Exclusive Interview with Peter Wartman, author of "Over the Wall"

Peter Wartman, a Self Portrait.

I anxiously awaited the release of this graphic novel after I logged onto UncivilizedBooks.com and saw the cover. I flipped through a few photos and my brain told me that I needed to read this book. I just NEEDED it. So, I pre-ordered myself a signed copy as Peter most generously agree to do for the pre-orders. Here is my exclusive interview with Peter Wartman regarding his first graphic novel Over the Wall.

Froggie: First of all, allow me to say thank you for agreeing to do this interview.  I have a few questions mostly related to the plot but please tell me how you developed the world in "Over the Wall" and what your primary inspirations were in it’s creation?

Peter: Thanks for setting up the interview!

The world in the comic developed as I was drawing the story, mostly to serve the needs of the plot. The first image I had of the comic was a girl standing on top of a wall, looking into a huge, abandoned metropolis, and all I did was start asking questions about what was going on. Why was the city abandoned? Why did she need to go into it?
The look of the city developed at the same time: my objective was to create a maze-like place you could easily get lost in, hopefully reflecting some of the themes of the story.

FQ: I love the tribal  themes in the world you created. Can you tell me what specific cultural influences (if any) that you were drawing from?

 P: It's a bit of a polyglot mix. There's a bunch of Mesoamerican stuff in there, but also quite a lot of Roman influence (all those domes, for example). I wasn't really trying to invoke any one culture, and, hopefully, I was able to build something with its own flavor.

F: I  personally have a great appreciation for black and white comics. Over the Wall ‘s artwork reminded me of Frank Miller’s Sin City due to the use and absence of color. Was there a reason you decided to present the world to the reader highlighted in purple?

P: Using pure black and white forces you to focus on lighting and composition, which has always been what I've been most interested in. Comics like Mignola's Hellboy (or Miller's work) are great examples of this, Mignola especially can evoke complex scenes with just a few well-placed areas of white in a sea of black. It feels like getting down to the core elements behind what makes an image work (contrast, value, composition) and I really enjoy that.

The purple color is maybe a bit of a cheat, given these influences—it gives me another layer to indicate lighting and texture with—but I think it gives the comic a bit more weight. The purple color itself came about by mistake: I'm partially colorblind, and my attempt to pick a blue hue ended up with a lot of red sneaking in. My publisher liked the color I picked, however, so we ran with it.

FQ: Throughout history in humanities myths and legends, names hold power over good and evil alike. What is the significance of names in your story? Why does the main character remain nameless?

P: Names are the way we make the world comprehensible, the way we compartmentalize and control it (or try to, anyway). When you give something a name you pin it down and assign all kinds of attributes to it. Calling the monsters in the comic “demons”, for example, brings with it all sorts of cultural baggage and prepares the reader to think about them in a certain way. Names are powerful things.
I left the characters nameless for most of the story partially due to the rules of the world they inhabit—giving your name to a 'demon' is a bad idea—and partially because the story is about searching for identity. Giving the characters a chance to show who they are before I saddle them with names seemed to fit.

F: I am terrible for trying to predict the end of stories while I’m reading them. I had immediately decided that our main character did not locate her brother when she ran into the boy in the city. What is the truth about this plot point? Is the boy she found actually her brother?

P: Leaving that question open was intentional. I think the question holds even if the person she found really was her brother at one point: if he has no memories, is he really the same person?
I like it when stories leave a lot of lingering questions and don't tie things up neatly at the end (although I hope it feels like the comic did have a clear ending). I also think that stories are always a collaboration between the writer and the reader, and whatever interpretation the reader brings to the table is as valid as my own. 
 

F: Did you write this story with the intention of it being readable for an audience of all ages?

P: In a way it just sort of happened. This is the kind of story I like to tell, so I just tried to write something that would keep me interested. I'm happy to be put in the all-ages category though!
 

F: What are the chances of a sequel to Over the Wall?

P: Pretty high! 

F: As this is your first graphic novel, what are your plans for the future? Are you currently working on or developing any new stories?

P: I'm not quite ready to announce it yet, but my next comic is in the works. I'll be posting updates on my site (www.shipwreckplanet.com), so if you want to keep up to date I'd check there.

