Interviews 

Josh Williamson Crafts an Epic Fantasy with High Stakes in “Birthright” [Interview]

By | September 9th, 2014
Posted in Interviews | 7 Comments

For Josh Williamson, the world is slowly becoming a creator-owned smorgasbord. With “Nailbiter” and “Ghosted” both coming out from Image/Skybound right now, a great deal of books already under his belt and with his involvement helping to revitalize Dark Horse’s superhero line with Project Black Sky, you’d think that the world is Williamson’s oyster right now. But as it happens, for Williamson that’s definitely not enough — and later this year, he’s aiming to go to a world that’s a bit bigger.

Debuting the first full week in October, “Birthright” is a new series from Josh Williams and Andrei Bressan in which a young boy returns from a strange land after being missing for years. A family drama steeped in high fantasy, the book is reminiscent of most classic coming-of-age fantasy stories like the Narnia Chronicles or “Neverending Story.” However, with Williamson involved you know that it won’t be so easy or welcoming as all that — and having read the first two issues, I can at least mention here that it is perhaps Williamson’s best first issue debut yet, with a great hook, incredibly engaging artwork, dynamite pacing and characters that feel almost uncomfortably real.

Read on as we chat with Williamson about his new series, the inspirations, the character dynamics, and his plans for the future.

Most of your current work at Skybound/Image has an initial horror/supernatural slant; “Ghosted” involving ghosts and supernatural beasts (among other things), “Nailbiter” revolving around serial killers and plenty of murder. Why the change to fantasy now, and do you still hope to retain some of that horror prevalent in your work or are you angling to be immersed in a completely new genre?

Joshua Williamson: “Ghosted” was a mash-up of genres, crime and horror, while “Nailbiter” was small town horror mixed with serial killers (but mostly horror). But with “Birthright” I wanted to a grounded take on fantasy. My version of it. I enjoy taking the tropes we all know and love and twisting them and using them to mess with expectations.

“Birthright” is fantasy, but the opening scene is one of the scariest things I think can ever happen: a missing child. A lot of fantasy adventures never seem to deal with the consequences of those adventures, and that’s what I wanted to do here. To show the horror of what would happen if you were taken to a fantasy world as a young kid. What that does to someone.

But man, do I love writing the fantasy scenes. It’s fun to get into that world and write the big epic scenes. So much of my work is ground that it’s fun to cut loose a bit.

How did the series come about? Obviously there’s been a big uptick in the appreciation of fantasy in culture today, probably thanks to the show about that chair or whatever, but where does your interest in fantasy come from?

Birthright #1 Page 3

JW: Since I was a kid I’ve always liked big world fantasy: Narnia, OZ, “Lord of the Rings,” “Neverending Story,” “Peter Pan,” etc. But my favorite has always been about kids in our world going to these fantasy worlds.

I’ve been working on this book since 2007, actually. It was very different then, but the initial idea was there. The “what happens when you come home?” idea, but it was never coming together. About two years ago, I was at a horror convention in Portland on a panel, talking about horror comics when the story finally came together in my head. Just sort of snapped into place. And then I started to develop it again. Once it was with Skybound I flew down to LA to sit down with my editors and Kirkman and work out some of the smaller details; what was working and what wasn’t. But for me I’ve always been drawn to the big epic fantasy stories. I hate using the word epic but I am. I really enjoy new worlds of swords and sorcery.

On that same thread, what influences you on how you want to approach fantasy? Which aspects do you find the most appealing, that you’re hoping to play around in?

Continued below

JW: Dungeons and Dragons. Fantasy videogames. Fantasy books. Fantasy mpvies. All of it? I’m unsure if there was any one influence or a very surface level push, especially since so much of the story actually takes place in the real world.

I like doing the big set pieces, followed by the very human elements between the family that was left behind. But my favorite aspect has to be the world building. Creating a whole new world with its own rules has been a blast.

And how did you and Andrei Bressan come about working together? How has that working relationship influenced the series?

Birthright #1 Page 4

JW: Andrei was found by my editor at Skybound. They had worked together at DC a few times but he didn’t have a regular gig. Here… man… we lucked out. He has found his calling.

