Comics are an amazing medium, and more and more people are coming to realize that as they grow increasingly popular. Amongst their number is Aron Warner, the producer of the Oscar winning “Shrek” series, who is currently releasing a story he originally developed as a webcomic – “Pariah” – as an eight issue mini-series with writer Philip Gelatt and artist Brett Weldele at Dark Horse.
We spoke with Warner about this book, how he got into comics, working with Gelatt and Weldele, and share some exclusive pages from the upcoming fourth issue. Take a look, and check out the book. It’s a very interesting premise that is delivered in smart and entertaining fashion, with its fourth issue coming at the end of the month.
Obviously you’ve been very successful outside of comics, so I have to ask: why comics? What made you want to turn Pariah into a comic rather than some other medium? Do you have a personal history with comics as a fan?
Aron Warner: I have very little personal history with comics. Weirdly, I have very little personal history with animation either. I read a lot of books growing up. And my parents took us to art films. It wasn’t till I was a teen that I could go to the movies on my own and obsessively watch Soylent Green or The Omega Man over and over again.
I wanted to work in a visual medium that didn’t require 300 people to make happen. No committee. No test screenings, mommy bloggers, studio notes, etc. That allowed me to move quickly and make it as gritty as I wanted. I also felt that the comic book world would be more welcoming of the subject matter and not intimidated by the fact that these kids are really smart.
Creating a comic is hugely different from making a film, naturally, but how do you feel your film work was advantageous in bringing Pariah to life? Additionally, what advantages do you feel the comic book medium gave you in bringing this story to life?
AW: I was totally unprepared for the process of making Pariah. I found our incredible artist Brett Weldele by walking from booth to booth at Comic-Con. I saw SURROGATES and loved the way it looked. I approached Brett right there and told him about Pariah. Naturally, he thought I was bat shit crazy. Took awhile to convince him I was for real. Phil and Brett taught me a lot about making a comic book. How much story can we tell in each book? How many characters can we introduce? How can we lay it out so that it’s super clear, even to the uninitiated comic book readers like me.
Pariah is a unique story for many reasons, but one of the things that stood out was how it dropped us straight into this dire situation, and we got to know these characters as they seemingly were truly getting to know themselves. What do you feel dropping them straight into the action did to open up the story, and what made that alluring to you as a storyteller?
AW: If I had it my way, every movie would start in the middle. I’m very impatient as a viewer, reader, etc. Plus I think part of the fun of the whole experience is putting the pieces together as you go along.
Philip Gelatt is the man whom you are writing the story with, as he’s scripting the actual issues. What made him the man for the job? What was it about his skill set that you felt would take this story to the places it needed to go to fully realize your ideas?
AW: Phil is friends with my business partner Jeff Fierson. We met and hit it off. He totally got what I wanted to do. I read a bunch of his stuff to make sure he could make kids sound like kids. He also has a great love and respect for smart science fiction. I loved Europa Report because it a lot of thought went into the logic and science of it. The science of Pariah is one of the key parts of it for me. There’s so much we don’t know, much of which is happening right in our backyards. Scientific breakthroughs happen every day. The stuff the kids do in these comics is all based in real science.
Continued below
So you’re more of a neophyte to the comic world than your collaborators, but you really can’t tell from the series. What’s the process for crafting an issue? Is it you and Phil working closely in plotting, do you talk script together, or how exactly have you been working to bring this story to life?
AW: Phil and I would usually agree on what needs to happen in an issue – he’d go off and outline and we’d go back and forth with some changes, then he’d go off and write. Since he’s got a real paying job he would get to this when he could which worked out pretty well. I was sort of amazed at how in sync we were throughout the process. It was rare that the final product varied significantly from the initial outline.
You talked about how this is all based on real science, but I’m curious: what drove your desire to look at the idea of these Vitro kids? It reminds me of the idea behind something like Gattaca, naturally, but I especially enjoy how you explore the society that forms between these hyper intelligent kids, and how you explore how they use their intellect (like, crafting zero gravity alcohol!). What makes those elements the ones that are fascinating to you as a storyteller?
AW: So this is where the rift between pessimism and optimism sits with me. People are afraid of technology, genetic engineering, nuclear energy. But without these we wouldn’t be who we are now. We’ve been doing genetic engineering since 12,000 BC (yeah, I looked it up..). We’re reliant on medical advances everyday to keep us comfortable and healthy. So on the pessimist side there’s the fact that we know so little about the body, the brain, physics, the universe – that we could easily inadvertently make a change that had unexpected consequences. This too happens every day.
Bottom line for me is that when I feel low or uninspired, I pick up New Scientist magazine. Yeah, there’s lots of bad news about global warming and species die offs, but there are hints at amazing things to come as well. Those are the thresholds I wanted to get people exposed to by reading Pariah. It’s incredibly exciting and reminds you both of how small we are but how brilliant we can be.
Brett Weldele is an Eisner nominated artist, and someone who does a phenomenal job in bringing this story to life in beautiful, ethereal style. I particularly liked the darkness he brings with his inks around the edges, even if a scene is meant to be bright. It gives the story a troubling sense throughout. For you as both a storyteller and someone who enjoys comics, what was it about Brett’s skills as a visual artist and a storyteller that made him ideal for this project?
AW: My sheer ignorance was an advantage here. Like I said, I basically stumbled into the right person. It was either really good instincts, or blind luck but either way I’m really thankful. I think both Brett and I share a penchant for darkness. Most importantly and most exciting for me is that his work is beautiful. It grounds the high concept of the story in nature, even way out in space.
I think one of the most fascinating things about this comic is that in the first three issues, there are narrators, but none of those three characters are the main characters listed on the website, nor are they amongst the leaders of the Vitro kids. I’m curious as to what made that the direction you wanted to go? I think it works really well, but like starting the story in media res, it’s a very unique storytelling device.
AW: Part of the media res of it was that there are 4 books that came out digitally before Pariah #1. These gave more of a set up but are still told from a single character’s POV. Phil and I dug the device because it allowed us to introduce the characters more intimately. As you’ll see in the later books, once we’ve set up the main players we shift the point of views during each book. We both felt like that device wasn’t needed after awhile – once the readers got to know the players. It was sort of a happy accident of our collaboration.
