Articulate Blasphemy: An interview with Cy Dethan.

By P M Buchan

I recently got the opportunity to speak to one of my favourite British comic writers Cy Dethan, whose work to me has come to demonstrate just how much can be achieved by working outside the mainstream in comics.  Traditionally all of the best writers and artists in the UK have been poached by American publishers and set to work at subdivisions of Marvel and DC, but after reading Cy’s most recent graphic novel Slaughterman’s Creed I can confidently say that comics in the UK have found a new voice, one that’s articulate, blasphemous and ugly.  Everything that we like here at SCREAM mag.

SCREAM: For anybody that isn’t already familiar with your work, can you tell us a little bit about yourself – who are you and how long have you been writing comics?

Cy Dethan: My name’s Cy Dethan, and I’ve been writing comics one way or another since 2006. For the first two years, that took the form of a six-page monthly Starship Troopers strip in Mongoose Publishing’s Signs & Portents online magazine. On the back of that, I landed Markosia’s Troopers ongoing series and my first creator-owned graphic novel, Cancertown. It all kind of rolled on from there.

SCREAM: What would you say have been the highlights of your career so far?

CD: It’s been pretty much a rush of highlights so far, really – although I’d have to say receiving Bryan Talbot’s foreword to Cancertown is going to be a tough one to beat. Bryan’s work is high up on the list of reasons I was driven to get involved in comics creatively, so the significance of that foreword was massive to me.

SCREAM: For a writer that I hadn’t heard of until recently you seem to have a LOT of work coming out this year. I know about the Slaughterman’s Creed graphic novel and the reissue of Cancertown but what new projects can we expect from you?

CD: Well, the print version of The Indifference Engine is due out this year from Markosia. It’s about a twenty–something suburban slacker who gets caught up in an interdimensional task-force composed entirely of superhuman, alternate versions of himself. I had dangerous amounts of fun working with Rob Carey on this one, so I’m pretty excited about it.

Beyond that, I’ve got three more creator-owned Markosia books currently being drawn, including the Cancertown sequel. There’s also a Henry Flint art book I’m writing the text for and I’ve just signed a new serial killer story called White Knuckle, with artist Valia Kapadai. So, with all that plus James Pearson’s Bayou Arcana horror anthology and a one-shot spin-off from Barry Nugent’s Fallen Heroes novel, there’s plenty in the pipeline right now – and several more projects I’m looking to start pitching around soon.

SCREAM: One of the things that stands out about your writing is the assurance of the dialogue and the articularly inventive profanities. How did you hone this ability to create such excellent cursing?

CD: It’s just been that kind of life, really. The key to writing ugly language effectively is to have a lot of ugly thoughts you need to get out there. I’ve always been lucky, in that respect.

SCREAM: Your stories seem to run across a broad spectrum of genres but there’s a darkness in your work that seems to be a constant. Will this always be the case or do you have an All Ages plans for the future?

CD: I think you have to write the books you have in you. For me, I guess some types of story just scream louder than others to be let out of my head. If it ever quietens down enough in there, I suppose I might find something a little gentler cringing away at the back somewhere. I’m not sure I’d put money on it looking quite so harmless once I finally got it down on paper, though.

SCREAM: I’ve been following a discussion recently arguing that the creators of comics have a responsibility to monitor the consequences of their creations and censor themselves appropriately. How do you feel about this?

CD: This is probably the best and most important question I’ve ever been asked in an interview. I’m going to need a second here…

Okay, here goes. My opinion is that if we’re seriously considering works of clearly identifiable fiction as causes of the world’s problems then we’ve taken our eye off the ball in a fairly catastrophic way. There’s a point where people really do have to take responsibility for their own actions, and anything less is either cowardice or deliberate deception. Fiction allows us to safely confront everything that inspires, excites and terrifies us, and to artificially reign in the power of that is totally self-defeating. Equally, pumping overkill into a story that doesn’t require that level of intensity (which can mean a whole range of things besides gore, boobs and swearing) strangles it. Most of my books are unsuitable for children or the easily disturbed, just as most of my life is unsuitable for them. Tell your stories with the staging and language they require. Anything less is cheating.

Additionally, to single out comics as being unsuited to adult material is to hopelessly confuse the medium with the genres it can express.

SCREAM: What can we expect from your next trip to Cancertown?

