Well, now. After all those Artist August posts with Emma Rios, you probably thought we were done bringing the noise for today, didn’t you? If you did, you thought wrong (especially since I repeatedly noted there was always more coming!).
Presented to you now in addition to our chat with Emma about “Pretty Deadly” and more, we sat down with Kelly Sue DeConnick to discuss “Pretty Deadly” from her side of the table — the influences, our new heroine, and more. On top of that, attached to this interview you’ll find a preview to the book featuring the uncolored/unlettered inks Emma did for the first four pages of the upcoming issue. They provide a whole new perspective of the opening sequence to the issue, and with added commentary from Kelly Sue about the series as a whole it’s a can’t lose combination of awesome.
Read on for pretty much everything you wanted to know about “Pretty Deadly” and more.
How did you and Emma come about working together on “Pretty Deadly”? You’d both worked together on Marvel comics before, so was this pretty much an extension (of sorts) from that?
Kelly Sue DeConnick: Yep.
It was after Osborn that I rather timidly inquired as to whether she’d be interested in doing something creator-owned and I got lucky. Originally, we talked about a 70s heist thing, but then Em asked how I felt about westerns and I just about flipped.
Oh, that’s interesting — are you a big fan of Westerns? This is something I did not know.
KSD: Yeah, I am actually. But it’s a love-hate thing for reasons that I’m sure you can guess.
I’d always wanted to do a Western, but years ago I had an editor tell me that artists hate drawing horses and that was why it was so hard to get a Western going. He was probably kidding, but I believed him.
Newsflash: I’m an idiot.
So in terms of your collaboration with Emma here, what differs between how you interact on a creator-owned property and how you interacted with your Marvel collaborations? And how often are you putting horses into the script now?
KSD: Well… I don’t know if it would be true on every creator-owned book, because we’ve only done the one, but script for Pretty Deadly is much less formal than Osborn or Captain Marvel. I switch back and forth between full script and plot-style scene to scene sometimes.
And Pretty Deadly totally has horses! I don’t know if it’s horse-heavy, but it has horses.
(Now I have another horse book I want to do. I have a title and everything, but I don’t want to tell you because SOMEONE WILL STEAL IT.*)
(*No one will actually steal it.)
(But still.)
Oh, a Multiversity Exclusive — Coming In 2014: THE KELLY SUE HORSE BOOK!
So as you began discussing the idea of a Western comic together with all of the horses imaginable, how did the inspiration begin to flow in order to create “Pretty Deadly” and its main heroine, Ginny? Who is she, and (for you) where did she come from?
KSD: It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer. For one: spoilers! The other… I’m not sure I could tell you where she came from. She sort of leapt whole cloth into our heads. Emma might remember better than I do. I don’t recall where the skull face came from I think we were trying to decide whether it was paint — oh! Actually, I do remember! This was from back when the book was going to be about a wild West show ( believe it or not). The face paint came from that and then I believe evolved into scars, then a tattoo.
If it’s not too spoiler-y, can you talk about her role in the title — what she’s doing in this world, what drives her to star in a brand new ongoing series from Image?
KSD: She’s… A reaper of vengeance. There’s also a reaper of cruelty, and a reaper of fate.
I know that something important to you as a writer of comics is the role of female characters and their portrayal in what is often seen as a male-dominated hetero-normative medium at times. Not even looking at specifics/spoilers of the book, though, is anything about the creation and execution of “Pretty Deadly” a response to this aspect of comics, with hopefully a push in a better direction?
Continued belowKSD: Hm.
I know that at one point — one of the villains — I had been considering a male character and thought, you know, there’s no reason this has to be a guy, and decided to go with a female character. But, other than that… I don’t know. I don’t think… I mean, I’m not trying to write political pamphlets. I’m writing stories. I have to write what I think is best for the story. I’m interested in female protagonists. It’s important to me that my characters — male and female — have agency, not be sexy lamps, plot devices. But am I writing this book to be a political directive? No. I don’t think good stories come from reverse engineering. Not from me, anyway.
Does that make sense?
Yes, that makes perfect sense to me.
On a lightly similar (but not really) tangent, where do you see “Pretty Deadly”/Ginny’s place against some of your other solo-character current works — “Ghost”, “Captain Marvel” or even the Castle graphic novels — in terms of how you approach writing the characters? I’d reckon it all comes from “the same place”, ie you, but do they all come from the same mindset, moods, et al?
KSD: No, no. They don’t all come from the same place at all. I am, I guess this is tough because — forgive me for constantly making excuses about why it’s hard to answer questions, please. I’m a whiner, I know — I don’t write Ginny the way I write someone like Carol. I’m not in Ginny’s head. Carol’s inner monologue is constant. Ginny’s distanced from me. There are other characters in the book that let me in more — the blind man, the girl in the vulture coat, for instance. In many ways, Ginny’s a cipher still.
It’s interesting that you say that, actually. Do you find Ginny offers up a unique challenge in writing her book, then? It almost sounds like you’re transcribing her actual story.
KSD: It feels like archeology.
Would you hate me if I pushed you for a slightly more elaborate answer as to how?
KSD: I don’t feel like I’m god of this particular universe, if that makes sense.
Absolutely.
So I take it that from chatting with you here that the work being done on “Pretty Deadly” is basically an entirely different beast than the other work you’ve done so far in how you approach and create the characters, the world, etc. Do you think that this is a reflection of how you are approaching a creator-owned title vs. for-hire and the more limitless freedom it affords, or is it perhaps based on something else?
KSD: Yes, I think it is different because it’s creator-owned and because we didn’t solicit immediately. We have the freedom to let the book develop and not be driven so much by market concerns.
This isn’t something I see discussed too much, but how much of the market’s concerns acts as a driving factor for the book? Or rather, are you putting it out now (the proverbial now) because now the world is ready for Pretty Deadly?
KSD: Ha! No. I WISH I were that savvy. Or that organized.
There was a point at which I thought we might capitalize on the Django buzz, but you see how well that worked out?
Similarly, my agent would have liked for the book to have been out in time to make the rounds for development season. Clearly I NAILED THAT ONE TOO.
No, this book is coming out now because this is how long it took us to make something we could be proud of.
So having established yourself well in the comic market and developed this wonderful and passionate fanbase, are you excited to bring “Pretty Deadly” out into the world? Is there perhaps anything left for Kelly Sue to be nervous about? Because at least from where I sit the buzz and excitement is pretty palpable.
KSD: Oh, I’m terrified!
BECAUSE of the buzz, not in spite of it.
I mean, so many people are looking forward to book. So many people are being unbelievably supportive. WHAT IF I LET THEM DOWN? What if they won’t give me another chance? What if they don’t let the story develop?? What if they’re mean to me on the internet?!
Continued belowI can’t think about it too much because it’s paralyzing. I kind of have to pretend I’m just writing for Emma–and Sigrid and Jordie and Dustin–but mostly Emma. If Emma’s happy, then I’m happy.
How far down the road do you and Emma plan for Ginny and “Pretty Deadly” to mosey on down? Is there a particular endgame in site or are you looking at this as a more open-ended ongoing for now?
(That was my lame attempt at making a Western pun, by the way.)
KSD: HA! Well done.
I have a rough plan for the second arc. Which is something less than the 7-arc plan Fraction has for Casanova, I know, I know!
You know that EL Doctorow quote about driving at night? I’ll find it for you. Hang on–
“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
That’s very much how it is for me. I’m never all that far ahead.
Readers hate to hear that, I know.
“Pretty Deadly” #1 hits stores October 23rd from Image Comics.
