INTERVIEW CORNER #71: Andy Diggle

Comment Written by Θωμάς Παπαδημητρόπουλος on December 6th, 2011 – 08:21

Θυμάμαι πως κάπου είχα διαβάσει μια προσέγγιση για το πώς οι superheroes αντιπροσωπεύουν την καθεστηκυία τάξη και, ουσιαστικά, αντιτίθενται στις αλλαγές που μπορεί να αντιπροσωπεύουν οι αντίπαλοί τους. Συντηρητικοί και φοβούμενοι να αντιμετωπίσουν αυτή την αλλαγή, πολεμούν καθετί διαφορετικό από αυτό που αντιπροσωπεύουν.

Η μοίρα, όμως, το έχει φέρει πολλές φορές να αλλάξουν οι ίδιοι, στα πλαίσια ενός συνολικού εκδοτικού revamp (όπως το πρόσφατο της DC) ή στα χέρια ενός writer που θέλει να φέρει κάτι καινούργιο στη σειρά και στον ίδιο το χαρακτήρα. Ένας από αυτούς τους συγγραφείς που έχει καταφέρει κάτι παρόμοιο ουκ ολίγες φορές είναι ο καλεσμένος αυτής της εβδομάδας, Andy Diggle. Ο Diggle ξεκίνησε μεν ως editor στην 2000AD, αλλά έγινε πιο γνωστός χάρη στις συγγραφικές του ικανότητες, αλλά και τη ροπή του προς τις αλλαγές, σε τίτλους όπως τα HELLBLAZER, THUNDERBOLTS, DAREDEVIL, BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL, GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE και SWAMP THING.

Εκεί, οι πρωταγωνιστικοί χαρακτήρες ξέφυγαν σε κάποιο σημείο από το status quo που ίσχυε μέχρι τότε και το αποτέλεσμα ήταν μια ανάσα δροσιάς σε τίτλους που βρίσκονται στα πιεστήρια ακόμη και για δεκαετίες. Το ίδιο συνέβη και σε έναν ακόμη από τους πλέον γνωστούς τίτλους στο βιογραφικό του writer, το THE LOSERS. Εκεί, ο Diggle πήρε μια ξεχασμένη στα συρτάρια της DC ομάδα στρατιωτικών του Β’ Παγκόσμιου Πολέμου και την έφερε στο παρόν, αντιμέτωπη με πολιτικές δολοπλοκίες και σύγχρονα συμφέροντα.

Το ίδιο επιχειρεί να κάνει, σε γενικές γραμμές, και με μια ομάδα cowboys (της οποίας τα δικαιώματα ανήκουν στη Marvel), την οποία φέρνει στο παρόν, στο νέο mini series SIX GUNS. Το SIX GUNS έχει ήδη ξεκινήσει και βρίσκεται στο δεύτερο τεύχος, σε σχέδιο του Davide Gianfelice, με τον οποίο ο Diggle συνεργάστηκε ξανά στο παρελθόν για το DAREDEVIL: SHADOWLAND.

Με την πορεία του στο χώρο να έχει κάνει μεγάλες στάσεις στις δύο μεγαλύτερες εκδοτικές των ΗΠΑ (και στη μεγαλύτερη της Μ. Βρετανίας), μοιάζει παράδοξο το πώς ο Diggle βρίσκει χρόνο για να γράψει και κάποιες creator owned δουλειές. Όπως το νέο SNAPSHOT, το οποίο θα δούμε σύντομα στα ράφια, σε σχέδιο του συχνού συνεργάτη του writer, του Jock. Και, φυσικά, τα σχέδιά του δε σταματούν εδώ, μιας και ο καλεσμένος αυτής της εβδομάδας, Andy Diggle, έχει αναλάβει αρκετές υποχρεώσεις για το μέλλον, όπως μας αποκαλύπτει στη συνέντευξη που ακολουθεί:

In what ways did your experience as an editor help you in your writing career?
It was a huge help. I got to work alongside my childhood heroes, writers and artists I’d grown up having huge respect for. I got to see how a comic was put together from the inside, and how the writing and the art were married together. It was invaluable experience for a would-be writer.

