so as much more of this as they allow, please!

Thank you to both Dan and Phil for their answers and you can find the brand new Lawless series, Boom Town, in Judge Dredd Megazine issue 415 and you can catch up with the Lawless saga with the collections; Welcome to Badrock and Long-Range War.

Judge Dredd Megazine #409 is out now with the debut of a brand new series – Diamond Dogs!

Written by Skip Tracer’s James Peaty and drawn by Warren Pleece, artist on Dandridge and Second City Blues, the series is set in the underbelly of Brit-Cit and focuses on Nia, a Brit-Cit girl who’s part of the Diamond Dogs, a street gang with ideas of expansion.

Nia’s caught up in more trouble than she knows how to get out of in a world that’s part-Clockwork Orange and part-Quadrophenia with a touch of old skool hip hop and New Romantic Blitz kid chic!

Richard Bruton caught up with Peaty and Pleece to talk about the latest Dreddworld series for their Megazine…

Diamond Dogs begins in the Judge Dredd Megazine #409 – can you give us some idea of what to expect from the strip?

James Peaty: Diamond Dogs is the story of Nia Jones, a young woman living in the Nu East End of Brit-Cit. But Nia’s no ordinary citizen. She’s got a dangerous double life as both member of a street gang, the titular Diamond Dogs, and also as an informer for an undercover street Judge. When we meet Nia she’s been in this situation for a couple of years and she’s at something of a crossroads. With the Diamond Dogs rising up the criminal food chain and her handler, Judge Magellan, pressing her for even more information, Nia can’t see a way out of her predicament. That is until an old friend reappears out of the blue with a possible way for Nia to escape Brit-Cit forever. Unlike my series for the Prog, Skip Tracer, I’d say Diamond Dogs is less of an action adventure strip and more of a character led thriller, which seems in keeping with The Megazine.

So, is it that classic idea of a youngster who’s found her way into crime and then finds herself beholden to the cops? Is that the sort of vibe we’ll be seeing in Diamond Dogs?

JP: Actually, it’s the other way round.She’s running with the gang because of her connection to the Judges. Why is that the case? Well, you’ll have to read the story and find out.

I’m assuming that the title, Diamond Dogs, refers to the Bowie song? Are you both fans?

JP: Yeah, I’m a fan. Who isn’t?

WP: Maybe not a fan in the true sense… an admirer, definitely. You can’t underestimate his importance to modern music.

Is it something that has any more connotations for the strip than just being a very cool name for the street gang?

JP: Well, it IS a cool name. Let’s not pretend otherwise! It’s why Bowie went for it himself. But yeah, the connotations do go deeper than that. The Diamond Dogs album (and the track itself), sort of fuse Bowie’s Orwell/1984 obsession with his love of A Clockwork Orange and that was very much at the front of my thinking when I was putting the series together. The influence of the Kubrick film on both Bowie and the early punk era always feels of a piece with the birth of 2000 AD, so in my head Brit-Cit is very much a part of that. There’s a lot of London pop, punk and post-punk culture peppered throughout the series. And I’m from London –specifically East London – so that all filters in too.

How would you describe the character of Nia in the strip? Is she going to be joining the growing group of wonderful female characters of 2000 AD?

JP: Well, one would hope she joins that group! That’d be great. How would I describe Nia? I’d say she’s clever, tough, honourable, but also desperate. She’s very much trapped as the strip opens. How she tries to change those circumstances forms the spine of this initial story.

When it came to Skip Tracer, the world was yours to develop and create, alongside Paul Marshall. But, here with Diamond Dogs, you’re working within not just an existing world but an existing city. How does this affect the way you write/design a new series?

JP: It’s different from Skip Tracer as you’re dealing with a pre-existing world that builds upon our world. It’s easier than Skip Tracer in a sense as that’s set in outer space hundreds of years in the future, so you have a blank piece of paper and have to define the rules of that world yourself. With this you don’t have to do that, but at the same time you have to be consistent with what’s come before and yet still try to be surprising. They’re both tricky to be honest. World building is probably the most important part of science fiction and fantasy storytelling as the world defines both character and story. So the world absolutely affects the way you approach the story. A Diamond Dogs story is different to a Skip Tracer story, which is different to a Nemesis story or a Sinister Dexter story. All of them grow from the world.

Over the years, we’ve had so many tales from Mega-City One, but Brit-Cit is a (relatively) unknown/unrealised part of the world. Most recently we’ve seen Tom Palmer and James Broxton’s version of Brit-Cit in Storm Warning, where the scenery was definitely more down at heel and old fashioned than that of MC-1. How do you see your take on Brit-Cit? What makes it different and interesting?

