Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Tyler Crook discuss “Manor Black”

Last week the “Manor Black” miniseries wrapped up, but it’s very much just the beginning for this series. We had a chat with creators Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Tyler Crook to delve into how the world of “Manor Black” took shape and evolved on the page. If you’ve not read “Manor Black” yet, please be aware this interview is full of spoilers.

How’s it feel to have “Manor Black” out in the world? What’s the reaction been like so far?

Cullen Bunn: My first thought as we wrapped up “Manor Black” was “Let’s get started on Volume 2!” I love this world and these characters, but we’re really just scratching the surface of a much bigger story with this book! I’m thrilled with reader reaction to the book, and I am ready to really dig into the world of magic we’re presenting here!

Let’s talk about your leads. Given that a key inspiration for “Manor Black” was Dark Shadows, it’s easy to see where Roman Black came from. In many ways he’s the old guard, representing tradition. His power is inherited through a family line, so he could’ve easily been the sort of character that feels like his magic is his birthright, however, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. He has a strong sense of duty to magic, even beyond the House of Blood. He’s searching for successor that understands this responsibility to power and doesn’t feel entitled it.

Cullen: He’s the VERY old guard! He’s been around for a long, long time, and he’s had a powerful responsibility for all those years. Something like that can weigh heavily on someone, but one might even become protective of the burden itself. One of the interesting things about Roman for me is that his attitudes toward magic have changed throughout his life. I wonder if his children might reflect different stages in his own life.

Brian Hurtt: Roman Black is a man of many mysteries and we can’t wait to delve more into his (extended) past! He’s a very “gray” character and we’re looking forward to exploring the good and bad of this man.

Brian: We haven’t made it overt yet, but Ari is coming from a magical “family” that was very supportive and inclusive. Having lost everything, she now finds herself in this nest of vipers and has to not only find a way to navigate all the palace intrigue, but also remain true to herself and her now dead family.

Cullen: There’s much more to Ari than we’ve seen so far. Both her past and her future offer so many possible stories.

When “Manor Black” was first announced, there was a lot of talk about Roman Black and Ari, but I feel like there’s a third lead in the series with Harvey Washington. Actually, I was glad the promotional material didn’t mention him, as it allowed him to be a stealth lead of sorts. That whole first issue, Harvey could’ve been just a background character, but he ended up playing a major role in the way you introduced this world to readers. Could you tell us a bit about the development of Harvey?

Tyler Crook: I’ve thought of Harvey as being the reader’s way into the world of mages and wizards. He’s learning about this stuff at about the same rate at the reader is. He also gets to be the person who reacts to all this wild stuff in a more rational way. When people spontaneously combust, you are supposed to be freaked out.

Cullen: Harvey is absolutely a third lead. It might be interesting to note that Roman is my dad’s name, and Harvey is Brian’s dad’s name.

Tyler: I didn’t know that!!! That’s great.

Brian: I love the character of Harvey and not just because he’s my father’s namesake! I just love it in stories when the mundane or the pedestrian runs up against the fantastical. Harvey is that representation of the everyday real world—of the pedestrian—and that grounds us in the story and the world and allows us, like Tyler said, to have Harvey be our window into this supernatural world. Watching Harvey slowly come to see the scope of this world, and to become entwined in it, is going to be one of the core threads of this series.

There’s a conflict that often happens magic-touching-the-real-world kinds of stories where the everyday character refuses to acknowledge magic or they fight it. For me, those two reactions are so common in fiction, they often feel artificial, just going through the motions. So I really enjoyed Harvey’s reaction in issue #4 where he quickly realizes the seriousness of the situation, that it’s way beyond his control, and that neither of those two responses is going to be helpful. We get a sense that aspects of both those reactions are kicking around in his head, but he pushes ’em down and gets to work assisting Roman Black and Ari. I really loved this.

Cullen: I tend to feel the same as you, Mark. The disbelieving reaction is almost cliché these days. While it has its place, I think this kind of story is better served by a quick nod to the possibility of impossibility. . . then forging ahead into the tale at hand!

Tyler: Yeah, I’m with Cullen. For one thing, people believe in all kinds of magic stuff in real life already. And spending a bunch of time trying to explain how this stuff could work in the real world is usually boring and unsatisfying.

Beyond the three leads, this book’s got a pretty big cast to explore. I could easily see how future arcs could have other members of the Black family take the lead—and not just the living Blacks either. I think what struck me the most after reading this first arc of “Manor Black” was just how big the world is. And, of course, there’s that other character, the Black family manor itself. In this first arc, you’ve already hinted at a long history, including an incident that lead to the previous manor burning down in 1891. It seems like you’ve made a really fun sandbox to play in, for both creators and readers.

Cullen: Absolutely! We certainly want to explore the other cast members in much more detail, and there are plans for that in the works. We also have a few new cast members who haven’t been introduced yet. A couple of them, I’m very, very excited about!

Tyler: And we’ve only shown the Blood and Fire Houses. There’s a lot more out there to get weird with.

