We’re big fans of John Arcudi’s work over here at Multiversity, as he’s long been one of our favorites. Whether you’re talking about books like Major Bummer, A god Somewhere or our fave B.P.R.D., the guy has a gift for the interpersonal. In the past year, he achieved that again with the absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking mini-series The Creep, a book he brought to life with the help of noted ar-teest Jonathan Case.
From front to back, this is one of the most heartwrenching and stellar minis of the past few years. It’s out in hardcover now from Dark Horse Comics, and we could not possibly recommend it more. Pick it up today if you go to your local comic book shop, and if you need more than our recommendation, check out our interview with Arcudi below about this book, working with Case, dealing with sensitive subjects, and more. Thanks to John for chatting with me as per usual, and read this damn book people.
The Creep is a very complex story that can’t be really nailed down to one genre or story element, and it’s a story that you had worked on long ago before bringing a full story together with Jonathan Case in this mini-series. Where did this story and this character come from, and how did you decide to bring The Creep back to life?
John Arcudi: Thanks. I like that it’s difficult to pigeonhole as far as a genre. I set out simply to tell a story and didn’t try to set a tone; just wanted to make it feel genuine and sincere and responses from folks suggest that we succeeded somewhat with that. The Creep character I had worked on before, but this was a new story that took him in a slightly different direction from the earlier work. Reviving the character was more Dark Horse’s Scott Allie’s idea than mine. I already had the story worked out, but wasn’t sure it was what I wanted to do so I just set it aside in my head. Scott Allie knew I wanted to work on a creator owned property and he suggested “The Creep.” Why I didn’t think of it myself is beyond me.
One of the things that I really wondered about while reading the book was why was it called “The Creep?” Oxel himself as a character undoubtedly had a problem or two, but my reading was never him as being a creep of any sort. What was the meaning behind the title, and as far as Oxel is concerned, how did this very complex, troubled and effective character come to be?
JA: The name is a reference, or more of a “love letter” to the character that actor and acromegaly sufferer Rondo Hatton played in his breakout movie appearance in “The Pearl of Death;” The Creeper. Hatton was my inspiration, after all — but as the series and the character of Oxel developed, it became a kind of a label that other people put on him. Much in the way Hatton was typecast in Hollywood in the 40’s, I used that name as a kind of additional burden of Oxel’s already troubling condition. Folks see a man who looks like that and they assume things about him. He’s a creep, a freak, etc. As to how he came to be what he is today, it was just a long slow development from an inspiration to a person I wanted inhabiting these stories. The more time I had with him, the more I wanted from him — until eventually he became as complex as my talents could make him.
The subject matter of the story is definitely a sensitive one, with two teen suicides forming the framework for the mystery of the story. Yet, it’s handled with unerring honesty that pays a lot of respect to both its sensitive and tragic nature. When you’re handling a story like this, how important is not pulling punches and keeping the story at a very truthful level?
JA: If you pull punches on a subject like this in the context of a fictional story, you end with an After School Special. You don’t genuinely address the issue that way, and then what’s the point? I don’t know how good a job I may have done, but I know I tried to come at the issue of suicide as plainly and openly as I could. It’s a real thing, and a huge problem — and no, you could never solve the problem in a story, but I’m just trying to talk about it a bit.
Continued belowLet’s be honest, you’re one of the luckiest guys in comics. The artists you get to work with are just spectacular, and Jonathan Case is amongst the best. I loved the way he switched between styles and looks of his art throughout the mini-series, always finding the best way to address the subject at hand. What made him such a perfect fit for this book, and what was the process the two of you had for bringing this world to life? Was it more of a collaboration from the start, or did he pitch ideas your way and things developed from there?
Speaking of artists, geez, Tonci Zonjic, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola AND Ryan Sook? What a collection of cover artists. Tonci’s cover to #3 was actually one of my favorites of the past year. How did you choose the artists you wanted to cover this mini-series, and how thrilling was it to see what they came up with?
