Wayne: How do you put the typical issue of Strangehaven together?

Millidge: I actually write the script as I do my thumbnails. Once the thumbnails are done, I’ll know what kind of photo references I need, or if I can draw from my files. I create all of my own visual reference wherever possible. I use friends and family for my characters, but most are modified in some way or another. I do that to make them look more distinctive, because I’ve got one or two slightly similar-looking characters, which can be distracting and confusing.

I take as many photos as I think I’m going to need, or go to the library, take out books for research, and look at videos or whatever is necessary so I can gather as much information as I can at one time. When I’m at the penciling stage, I just use whatever’s on hand in order to finish the page. That may mean tracing to get the spacing exactly right. It may mean copying a photo freehand, or using a projector for backgrounds and perspectives. I’ve found doing things just one way isn’t always the best way. I have to use different techniques for different subjects, which keeps things fresh.

Wayne: In the "One for the Pot" chapter in #6, you move from hand-drawn panels to old photos of Mrs. McCreadie as a young war bride. In the middle of all this are a couple of pictures. Flip to the next page, and the war sequences are again heavily photo-referenced, but done in a watercolor style. It seems like you’re going for a more playful pace here. This juxtaposition from pencils to inks to photo images maintains the reader's attention.

Millidge: Some people try to do that sort of thing, like the Bill Sienkiewicz and Dave McKean imitators. These people go from style to style for no reason. That irritates me. When I change the style, I try to have an underlying reason. It’s either for a flashback or a story. I need a logical reason to do it that way. Some have said the photography is too jarring. Maybe from a visual point, they’re right. From a storytelling point of view, I like to mix it up, I like the variety. This project’s taken almost three years of my life. I don’t want to limit myself to one style. That would be too boring.

Wayne: You're describing a very organic process at work, which runs contrary to the photo-realism you impose on the story-telling process. Rather than looking stiff, your characters feel much more real and alive.

Millidge: I think I’m getting better. On #7 and #8, I’m using a different inking technique, so the line is much looser. But some people love the stiffness. I like that "frozen in time" element like you get with a high-speed camera.

Wayne: Looking at the variety of Janey’s lifelike expressions throughout the series, I’m seeing a nuanced, multi-faceted person. That’s what makes this work of yours so different and distinctive, instead of bad fumetti.

Millidge: That negative review I mentioned compared Strangehaven to bad fumetti. I don’t think it does, but I know what he means, particularly with my first issue and I was coming to grips with the technique. It was very uneven. I think the pencils were a lot better on #1 than the inks were.

Wayne: Your covers are some of the strongest stuff I’ve seen in a long time.

Millidge: I like the first issue cover a lot. It defines the series pretty well. Typical comic covers don’t say much about what’s inside them. I mean, they could be covers for anything. That’s why I used the panel insert to reflect the panels inside the comic. There’s usually three elements to the covers as I wanted to show that there’s more than one element to the story. The later covers are more thematically linked, and I really enjoy painting them.

Wayne: In comparison to most comics--both mainstream and independent--your attention to detail and design is quite keen throughout Strangehaven, from the covers and stories to the "texty bits."

Millidge: I try to deliver a complete package. I put a great deal of effort in the [text] pages of the comic, even down to the back cover. It’s not just the 24 pages of story. You know, I just can’t believe how badly some comics and even professional magazines are designed. It either looks right, or it doesn’t. Design isn’t anything that I actually think about. It’s one of those things that comes naturally, and people compliment me on it.

Wayne: Those text pages have taken on a life all their own too.

Millidge: Somebody early on wrote to me that the text pages serve as another level of subplot running in the background; how well Strangehaven is selling, how I’m doing and where I’m touring. That may seem terribly self-indulgent to some people, and maybe it is. But there are people who want to read about what it’s like to be a cartoonist and the way that the industry works. I’m sure a large portion of the people who read a self-published book are potential self-publishers themselves, and people who want to emulate you. Because of that, I’m playing up to that part now. I hope people take it in the spirit it’s meant. It’s actually bonus stuff. I could take the 24 pages of story, and wrap a cover around it, and it would be cheaper to print. It costs me money to print those eight extra pages.

(c)1998/1999 Wayne Beamer