“Strange Nation” wowed us with its first appearance back at ECCC. With words by Paul Allor, and art from Juan Romera, this miniseries asks what our world would be like if the strangest things we’ve read while waiting for our groceries to ring up were true.
Now that its official release from Monkeybrain Comics is on the horizon – you can pre-order the first issue, out October 16th, right this red hot second from Comixology – we thought it high time we got you the scoop. Paul Allor was kind enough to field some of our questions.
Give us the lowdown on “Strange Nation”. What’s this story about?
PA: “Strange Nation” is the madcap tale of a tabloid reporter who discovers that everything you read about in the supermarket tabloids is real. And not only that, it’s all connected. More than that, it’s about Norma Park, our young reporter, who believes strongly in exposing conspiracy, and in bringing the truth to life. But that comes with consequences. Over the course of our story, she has to decide if it’s worth it, and how much she’s willing to risk, to stand by her core beliefs. Putting yourself in danger is one thing. But what if it’s your friends and family? What if it’s the entire human race?
What inspired you to take on the world of tabloid tales?
PA: Like a lot of people I’ve always been kind of fascinated by tall tales and urban legends. The things that go on just outside our field of vision, you know? And it dovetailed perfectly with my idea to do a story about dangerous truths and widespread conspiracies.
Our main character, Norma Park, is a piece of work. Tell us a little bit about her.
PA: Oh, man. Norma. I’m actually really glad you described her that way. Norma is smart. Stubborn. More than a bit angry at the world. She’s always had a rebellious streak, and has a problem with authority (including a complicated relationship with her parents). It’s what led her to become a journalist; the desire to speak truth to power.
She’s kind of a screw-up in many aspects of her life, and journalism was the one thing she was really, really good at. But then her legitimate journalism career fell apart, and she ended up at Strange Nation, the only place that would take her. It just left her with an even bigger chip on her shoulder, and even greater obsession to expose the truth, and even more to prove.
Demographically, Norma is the complete opposite of me – she’s a Korean-American woman from a wealthy family. But personality-wise, she’s more like me than any character I have ever written. Not present-day me, but me at age 23 or 24. So that’s made her a lot of fun to write.
You often feature (somewhat devious) first-person narrators in your stories. What attracts you to this kind of character, and to this method of telling a story?
PA: I think first-person narration is a technique that can be really, really effective when it’s used well, and really, really terrible when it’s not. Too often, it’s used as a device for exposition and infodump.
I really like your use of the word “devious,” Michelle, because yeah, first-person narration should not be straight-forward narration. It should distract and mislead you. After all, this is your character’s interpretation of events, filtered through memories and misperceptions and more than a little bullshit.
Norma’s sidekick turns out to be a very familiar figure. What inspired you to include him in the story?
PA: Yeah, Norma’s sidekick is Jesse Vernon, an elderly, karate-loving gentleman who faked his death back in 1977, and hid away in the Florida swamplands. He’s a pretty regular staple of tabloid stories, so it made sense to give him a role here.
Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about Joe?
PA: Oh, Joe… Joe is a lab experiment who helps point Norma in the right direction at a crucial moment in her investigation. I really like Joe. Among the characters that I’ve written, he’s one of my favorites. But he’s filled with melancholy (which Juan captured just devastatingly well), and he breaks my heart.
Continued belowThe first issue of “Strange Nation” goes a lot of different places. What’s your approach to organizing and pacing a comic?
PA: That’s an interesting question. It varies from project to project. On “Strange Nation”, I wanted to go at a much faster pace than I usually do. That was baked into the concept from the beginning. So when outlining, I intentionally put more scenes and beats into each issue than I normally would. And as a result, as you said, it goes a lot of places. At the same time, I still try to give each beat its proper due, and have plenty of time for good storytelling and character development. Hopefully people will feel like I struck a good balance.
I also had a lot of help from my secret weapon, my awesome editor, Rob Anderson. Rob’s brutal honestly, and his extremely sharp storytelling mind, did a great job in both keeping me on track and bringing out the best in me on this project. I also got some great advice from the Comics Experience workshop, when I put the pitch pages up.