We have seen you more than once trying to redefine some of the heroes you’re writing, such as John Constantine and Swamp Thing. How crucial is it, in your opinion, for a character to be redefined every now and then and what are the challenges that the writer must face?
I think when you’re dealing with decades-old company-owned characters, each new generation of creators re-defines those characters for their own time. Characters like Batman have been continually re-created since the 1930s. It’s evolution; a continuous, ongoing process. I’ve always enjoyed in re-defining peripheral characters, trying to find ways to make them interesting and relevant. The problem is, when a talented writer does something really bold and fresh to re-define a character, like Alan Moore did with Swamp Thing or Frank Miller did with Daredevil, that tends to “lock” the character down. Nobody wants to change it again after that, which can lead to stagnation. I think it’s healthy to shake things up once in a while.

You have collaborated more than once with Jock. What are the reasons that bring you together?
I found his work in the submissions pile at 2000AD back when I was just the office assistant, and it instantly struck me. I offered him work as soon as I was in a position to commission it, and we’ve been working together ever since – it must be 10 years now. We just really enjoy working together. I think we bring out the best in each other. He has an amazing design sense and he seems to enjoy my writing style. We just click.

THE LOSERS was loosely based on DC’s WWII comic, but your version wasn’t a war comic at all. How did you end up choosing something different for it?
Originally it was going to be the WW2 version. I read up on the original Losers, and discovered they were supposed to have died at the end of WW2. So I wondered, what if they didn’t actually die but were listed as killed in action? What if they had a reason to “stay dead” but reunited in the 1950s to pull a crime caper base don something they discovered during the war? It would have been fun, but Vertigo already had a war book in Garth Ennis’ WAR STORIES, and a 1950’s crime book in American century. So we just took the title THE LOSERS and threw everything else away. All I kept was the idea of an army unit, presumed dead, that reunites to carry out a heist caper.

Do you believe that the element of politics in THE LOSERS was crucial for the story you wanted to tell?
I like action thrillers, but I also have a brain. There’s no rule that says you can’t combine brains and brawn. So while THE LOSERS was always intended to be a big fat slice of entertainment, I also wanted it to have a point. So THE LOSERS was half love letter to action movies, and half hate mail to George W. Bush and the neocon agenda.

You have written stories for many genres, such as superhero, crime and western. Is there any genre you’d love to tackle but haven’t had the chance yet?
I’d like to work in every genre – even romantic comedy. But I’ve probably had enough of superheroes for a while.

You’re collaborating again with Davide Gianfelice, on Marvel’s SIX GUNS. Can you tell us more about it?
Westerns are a tough sell in the current direct market, and Marvel have all these cowboy characters gathering dust that nobody wants to read about any more. So I figured, why not revamp them, so instead of old-time cowboys they’re contemporary lawmen, bounty hunters and outlaws. So I get to spin a LOSERS-style action yarn in a present-day Marvel book, with nary a superhero in sight!

Can you tell us a few things about SNAPSHOT?
It’s a story that Jock and I have been talking about doing together for years. A Hitchcockian thriller about a kid who finds a lost cell phone with photos of a murder victim on it. The phone belongs to a hitman who used it to take “proof of kill” photos – and he wants it back! It’s a tight, pacy, 4-issue thriller.

When should we expect it and from which publisher?
It’ll see print first in the JUDGE DREDD MAGAZINE in the UK, then hopefully through the direct market via Image.

Do you have any other projects for the immediate future?
Yes indeed, but none that I can talk about yet! I’m revamping another hero for a publisher I’ve never worked for before, and also planning a whole slew of new creator-owned work with various artists. I’ve just come to the end of a three-year stint working with Marvel comics and I’m keen to start creating some characters of my own.

Από το SIX GUNS #1 της Marvel.