Revival #1 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton

This issue was recommended to me by Mr. Dominic Marco and yesterday I found a free copy which is kind of coincidental really. Anyway, I read it last night AND... WHOLEY HELL! What a great way to open a series! I mean, dear god! The creepiness! The killing! MURDER!!!

I'm sorry, I get this way when I start reading a lot of horror/thriller comics, especially good ones! Here we go, now bear with me, TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THIS ISSUE:

1) The creepy-ass grandmother speaking cryptically and referencing biblical passages out in a barn while pulling out her own teeth with pliers! 

2) The fact that said creepy grandmother mentions that she's pulling out her teeth so she can wear her dentures!! Oh! The fact that she says her teeth keep growing the fuck in! What on Earth does that mean? She says she can FEEL them moving!

3) I think that aliens are involved...

4) The aliens are awesome tall, white, creepy stick figures!

5) The dead rise and they are not immediately crazy!

6) People seem to have accepted that the dead are rising and walking around like everything is normal.

7) This town has been quarantined! I mean, that right there, is the best setting for a horror story. Not to mention that we step into the story right in the middle of the action! The town has been quarantined before the reader even starts reading.

8)  There's a chick holding a scythe. 

9)  The day the dead started walking around was called "Revival Day".

10) Some stupid hill billies claim that you can cure impotence by having sex with a "reviver". (How do you have sex if you're impotent?)

There you have it. I love this issue. I flippin love it. I'm going out today and buying the two trade papers. I'll be all caught up and ready for the next preview. Thank you Image Comics :) 

Berserk: Volume 6 & 7 by Kentaro Miura

I am a Berserk fan, but also a recent convert. The world of Manga is so saturated and thickly stacked that it's easy to get lost in all the titles. Therefore I tend to go straight in for the kill on genres and topics that I am most attracted to: violent, bloody, character driven stories that disturb and terrify me; stories that give me a big stiffy. Berserk does this. I'm intrigued, disturbed, titillated (see what I did there?) by everything in this series. If only I could read it faster to catch up to current releases!

The readers are still stuck in the past with the Hawks for these volumes. Volume 6 & 7 is where we start to see some developments between Caska and Guts. We also get to see a little bit of how Griffith feels about the people around him. Griffith thinks he's better than everyone. He views himself as an island and all the people around him are simply tools to use as part of his survival. I think I use to be like that, when I was younger and stupider. At some point one realizes that it is just not a very healthy way to go through life... for yourself or others. Something tells me that this outlook isn't going to change for Griffith. As leader of the Hawks, he is all about building towards his ultimate goal, which isn't quite clear. It must be awfully huge. Of course, we do know from the first four volumes that Griffith ends up as a member of the God Hand although, I don't really know what all that means just yet. The God Hand reminds me of the Cenobites in Hellraiser. I have yet to understand their purpose. I won't look it up. I must let the story tell me. Not the internet. At any rate, they look evil.

I can't stop reading... I'm into volume 8 but I have so many reviews to write for Blue Raven Comics. Additionally, I got so many sweet deals on books this week. I also have to go grab volume 2 of Attack on Titan. I know Eren isn't dead. I know it.

Attack on Titan: Vol 1 by Hajime Isayama

I have been pressured to read Attack on Titan for a while. Well, to be honest I was be pressured to watch the anime. Since I don't care to spend my time sitting mindless in front of a television screen, I opted for the manga.

Manga and I have a strained relationship, not unlike my relationship with first person shooters. I like it, but I have trouble keeping up. (I'm still the shittiest medic on Battlefield 3 and playing with one of the best clans on the PS3 servers). That being said, I'm relentless in my struggle to be good at first person shooters and I'm persistent in keeping up with popular manga. I don't blog on EVERYTHING I read but I thought this one deserved a spot.

Attack on Titan is the chosen English title for the manga Shingeki no Kyojin, which literally means "Advancing Giants". I am going to agree with the opinions echoed by my friends that the English title misrepresents the manga. I suppose they have changed the title to fit as some sort of battle cry for humanity in the book, rather than a description of the plot. Advancing Giants is really what the deal is here. In this universe, 80 % of humanity has been devoured (literally devoured) by these giant Titans (I'm having Evangelion flashbacks). This is obviously no new concept. Japan loves creepy man-eating giants of all shapes and sizes. Giant lizards, giant mecha, giant tentacles, giant vagina monsters... Giants for everyone! If I were to have a giant anything, it would be one of those giant, 6 footed elephant like creatures from Multiple Warheads. The ones that carry a palace on their back!

