Over at Reddit, Cameron Stewart hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) where he chatted with fans about his work past, present and future. Amongst the bevy of questions, there are quite a few interesting tidbits:
On Seaguy: Eternal
Seaguy Vol 3 will happen, eventually. There was big talk from me and Grant when Slaves of Mickey Eye was released that Seaguy Eternal would follow soon after, but we all know how that turned out. I actually heard from (Seaguy editor and Vertigo chief) Karen Berger about a month or so ago, trying to figure out when we could schedule it, so it’s still definitely something being actively pursued. It’s just a matter of when he and I are both free to do it – Grant’s inhumanly busy and I imagine that screenplays and Batman scripts take precedence over our goofy cult book. Let’s have our fingers crossed for 2013?
On some kind of collected edition of Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye (for those of you silly enough not to buy it in single issues)
No idea, sadly. Wave the note at DC/Vertigo.
On his BPRD mini-series
Arcudi’s not involved in this one, I’m scripting it myself.
I wrote an outline for the story, based on some very rudimentary suggestions by Mignola and editor Scott Allie. Then Mignola went over it and made some suggestions to fix the pacing, and to bring some of my ideas more in line with the cosmology that he’s established in the Hellboy/BPRD titles, past and upcoming. I think Mike and I will share “story” credit and I’ll get the “script” credit.
On Batman: Leviathan Strikes
It was just a weird mess – the issues were supposed to come out long before the reboot but were delayed for various internal reasons not worth speculating about. Then the reboot was rushed into play and suddenly I got a script but was told that it had to fit into the new 52 continuity, so Batgirl was now Spoiler. I drew the layouts with the Spoiler costume but then I was told that, after much debate, it was going to revert back to the original plan of using Batgirl. Fortunately my layouts are simple enough that it didn’t require too much redrawing.
There was one crazy week when I was informed that the issues weren’t going to be released at all, either combined or seperate, and they would instead be included as “bonus” material in the Batman Inc hardcover, but thank god they came to their senses and didn’t do that.
On the finale of Sin Titulo
Sin Titulo will absolutely, 100% be completed eventually. It pains me not to be able to work on it but the sad fact is that aside from a few very kind people who have donated, I don’t earn any money from it and so have to take work-for-hire jobs in order to make a living. And often it’s very difficult to turn down work when I know that it will pay off in royalties for a long time. I do have multiple publishers, in several countries, keen to publish Sin Titulo and so it is certainly not something I am abandoning. Once I clear BPRD and Assassin’s Creed off my plate I’m going to devote a few months to finishing it off. Thanks for your patience.
As well as,
Sin Titulo was initially an exercise in improvisation – I was inspired by David Lynch’s “Inland Empire” which was filmed mostly improvisationally and found the process fascinating. Eventually I started piecing together story ideas and began to build a structure for the story. It’s already gone off in some unexpected directions and I assume it will continue to do so, and I’m happy to let that happen. I do have definite ideas for the conclusion, however.
And, just for good measure, favorite books of 2011
Paying For It by Chester Brown, Mr Wonderful by Dan Clowes, Orc Stain by James Stokoe, Who Is Jake Ellis by Nate Edmondson and Tonci Zonjic, Monster by Naoki Urusawa, Loose Ends by Jason LaTour and Chris Brunner…off the top
Stewart is a busy guy, but I think the general rule of thumb is that you can’t rush talent. With another Assassin’s Creed mini as well as an upcoming BPRD mini, be expecting quite a lot from Stewart in the near future.