Warren Pleece: I’ve played up a ’70s brutalist feel for the background architecture in the Nu East End, just occasionally glimpsing a slightly shinier Brit-Cit, faded in the background.

JP: I think Jimmy and Tom’s work on Storm Warning has been great, but this is a very different strip to that series. We’re trying to portray a slightly more grounded version of Brit Cit than perhaps those strips have attempted.

James, when you say this Brit Cit will be a little more grounded – is it that Diamond Dogs is set more from the level of the cits on the ground, with the Judges looking down from on high?

JP: That’s right. In fact, the Judges barely feature in the story. They’re glimpsed and Judge Magellan (Nia’s handler) is an important character, but this is primarily a story about the citizens of Brit-Cit – and specifically the Nu East End – trying to survive and live their lives in the shadow of the Judges.

Warren, it’s been a while since you’ve graced the pages of the Prog. Am I right in thinking Dandridge was the last time?

WP: Probably!

So, what is it that brings you back?

WP: Working with James again; we worked on a 13th Doctor episode for Titan’s Doctor Who series and that was a lot of fun. Also, any chance to work on something new and different for 2000 AD or the Megazine. It’s the first time I’ve drawn something in the Dreddverse, so that’s a big factor too.

When it comes to something like this, working in the lesser known environs of Brit-Cit and with a completely new set of characters, how have you gone about the design process for both Nia, the Diamond Dogs, and Brit-Cit itself, as I’d imagine the city plays a role here just as it does over in Dredd?

WP: James gave me a lot of pointers towards ’60s, ’70s and ’80s UK pop culture for the gangs, everything from A Clockwork Orange, Quadrophenia, old skool hip hop and a touch of New Romantic Blitz kid chic for Nia’s gang.

What sort of design cues are you working from when it comes to your Brit-Cit?

WP: I’ve taken a little license as the story is mostly set in the Nu East End, a forgotten armpit of the main city, so I’ve made it look neglected and knackered, almost bombed out, next to the slightly less knackered, more futuristic backdrop of Brit-Cit proper. Think ’60s and ’70s brutalist living gone way past its sell by date.

I’m assuming it’s in colour and also assuming you’re colouring your own work? In which case, can you take us through a little of your process of constructing the strip?

WP: I still draw in the old school traditional way, pencils, lightboxed inks on Bristol board, then scanned in and coloured in Photoshop. I’m looking to change the way I work in the future with some new personal stuff; just wanting to change the process a little, shake it up and try out some new/ old things. Too many screens these days!

You’ve worked together before on Doctor Who, so how does the collaboration work with you, and has it been any different on Diamond Dogs?

WP: James’ scripts have everything there, really. He’s also one of those writers who is always happy to follow up stuff and make suggestions for character design etc which makes my job a lot easier and enjoyable.

Is Diamond Dogs something that you’ve planned as a finite series, or is there possibility, should Tharg deem it so, to continue the story past this first series?

JP: We’ve not talked about a second series yet, although there’s certainly the possibility for more. I’ve certainly enjoyed writing the series a hell of a lot and I do have some ideas about where we could take it next. But whether we do any more…well, ultimately that’s down to Tharg! What it has done is given me an appetite to do a bit more in Dredd’s world. I’d definitely love to have a crack at the Big Guy eventually. If Tharg’ll let me!

Diamond Dogs begins in Judge Dredd Megazine #409, which is out now!

Who is the Red Queen? What connection to Dredd’s past does she have? And how is she planning to extend her criminal empire outside of Euro-City? An attempted takeover on Krong Island, the recent incursion into Mega-City One – all of this feeds into the epic new storyline, The Red Queen’s Gambit, which starts in Judge Dredd Megazine #309 – out this week!

Writer Arthur Wyatt and artist Jake Lynch talked to Richard Bruton all about their new series for the Megazine, a family of villainy, and creating continuity for Dredd…

The set-up for ‘The Red Queen’s Gambit’ has been long in the gestation, With the Red Prince first appearing in Krong Island and, most recently, alongside mommy, the mysterious Red Queen, in ‘The Red Prince Diaries’ in Megazine #404. It seems that you’ve been ramping things up, setting the pieces in place for something bigger… so, can you fill us in on what to expect in the forthcoming series, ‘The Red Queen’s Gambit’?

Arthur Wyatt: All the usual fun and excitement! Space, monkeys, a Dreddworld setting I don’t think we’ve seen since 2002, and lots of explosions! Also there’s some fantastic vehicle design going on from Jake, who introduces a new craft in Justice Department’s collection of diplomatic vessels.

Jake Lynch: It’ll be running to four episodes, but I think there may be some more that comes from it.

