Wayne: What does Flying Pig do today?

Millidge: One guy I wrote 50 to 60 songs with is still performing and writing his own stuff and released a CD last year. We still pick up royalties from the most peculiar places.

I spent most of 1990 working to pay the bills, and spending my free time writing and recording my own songs, with the notion of a solo career or another band somewhere down the line. My personal life was also in a lot of turmoil in 1991. I’d been stuck in a job in the family business selling shoes. My life was really going nowhere. For about two years after that I’d been in a rut, trying to keep my head above water, and my life was a bit directionless. I decided then to go back to my first love, and try to put together a really good comic.

I had a conversation with my brother after a game of squash. He said that he’d sponsor me to help me get a first issue together. I had done 10 pages of a strip called Insomnia and they were as inconsistent as you can imagine. I made terrible mistakes with the sizes I was drawing the panels at, the media I was using. But there were a few seeds there.

It was around that time that Dave Sim was writing all of his self-publishing articles in the back of Cerebus. Making all the mistakes as I did, and reading his stuff, it really inspired me to do it properly. I started putting things together in my head and on paper and decided to give it my best shot.

Wayne: Looking at Amon*Spek and Strangehaven--granted the span of time between the two is 15 years--your work has really transformed over that time. How did you get from one point to another?

Millidge: On the later Amon*Speks, I had already started using photo references around issue #4. I was always experimenting in my college work, and doing backdrops for the band. That’s when I started developing that technique.

Wayne: You were using models to get the perspective right and capture reality much better.

Millidge: It’s just the way I am. I like to get the details right. I didn’t originally intend for Strangehaven to be drawn in that style. I intended to publish it as a mini-comic. It was meant to be rough and ready, and very simplistic. I was a great fan of Ted McKeever at the time, and still am. That way, I could capture the pace of a soap opera, and really go to town with it. But when I actually came to draw Strangehaven, I realized that I couldn’t do it that way. Every time I tried to a simple drawing, I started filling in details. Even looking back at my earlier stuff, I’m just obsessed with all of the minute details. I just can’t help myself.

In that 10-year period when I was wasn’t drawing comics, I read an awful lot of them. I’d watched a lot of movies too. I also lived a reasonably interesting life in terms of romances, and being bankrupt and penniless much of the time. And you get to meet a lot of strange people when you work in a band. I also started to think like an adult, instead of an adolescent. Strangehaven looked like the most logical place for me to go. It was my last shot at doing a proper comic and I wanted to get it right.

Initially, I wasn’t even going to do Strangehaven. When I had this talk with my brother, I had in mind do something that was probably more like the old Avengers TV series, but have the characters investigate psychic phenomena (and this was before I’d ever heard of X-Files). When I sat down to try to draw this thing, I decided it wasn’t right and went back to an earlier idea, which happened to be Strangehaven.

Wayne: Much of the talk in your letter columns stems from all the influences readers see in your work, like The Prisoner and Twin Peaks.

Millidge: One of the things I liked about Twin Peaks and David Lynch in general is that he could go from something tranquil and mundane, to the horrific and back again. I liked those sudden transitions.

Wayne: Are these characters leading you, or is it the other way around?

Millidge: Both. I certainly know where I’m going with each of the story strands. When it comes down to putting an issue together, there’s one or two little transition scenes I need. Okay, I’ve got somebody in this scene, and I need these two people in another scene. I need these two people to meet in a transition scene, so I’ll put them together for three pages or so. A few cups of tea later, another element from somewhere just pops into my head, or something I didn’t know about these characters comes to the fore. I know this sounds terribly corny, Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise) and Teri S. Wood (Wandering Star) have actually said the same thing, but the characters actually start talking - apparently of their own accord. So, this three-page scene now spans five pages, and you can’t shut these characters up. The outcome of all this is that there’s a suggestion of another storyline, which in turn suggests the motivations of another character.

The story has become much more complicated than I first thought it would. And I have to alter storylines as I go. It’s like being a detective or archeologist who uncovers facts that are already there, than actually creating them from out of nowhere.

Wayne: All that said, it’s that "like-to-love" story between Janey and Alex that's the center of Strangehaven. Did you intend for that relationship to be the focal point of your book?