For the most part, I find this book entertaining enough. Hey, I enjoy seeing people eaten by giant monsters! I have a sick idea in my head of what is considered entertainment. Yet, I didn't have the same emotional response to the main characters mother being trapped under her own roof as I did when say- Barefoot Gen lost nearly his entire family under the roof of his house during the atomic blast that flattened Hiroshima. I guess that's the difference between tragedy in fiction and tragedy based on real-life events. What I mean is, the book is not exactly an emotional roller coaster. It does have a lot of action. 

I wanted to make a little comment about the artwork as well. In what I can only assume was an attempt to create gaunt, under-fed characters, the author has made everyone look eternally shocked and surprised! (If not constantly frightened looking.) This is due to the wide-eyed characters bearing itsy-bitsy pupils. It also makes all of them look crazy. Crazy-loco, not crazy-awesome. 

Fun note- love the complacent if not contently smiling faces of the titans themselves. It's as if they look at humans as merely food and harbor no hatred. Gotta love being farmed by meat-eaters, although humanity is less like cattle in this story and more like ants hurrying to save their hive. I have to admit, I want to know if the titans are intelligent beings. Eren noticed the colossus titan take out a specific artillery unit, so perhaps they are intelligent?! The ending is pretty damn awesome..yup. I gotta read the next one.

I've been a little behind lately..

Picture courtesy of the lovely victim Danielle

I'm a little behind due to some events I have been helping with. This past Friday was Friday the 13th! and my bf organized a party for it. So we got all dressed up in our creepy best and scared the locals. It was great! The only problem was that this weekend was sort of a write off for me in terms of comic book reviews. That being said, I've got loads to type up. I decided to go back and re-read the beginning of Prophet so I'll be throwing that up at some point. I also read a bunch of Berserk and Parasyte. I managed to snag a copy of Sam Kieth's contribution to 30 Days of Night and will most likely post something about that. Not to mention that I should have more previews to go over soon from Dynamite and Image. 

Remember you can also read my reviews at Blue Raven Comics.com !!

Sin City: A Dame to Kill for by Frank Miller

A lot of different issues came up today while I was reading Sin City and flipping through some posts on a Facebook forum for collecting comics. Since I have joined the forum, I've basically seen nothing but copious pics of celebs and models dressed as comic book heroes and plenty of "cat calls", "likes" and "hoots". It got me thinking about what I consider objectification of women and what is not. You know what, I don't feel like sexy women are automatically objectified or bring such objectification on themselves by dressing sexy. I do feel there are comic book artists/writers and fans that objectify women.

Things that make me feel that Sin City does not objectify women: the fact that each story contains women who are both good and bad; there are females who are heroes with personality & character. Male and females alike are depicted as strong and sexy. Sex appeal is high throughout the books, but this is part of the Sin City environment. Only the strong and sexy really survive and sex is what is for sale within the city. In addition, the females are independent and confident. They are meek little sex machines waiting for someone to rescue them, even when some of the male characters think they are. All the characters are multi-dimensional.

Would you survive in the Sin City world? Most people probably would not and basically because your average person isn't physically capable of shooting a gun or hell... outrunning a crazed killer. You need to be in peek physical condition to survive the cities criminals and the cops. Most people in reality, can't run two blocks to grab a city bus on time. Of course, if you are one step ahead of the game like most of the ladies in Sin City, you can get by.

The Mocking Dead: Issue #1 written by Frederick Van Lente

written by Frederick Van Lente
art by Max Dunbar

Obviously I had to read this little piece of geekological goodness. Credits to The Mocking Dead lists that the comic was "prepared by" Marvel Zombies' Frederick Van Lente. This little comedic gem is meant as a spoof on The Walking Dead as well as many other horror movies/comics. It consists of some awesome zombie pop culture references as well as some great geek god references. (Yes, I believe in the geek gods)

The plot centers around self-proclaimed "pop-pirate" Arron who once worked for a government organization centered around developing contingency plans for Tinseltown's fictional  and prolific catastrophes, you know, in case they happen. Like the zombie apocalypse, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. In this case, Arron is brought in as a consultant for a secret government operation who are waging war against The Mocking Dead. In this book, the dead laugh at you before the eat you (and maybe while they are in mid-consumption....and probably after too).

