Our Pick of the Week this week, Curt Pires and Dalton Rose’s new Monkeybrain book “Theremin” is just the kind of action spy time travel book your life has been missing. Curt has previously written one of my favorite books of last year, “LP”, and Dalton is the man behind “Phabula” at Monkeybrain as well as the self-published comic “Sacrifice” with Sam Humphries. Yet knowing any of those books won’t necessarily prepare you for the kind of comic that “Theremin” is, because it’s just something else entirely.
Read on as I chat with Curt all about the ins and outs of “Theremin,” and be sure to pre-order the comic through Comixology right here.
For the uninitiated, how would you describe Theremin?
Curt Pires: Its SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE meets JAMES BOND. Historical inventor LEON THEREMIN just discovered time travel and it’s going to crack the world in two. It’s going to make him do things he never thought he’d have to do. It’s going to take him from scientist to super spy.
What was it about Leon Theremin in particular that you felt was interesting enough to have him take center stage, as opposed to maybe more famous/known inventors of the time?
CP: Well, I really had no interest in telling stories about “other” inventors. I feel like for the most part the major guys are pretty done to death. Jeff Smith’s Rasl , Fraction and Sanders’ Five Fists , these books sort of say enough about those guys for me. I really enjoy them. So the desire to tread familiar ground isn’t one I’m interested in. This story—sprung out of research I conducted for a nonfiction writing piece on Leon Theremin, as I was working on it I realized this –this was my next comic.
The book takes place in the early 1900’s. What research if any did you do, in regards to Theremin himself, the political climate of the time or anyone else he encounters?
CP: Does this book take place in the early 1900’s? What is the relevance of date and time, when you’ve cracked spacetime open like an egg, and can jump in and out of human history at a whim?
The research in terms of THEREMIN’s history was pretty extensive, but mostly just a jumping point into the insanity that is this comic. There’s’ no historical evidence that overwhelmingly suggests laser guns and time portals. This isn’t a biography. But… maybe it is? That’s sort of the thing about stories; they are what the readers make them.
The aspect of the theremin itself has a role in the book, but do you define the book as musical in any way ?
CP: Issue One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVzmEq1KnVw
Issue Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts46bC2IrAQ
Still discovering what issue three is.
I would say the book is very musical, but in less of the surface level way that LP was. LP was a comic that was directly, unapologetically about music. This comic sort of runs on a music engine, and there’s music in the book bubbling referentially up to the surface.
On that same thread, do you see Theremin as a follow-up to your work on LP at all?
CP: Absolutely, More than I had planned, the book sort of became a response to LP. I had a lot of anxiety about following up LP, and the frankly slightly startlingly positive reaction to it. So I wrote a comic book that is very much about killing our past selves, and becoming someone new. It was about figuring out what I do next – where I go after September 26th. It took me a while to figure out, but the answer was this comic, made with these amazing people.
The theremin ends up being an important tool for Theremin in the book, accessing a space between our worlds, time between time, known as the Red. Where did the concept of this instrument opening such a portal come from?
CP: I am honestly not super sure. It was the first thing that sort of came to my head in the “I have to do the THEREMIN comic” moment. It made sense to me that if you hit a certain frequency there would be some sort of temporal repercussion. It’s probably all that time I spent making weird noises with guitars in basements.
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There’s also a heavy aspect of time travel in the book. From a writing standpoint, does this complicate how you get the story across and keep track of various elements?
CP: It does, and it doesn’t. I certainly know where everything lines up, and what’s happening with the major plot points, and where the connections are, but there’s an element of freedom to it . This isn’t LOST, this isn’t LOOPER, there’s no fucking way this is PRIMER, and this is its own thing. This is free form acid jazz time travel. Getting lost in the wave, riding the beat, letting your eyes glaze over. It’s meant to be a disorienting narrative at points, and this sort of approach is one that works for that.
LP was a one-shot, but Theremin is going to be four issues. How does the process of creating comics for you change when expanding how long you have to tell the story?
