Debuting in July from Image Comics, Ed Brisson’s follow-up to “Comeback” is released, entitled “Sheltered” and featuring Johnnie Christmas on art. We’ve showed you a preview of the book, but today we’ve got a chat with writer Ed Brisson about the upcoming book for your reading pleasure./
Read on for the Bri$$’ thoughts on morality, Y2K, messing with Johnnie and more.
While I know people hate getting this question – in your own words, how do you pitch “Sheltered” to potential readers?
EB: We’ve been calling it a “Pre-Apocalyptic Tale”. I’d pitch it as “Lord of the Flies on the eve of an apocalypse” (as much as I hate comparing to other existing things). SHELTERED is about how the children of Safe Haven, raised under a constant threat of societal breakdown, deal with the threat of a possible apocalypse. What they do to survive and how they deal with the consequences of those actions.
I see the book described as a pre-apocalyptic story instead of post-apocalyptic. What’s more interesting about what comes before the fall as opposed to after?
EB: It’s about the tension of knowing that this thing is just around the corner and the things they have to do to ensure their own survival – things that, to you and I, might seem insane but to these children it’s practicality taken to its most extreme.
Part of the book seems inherently like a reaction on your part to some of the more nutty extremists prevalent in the world, with the survivalist compound and whatnot. What about this type of mentality do you find intriguing enough to tackle in this story?
EB: The end of the world and theories surrounding it have always fascinated me. Most people don’t consider it, but it doesn’t take much to get people ready to bug out. Look back to 1999 when it seemed like every second person was convinced that technology was going to fail once we hit January 1, 2000. People were draining their bank accounts, storing water and non-perishable foods, etc. Even people I knew – rational people – we getting into the act. I knew a girl who was SO convinced that society was going to fall apart that she went into the woods to live in a cave during the weeks surrounding Y2K (I shit you not – although, to be fair, she was NOT the most rational person).
Now, imagine being raised in a small community who is almost exclusively focused on the end of the world and complete societal breakdown. What is your mind set like? How much – or how little, rather — does it take to push you to convince yourself that something you’ve been waiting your whole life for is about to happen?
One of the things I really want to do in this book is to have it all make sense. I don’t want to show this prepper society as a bunch of nut-jobs, I want to bring the reader in and hopefully make them see where these people are coming from – how they got here, why they believe this.
Living in the cold north yourself, how much of your own life would you say is featured in the book?
EB: Boston is colder than Vancouver!
I hate the snow, with a passion – which is a large part of why I moved to Vancouver. But, I grew up in it. I remember how trapped it would make me feel and there’s certainly some of that in the book.
As for myself reflecting in the characters, I think there is a bit of me in both Lucas and Victoria. I can be stubborn at time and forge forward despite everything pointing towards it being a fruitless effort. I can also be a little conniving, when I need to be. Both are traits shared by Lucas. As for Victoria, I’ve been that new kid in school – my family moved cross country when I was 14 – so, I’ve been drawing on those memories a bit.
EB: Not really. I was a pretty crappy teenager and not a great son. I ran away from home when I was about 16 and spent a few good years just being a pain in my mom’s ass. Crappy teenagers are relateable because I used to be one (as did many of us, I’m sure).
I remember you stating somewhere that this is probably the darkest thing you’ve ever worked on. Does that still stand true, and if so, why?
EB: Yeah, I think it is. It’s difficult to get into the whys without spoiling things. I think anyone who reads the first issue will get a good sense of what the tone of the story is going to be throughout the series. These children are trained to fight for their survival and many times they believe that their chance at survival is being threatened and so react accordingly. Things that start with the best if intentions quickly turn sour.
Lucas, who essentially is the “leader” of the kids, has a pretty incredible arc through the series and it brings him to some very dark places.
You’re no novice towards unsettling tales with all of your Murder Books, but what is it about going up to the edge of ethics and morality that you find interesting as a storyteller?
EB: To be honest, I’m not 100% sure. That’s just the type of story that generally draws me in as a reader/viewer and is often the type of story that I want to tell.
Maybe one day I’ll tell a really happy story.
Maybe.
The book follows two different characters in two different spectrums of the situation. Do you find that adds an appropriate balance to the question of what is ostensibly right or wrong within the book?
EB: More than what’s right and what’s wrong, I wanted to give an insider’s view (through Lucas) and an outsider’s view (through Victoria) to this mini-society. BOTH believe that they’re right and, given what they believe, neither is necessarily wrong. From their own point of view, their beliefs, and experiences, they’re both doing what they legitimately believe to be the “right” thing.
You and Johnnie previously collaborated for a Murder Book short. What made him the right collaborator for this project?
EB: I just really like working with him. The past two Murder Book shorts we did came out great and in both cases we just worked together well. He also lives here in Vancouver, so it’s great that I can just pop into his studio to see pages or we can meet up for coffee or beer and talk about the project.
The idea for SHELTERED came out of us talking about story ideas over a six pack of beer. We wanted to pitch something together and basically just had a session of spitting out story ideas and talking them through. From that, SHELTERED was born. At no point was there another artist in mind.
As a collaborator, Johnnie is great for keeping me on my toes. He’ll read the scripts and shoot me thoughts or tweaks and challenge some of my ideas. We usually spend some time talking over and then I’ll go back through the script with those in mind.
I’ve heard from Johnnie that you’re making him draw some messed up things. To what extent are you doing this on purpose?
EB: Well, there’s one scene coming up in issue #4 that came straight out of a back and forth Johnnie and I were having about particular residents of Safe Haven. I’m not going to get too into detail, but I will let everyone know that it’s all Johnnie’s fault! I’m going to run our text message conversation in the back of that issue as proof.
Looking at “Sheltered” against something like the Murder Books, how do you feel your career as evolved in terms of the types of story you want to tell and the lengths at which you can now go to tell them?
EB: Getting to tell longer stories is great. I’m really enjoying taking the time to try to develop the characters a little more than I was able in the past with shorter stories. When I started writing MURDER BOOK, I couldn’t really see myself doing anything longer than a 5 or 6 issues story. I really like closed endings and don’t have a lot of desire to do a long ongoing – not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with an ongoing, it’s just not where my head’s at. These days, I am plotting ideas for things that could theoretically go 20, 30 or even 40 issues. A lot of things would have to line up to be able to pull something like that off, but it’s something that I think could be really interesting.
“Sheltered” #1 debuts in July. None of you are safe.