The Mocking Dead is put out by Dynamite Comics, a label I'm familiar with but not intimately familiar. In other words, I haven't read an entire series from the label, all the way through. I didn't get all up in its pulpy, inky center and dissect it. I'll get there, hold on. I also want to add that I am enjoying the gray scale in the book. The pop of red blood here and there is great, totally reminds me of Sin City, well maybe cause I just finished reading some Sin City.

As for The Mocking Dead, I'll be reading issue #2. It's funny, it's nerdy, and it grab me by..not by the balls silly, girls don't have those.

Ghosted: Issue #3 written by Joshua Williamson

written by Joshua Williamson
arty by Goran Sudzuka

As I began to read Ghosted, I started to wonder if this story was supposed to be kind of ridiculous. How serious was this comic taking itself and now that I've finished the issue, I think it's safe to say that the writer thinks he's funny but I do not. I was however pretty pleased that after a two bubble blurb of none-sense from a shaman, one of the characters read my mind and stated "This is stupid". I agree.

The plot involves several people trying to capture a ghost and not one specific ghost, but just one of the ones that haunt the mansion they are in.

I liked about half the story art. The only thing I really took issue with was how the "ghosts" were portrayed. In comics, things are scarier when they aren't all up in your face (unless of course your Junji Ito) but I'm not entirely sure if this is supposed to be scary, because it's not. Yet I'm not laughing either. It's too bad really because the cover is fabulous. I think Sudzuka has some real talent. I mean he worked on Hellblazer, one of my favorite series of all-time (Hellblazer: Lady Constantine). So far though, writer Williamson has left a lot to be desired.

The Walking Dead: Issue #114

It's great to see Negan take Lucille right in the face. Yup, I just said that. I can't ruin too much the story but there is an unexpected show down. The story as usual is fast paced and as usual Rick's plans come crashing down on him and his colony.

I know I've said before how much I liked Negan as a bad guy but I'm starting to get tired of him. I'm starting to want a new story arc. I want him out of the picture and I watch the colonies argue over superiority. I predict that human behavior will be what ruins these colonies just the same as the last ones but I miss the little exhibitions from earlier in the series. Like the kid that couldn't keep from killing the other kids. Twisted.

The zombies have really becomes even less involved in the story than before. I wouldn't mind seeing Negan get torn apart by a mob of them. We need to get the zombie threat back. I think I liked the story more when they were travelling. I am also a bit disappointed in a shocking lack of deaths and my god, really ?? a tiger?? Is Kirkman really running out of ideas? I have a lot of suspended disbelief, it's not that a tiger is unbelievable, this is a story with zombies. It's just a tiger actually strikes me as a pointless addition to the plot, and kind of out of place. I just don't see what it contributes despite being a sort of attack dog. If the tiger doesn't server a more interesting purpose in the future, I'm going to be quite disappointed.

Batman Black and White: Issue #1 Written by Neil Gaiman

Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by Simon Bisley
1996

I don't tend to get into Batman too much. Not that I haven't read a lot of it, don't get me wrong but it takes specific authors to grab my attention. If Sam Kieth is doing Batman, you can bet I'm going to read it but as far as the New 52 is concerned, insert fart noise here.  I have decided to read this in honor of the current running Batman Black and White, which I haven't read but have flipped through. It failed to grasp my interest. So here we go Neil Gaiman and Simon Bisley do Batman right.

I've always been a Neil Gaiman fan and really, who isn't? He has a playful take on Batman that I can appreciate (insert Sam Kieth worship here). Gaiman plays with the reader by letting the characters acknowledge that they are in a comic book. He involves us in the Joker's ridiculous plot to be the only stand-up comedian in town. The Joker lets us know we'll be doomed to hear jokes by the Joker and only the Joker for the rest of our existence. Well, that's if we lived in Gotham. Me? I could probably live with that.

I really love black and white comics. Many of my favorite comics are in black and white, I barely care about other colors at all. Bisley is fantastic! I love the shadowy Batman. That's how he should look! All in the shadows! I really like Bisley's Joker which reminds me Mok from Rock and Rule (a character inspired by Kieth Richards). He's given the Joker a real sunken-in heroine addict look. I think it really fits our insane criminal clown here. This is how I like my Batman comics.