Millidge: Partly that. Strangehaven was conceived as a book consisting of a number of diverse elements. I tend to get very bored with things quickly. Things I’d done previously had been much too narrow, so in the process of developing them I’d outgrown them pretty quickly. I didn’t want to do that with Strangehaven. I wanted it to be something theoretically that I could do for the rest of my life if I wanted to.

Alex’s character was only intended to introduce the reader to the village. In #1, as Alex goes into the village, the reader is dumped into the middle of several stories. Alex was a convenient way, via The Prisoner motif, of introducing the reader to the nature of the village, the characters and storyline. You are identifying with that character. Because people have identified with Alex and his relationship with Janey from the beginning, for better or worse, it has become the focal point.

On subscription forms I've sent out, I asked people to name their favorite character, just as a joke. It’s the sort of thing a British comic would do. Everyone filled it in. It’s pretty much neck-and-neck between Alex and Janey. There was one vote for Meg and one for Hitchcock the cat. It’s really disappointing in a way. I deliberately left Alex out of #6 to see if the narrative could carry an issue without him. To a certain extent, I suppose it couldn’t. Still, #6 was one of my best issues artwise. On the story side, I probably focused too much on the Freemasonry parody. I intend for the series to grow beyond Alex and the romance, but it’s understandable why people have latched onto that.

Wayne: The late and lamented Omaha the Cat Dancer (by Reed Waller and Kate Worley) plowed some of the same soap-opera ground, with a romance between the two main characters at its core. I think that similarity fits here to some degree. In fact, the love story serves as an anchor amid all the weirdness surrounding them as well as for the reader.

Millidge: But there’s a lot more than a love story going on here. The gist of Strangehaven is the relationships and interrelationships. But it’s also about the different ways people perceive the same events, it’s about secrecy and its consequences, it’s about ritual and belief and the way all these things are connected together.

Wayne: I like the slower pace of your stories too. I’m glad to see that you’re giving them a lot of time to grow on readers.

Millidge: What I’m trying to do is present the characters to you, as if you were meeting them in real life, and leave it up to you to make up your own mind about them. It's up to you who is the hero and who is the villain. Remember, each character has his own perspective, so I may deliberately lead you into the wrong direction. I’m trying to get the reader to interact with each character in a sense, so they have to make up their own mind whether they are telling the truth or not. Someone compared it to V for Vendetta. Like Moore, it doesn’t really matter who V really is. I’m not spelling everything out here either. Subtlety isn’t seen very often in comics. In fact, I’m probably guilty of being too subtle for my own good sometimes.

Wayne: That subtlety you’re so worried about is actually what makes it so enjoyable to the reader. It’s a challenge for them to appreciate the journey.

Millidge: I think you can read it both ways. I know there are people who are along for the ride, and are happy to read what I produce, which is fantastic. I know some people who have written to me have just blown my mind with the stuff they have right and wrong. The fact that they’ve spent so long trying to figure it all out is great, and that’s actually the point. There’s a puzzle here if you want it. And Strangehaven is something you can just read and enjoy, if that’s what you want to do. It might be a little slow, but I really take too much delight in being subtle. Not all of it’s meant to be picked up the first time through.

The biggest advantage that comics have over TV and film is the ability a reader has to flip back a few pages. You can argue that a VCR does the same thing. But I’ve put in jokes and subplots that you won’t really understand until you do flip back. And the story doesn’t have to be told chronologically either. Look at Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur. You’re reading one story, and suddenly realize that it’s the same story from a previous issue told from another character’s perspective.

Wayne: That flipping back to previous issues enables folks like me to really appreciate the story even more. For example, after reading #7 a second time--the story of Alex’s haunted camping trip as he shares it with the surfer -- I know where you’re heading now.

Millidge: #7 was a very popular issue. I devoted a lot of space in that issue to just one storyline. Because it features Alex and why he’s in the village, I understand why it’s so popular. From my point of view, it was a very simple, sequential story to write. It does explain a lot of things, perhaps from the point of view of the surfer or Alex. But maybe not in the same way anyone else in the village would perceive it. That’s what I’m leaving open for the reader. And I’ve left the door open to go back and rearrange things if necessary.

Wayne: Does that flexibility come from knowing where Strangehaven is headed? Or, do the story details fall into place as you go?

Millidge: Strangehaven was never conceived as having a beginning, middle or an end. It was conceived as a vehicle for my ideas. Something that can grow, and would not restrict me, for better or worse. I’ve always been intrigued by newspaper strips that have gone on for 40 years, and seeing characters grow older with them. I like that epic scale.

