The writer behind The Frog Princess and a Judge Dredd Megazine short story tells us about his April release The Regulators from Visionary Comics. Check out the three page preview below the interview!
Dan Horn (CBB): Hey, Jeff, thank you
for taking the time to speak with me today.
Jeff Loew (JL): No problem.
I’m happy for any opportunity to talk about my comics.
CBB: Your new series The Regulators
goes on sale this month from Visionary Comics (www.visionarycomics.com).
What can you tell us about this comic?
JL: The Regulators came about
when I was given the opportunity to write a straight science fiction
story for a proposed anthology book. One of the editors suggested
that the lead character be a bounty hunter or a space marshal.
I tend to be a contrarian, so I decided to make the character something
more boring, like the guy who checks your electric meter. A “functionary”
is the word I used to describe him. Obviously the story is driven
by action and suspense, but the root of the idea was that he’s literally
just a regulator – with a play on the fact that Jesse James’ gang
was also called the Regulators. The anthology never happened,
but George Todorovski and I went ahead and finished the book and eventually
submitted it to Visionary.
CBB: I just had the privilege of reading
this one-shot debut. It really feels like a classic 2000 A.D.
jaunt into the far-flung future. Was the book The Regulators influenced
by the sci-fi stories in that British magazine, and what other stories
have influenced this title?
JL: 2000 A.D. and Judge Dredd
blew my mind when they were reprinted in the U.S. in the early 80s.
Those stories have definitely influenced my writing. My proudest
publication credit is probably a short story I had printed in the small
press section of the Judge Dredd Megazine a few years back. I’d
say that the Regulators is also influenced by the same 1950s and 1960s
classic science fiction that influenced 2000 A.D., folks like Robert
A. Heinlein. The structure of the story, with Pax Manfreddy, the
lead character, hunting for another lost regulator on Mars, is pretty
archetypal for a hard-boiled noir mystery. I even re-watched John
Ford’s classic western, The Searchers, when thinking about the best
way to tell the story – the Martian landscape stands in for the American
West.
CBB: The main player in this story,
Paxton Manfreddy, is such a cool character. How did Paxton’s persona
come about?
JL: On the one hand I wanted
Pax to be a very matter-of-fact, blue collar guy. Simply doing
his job and getting into trouble along the way. But as I worked
with George to develop the character, it became clear that he should
be more active and effective in pursuing his goals. So some of
Pax’s more cerebral qualities were transferred to Lyle Westin, the
regulator who’s gone missing. And Pax became a character who’s
got his own brand of intelligence, but one who uses his muscle to solve
most problems. George’s illustrations brought even more personal
details to Pax’s persona.
CBB: George Todorovoski’s artwork
is absolutely brilliant and really fun to pore over. How did your collaboration
with George come about?
JL: The group putting together the
anthology sent me links to some artists’ work, and I immediately wanted
to work with him. I’m a huge fan of Moebius, and a lot of George’s
art is evocative of Moebius’s line work as well as his vast imagination.
The Regulators is pretty restrained compared to some of George’s other
work – he had a story published in Heavy Metal last year. But
I think his portrayal of the Martian inhabitants and their culture is
very distinctly Todorovski.
CBB: Is there a message you’re trying
to relate through this politically charged future thriller?
JL: In creating Pax’s world,
I wanted to explore the relationship between the Regulators and the
colonial settlements, like the Martian settlement where much of the
story takes place. This relationship is basically a caricature
of the present relationship between industrialized nations and so-called
“Third World” countries or developing nations. So if there’s
any message, the story is a critique of neocolonialism, or more precisely,
a study of one character’s realization that the situation is more
complicated than he thought.
The Regulators follow the orders of
the United Americas, one of the future super-continents the story envisions.
The settlers receive support from the United Americas, but only enough
to send back their natural resources. To the extent they become
self-sufficient or threaten independence – such as developing
their own unauthorized energy sources – the Regulators step in
and enforce the status quo.
In the real world of the present, the
relationship between some developed and developing countries has become
more complicated now, with organizations like the International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank, and USAID providing investment if the developing
countries continue to produce the resources the developed companies
want. But China is developing a more classic neocolonial relationship
with Africa, influencing the countries’ social and economic policies
to better exploit their natural resources.
CBB: When can we expect to see more
of The Regulators?
JL: George and I have talked for a
while about doing some more Regulators stories. Right now he’s
very busy with a hit comic up in Toronto called The Bear Stories, about
a cuddly teddy bear who happens to be a profane, occasionally violent
sociopath. It’s a good time, and fun for the whole family.
I’ve been writing a graphic novel/memoir with a collaborator, that’s
taken up quite a bit of time. But if The Regulators gets enough
attention, we’ve got a lot more stories to tell.
CBB: Your last project was The Frog
Princess. What can you tell us about that book?
JL: The Frog Princess is a full-length
graphic novel illustrated by Rie Ikaza, an Indonesian manga artist.
Its primary characters are Larissa Talcott, an amphibian biologist trying
to save her research pond from developers, and Liam O’Neill, a lawyer
who’s secretly working for the developers. They fall in love,
of course, and each of them has to recalibrate their view of the world
to adjust to the threats they’re facing. And they each team
up to save the frogs, along with a group of diverse and colorful allies.
The book was published in print by eigoMANGA in association with Visionary,
and reprinted online at Drive-Thru Comics and elsewhere. I believe
we’ve sold a few hundred copies at various conventions, and I’ve
been very happy with the response and attention it received.
CBB: It seems like quite a leap from
The Frog Princess to The Regulators. How exactly did you go from that
book to this current one?
JL: Believe it or not, there
are a lot of thematic similarities to the stories, despite one being
a hard-boiled science fiction thriller and the other being a light romantic
comedy with fantasy elements. The characters of Liam and Pax in
particular have a similar arc, as each is ordered to carry out a mission
that ultimately comes into conflict with their core principles, which
they’ve been ignoring as they pursue their careers. Each of
them must essentially “go to war” to resolve that conflict.
CBB: I’ve spoken with some creators
who have implied that they believe web comics and downloadable content
would soon become the new circular rack. With Visionary Comics releasing
The Regulators digitally, what’s your view of the downloadable comic
medium, and how has being published digitally affected you as opposed
to being printed and distributed to local comic shops?
JL: I would say that for the
next few years, being published in print may still be the gold standard
for most creators, both in terms of credibility and in generating income.
But the print medium is shrinking, as evidenced by Diamond’s new policies
shutting out even more small press books. So it’s inevitable
that the shift to online content will continue. Technologies like
the iPad will make this easier for users. Developing an economic
model workable for small press creators will remain a real challenge,
though.
CBB: Do you have any other upcoming
projects that you can tell us about?
JL: Right now I’m collaborating with
a colleague whose great uncle occupied an interesting place in history
in the years before World War I. He was a British Jewish boxer
who fought for the welterweight championship twice – once for England,
and once for the British Empire. He lost both times, but in the
mean time had a fascinating life spanning three continents. We’re
still in the research and plotting stage, but I think it’s a very
compelling story that will be a lot of fun to put together. And
it should open up readers’ eyes to a part of history that’s been
largely forgotten, when lower-class Jews made up more than a third of
professional boxers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
I also have a supernatural crime story
that Visionary plans to release in the near future. We’ve had
a colorist drop out, so there have been a few delays. Finally,
I have a superhero comic that will likely see rebirth as a Web comic
in the next year or so. So I’m definitely keeping busy!