Brother Lono by writer Brian Azzarello

100 Bullets is an Eisner Award winning comic series that unfortunately didn't hold too much interest for me but that was simply because I wasn't a big fan of some other works Brian Azzarello wrote. Apparently I have to check it out because this story Brother Lono is pretty interesting.

I take issue with the artwork in this book however. It's your standard crime syndicate mob-type story taking place in Mexico. The tag line in the credits "Translated from Mexican" is kinda cute. Yet the artwork? sigh. It's pretty standard, pretty run of the mill... pretty boring. Eduardo Risso just isn't my cup of tea unfortunately and I have to admit that some of the frames in this issue make him look a little amateur. I hate saying it but I feel as though I have to because even though I have personally never published any artwork, I can do a better job at perspective than this guy. It feels a little rushed. The frame with the baby on the 7th page is just letting me down. His attempt to hide the fact that he cannot draw the child's kicking form by covering it with a blanket was just weak and thus made the baby look disproportionate. I guess babies are difficult to draw... but man... this just looks bad.

I still would like to read the more of the story regardless of my distaste for the artist. It is just a personal preference. Anyone who reads The Frog Queen regularly knows what kind of art I appreciate and this is pretty much the opposite. That being said, I can get over the artwork if I appreciate the story, if grabs me by my non-existent balls! That's a feat!

As far as first issues go, this one caught my attention story-wise. I love a good crime story. Let's see where this goes.

Parasyte: Volume 2 by Hitoshi Iwaaki

"Parasyte" is an inaccurate translation of the original Japanese title "Kiseiju" meaning "Parasitic Beasts". Now that I have read the second volume, I see just why I am bothered by the English translation of the title. It has become apparent that Shinji does not see only the parasites as monsters but much of humanity as well. I think the proper title as Parasitic Beasts fits much better. 

It's in volume 2 Shinji becomes more attached to Migi, the parasite living in his right hand. BY attached, I don't mean in the loving emotional way. I mean, Migi has attached himself to Shinji much more deeply. Shinji is unfortunately fatally wounded by a parasite that has taken over his mother's body. It was up to Migi to repair Shinji's heart and so he bonded with it. This made the connection between the two all the much more complicated and permanent. I believe Shinji is beginning to lose his humanity but on the bright side, he's gained some pretty awesome powers. Super speed and the ability to leap over tall objects. Humanity, or superpowers? Superpowers or humanity? hmmm if I had to chose, fuck humanity. I want superpowers! Shinji didn't get the choice however. He got stuck with Migi's split second decision to save his own hide! If the host dies, so does the parasite and Migi won't let that happen. I wonder if part of Shinji's humanity has been passed onto Migi??

There's all sorts of ways parasites can invade the human body. If they don't take over the brain, they get to be talking, thinking appendages just like Migi and there is a startling and funny twist at the end of volume 2. I'll leave it for you to read. Can't wait to open volume 3.  

Trillium Issue #2 by Jeff Lemire

Need a little mystery in your life? This time-travel race against the destruction of humanity is full of it. Lemire gives us a few clues as to what the Caul have done to humanity- they destroyed Earth, and decimated colonies all over the cosmos.

Issue 1 left us with Nika and William meeting each other, unable to communicate through speech. Here they both attempt to unravel the confusion in their meeting. When it becomes clear that Nika has traveled back in time to Earth, she scans her surroundings to find an abundance of Trillium! Perhaps the answer to stopping the Caul.

There's something strange about the Trillium flower. When Nika and William ingest the flower, they see and understand each others truths without speech. The exchange is portrayed as more spiritual than scientific yet Lemire leaves this event to the reader to interpret...for now.

I am always infinitely excited to read any work by Jeff Lemire and considering my love of Sweet Tooth, I was thrilled to know he was diving into the world of science fiction while incorporating a race to save mankind. Trillium presents a unique story despite using a well-known and popular theme. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Berserk Volume 5 by Kentaro Miura

Guts is my hostile, emotionally unstable hero. Okay, he's basically a complete jack-ass and although I know Griffith becomes a bad guy, Griffith's character is way more balanced. It's too bad that I know he becomes evil and joins the God Hand.

