Grit 1 Featured Interviews 

Read an Exclusive Comic Set in the World of “Grit” and an Interview with the Books’ Creators

By | August 19th, 2020
Posted in Interviews | % Comments

Author of the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Lee Duckworth, wrote “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” What she didn’t know at the time is that “Grit” would also be an amazing new comic series from writer Brian Wickman, artist Kevin Castaniero, and publisher Scout Comics.

Brian and Kevin are joined by colorist Simon Gough and letterer Micah Myers to tell the story of Old Man Barrow in along a “Southern-fried sword and sorcery and pulp fantasy adventure” as he fights trolls, cults and much more. We were able to speak to Brian and Kevin to learn more about the series, Old Man Barrow and the true meaning of “Grit.”

Below you will find our interview with the writer and artist team, as well as an exclusive 4 page comic “The Cellar.” This short story follows up with the bar keep we meet in the first issue of “Grit.” Drawn by artist Simon Kercz (@simonyetikercz), this short and two others will be collected physically in the trade release.

A big thanks to Brian and Kevin for taking the time to answer our questions and sharing the short “The Cellar” with us and you readers. Be sure to pick up the first issue of “Grit” in stores now with issue two dropping August 26th!

Cover by Kevin Castaniero
Written by Brian Wickman
Illustrated by Kevin Oastinaiero
Colored by Simon Gough
Lettered by Micah Myers

When a mysterious wanderer comes across a mound of slaughtered goblins, she wants answers, and all signs point to Old Man Barrow. Unfortunately for him, she decides to mount her interrogation while he’s knee deep in the swamp, hunting a dream hag. If there’s one thing Barrow hates more than a witch, it’s two witches. Things ain’t looking pretty for our hero, y’all.

In my research for this interview I discovered your series “Grit” has no connection to the film True Grit. So what is this series? Have you seen either True Grit? Why is your comic better?

Brian Wickman: “Grit” is a goofy pulp sword and sorcery adventure following an aging monster hunter named Barrow and a quick-tempered witch named Ari who’s committed to breaking his violent habits. I’ll go on the record here as saying that, unlike True Grit, we will maintain any and all eye patch consistency in the inevitable reboot.

Kevin Castaniero: Can we re-do all 3 issues but Barrow has an eye patch? I would say our comic is worse for lack of eye patches. We really messed up, Brian.

BW: Scout is going to be so mad at us when they realize there aren’t any eye patches. Shit.

One of the big draws in the solicits for the series to me has to be the description of “Southern-fried sword and sorcery.” What does that mean to the two of you when it comes to “Grit?”

BW: We’ve had this log-line from the get-go, and it definitely served as a sort of jumping off point for us to imagine the world. We used this idea as a lens to view a less frequently visited part of fantasy worlds; I love elegant high fantasy, but it makes more sense for the world of “Grit” to feel lived-in and worn down. I always imagined Barrow as a blue-collar monster hunter, and when we built the world around him, it made sense to fill it with other like-minded folks doing their best to make a living in this dangerous, fantastical deep South.

KC: What Brian said. But also I immediately think of something like a comfort food. It’s the fantasy you’ve known and read growing up but with our spin. A world that feels familiar but new at the same time.

Old Man Barrow is an interesting character who seems to be a put upon hero. What has your approach been to bringing the character of Barrow to life both visually and narratively?

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KC: The narrative stuff was definitely all Brian. In reading notes about Barrow it became pretty clear what I was working towards. I prefer to sketch until something catches my eye and then develop from there. There were definitely a multitude of inspirations (visually) when it came to Barrow. One that sticks out for me was James Caan, specifically from the movie Way of the Gun. I dug the stocky build. So from there the design just snowballed and turned into the Barrow that we know and love today.

BW: I have a serious soft spot for characters who begrudgingly see their quests through to completion, and that’s definitely the case with Barrow. What he initially writes off as a routine job quickly spirals out of control, and in some ways out of his area of expertise, but he feels an obligation to see that things are taken care of. Barrow is a man of few words, so a lot of what we learn about him comes from the way others talk to him or about him, and we find out early in the series that his family has a history that feeds into his sense of responsibility. On the surface, Barrow seems largely apathetic, but the very fact that he continues on his quest despite having the option to step away says otherwise, and I think that’s an interesting sort of dissonance to explore.

The series is solicited as a 3 issue story. Has that always been the goal for the series, has it evolved and is there more beyond 3 issues you would like to pursue?

BW: We originally wrote “Grit” as a one-shot, but once we got cooking we fell in love with Barrow and his world and found ways to extend the story into this three issue arc. We always left the room to expand, so it was a really natural progression, and I had a blast working with Kevin to push the story further and further. Someone pointed out to me that we start this story with the “boss fight” and that’s an interesting way to think about it. The first issue is VERY action heavy, and then the series slows down a bit as we reverse engineer the consequences of that frenetic violence. Expanding the series really let us explore what makes Barrow shine as a character though; you get hints at a certain depth early on, but we took the rest of the series to really push his arc and let him grow.

We already have some plans to expand the world of “Grit”in some fun ways. The trade will contain three bonus stories with art from Simon Kercz, Dillon Snook, and Te’Shawn Dwyer. Each of these stories either expands on something hinted at in the main story or serves as a slice-of-life for one of the characters. This three issue arc has a definitive conclusion, but there are definitely more stories to tell in this world if we have the opportunity.

KC: I never thought about the boss fight angle. Hahaha, I dig that. I forgot it was originally planned for a one shot! That was like a million years ago.

