Love, heists, heart transplants, and Fleetwood Mac. These are the things at the center of “Heartthrob”, a new Oni Press comic from Christopher Sebela, Robert Wilson IV, and Nick Filardi. It centers on Callie, a woman who’s given a new lease on life when she’s given a heart transplant. Her new life is turn upside down, though, as she meets a mysterious and handsome man and starts to develop strange and unusual habits, all thanks to her new heart.
We had a chance to talk with Sebela and Wilson at ECCC about “Heartthrob”, Fleetwood Mac, comic book Easter Eggs, romance comics, and how no one wants to draw a Ford Fusion. The first issue of “Heartthrob” is out now, so be sure to grab it.
So what’s “Heartthrob” about for those that may not know?
Christopher Sebela: “Heartthrob” is a crime romance book, heavy on the romance, that takes place in the 70’s about a girl that gets a heart transplant, and because of that she meets a mysterious stranger who teaches her how to become a criminal. And they go on a sort of Bonnie and Clyde love spree across America and hijinks ensue.
Anything to add, Robert?
Robert Wilson IV; It’s also kind of about Fleetwood Mac. Actually quite a few Fleetwood Mac Easter eggs in the first issue. There was actually a Clown Motel Easter egg in the second issue that not even Chris has found.
CS: That’s my favourite part. Every book I do, the artist will do Easter eggs. Like there’s stuff that Chris Visions put in “Dead Letters” that I’m still uncovering. Or like Ibrahim and “High Crimes”. He pointed out like, “You see this? This is a direct lift from Superman 4.” Because of course it is. Yeah, that’s the great part of it, it’s like truly like both of our book. There’s stuff in there that I know that I probably haven’t told Robert and Robert puts stuff in there that he hasn’t told me. So we both discover these things on our own.
I think I remember reading that this is something that you’ve been working on for a few years. So how long have you been working on it and where did Robert come in?
CS: I started working on it back in like 2013. Came up with the whole idea. It’s kind of like the fastest I ever came up with a full idea. Like I knew all the characters and stuff and probably we figured it all out inside of an hour. So I pitched it to Oni and they said “yes” and I went off and wrote about 3 issues of it.
And then we just kind of had them sitting around. Last year editor Charlie Chu suggested, “what if we got Robert on the book?” And I was like, “that’s an amazing idea”. So we talked to Robert about it Robert was into it. And so last year at Emerald City was sort of where we all came together. And then from there we were kind of off and running.
So, Charlie brought you on and what made you say like, “Yeah this is the book?”
RW: Well, Chris is pretty much the reason why I said yes to doing the book. I am buddies with Chris and have been friends with him for a while. I just really like the guy. I’d recently read “High Crimes”, and the thing about “High Crimes” that I loved is that it seemed to be architected towards a point. And everything works to that point and it all kind of fits together thematically to one point. So it had like this really satisfying ending and I am so used to reading comic or TV shows and even video games and just being really hooked on something and then we get to the ending and it’s just like, you know, they were in Purgatory the whole time and we don’t really know what we’re doing, but it’s over now.
I was just super impressed by that, and talking to Chris and Charlie about this story there was that kind of clear idea of what the story was about, on an emotional and thematic level. And what it was working towards. That really excited me. I like want to tell a full story that is about real things even if it’s not about real people.
Continued belowWhile the book, I’m sure, can be sold on the high concept alone, I think Callie, the main character, is really the core of it. So what is her journey in this book? What is she going torwards, what is she running away from?
CS: She was born with this congenital heart defect. She was born in the late 50’s so the doctors told her parents that this is a death sentence so get all the time you can. So her parents reacted, somewhat understandably, but her parents were like we have to shelter her, we have to keep her as safe as possible. So they like didn’t let here do everything that normal people do. So you know you can’t go out for field hockey, you can’t do anything, you have to stay safe and sound.
So it lead to her being basically sheltered all her life. Until she finally, like anybody being held back that long, just snapped. The whole journey started 5 years before she can get her heart transplant, but is the story of her trying to break free, and now that she has this miracle cure, she’s healthy for the first time in her life and it’s like now, “oh ok now I have to live up to all these things I told myself all these years that if I ever get healthy I’m going to like do amazing things.”