Behelit

There's a lot of things about Berserk that I've always appreciated but one that I must mention, is the successful creepiness of the behelit which Griffith wears around his neck. It's said to be the pendent of an emperor and control the destiny of it's wearer. I have seen re-created pendents on the internet and I think I need to buy one. My inner geek cannot keep from controlling my bank account. Be still my young apprentice... (that's just me talking to the inner geek).

This volume of Berserk is still recanting the past, otherwise known as the Golden Years where Guts and Griffith are friends and fighting together with the band of Mercenaries known as the Hawks. From what I gather,it's the part of our heroes life where he was actually happy and appears to take place while he is in his teen years. I have a whole lot of Berserk to read... okay excuse me while I head back to that...

Parasyte: Volume 1 by Hitoshi Iwaaki

I have wanted to read Parasyte for the last year, since I stumbled across some of the artwork on line last December and questioned my friend TomorrowBoy about it. Parasyte was ran from 1990 to 1995 and TomorrowBoy recently made mention of how long the impressions of the artwork have stuck with him- since he read them in the 90's. That's a pretty significant impression to have burned in your memory. I have to agree. I went straight from volume 1 and on to volume 2.

Parasyte is currently printed by Del Rey and although it's supposedly still "in print", it's incredibly difficult to order, even online. I'm reading the series via my new Android App while trying to secure paper copies online. The series centers around the quiet invasion of parasitic worms that are basically body snatchers. The thing is, the parasites don't always work together with other parasites. They are truly more focused on their own survival than their own species. Our lead character  Shinichi Izumi (or sometimes appearing as Shingi Izumi) becomes the victim of a parasite who fails to take over his brain and instead inhabits his hand. It makes for some significant comedy as the parasite who is nicknamed Migi (Right Hand) by Shingi, tries to wrap his intellect around the social norms of humans. As a result many questions are raised and moral issues explored while Migi and Shingi run interference with humans and destructive parasites alike.

Already this is racing up the front lines as one of my all time favorite manga series. Check out some artwork below!  You can clearly see why I love this. One description: body-gore. 

The Unwritten: Volume 2 by Mike Carey & Peter Gross

I thought I'd have some time to plow through a bunch of books but I haven't been feeling super well as of late. Additionally, I downloaded a new ap for my phone that gives me access to all kinds of out of print manga so I've been super enjoying that. A lot of things that aren't available at my local libraries.

I'm not sure what I think about The Unwritten. I was really loving the first quarter. Then the bits in between were a little convoluted and confusing. Then I really loved the last story arc all about the man stuck in a Winnie The Pooh type story as a little rabbit named Mr. Bun. That was hysterical. Children's stories full of words like "cunt" and "fucker", I couldn't help but laugh, especially with the adorable illustrations.

A lot of this book appears to be about Tom Taylor's attempt to find himself, or rather the truth about himself that seems to be kept from him. I'm sensing that he is in fact a construct of his fathers imagination that has become corporeal and run rampant all over reality. But I don't know at all. It's speculation. I don't feel like I have much in common with characters who are trying to discover themselves. I find it difficult to relate to.  I always feel like I've had a firm grasp on my identity and I've always accepted the fact that people change and I as a result will continue to change as well. This doesn't bother me. People seem to have this sense that their identity is something them locked in this state of consistency - which is all well and good but damn, ya just gotta grow. If you take a look at Tom at the beginning of volume 1, you get the sense that this is an unhappy person who doesn't know who he is - and that's before the walls of reality start crashing around him (before fantasy becomes reality). The fact that all these fantastical things start happening to Tom, and his first instinct is to reject it (this identity, that is supposedly his true identity) is something I don't really relate to.

Tom can't seem to accept who he is, and rejects all this change. Yup... nope... I hope there is another character I can get close to. I mean, if I got sucked into an awesome fantastical universe, I'd have so much fun. Tom just makes rash decisions and fails rejects it. LAME.

Sigh.. I've got volume 3 here... But I've also got some Sin City, Berserk and I'm on volume 3 of Parasyte... so.... we'll just see.

BTW School starts for me September 4th! I'll do my best to keep up with my blog, gym, work and school. Watch me go - RoboFroggie!