“Birthright” was meant for him. Like I said, I like big set pieces, and he is great with that. Goes way beyond anything I’ve been expecting. Andrei has been great to work with. We push each other to be better. When I see the stuff he comes up with, it really makes me want to reach deep to make the story better and bigger. We challenge each other; its like a game of double dare to see what kind of crazy stuff I can come up with and then he can draw. The pages are beautiful. People are going to be blown away.

<>Can you go a bit more into the world building aspect? Obviously we get a glimpse of the other place in the first issue, but what are some of the things that you think are important to creating a good fantasy environment?

JW: Imagination? [Laughs] Mostly just having a plan and creating an internal set of rules. Oh, and a map. People love maps. I love a good map of a fantasy world.

In the beginning I just cut loose on ideas, let my mind wander and think about all the fun tropes that I’ve enjoyed from fantasy stories. Then I looked at what worked and what didn’t with the story we are telling. Once Andrei got involved it really took off, because that guy can draw vast landscapes and environments.

One thing I always think works well with fantasy worlds is that no matter where you are or how peaceful the place looks, there should always be a feeling of unease, and of danger. And big set pieces that have history. Feels lived in.

On that same thread, when creating a fantasy landscape what are the biggest challenges that you face?

Birthright #1 Page 5

JW: Being original. Easily. We do use tropes a lot; hell, I use tropes a lot in everything I do, because its a way of doing short hand exposition and creating a situation where you can twist the reader’s expectations. But you don’t want the tropes to become tired within your own story.

It’s fine if the reader thinks “I’ve seen this before” on some levels as long as you, as the creator, push past that. But I think there are certain expectations that come with a fantasy story and world, and making what I said earlier about making the world feel lived in can be tough.

So as the young Mike returns, we find that the book is split between his time in the fantasy world and his time back in our world. In terms of pacing, what do you find are the tricks to use in terms of keeping the book’s structure intact?

JW: That’s been tough. Sometimes it feels like two different books. But there are subtle similarities that are happening in the two worlds that I wonder if people will pick up as the story goes.

I always make sure that the flashbacks are relevant, and that they work with what is happening with the real world. I do pretty extensive notebook and page layout work before I start the scripts and the flashbacks are all laid out there. Planning: that’s the trick.

As we go we will see less flashbacks, but for the first arc I wanted to establish that world.

Continued below

“Birthright” blends the real with the unreal, and obviously you have a lot of fun playing in the fantasy landscape, but what do you find is the key for you and Andrei to make both feel equally as real? If that makes sense.

JW: The real world stuff is always grounded, and we focus a lot on the characters and the environment. The situations are things we know and have seen. That familiarity creates a sense of realness in the reader. We then move away from that a bit, but we always keep one foot on the ground.

With the fantasy, the environment and the characters. Their facial expressions. The quiet moments. There is a scene in issue #2 between two of the more fantastic fantasy characters, and they are having a casual conversation that isn’t full of pompous fantasy talk that I think makes them more like characters than caricatures.

<>The book finds you playing a bit with the type of dynamics that I’m used to seeing you do — cop and killer, hero and young gun, sarcastic con man and serious merc. How have you found the process of getting into the heads of the characters in this book, especially the father/son dynamic?

Birthright #1 Page 6

JW: The father/son relationship is a big part of this book so it’s been on my mind from the start. As much as this book is a fantasy drama it is more of a family drama.

I love writing relationship pieces, stuff that deals in how people deal or react to each other. It’s like how all stories come down to two people talking in a room. I love that shit. Brennan, Mikey and the Dad were the easiest to get into their heads because I channeled my own issues with my parents and brothers. Wendy, the mother, was the hardest — at first; but there was a moment in issue #4 where she snapped into place in my head. I got her and went back through the issues to give her more character. She’s becoming my favorite to write.

It’s all about voice for me. I have to hear them talk. I talk to myself a lot, especially when I’m writing, and I will talk in the dialect of the characters I’m writing. In “Ghosted” I can hear Jackson really easy as I just think of smart ass and horrible things to say. In “Nailbiter,” Warren is a sicko but I can easily slip into his voice. Once I get them rolling on some rant, the book and ideas flow. Both of those characters have typed up or hand written rants that doesn’t make it into the comics.

