[Heathen City] On Disposables In Heathen City

[Alex F. Vance]

One thing I really regret about the launch of HC2 last year is how little we engaged the audience, and that's entirely my fault. Production came down to the wire, and I didn't want to be one of those producers who announces a cool new title, teases the audience with updates, and then delays, delays, delays... I wanted to be Steve Jobs, who announces a product and has it in the shops the same day (usually).

We'll do better with HC3. You've already seen some of the killer production art, and a few unintentional leaks (I forgive you, Zooshwolf, I really do) and there's way, way more to come.

This time around, I want to talk about 'the little people', the day-players, the disposable characters that wander into a story, serve their purpose, and GTFO. 

As a rule of thumb, I feel that quality cinema, television, literature and comics distinguish themselves by ensuring that even the little people are engaging, however brief. They all have well-thought-out lives and activities, whether these actually make it to the screen or to the page or not. You feel that it's there. 

When we first started distributing the six-page samplers for HC back in january '08, I was struck by the number of responses we got to the taser-totin' horse character that was in there. He was from a particularly dynamically-illustrated sequence where a set of Caulfield's thugs bust into Malloy's apartment. Maybe it was the cool look (there's something just so right about a leather-jacketed stud with his mane in a pony-tail) or the intensity of his posture, but a few people came away thinking he was a major player in the story.

The sequence was originally going to play out silent, with only a philosophical voice-over from Caulfield, but it was clear these little people deserved better. The horse got a name (Allard Bellamy) and the thugs each got enough lines to establish their personalities. Depending on the reader's disposition, Allard's either icy cool or a pretentious prick who deserved what he got -- but even then, I made sure we got a glimpse of him later on, to see just how severely his uppance had come, and let the reader ponder whether Allard really did deserve the fate that was dealt him.

In Vahnfox's story for HC2, "What It's All About" this happened with even more intensity. Originally this was going to be a straight-up heist story whose value derived from the cleverness and excitement of a break-in, with Malloy joined by some old friends from his criminal social circles. Vahnfox and I get on like a house on fire (minus the screaming bystanders) and our conversations would never stay focused on the job at hand very long, so as he created character sketches, I began to notice parallels between the art he was producing and the experiences we shared as people.

Both of us are older brothers, both of us had strong female figures in our lives, both of us had the same experience of competing with our younger siblings until we moved out of the house, and then forged a very strong, loving relationship with the snot-nosed brats we'd previously derided.

It started to feel like these guys were family. That they were different species didn't matter (in the Maranathaverse, anthropoid polyspecies' bifurcated tetraploid genome and the agency of the servant molecule permit species templates to be inherited recessively and express many generations down the line), rather it only accentuated what family is: a churning contrast between unity and disparity. 

It was a perfect fit for Malloy, too, who started out as an exaggerated, cookie-cutter archetype of the manic, cool, alternately ballsy and melancholy Byronic hero, but who harbored deep and secret self-loathing, denying himself his profound yearning for peace and family, whether by blood or otherwise. 

And that brings us to HC3, doesn't it? 

In the third book, the story branches into dramatic new territory, both in terms of action and, for want of a better word, mindfuckery. As the stories developed it became clear that the book needed some anchor points, some means to ground the reader and remind them that, while the story often arches into the hyperreal, the principles of mortality, happiness and love all still apply, no matter how archetypal some of the characters may be. The book needed some regular people.

These guys only appear for a scant few pages, and we likely won't ever see 'em again, but it always amazes me how much creativity can come out of working with an artist. Check out the character designs attached, for Mark, Lucy and the Kids (they're not Mark & Lucy's kids!) and see how much they convey, even without words. 

Mark and Lucy are married, but he's a rolly-polly, nerdy raccoon while she's a drop-dead-gorgeous, sophisticated woman. The simple fact of this dichotomy speaks volumes about their relationship, how there must be a regular sense of inadequacy on Mark's part, the feeling that he doesn't deserve her or that she can do so much better -- and that she might. Perhaps, in her social circles, Lucy endures some barbed mockery of her husband, which she can never quite fully put out of her mind and which bothers her far more than she'll admit even to her hubby.