We first met The Red Prince in your Krong Island, where you introduced the mysterious young man manipulating all things monkey, before we, finally, met his mother, the equally mysterious Red Queen. That final quote from the Red Prince, alluding to his family history and the scar that made him look more like his father only served to deepen the mystery. Did anyone make the connection between the Red Prince and his father at that point?

JL: Not as far as I’m aware, but I was very pleased when I read the script!

AW: I think a fair few did, probably helped if they’d read some of my previous stories with Jake over in the Prog. I hope anyone who didn’t catch it hasn’t been too annoyed waiting for the follow up to that cliffhanger to tell them who it was, and that people who caught that story in the Nobody Apes the Law trade are intrigued enough to find out – might have come a bit out of the blue for readers of that.

And exactly how does the Red Queen figure into all of this?

AW: One of the benefits of having written flashback set in earlier eras of Dredd is you get to pretend the things you’ve introduced in them have always been there, so here I get to reference my own continuity and say that the Red Queen has been around since at least the days of Dredd’s cursed earth trek, consolidating her grip on the Euro-City criminal underground, riding out the ebbs and flow of history until now, when she’s seeking to consolidate her grip on power by seizing territory outside of Euro City. The attempted coup on Krong Island was just the start.

JL: She’s a callback to a strip that Arthur and I did quite a long time ago in 2000 AD. I’m really glad to see her back (love that hairstyle!). She a really sinister character and I imagine that any offspring of hers couldn’t have turned out any other way – casually cruel and indifferent, she is the boss of her criminal empire and the real puppet-master.

The reveal of the Red Prince’s father is made at the end of Megazine #404, we’ll just call him The Red King… it’s a character you’ve both rather taken on over the last few years, going back into his history and looking at his background. Any more plans to go back through his adventures, and do more of the super-spy type tales?

JL: I’d love to do another series but I’m not sure it would ever happen. Arthur once told me his plans for the next one and it had me chomping at the bit. I’d also like to revisit it as I’m a little more seasoned now and loved the darker tone.

AW: Should Tharg be willing, it’s something I’d totally do more of. Those stories hooking into the opposing side of Dreddworld history were super fun to work on.

Or, is it something that, given he’s meant to be dead, you’re planning on simply continuing through the legacy of Red Queen and Red Prince?

JL: I think Arthur may have another story up his sleeve on that one…

AW: I think there’s quite a bit of mileage there as well. Jake and I seem to be building up quite the cast of characters, and checking in on them again is always a lot of fun.

Arthur, when you talked to 2000 AD about the ‘Krong Island’ story, you mentioned how you should really look at doing your “own big space epic sometime or something, since I’ve done a lot of noodling around in the Dredd world” – I have to ask, is The Red Queen’s Gambit, The Red Prince, and the familial connection the big epic you were thinking of?

AW: Well, right now I’m working on more Intestinauts with Simon Parr, so you could say my big thing outside of Judge Dredd is intestinal parasites! I’ve also been scheming with PJ Holden to do a big project at some point – will this be the year that drops? Maybe so.

As for the The Red Queen stories, I think Red Queen’s Gambit is a nice evolution of Krong Island and Eurozoned, and it’s nice having all the elements set up that you then pull in to tell a bigger story with. The Red Prince even gets in a nice little mention of the villain from The Cube Root of Evil, another story I did with Jake. And of course it’s all happening within Dredd’s world as a whole, with Wagner’s contributions being the central spine of that but we also pull in some characters from other writers – look for a favorite of Al and Rob’s in episode one of Gambit.

Jake, we talked, previously, about influences and you mentioned a huge love of Mike McMahon. I don’t think I’m wrong in saying it’s definitely something we can see in your Dredd (you definitely do a damn fine chin, and some great boots!) There’s an angularity and sense of unusual yet interesting perspective in some of your work that’s great to see, and marks you out as a different looking artist – hopefully that’s something you’d agree with? How has your artwork developed over the years? Has it been a case of slowly growing into a style or was there ever a point where you made a deliberate decision to push your art in a certain direction?

JL: Thank you, that’s a kind way of putting it! I never bother to look, but suspect I’m the Marmite of comic artists!! I think I’m growing into a style. I noticed a change during the first Heston story and I made conscious choice to explore it more. That was a few years ago and I think I’m only just starting to get the hang of it. I like to be instinctive when possible, but appreciate that that can be a rocky road. There is so much in storytelling that I don’t think I’ll EVER stop learning and that’s both exciting and fine by me.

One of the things I admire about McMahon is his changing styles. I’ll never be in his league, but am aware that, how I draw at this moment in time, will not be how I draw in a few years. My motto from when learning to draw was, ‘the best piece is the next piece’. All these years later, I’m pleased to say it still is.