With “Birthright,” it was a bit harder at first. Mikey took some time, and I think in some ways I’m still getting him down. But the brother and the Dad are the two that I hear. Brennan is me when I was a teen. And the Dad… he is just so sad. A tragic figure, a broken man. He lost his son, y’know? And he believes it was his fault, which in a lot of ways it was, but yeah. His whole life became about that moment, and I can feel his pain. So when I get into that mind state of his loss… I hear him.

One thing we’ve not discussed at all is the darker side to “Birthright.” The family aspect is important, the return of the son and potential absolution of the father is a big part of it as well, but we’ve not discussed the evil that lurks in the shadows — as it usually does with most great fantasy stories.

I don’t know how deep we can get into it without getting into spoiler territory, but given the type of villains that usually exist within fantasy books of this ilk, can you talk about the creation and crafting of your take on the fantasy totalitarian overlord?

JW: One of my rules in recent years has been that I write what I wanted to and what I like. The kinds of books I enjoy reading and/or wish there was more out there of. And I wanted to write a fantasy bad guy that was larger than life. And yeah, the best bits of horror are always the unknown, the thing that hides in the darkness.

Continued below

The God King Lore is the stuff of nightmares. We’re not going to see Lore that often in the first few issues; mostly that Lore is a thing that is whispered of in fear. And I kept that in mind when creating him. I wanted a bad guy who looked unique and when you did see those glimpses of him you’d remember — and when we finally see him fully it will be a big deal.

But yeah, it’s hard to get into the bad guys of the story without being spoilers. You’ve read the first two issues so you know one of the main themes of the story is something we’ve haven’t talked about a lot yet, and to me is the most interesting thing of what we’re doing with the ideas of evil in the real world.

To me the dark and exciting side of “Birthright” is the the audience is going to know something that the characters in the story will not. And it will create a underlining tension to the series.

As we look into the future of “Birthright,” what do you think readers should come to expect from you in the series? What are the things you’d point out as something to keep an eye on?

JW: A different look at the Heroes Journey with a bit of real life. That’s my aim. But at the same time people should look at the two parallel stories going on and see how they are closer than you might expect.

So with three books at Image now spanning different genres and archetypes and tropes and all that good stuff, I can only imagine you’re feeling pretty damn swell about your creative output these days?

JW: You bet! And this is just the beginning. All my favorite creators in comics have had healthy creator owned libraries and that is my hope for my career as well. It seems like a no brainier for me to continue to do creator owned books. It always gets the best responses from the readers.

I’ve had a few twists and turns in my career, and it seems that the path that I’ve been on lately has been the right one.

Birthright #2

It does seem like you’re challenging yourself more and more with the books that you work on. As you’ve been a comic creator for sometime, what do you think are the most important lessons that you’ve learned, and what are you hoping to learn on this latest journey with “Birthright?”

JW: Having a voice or what I feel like is my style did not come easy to me. I focused a lot on the wrong things for a long time. It took “Masks and Mobsters” and “Ghosted” to get me away from that. When you’re coming up and trying to break in or get jobs, you find yourself picking up a lot of bad habits, not just as a creator but as a business person. The last year or so as shown me that I needed to let go of past hang ups and ideals of what my career was going to be and embrace the career I had. To see what made me happy and creative. And doing books like “Nailbiter,” “Ghosted” and “Birthright” are that.

Challenging myself is an understatement. I always want to learn and get better at this gig. I’m lucky to have it. Really lucky. And I’m a fan of comics. I read a lot, but it’s not just that. This is very clearly a lifestyle choice for me. The market and readers deserve better books, and I’m trying to be a part of that.

With “Birthright”… Before, a lot of my books have been very low budget and grounded. Here I’m trying to create something bigger. Do a huge story with a lot of moving pieces.

Since we’re seeing such an increase in the creator-owned output from you, are we looking for this to be the norm soon? All creator-owned, all the time?

JW: Kind of? I love doing creator-owned. And there are so many books that I want to do, some that are already being worked on and put together. But I still have that drive and itch to do a few company-owned characters. It just won’t be the focus in 2015 and beyond. Maybe one book a year. As long as they are books that have that dark side to them. “Birthright” is the start of that.

My goal is to continue to make comics that I want to see. And to keep my style with all of those books


Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

EMAIL | ARTICLES