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Single Malt Sunrise: An Interview with Brendan Cahill
Review posted: 29 January 2006
Writer:
Publisher:
Reviewed by Matt Rawson
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I recently was walking through my local comic shop when I noticed,
tucked away on the rack, a nicely painted cover featuring a character
I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I picked up Sable &
Fortune and
flipped through it. Instantly sold on the beautiful interior art I
placed it in my weekly bounty and paid for my goods. When I got home I
pulled it out first, due to the fact that I was most interested to see
if the writing was on par with the amazing artwork, and,
Golly-Miss-Molly was it! At the moment I put the book down I knew I
needed to get in touch with Brendan Cahill and chit chat with him
about how such an amazing book came about, and also why in the world I
was forced to go Chuck Norris on a poor bartender the other night (I
just know he had something to do with it!).
Matt Rawson: Please, tell our readers who may not be familiar with
these two characters what Sable & Fortune is about.
Brendan Cahill: Sable & Fortune is basically a
spy/private eye book. Silver Sable is a mercenary who leads a whole
syndicate and, traditionally, Dominic Fortune has been a sort of
adventurer-for-hire. We’ve morphed Fortune into more of a
private detective and we’re removing Sable from her syndicate so
that we end up with more of a book about these two characters, who are
flung together. Sable struggles with working with a tiny team with no
resources and Fortune struggles with being caught up in this
super-dangerous spy-vs-spy world that he knows nothing about.
It’s also been described as Alias meets
Moonlighting, which may or may not be a good thing.
MR: Well, being compared to Alias can’t be a
bad thing in my book. What is your previous experience in printed
comics?
BC: The only printed work I’ve done was a
self-published book called Without A Past. That was actually
the first big project John Barber (my editor on S&F) did
together — we plotted it together, I penciled it, he wrote the
script, inked it and did the computer stuff. We self-published it to
deafening silence and a complete lack of interest from Diamond
Distribution. John had like 1000 copies of it in a box under his
microwave for a while. But now, you know, we’re big stars.
“Sable & Fortune been
described as Alias meets Moonlighting, which may or may
not be a good thing.” — Brendan Cahill
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MR: Hey, a Marvel gig is nothing to shake a stick at. If, of
course you are inclined to shake a stick at Marvel, which would
probably be met with mixed results. On to non-printed comics. Tell us
about Outside the Box?
BC: OTB was a webcomic I did for ModernTales,
my first professional work. It was an interactive work, authored in
Flash, which was a fun way to use the capabilities of the Web, rather
than just putting static pages up on a website. The story involves a
cubicle slave named Jamie Black who, through a series of fairly
bizarre twists, ends up becoming a private investigator, befriending a
young girl who claims to do magic, and getting himself immersed in
some very strange cases. I ended up doing two full story arcs, plus a
one-shot, and then completely burned out. I was producing about the
equivalent of two thirds of a “normal” (printed) comic every
month (well, most months), and I was doing it all myself: writing,
analog art, digital art, lettering and programming. And this was in my
“free time.” Needless to say, I couldn’t keep up
that pace forever.
All in all, I look back on the project really fondly, though.
It’s still up there at moderntales.com if you want to
take a gander, but it’s not on the main list anymore, so you
have to search around a bit for it. Also, I think only the first and
last episodes are available for free — to read the whole thing,
you have to be a paying member.
MR: How did European legend John Burns come to be involved
in the project?
BC: John Barber wrangled John Burns — they were
talking about some other project, which Burns was completely not
interested in, and then Barber threw the S&F premise at him and he was
interested. That’s really not a very good story, but I think
that’s all there is to it. It’s possible Mark Millar
hooked them up, but I could be making that up.
MR: How did you get the gig on Sable & Fortune?
Were you approached, or did you come a pitchin’?
BC: I was approached, along with several other writers, to pitch an idea
based on the rough premise the editorial group already had. I believe
everyone they had pitch was (at least relatively) unknown. Anyway, I
guess they liked my pitch best because they hired me. To their
eternal shame, I’m sure.