The format of Strangehaven is such that anything that happens in the village’s past, present or future can be included. I could do Strangehaven 2020 A.D. if I wanted to, or Strangehaven in Roman times. In theory, I could go anywhere I want with it. I probably won’t, because it’s becoming more focused the more I work on it, probably due to commercial restraints.

Wayne: Why did you break up each issue into three chapters?

Millidge: Because it was conceived as a soap opera, I wanted to do it as a virtual anthology of three different stories, all set in the same village, with one or two characters overlapping. There was a vague idea I had of collecting these separate stories into books. Not by issues, but by stories. I was even considering drawing them in different styles. Strangehaven was meant to be a real anthology.

As I’ve gone on, all the characters in the story have become more closely intertwined. It’s become difficult to make any distinction between them now. It’s almost like a cancer, where everything has grown into everything else. You can’t pull it apart without killing the whole thing.

Now, because of commercial considerations like publishing trade paperbacks to keep everything in print, I’m now thinking in terms of six- to 12-issue story blocks. If someone dies, what are the repercussions of his death and how it affects the village? Strangehaven is an organic thing, but for commercial reasons, I’ll have to temper that. I’ve spent the last month writing the next four issues. #12 will have a climax. That won’t necessarily end the Alex thread, but there are some threads that I can tie up and bring to a conclusion. Later on, I may read back, and decide that’s not what it’s all about, and those threads may come loose again.

Remember that over a three-year period on Amon*Spek, I’d done 20 to 30 pages of comics. The two years previous to starting Strangehaven, I’d done 10 pages of comics. The idea of doing of a 32-page comic was an absolutely daunting one. It took so much concentrated effort to get that first issue out within a self-imposed deadline period, thinking about trade paperbacks was like walking to the moon.

Wayne: Sounds like a lot of work to keep the story loose and taut, all at the same time.

Millidge: Many ideas and specific storylines are there. I know where they’re headed. I know the scenes, even if they aren’t written. It’s like a plot synopsis. I don’t exactly know how long or what issue it’s going to be in, until I get there. I ask myself, "Where are these threads going in this stage of the story?" It may be four pages, and it could be one or 10, until I dialogue it. The dialogue could expand, and implicate other characters, as I said earlier. That’s where the texture and reality are added, and the issue starts taking shape. Otherwise, you’ve just got three or four mystery stories running concurrently. I’m trying to weave the story together so it becomes unique. It’s that boredom thing again. I don’t want to know what I’m going to be drawing next year. Otherwise, I’d just throw my pencils down and give up now. Maybe that’s why I never had a proper job as such.

Wayne: That goes against Strangehaven working as being a puzzle. That certainly takes a lot of planning to pull something like that off.

Millidge: What I’ve attempted to do is to get Strangehaven to operate on different levels. There is a puzzle there if someone wants to figure it out how it all goes together, and enjoys doing that. For people who don’t, I want it to be an entertaining soap opera with lots of interesting diversions and stories. Eventually, I hope it all fits together. That the sum is greater than the parts. I’ve gotten letters from Germans and Austrians, and they know it inside and out. I can’t believe that they spend their days analyzing what I’ve done. They’ve sent me lists of all the characters and how they relate to each other. Some of it is accurate. Other parts I haven’t even thought through yet. They sat down and figured it out logically. And you can do that if you want to. I don’t expect my readers to do that. But I do want to give Strangehaven enough depth to reward subsequent readings.

Wayne: So, if Strangehaven can be viewed as both an "organic" soap opera and a mystery story rife with puzzles to solve, you must have built in some structures to make that work.

Millidge: When you’re an artist faced with a blank canvas, the most difficult thing to do is make that first mark. So I laid down some ground rules. There would be no captions or thought balloons. It’ll be like real life. I based the page design on a very strict nine-panel grid, which I haven’t yet deviated from. I'm doing three eight-page chapters per issue. It’s a very rigid structure to fit these stories into. There are times I can get into a bind because I need a three-page sequence to link the end of one chapter to the beginning of another. I was e-mailed by someone who said how well the issues flowed, with themes running through them. That’s something that’s been imposed at a later stage. I’ve got two or three stories running through one issue. How do I link those three storylines? In creating each issue, the structure blurs the details somewhat. People don’t know if they’re reading red herrings, significant facts or diversions. That’s where the subtlety comes into it. It’s very hard work, but enjoyable when it comes off. If someone picks up #4 or #8, they may not know exactly what’s going on, just like any soap opera on TV. They’ll just have to dive in, and go with it for an issue or two. In fact, I personally think you can enjoy the issues as much out of sequence as you can in sequence.