Are there any challenges that come along with writing and structuring twelve-page issues?
PA: This first issue is 22 pages, and subsequent issues will be 12 pages (for the most part), but I still feel like we pack a lot of great storytelling into those 12 pages.
I started my career with a collection of five-page comics, so twelve pages actually feels like quite a bit of breathing room. The main thing I wanted to avoid – and this is a mistake I see with a lot of short comics or short issues – is to have more than one idea. I get so frustrated when I read a comic short or issue, and the writer basically had just one idea that they then fleshed out to that length. I’m not a guy who throws around the word “decompression” a lot as an insult, but they can often feel that way.
These issues are only a buck. That’s not a lot of money. But damned if I don’t want to earn your buck! I want to give you $3 or $4 worth of entertainment for your buck. I want twists and turns. I want great character moments. I want something awesome to happen on every page. That’s the Paul Allor guarantee: something awesome on every page.
Despite the zaniness of the circumstances, the first issue is actually quite tragic. How do you balance heavy themes in a high-concept story like this?
PA: By just telling the story as it needs to be told. Yeah, that’s kind of all I have to say on that. Life if both zany and tragic. No reason why our fiction shouldn’t be as well.
How did you come into contact with Juan Romera?
PA: I first worked with Juan on a story in Clockwork called Reach the Sun. It was actually the first comic-book story I’d ever had completed. Not the first I’d written, but the first I had final art come in for. If I recall correctly, he answered an ad.
Juan is fantastic. I just absolutely adore his work. He’s the lynchpin of our comic, and I couldn’t be happier to be working with him. He’s also really amazing, in particular, at taking really strange, bizarre concepts, and imbuing them with incredible emotional weight. Sometimes I get his art back, and I’m just stunned at what he’s accomplished.
What kind of discussions did you have when it came to establishing the overall look of the series?
PA: Very little, honestly. I knew what Juan did, I knew it was perfect for this book, and I let him do his thing. The overall look of this series is pretty much 100 percent attributable to Juan’s art and Tim Daniel’s awesome design work.
You often letter your own work. Do you think this gives you a unique perspective on the process of getting the comic together? And has lettering comics changed the way that you write?
PA: Yes and yes. I learned how to letter as a way to save money, but I absolutely love it. I often tend to change the dialogue fairly significantly in the lettering stage, and it’s given me a much better feel for how much can fit on a panel or a page.
Continued below
In “Orc Girl” and “Clockwork” we saw you working with a lot a different genres, from fantasy to science fiction to ghost story. Would you call “Strange Nation” a science fiction story?
PA: I hope this doesn’t sound phony or pretentious, but I honestly haven’t thought about what genre the book falls in to. But it definitely has science-fiction elements to it, no question. Starting on page one. Not hard sci-fi, but any wild stretch, but sci-fi.
“Strange Nation” is published by Monkeybrain Comics. What’s it been like collaborating with them?
PA: Awesome. Allison Baker and Chris Roberson are fantastic publishers – incredibly helpful, supportive, always there to answer my (many, many, many) questions, and working hard behind the scenes to promote their line and do right by their creators. Monkeybrain puts out so many wonderful books, and I’m just absolutely thrilled that “Strange Nation” is among their ranks.
Do you have anything else coming up comic-wise that you’d like to mention?
PA: I do! In November I’m writing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue focusing on Shredder, with art by Dan Duncan. And then in December I have a story in “Pathfinder Goblins” #5, with art by Adam Moore. I’m very proud of both, so please do check them out.
Also, I am teaching a Comics Experience class with the aforementioned Rob Anderson, which will focus on making your own self-published and/or creator-owned comic. We’ll cover everything from finding your collaborators, to printing and distribution, to marketing. It. Will. Be. Awesome. You can find more info here.
I also have some really incredible projects coming down the pike, that should be announced soon. I encourage people to follow me on Twitter at @PaulAllor to find out more.