JA: How I chose was easy. These were the guys I most wanted to see doing covers so I went ahead and asked. Frank’s cover was actually done years ago for an issue of the original DHP, but I asked him if we could reprint it as a cover for #0 (which itself reprinted the DHP three parter that came out last year). But as for the others, I just asked and unbelievably they all said yes. I’ll tell you, if we ever do more Creep stories (and I hope we do) following up those guys for covers will be hard!
I really enjoyed the extra elements that were included in the back of the book, including both yourself and Jonathan talking about the look of Oxel as a character. He was a very fascinating character, and throwing in the wrinkle of acromegaly made him all the more interesting as he interacted with the rest of the cast. When you originally developed him, how did that aspect get worked in and what do you think it added to his story? Additionally, when developing his look, how many variations did you and Jonathan have to work through to find the right look?
As for this iteration, I wanted to get away form Oxel looking too much like Rondo Hatton. And as I recall Jonathan did about five or so sketches and sent them in all in batch, but there in that batch was THE one! So the look was arrived at fairly quickly.
As a writer, does working on a book whose identity is entirely in your control like it is on The Creep scratch a different itch for you than working on, say, B.P.R.D.?
Continued belowJA: Well, sure. I mean, on BPRD I’m part of a team that’s planning out the whole fate of things — it’s not like there’s a whole lot of dictating to me that’s going to happen. A little of that, yes, but overall it real is a group effort.
However being the guy who’s doing the dictating, that’s another story. You never 2nd guess yourself and you just go ahead and tell the story you want to tell. It doesn’t have to fit into a larger continuity, or even a larger universe. It’s just this one story you’re telling. But I wouldn’t say it’s entirely in my control. After all, it’s a collaboration, and the artist has a lot of control, too. He or she will have input at the outset — and then, just by virtue of the work done, will change the direction of the story. But that’s the nature of all creative work, isn’t it? Even when writing a short story or a novel, or painting an oil. Things change over time that one has no control over and it seeps into the work — or the work is stagnant.
One of the things that I thought was especially telling about Oxel as a character was how he, at least internally, revealed that his acromegaly made it so people just talked to him even though he didn’t fully understand why. Given his gift at drawing truths out of people and his line of work, I have to imagine there are opportunities for other stories that you may or may not have thought of already. So I guess the question is, is Scott Allie going to have to convince you to come back to the character, or do you already see more Oxel in the future?
JA: We’re talking about it right now, actually. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t know if Dark Horse made any money on the book and that would obviously dictate if any more stories will get done.
Besides potentially more stories with The Creep, do you see yourself looking to do more in the creator-owned world? Or has this experience sated that desire for now?
JA: Boy, I’d sure like to. I’ve got two outlines that I plan to develop, time permitting. They’re very, very different from one another, but they’re both stories I’d love to tell. In addition to that, this mega-talented artist I’ve worked with brought to me a concept he’s drawn up and asked me to help him develop it. It’s a great storyline and I really want to do that, too. Sounds very ambitious when I put it all out there, doesn’t it?
Let’s say The Creep comes back and you work on it again. Would it be your goal to have Jonathan work on it again, or would you be interested in seeing someone else’s take on the character and the world he lives in?
JA: I’d like to to have Jonathan back. After all, he gave Oxel his new look — and fans really responded to him. It’s all a matter of availability, though — and judging from the attention he’s getting from other publishers all of a sudden, we may not be able to afford him. Still, this is very, very premature. DH and I have only started talking about the possibility of more “Creep.”
For the last question, one thing I think of when reading your work is how it really, truly isn’t like anything else we really get in comics. Obviously it’s an industry dominated by superheroes, but you seem to be far more interested in touching on genres that aren’t often represented in comics. Why do you think widely published comics tend to have such a narrow focus, and do you think that the creator-owned boom over the past few years has driven diversity in the stories being told?
JA: That is an incredible compliment, so thanks for that David. It’s the kind of thing every writer, artist, musician, etc. wants to hear.
A conversation about the superhero domination of the comics market, however, is something that I’d rather not get into. I will say I don’t think it’s from a lack of creators wanting to create things other than superhero stories, though — and the current crop of web/indie/kickstarter comics seems to bear that out. I do think this is a time of the greatest diversity in comics perhaps ever, and that’s a great thing!