CP: It’s harder and easier, it’s different– is what it is. In a single issue one shot, you have the luxury of knowing “alright, this is all I have”, you have clearly defined constraints. It’s a tight leash. With the longer sequential format, there’s more of a temptation to space things out, to be lazy, to decompress. So I’m really trying to compress, crank it up, play with the format, and make each 99 cent instalment a big meaty beautiful chunk of comic. Like the best comics are. I have very specific compositional goals for this comic structurally, and I’m working to get closer each issue.
How did you and Dalton get together on the book?
CP: I met Dalton at ECCC 2012. I was a fan of his work on SACRIFICE, and let him know. He was a nice dude, I grabbed his email, we talked a couple times, and sent over a big huge THEREMIN series plan/mock up first issue script. He dug it, and we went from there.
What do you feel Dalton brings specifically to the book that defines it as his? It’s certainly a very different style of art for him than Sacrifice.
CP: The art style in the book is very different from SACRIFICE. It’s a conversation we had very early on in the process. Dalton was eager to color himself, and embrace this new digital method of working, and I was all for it . The book’s gorgeous. It’s like a painting almost. The line blurs between pencils, inks, colors — it seems like a whole new process, and I’m just excited to see it happen. It seems to me he’s making clear choices on what moments we define with color, and what moments we define with lighting/inking. I’m honestly not comfortable enough with the terminology to elaborate beyond that. Sure is beautiful though.
Did you and Dalton coordinate on any of the more ethereal or design aspects of the book, such as what happens when Theremin is in The Red?
CP: The elements of what “The Red” looks/ feels like , how it functions , is something we spent a lot of time on. It’s inherently an abstract concept in nature, so we had to work together how to realize it. It’s not like one can simply google “timespace void” and find something to visually define it.
The beautiful sort of crimson sorbet swirl color that Dalton chose to render it in is so shockingly beautiful and otherworldly, and that’s all him. The way the moments in time are rendered within it in sort of a very loose , energetic way is also him. He’s doing amazing work.
You’ve also got Ryan Ferrier on the book, who does a great job on the book’s letters and also lettered your book LP. How important do you find the role of the letterer in helping get your vision of the book just right?
CP: What can I say about Ryan? He’s a huge part of why this book is good. I feel completely comfortable working with him, and there’s a short hand between us in regards to font choice, balloon placement, and text breakup that is almost second nature. Lettering is one of the most important parts of any book for me , and a huge part of realizing any comic . The design elements/integration of futura, as well as several other key factors also are all him. He’s right up there with Brisson, Wooton, Cowles, Eliopoulos and Klein, as dudes whose work I love.
Continued belowSo, in terms of the comic as a whole, I know you and I know your thoughts on comics in general. In what way are you doing your best to push the medium here with Theremin?
CP: I’m not going to claim we’re pushing the medium , because that seems like a license to hate on me , or call me a douchebag or something , but I will say that we are trying , I am deeply trying , to push PARTS of the medium that I believe in. We’re trying to do high density, channel switch, not holding your hand, comics. Trying to write layered, make there be something beyond the laser guns and the noise. Honest backmatter that brings a dialogue between us and the audience, and owns what the book is made of.
Basically we have very ambitious goals with this book. But let’s be honest , it’s more fun to drive the Ferrari at 120 mph and crash into the tree, then never leave the garage at all.
The comic is set to be released on Monkeybrain soon. Having self-published your own book, what do you feel are the major differences between that and publishing digitally with MB? Is it more or less daunting?
CP: Well first off, this book is going to have a much bigger audience then I could ever have hit with LP, no matter how hard I busted my ass getting it out. There’s accessibility to digital that makes it ideal. The biggest difference with MB , is I (we) have two amazing people in Allison and Chris in our corner, supporting the book, helping get the word out there, and helping make the book the best it can be.
It’s daunting but for different reasons. LP was daunting because I thought I was going to go broke putting the book out, and everyone would hate it , and no shops would order. This one is just as scary but for different reasons.
Finally, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much drugs did you put in your system for the book? Be honest now…
CB: Over 9000.
