Auteurs et autrices / Interview de Brian Wood (VO)

Hi Brian, could you please tell us a bit more about you?
I tend to falter at questions like this, because my life feels very ordinary and mundane. I work at home, in an office made out of walls of bookshelves that cuts the bedroom in half. I have a young daughter who I watch, and I always take on too much work. So every single day I am either at my desk or doing something silly with my kid. I like my job for a number of reasons, but the biggest is that it allows me to stay close to home. I'm dangerously close to becoming a hermit. Not sure that would be a bad thing!

A traditional question for our non-French interviewees: what is your experience of the French comics industry, past or present? Have you been over here for book signings? Have you read or heard of any of our stuff?
I don't have much of a sense of it, other than reading about Angoulême and the occasional imported book and see from my royalty statements that DMZ does better there than anywhere else in Europe. There is the assumption that in France comic books are much better accepted by the general reading public, that they are looked up with the same level of respect given to any published book. Here, in America, that is an attractive thought considering how stunted much of our industry is, and the perception of comics being largely for children (or adults who act like children).

In France you are mainly known for your DMZ series, which takes place in Manhattan in the near future, and depicts a civil war between the USA and the Free States. When and how did this project start?
I've always had an interest in politics, and always found some kind of outlet for it, going all the way back to “Channel Zero” (note: Brian’s very first miniseries) and art school. DMZ in a lot of ways is a refined version of “Channel Zero” - not literally as the two stories are very different, but in the sense that it’s a serious look at politics in America presented in comic book form.

I'm not sure where DMZ came from, the idea, and I mean that seriously. I don't know. One day I found myself thinking about it - this was shortly after 9/11, perhaps six months after, and I know it came out of that to one degree or another. I have these drawings I did early on, logo designs and character sketches, from 2003. I was calling it “Wartime” back then.

The dystopian world you depict is very sinister and cynical. Is it a reflection of your personal view of politics, the media and big corporations?
I think it’s a good idea for everyone to be in a constant state of suspicion when it comes to our elected officials and anyone who wields a lot of power and influence in this country. To be frank, they deserve it, and ever since the election of Obama so many people I know personally are just so thrilled to have him as President that they are quite willing to ignore things he does or doesn't do - things that they were quick to attack the last President for. It's important not to put a single man, or a political party, or a brand name or a product above the rules that they should all be living under.

So yes, I can be cynical, but I think I have good reason to be. But I will say that with my book DMZ, it is my job to look at everything as a worst case scenario. The very premise of that book IS a worst case scenario, but in my personal life I am a little more optimistic than that.

The events you describe are rather scary, and made me wonder “but is this possible? Could it really happen?” Surely not… right? As a simple reader, I am wondering how much work goes into making such a story plausible in terms of research, knowledge of politics and history etc.
I do a lot of research, and DMZ is very much a “based on current events” sort of story. My simple approach is to take what is going on in the real world and, in the story, advance it a few steps. Imagine what the next couple of years will be like if these events continue unchecked. Most of the time I'm wrong, but a lot of the time I'm right. I wrote a book back in the 1990's called “Channel Zero” that dealt with the repressive politics of New York City back then, and it’s interesting to see how much of it came true after 9/11.

I think one of my biggest strengths as a writer is "world building", imagining scenarios and applying history to today and creating very real, very accurate environments in my stories. As you said, a combination of research, observation, and imagination.

DMZ vol. 7 is due this year and will collect issues 35 to 41. Vol.8 should be out next year and will collect issues 42 to 49. How much further would you like to take the series?
70 issues is the current estimate. Certainly no more than that. I have a rough outline of where I want to see the series go, as well as how it'll end.

You have a degree in illustration, you have worked as a graphic designer, and you have even created the covers for many comics, including DMZ and Global Frequency. Are you ever tempted to work solo? Or do you prefer to delegate the graphical side of things to other artists?
I am nowhere near a fast enough artist to work in comics. At one point I thought that was what I wanted to do, but I couldn't sustain myself financially, and I just had too many ideas I wanted to get out there. There is a real joy and creative satisfaction in working with artists collaboratively, and I feel satisfied drawing the DMZ covers and designing the logos for my books. Perhaps one day, when I feel I could take a year off from everything else, I can think about drawing a book again.

Is there any chance of seeing the rest of your work cross the Atlantic (Demo, Local, Northlanders etc.)?
From what I understand, “Local” is published in France by Delcourt, or is soon to be. “Demo” is in Italian, German, and Portuguese, and “Northlanders” is soon to be in many different languages, following in DMZ's footsteps. Some of my older books, like “Supermarket” and “Pounded”, are published in Italy, where I seem to have a lot of readers.

“Demo” and “Local” focus less on action/adventure type stories, and more on the characters and their emotions. Is this a trend you are going to explore further?
I like to write both - these sorts of "indie", grounded stories along side the action-heavy books like DMZ. “Northlanders”, I feel, is starting to be a bridge between the two, somewhat surprisingly. I find writing a variety of books with different tone helps keep me from getting bored, and is good for finding lots of different audiences. I'll always write books like “Demo” and “Local”.

Tell us a bit about your time at Rockstar Games. It sounds like you have contributed to some great games! What did you exactly do? What is a Staff Designer anyway?
A staff designer, at Rockstar, that meant doing all the design work for a game that wasn't the game itself. I would design logos, the packaging, the manuals, the magazine ads, the billboards, the t-shirts and stickers and in-store displays... anything you can think of. It was an interesting job and I learned a lot. And yeah, I started working there just before the PS2 launched and for a total of almost four years, so I had a hand in two huge Grand Theft Auto games, Max Payne, Midnight Club, Manhunt, and a few others.

Why did you leave Rockstar? And would you consider working in the videogames industry again? Are you a gamer yourself?
I left Rockstar in 2003 out of a desire to not have a day job and to work on comics full time. I was never happy there in the sense that I didn't like working my fingers to the bone on other people's ideas and making other people rich. If I was going to work that hard again, it would be for my benefit.

I write for videogames now, a little bit, and I play games enough to keep current with trends but not enough to affect my writing schedule. It's a fine line!

What are you working on at the moment?
No secrets, sadly, but a few things already announced: a second “Demo” series with Becky Cloonan for Vertigo, a second “New York Four” series with Ryan Kelly for Vertigo, a DV8 miniseries for Wildstorm, and a short Channel Zero story (that I will draw) for a Comic Book Legal Defense Fund book. That comes out in a few months, and the other three will be next year sometime.

Alongside “DMZ” and “Northlanders”, that all keeps me pretty busy.

Brian, thank you!