CD: The second volume is called Cancertown: Blasphemous Tumours. It picks up about six months after the events of the first volume, and Vince Morley is a dangerously sick man. Bugfuck is in a psychiatric hospital, sticky fingers picking through the darkest corners of the mind that brought Cancertown into existence. The crossing points between Morley’s two realities are wearing thin and all the rules are changing.

Within Cancertown, something new has appeared – a creature of horrific violence and limitless rage. The foundations are shaking and the old powers are falling, one by one. Papercut, deadliest of the Cancertown players, seeks out Morley to claim the favour he owes her – a favour that could cost him more than just his life.

The art on this book is going to be something really special. Graeme Howard has struck on a style that is at once completely consistent with the organic, visceral feel of the first book and also firmly stamps it with his own profoundly vascular mark. I’m extremely lucky to have been teamed up with Graeme now, because he’ll be up in the big-money leagues in no time.

SCREAM: Are you ready to talk about Starship Troopers yet? That seems to have been a bittersweet experience for you, something that’s brought you to where you are today but also seemingly led you to shun licensed properties.

CD: Hey – I’m always happy to talk about Starship Troopers! It broke my heart when the licence expired, but actually writing those books was nothing but pure joy for me. As you say, this really was the book that brought me into the game – and I’d jump back on it in a heartbeat if the opportunity ever arose.

I’ve focused on creator-owned properties since Troopers ended, and I’ve been having the time of my life doing so. It’s not so much a question of shunning licences as it is getting suddenly presented with the opportunity to tell every story that ever tried to force its way out of my skull all at once. Working on something you actually own can be intoxicating, but I’m not closing any doors. If a licensed project came up and I honestly believed I had something worthwhile to contribute to it, it wouldn’t take a lot of soul-searching to make that decision.

SCREAM: Why write comics? Can you tell us about some of your influences or what comics you were reading in your formative years?

CD: Well, I was always kind of an omnivorous Marvel reader, but I was exactly the right age in the mid-80s for Watchmen, V For Vendetta, The Killing Joke, Maus and The Dark Knight Returns to hit me all at once. Still reeling from that, 2000AD and Bryan Talbot’s Adventures of Luther Arkwright sort of crept up and whacked me on the back of the head and showed me the true breadth and scope of the medium. After that, I honestly couldn’t see a future for myself that didn’t feature comics in
a serious capacity. I got a little side-tracked making a living for twenty years or so, but I got that out of my system eventually.

SCREAM: How have you found life on the convention scene in the UK?

CD: For me, the convention circuit is absolutely the beating heart of UK comics. Virtually every good thing that has happened to me in the industry can be traced back to meetings I had or deals I made at one of the UK shows.

I like to pitch in person where I can. I can get pretty animated when I talk about my work, so a both-barrels-in-the-face pitch represents the best way to give people the opportunity to get as excited as I am about a story. Naturally, you have to back it up with a proper written treatment, and I’m an obsessive planner in that respect, but my personal preference is to go straight for the throat in person when I’m pitching.

SCREAM: How do you approach starting a new story?

CD: I keep a lot of notes – scraps of dialogue, character ideas, even fully fleshed-out scenes. I never sit down and try to come up with a story from scratch, and I always like to work in an “answers first, questions later” sort of way. Generally, I’ll have the bones of my final scene established first, then work backwards to set it up. In part, that’s why I use a lot of non-linear time-lines in my work. Comics have an excellent set of tools for sequencing narration in unconventional ways, so I like to play with that.

SCREAM: Recommend something to us. Another creator, an artist, a graphic novel that nobody has heard of. You get one answer to sell somebody else’s work.

CD: Well, it’s more of an “illustrated novella” than a graphic novel, but I’d have to say that anyone looking to tell truly disturbing stories should consider Dave Louapre and Dan Sweetman’s “A Cotton Candy Autopsy” required reading. It’s actually three intertwined stories concerning a carload of clowns who escape from a circus fire and set about pursuing their own personal philosophies in various ways. It’s one of the most perfectly executed mood and character pieces I’ve ever read – chilling, mournful and oddly touching all at once, and it’s the most comprehensive dissection of clown psychology and circus life since Carny.

SCREAM: Thanks for talking to us, Cy.

CD: My pleasure.

AND, DON’T FORGET! EACH ISSUE OF SCREAM MAG FEATURES PLENTY OF HORROR COMIC NEWS, REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS AND MORE! BUT WE HAVE GIVEN YOU THIS COOL INTERVIEW WITH CY DETHAN ABSOLUTELY FREE COZ’ WE’RE JUST SO NICE