But they're together, and have been for a while, and in HC3 they're just moving into a new house together. A nice one, a big one, and for a young couple like these two to move into a house like that implies, without it being mentioned in dialog even once, that they don't plan for it to be just the two of them living in that house for very long.

The Kids are a bit of a different story. This Scoobie gang of high school teens is clearly very diverse, recalling the unity/disparity contrast of the Miles family, but with a different basis: like all teenagers they're in the process of individuating themselves, apparently with few restraints. Tran, the short, stocky dalmatian has all the hallmarks of a goofy oaf, but in his chest beats the heart of a wolf. Fearless, confident and full of energy, he forms the heart of the group, among whom his attire, at least, paints him the most 'regular'.

West had a lot of fun with the character designs, and it shows! Lulu, the mouse girl, became a loligoth (when West told me that I actually had to look up the word -- way to make a guy feel old!) with layers upon layers of frilly clothing, and little plastic spiders dangling from her umbrella. She evokes a sense of directionless, timid yet passionate creativity; I imagine she's secretly really into arts and crafts, 'enhancing' her wardrobe with her own modifications. Her diary must be a spectacular tome covered in decorative affectations and glitter.

Bea, being tall and lanky is a natural beauty with an airy, slightly out-of-sync disposition. Often she innocently trails the tail-end of a conversation, her mind prone to wandering, but she can be a lot sharper than the others might expect from her. From the mouths of babes!

Rory, the buck, is the odd man out in a group of odd dudes and dudettes. He's handsome and cool and comes from money, so, really, Rory should be part of the school's social elite, who spit upon the freaks he hangs out with. However, he's intimidated by the expectations his peers and parents heap on him, and he's man enough to know what he does and doesn't like. In this group he's accepted and appreciated for who he is, rather than what his last name is or how he looks, and he likes that Tran tends to take the lead and introduce adventure and ambition. He was designed as a young buck, lean and good-looking, and since he has developing nubs on his head rather than full antlers, this excellently illustrates the precarious divide between his masculine potential and his present immaturity. 

I love the Kids, and I love Mark and Lucy, just as I loved the Mileses. It pains me to see them used only so briefly, so incidentally, because I'd be more than happy to write entire issues devoted only to their adventures... and if the readers agree, then I guess the artists and I have done a good job!

- Alex F. Vance

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[Drenthe]

Bellamy's scene really stuck out in my head from HC1. First off, he just looked cool, but the aftermath of the huge explosion was also visually stunning, and the emotional calm displayed by Caulfield in the wake of the events was really chilling. Bellamy's plight is so gruesome, and his former bosses' dismissal so impersonal, that it really makes you feel sorry for the guy. He'd probably kill Owen in cold blood, but he's still a PERSON.

Kyell Gold, the famous furry podcaster novelist, is fond of stating that good stories start with good characters. And really all characters should have a purpose and be interesting, or else why are they in your story at all?

Not all of the characters in Heathen City have been fully explained yet, but I have to admit that after HC2, I'm dying to explore.. just about everybody. 

Does Caulfield work for his mother or for himself?

Is Tiber Ferrum crazy or prophetic?

What the hell happened when grenade-toting Malloy met millionaire-sociopath Caulfield and his goon squad in the showdown of badassery at the end of HC1?

Just what IS Malloy and Caulfield's history together? It sure seems like they know each other.

What does Owen want to do in Maranatha? Is he such a softie that he's willing to go save people there despite an (apparent) massive government conspiracy to cover it up, all out of the goodness of his heart?

And just what is Ruy Ortega capable of?

I'm sure we'll get answers to many of these, but an interesting character will always want to make you want to know what he's going to do next.

Drenthe

[ZooshWolf]

Each of the bit characters has a story, the same as how every face in *your* respective crowds of people have a story.  Some a bit more pleasant or exciting than others. :)  Still, there's a reason why everyone is where they are.. or it should be.  That is pretty much all in Alex's crazy head. :)

 

It would take a fucking fleet of artists to even scratch the surface, or rather..put into images, the many threads of all the characters.

 

- ZooshWolf