The action in “Grit” is insane. What have you guys set out to do with the action in the series?

BW: I have a really sincere fondness for pulp fantasy, so “Grit” is both a love letter to the genre and an exploration of what happens when the hero messes up tremendously. That means that the intent of the occasional ultra-violence is kind of two-headed. I want readers to have fun watching this old man chop up a bunch of goblins, because let’s face it, that’s rad, but I also want to plant the seed that maybe this isn’t the most efficient method of problem solving.

We introduce Ari in issue two; she’s a sort of hot-headed young witch who takes serious issue with the way Barrow handles his business. The two of them are both so stubborn that it’s a blast to force them through this wild fantasy gauntlet together. There are a number of tonal shifts throughout this series and I think that it allows folks to view the action through a number of different lenses.

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KC: I personally just wanted to make stuff as clear and concise as I could! Brian set me up with these intense action scenes, so it was a fun puzzle to try and make everything work on the page. I hope people get a kick out of the action.

BW: I kept my scripts really loose for these pages because I totally trust Kevin’s visual storytelling sensibilities when it comes to this stuff. With especially visceral scenes, I’ll sometimes just give Kevin the pieces that we need and see where he lands with it.

I know the first issue was about to drop then the shutdown happened. What has then been like as creators?

BW: It’s frustrating, for sure, but this is a tough time for everyone, so we’re just along for the ride. I’ve done what I can to advocate for my local comic shops during this period (shout out to Collector’s Corner and Chuck’s Comics in Baltimore, MD) because I know how hard this has been on everyone, and I’ve used the extra time to try to pull together some cool stuff for “Grit” behind the scenes, including a wild variant cover from my pal Vlad Legostaev.

KC: The variant cover…hooooo boy is that glorious. I have been working (my dayjob) since the shutdown started so for me I guess I didn’t really have time to think about the book not coming out when it was supposed to. Hell, I am just happy and excited it’s coming out at all!

Scout has been doing impressive work in the independent comic market. How did the series end up at Scout Comics? How has the relationship been with them as publishers?

BW: Lisa Sterle and Matthew Erman’s Long Lost is what put Scout on my radar, and they’ve released a ton of other cool books since then, like “Gutt Ghost” and “Canopus.” “Grit” was a cold pitch to Scout, but they dug the concept and after a little back-and-forth they were interested in releasing it. The folks at Scout have been a breeze to work with and have really given us the freedom to tell the story that we want to tell.

I am sure you guys have heard the comparison to the Mignola verse but the series feels like it would be right at home in the world. As a team how have you approached building this world, characters and monsters out?
BW: I’ll take that as super high praise because I’m a huge, huge fan. I keep several volumes of “Hellboy” on my desk whenever I’m writing because they’re just masterclasses in comic book pacing.

Kevin and I have developed a great workflow when it comes to world-building. We’re constantly bouncing ideas back and forth, and he has a really practical approach to design that I’ll let him dig into, but it’s been an intensely collaborative process for us. We’re not necessarily subverting classic fantasy tropes in any shocking ways, but we are thinking about how they function in the day-to-day of this world and that’s led to some of the inherent wackiness in the series. I trust Kevin’s design sensibilities completely; some of my favorite moments from working on this series are getting texts from him with rough sketches and replying back, “this is gross and it’s perfect.”

KC: Have not heard that comparison and I am glad I haven’t till now cause that would have broke me mentally. I Love Mignola and his universe, so being compared to that is incredibly flattering.

Like Brian said there’s pretty much always an open line of communication between the two of us. I will shoot him a text of designs and we’ll talk about what we like or don’t like. I personally try and make things seem practical/functional. Even in a strange fantasy world with monsters and all that. Brian telling me my concepts are gross gets my juices flowing!

Also included in your creative team is colorist Simon Gough and letterer Micah Myers who do amazing work in the series. What do they two bring to the team and series?

BW: How much time do you have? I can’t say enough nice things about these two. Simon has been so invested in this series from the second he joined the team, and his work on the book is absolutely mind-blowing. Every time Kevin and I see new pages roll in our brains melt. Simon may have less kind words for Kevin for making him color so many damned trees, but we are so lucky to have him on the team. Same deal with Micah; he brings so much to the table and some of his lettering decisions early on actually informed the way that I handled dialogue through the rest of the series. I’m so, so glad to have this team along for the ride on this book.

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KC: Both those dudes really tie the whole book together and I cannot praise them enough. Simon’s work is absolutely gorgeous and I want him to colour everything I do from now on! I think Micah brings a nice flow to the comic which is a talent all in itself. The word balloons don’t feel intrusive which is not an easy feat. Brian, you’re the one who set this in a got-damn forest! So really you are the one we should all be mad at.

BW: That’s totally fair. I’ve promised Simon that our next book can be in a desert.

What do you guys hope readers take away from “Grit?

BW: I hope that folks have half as much fun reading it as we’ve all had making it. “Grit” is a pulpy, messy fantasy story with a whole lot of heart, and I hope people will enjoy getting to spend some time with Barrow and Ari. I love stories that can raise questions without taking themselves too seriously, and that’s really what we strive to accomplish here. Are there goblin butts? Yes. Are there goblin hearts? Also yes, but … metaphorically. Probably also literally.

KC: I hope everyone sees the love we put into this book. I know at least for me there were many late nights and I do not doubt the others were doing the same. If at least one person reads this book and is inspired to make some fantasy of their own, I will be a happy man. Plus, who doesn’t love a little goblin butt?


Kyle Welch

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