And now, as soon as she gets her heart transplant and she recovers, then she immediately goes back to work and she’s like, “I hate this job and I hate everybody here and I don’t I don’t want to this. Am I going to waste the 5 healthy years that I have or am I going to do something with my life for once? Maybe this is the last chance that I have.”
It’s very much about her figuring out exactly what does she want, how does she go about getting it.
RW: I think it’s like a very universal thing. Deciding. Realizing that you are in control of your life and deciding to take that life for yourself.
Then the other main character is Mercer, who is the donor Callie gets her heart from and now, because it’s a comic book, he shares her body. Who is he as a character?
CS: I mean in the first issue we don’t get super deep into it. But he’s basically her knight in shining armor. And they very much have a sort of instinct connection which is understandable because they both share a heart. So it’s sort of a head over heels love affair, but Mercer was a master criminal, he was a con man.
He tells her he loves her, she tells him she loves him. Right now we’re in the whole crazy bliss of love.
RW: Like a honeymoon.
CS: Yeah, exactly, but as we go along you know, we will unpack some more about Mercer and who he is. Because right now all she can see is that he’s going to take her out of this town and out of this life and help her with her dreams. So he is sort of in Callie’s eyes, which is how we see everybody in the book, he’s perfect.
So that’s kind of the fun thing, it’s presented like that and as the book goes on you start digging a little deeper. Callie meets Mercer and their feelings for each other.
I think he is interesting too because as he’s some kind of ghost or whatever you want to call it, he can’t actually interact with the physical world outside of getting Callie to do things. So how is that going to present problems for him and his ambitions?
CS: We get more into that in the second issue. We didn’t want to throw everything in one issue. So in the second issue there’s a bit more development in terms of how Mercer feels in terms of the world outside of Callie. I don’t want to spoil anything!
Now as it’s set in the 70’s, how much have you been having with the character designs and that fashion and stuff like that, Robert?
RW: It’s definitely a lot of fun. I really enjoy the research and built up a big library of references. I actually have 2 or 3 books that collect Sears catalog ads throughout the 70’s. There is such a wild variety of hair shapes, and clothes shapes and even like car and architecture shapes that keep things interesting. It can get boring to draw regular 21st century haircuts and contemporary cars are the worst.
Continued belowYou know what no one in the world wants to draw? A Ford Fusion. No one wants to draw that.
I got to pick what cars each character has. As Callie and Mercer build up their crew, we are introduced to a driver character. What would the driver character in 1977 drive? I’m like a 68 Charger, for sure. I’m drawing muscle cars at every opportunity and it’s a lot of fun.
You’re already said that “Heartthrob” is a lot of things – crime, a love story – but you said it’s heavy on the romance. You don’t see a lot of romance comics nowadays. How are you going to embrace that?
CS: I don’t know, just like do it. It’s a weird thing. When I set out to do “Heartthrob”, I sort of knew it’s going to be a romance book.
I feel like you have to be a really amazing storyteller to do just a straight romance book. And I love crime stuff, so it’s sort of a parallel thing. We don’t have to view the romance exclusively through just two people and how they grow closer or further apart.
We have this whole other narrative of how you sit there falling and stuff like that that sort of points to relationship stuff without being super overt. I think we’re both kind of figuring it out as we go along. I try not to lock too much stuff in stone. The idea now is completely changed.
It’s fun to just state that as your goal and then having to do this in a way people would give a crap about and then I will give a crap about and then Robert will give a crap about. I don’t know, it’s a day by day process.
What about you Robert anything to add on that?
RW: That’s a hard question for me to answer. It’s sound so goofy to say it but I feel like for me, the key for me to be able to sell the romance in “Heartthrob”, is for me to believe the characters. And that is super easy for me. Chris is making that super easy for me. I totally know who Mercer and Kelly are and I totally believe in them and feel like they are people.
It’s very natural for me. And honestly not something I really think about too much. It’s become pretty instinctual and kind of know how they going to react and know how they’re going to act and emote things. So that romance aspect comes really naturally out of knowing who they are.