Wayne: The critical buzz on Strangehaven stateside has been good so far. How about your side of the pond?

Millidge: I've been lucky enough to have a lot of critical praise in the UK press, but I had one absolutely terrible review in which a guy just tore into me. This guy thought I was selling out. He pointed out all the negative areas which were all perfectly valid, but only offered those up without balancing it in any way with the good points. I could write a great slag-off review of Strangehaven. I’m fully aware of its weak points. Some of them are inherent in the soap opera element.

Wayne: Okay, you brought it up. What do you think are the weak points of Strangehaven?

Millidge: One of the more valid criticisms I heard early on was that the photographic references I used were too stiff. And I agree with that. If I could draw like Alan Davis, then I would. But I’m too old to learn that sort of craft. But I think I’m getting better at translating movement and my art is looser and more supple.

Wayne: The flip side of that argument is that the characters look real.

Millidge: That doesn’t necessarily mean that the story won’t work if it’s drawn in a different way. It’s just the way I draw best. You’ve really got to play to your strengths.

Wayne: The photographic reference isn’t really a problem for me. I think you’re coming around at a good time. Ten to 20 years ago, readers might not have been so receptive. Look at Alex Ross who is probably the most popular mainstream artist in comics right now. Many readers have embraced his photo-realistic style.

Millidge: Personally speaking, I think there should be a cartoony element to the art. Will Eisner’s stuff has a strong cartoon element to it. I think Alan Davis has the right balance. You’ve probably only seen Alan’s superhero stuff, and that’s how he earns his money but look at the real situations he draws. His people have those cartoony, exaggerated expressions that aren’t so exaggerated when they’re drawn realistically. Some have gotten around that by doing cartoon faces with realistic backgrounds, like Mark Oakley’s Thieves and Kings and Dave Sim and Gerhard’s Cerebus. You’ve got both cartooning and realistic artwork, the best of both worlds. Strangehaven is influenced by my life and what I am. You can’t be something that you’re not. I think people don’t realize what they re good at. That’s the problem. I’ve spent a lot of my life learning what it is I can do best, and trusting in that.

Wayne: This diverse cast of characters allows you to do all sorts of stories: a Christmas in August, a haunted camping trip, a Freemason's initiation, a failed seduction and bad cooking. I don’t see those kinds of stories told in comics much.

Millidge: I was starting to watch a lot of "foodie" films on TV (like Tampopo), and thought they were great. There was a TV series here called The Darling Buds of May. It’s set in a small village, focusing on a farmer and his family. A lot of it was about good food and the English countryside. As much as the Prisoner and Twin Peaks, the Darling Buds of May influenced Strangehaven, but that wouldn’t have been such a good selling point for Previews. At some point, I’d like to do a Strangehaven cookbook, and pull out all the different references to food.

Wayne: Comics is the best medium for Strangehaven. Despite all the references, I don’t think TV or film or prose could do it justice.

Millidge: I think Strangehaven would work as any of those, but not in the same way. For a film, I think it would need some pretty severe editing, or it would be bloody long. I certainly think my storytelling is cinematic. There are camera angles and movements there. There’s no thought balloons or captions. I think the comic could be treated as a literal storyboard. I think it would work better as a TV series, like Twin Peaks or Northern Exposure. I could see myself writing a novelization, but that would have to be different too.

Of course, in comics, I have complete control over Strangehaven. With TV or movies, you have to involve literally hundreds of people. You could feasibly script and edit your own film, but you couldn’t do it on the scale I’m doing Strangehaven. If you’re going to include Amazonian flashbacks and quantum physics, you’d need some animation, sequences shot in sepia tones and a big budget to do the story justice. Then again, if you want a job done well, you do it yourself. There’s a lot of truth in that. Any film depends on so many people pulling the same way. With a comic strip, you’re in complete control. It’s a single vision, and that’s the beauty of it.

(c)1998/1999 Wayne Beamer