Clearly magic and the rules that govern it are a big part of this series. I’m curious what are your favorite magic systems in fiction. And what elements of your magical system are you most excited about exploring in “Manor Black?”

Cullen: I’ve always been a fan of magical systems that hint at a much, much bigger history and world. I like ritual and communion with powerful spirits. I love the magic presented in Moorcock’s Elric stories, where speaking to the dark gods is commonplace. I like the more grounded and dirty magic of Lieber’s Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories. I like the connection to “the Dragon” in movies like Excalibur. I like schools of magic as we see in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I have always been fascinated by different depictions of sorcery, so long as there’s a bit of story connected to them.

Brian: I could list off a number of magic systems that I’m a fan of, but my favorites are probably the systems that Brandon Sanderson has created in stories like Warbreaker or his Mistborn series. Those aren’t the best comparisons to what we’re doing, necessarily, as I find those systems to be baked into his world-building, where our magic—no matter how entangled it might be—is hidden from the everyday world.

I’m excited about slowly unrolling the “laws of magic” in “Manor Black.” But what I’m most looking forward to is revealing some of the different “Houses” of magic and explaining how they operate both collectively and independently from one another. So far, we’ve only been made aware of the Houses of Fire and Blood and their respective totems (the embodiments of their power). But there are several other Houses out there and we hope to introduce all of them over the course of time!

Tyler, considering you’ve just come off “Harrow County,” which also had a lot of magic in it, I feel like you found a way that makes “Manor Black” very distinct from “Harrow County.” Could you tell us about the visual development of “Manor Black’s” magic?

Tyler: There is still a lot to learn about how the magic in this world works, both for me and the reader. The only real, guideline I’ve tried to stick to is that blood comes out of your hands when you use Blood Magic. The script originally called for “little pinpricks of blood,” but as I was sketching and putting little red dots on his hand, I got worried that it would look like he was breaking out in hives or something. So I opted to have the blood oozing out in little gravity-defying streams. It made it look more magical.

Brian: And that upwards dripping blood is so cool, creepy, and iconic!

It’s interesting that Brian and Cullen are keeping secrets from you in this regard. How hands on were they in developing the visuals for magic?

Tyler: They were pretty hands off. Some of that is because they trust me and some of it is because we are all so busy.

Cullen: We must keep some secrets from Tyler, because we still want to surprise him when he reads the script. For me, that’s part of the fun! Just like it’s fun when he creates some amazing visual representation of magic we weren’t expecting!

There’s a thing that happens throughout this miniseries where the color of magic takes over a scene, with everything else heavily desaturated. Considering the spirit of magic is invisible to non-magic users, this approach to colors made me feel like I was seeing magic the way those gifted with magical ability see it. Is this something that came from the script?

Tyler: I don’t think it was in the script explicitly. But blood has an inherent color and so does fire. I tended to use green for the wild magicians just because it is the opposite of red on the color wheel.

Cullen: Yeah. . . We didn’t script that specifically. It’s rare that I mention colors in the script unless I think it is something vitally important. I’m spoiled, maybe, because I’ve worked with some amazing colorists over the years. I also knew to expect this sort of thing from Tyler considering his work on “Harrow County.”

Left: Solicited cover
Right: Final cover

Tyler, I couldn’t help but notice your cover for “Manor Black” #4 was markedly different from the one originally solicited. Knowing how much work you put into your covers, what was it that drove you to do this one over?

Tyler: well, the one we originally used for solicits was just bad. It’s hard to say exactly why. I think the lighting direction on Roman’s face made him look kind of goofy. And everything is too red, which would be fine except for the main energy of the piece is supposed to be the fire. And I think the red makes it read wrong. I guess a lot of people will look at the two covers and not see any difference but I sure do. I actually really struggled with this cover. The one we finally ended us using is the fourth one I did. I don’t know why it was so hard, sometimes that’s just how it goes.

Before we go, we have to discuss that ending. One of Roman’s children was plotting with the Stranger all along? You said this was going to be a gothic soap opera and you didn’t disappoint. . . complete with a cliffhanger to keep us guessing. Lorelei, Basil, or Reginald? The question is do all of you know who it is, or is this a secret you’re even keeping from each other?

Tyler: I don’t actually know who it is. It’s left me wondering if we’ve even met all of Roman’s children!

Cullen: I know who it is, yes, but the interesting thing here is that Brian may have a different opinion in regards to which child is plotting betrayal. . .

I’m curious to see what our readers think.

Look for the first “Manor Black” collection February 19, 2020. . .

Written by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt
Illustrated by Tyler Crook

Roman Black is the moribund patriarch of a family of powerful sorcerers. As his wicked and corrupt children fight over who will take the reins of Manor Black and become representative of the black arts, Roman adopts a young mage whom he gifts his powers to with the hope that someone good will take his place against the evil forces out to bring down his family and legacy. Collects Manor Black issues #1-#4 and features a sketchbook section and pinup art by Jill Thompson, Dan Brereton, Erica Henderson, and Greg Smallwood.