MR: But most definitely to the reader’s delight…
Was it hard getting the ‘go’ on a book with two
lesser-known characters like Silver Sable and Dominic Fortune? They
are both really cool, but I mean, neither one is Wolverine, and
Wolverine doesn’t appear in the book at all, he’s not on
the cover, or even mentioned anywhere. With the way Marvel has been
going in past years, that seems like a prerequisite.
BC: Right. The editorial group that John is part of came up
with the basic premise and got a rough green light on it before they
asked for pitches. So in that respect, no problem. Of course, we all
kind of assumed that, barring a miracle, it would be hard to get past
six issues, because, as you say — no Wolvie. But we did our
best… and got cut down to four issues.
MR: That’s a shame getting cut down. I know I’d
personally be onboard for an on-going. Can we expect Wolverine and the
Avengers fighting Ultimate Galactus in future issues? Maybe that would
help add a few more issues!
BC: Yes. I mean, no. I mean… damn. You ruined it.
MR: If no Wolvie, then what can we expect in the remaining issues?
BC: Well, we had this whole thing where we actually did
several different stories (a three-part, a one-shot that sort of put a
bow on the three-part, and then a two-part). Now, of course, the
two-part is going away, so what you can expect is basically a wrap to
the story you’re reading right now (you’re all reading it,
right?), and then the Issue 4 one-shot which is sort of its own story,
but sort of goes with the three-parter. If somehow our sales
skyrocket, demand for the out-of-print first few issues goes through
the roof and the fans demand we make more… then we’ve
planned to do a mix of spy stories (big, world-level espionage stuff),
and PI stories (small-scale, personal-level mysteries). The idea was
to keep these stories on the fringes of the Marvel Universe —
you know, while all the big superheroes are doing big superhero
things, these are the escapades that go on behind their backs in the
rest of the world.
MR: Man! You got my blood pumpin’! There’s
always hope! Sable & Fortune is your first work for Marvel,
and you got paired up with a legendary illustrator. How does that
feel?
BC: Pretty cool. Burns makes it easy because his
storytelling is so practiced and refined. I can give him these
impossible shots, with like three important things happening in the
panel and he can pull them off, which makes me look good, which I
like. Also, the stuff is just beautiful. I mean, obviously.
MR: Any other artists or writers you would like to work with,
specifically, on future projects?
BC: Sure, there’s a million. I’d love to work
with Cully Hamner, Karl Moline, Chris Bacchalo, Takeshi Miyazawa,
Michael Oeming, Frank Quitely… I mean, there are so many
talented artists out there right now that it would be hard to be
paired up with someone I wouldn’t want to work with.
I was producing the equivalent of a normal
printed comic every month, and I was doing it all myself: writing,
analog art, digital art, lettering and programming. And this was in my
“free time.” Needless to say, I couldn’t keep up
that pace forever.
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MR: You are also an illustrator, what are your artistic
influences?
BC: I think I draw my biggest influences from Matt Wagner,
Masamune Shirow, Chris Bacchalo and Karl Moline. Although that list
changes from time to time. I’m one of the few guys I know
who’s more comfortable inking with a brush than a crow quill, so
I also look to guys like Jeff Smith and Zander Cannon who are really
good at those super-fluid strokes. I also often wish I could be Mike
Mignola, but I think most of us wish that. Mostly, I like a really
clean, really polished look and that’s what I always go for. I
mean, I love guys like Bill Sienkiewicz, but I’ve never aspired
to do that kind of loose, controlled chaos look.
MR: Do you gain influence from areas outside art and comics like
film, music, interpretive dance, slot-car racing, etc.?
BC: Sure. You wouldn’t believe how much "inspirational" material I write
off on my taxes every year. (If there’s anyone from the IRS reading
this, that was a joke, and I realize it was in poor taste, and of
course I take the tax system very, very seriously.) Um, where was I… ?
Yes! Yes, in fact, I’m more inspired by TV these days than
just about anything else. I think some of the most amazing creative
work is coming out of TV: Veronica Mars, Battlestar
Galactica, The Sopranos, and of course anything Joss Whedon
touches. A lot of people have compared comics to film, but I think
it’s a lot closer to TV in a lot of respects, in that
there’s that element of serialization — you have to
establish a premise that is extensible, that you can continue to work
within. It’s episodic, and each episode has to work a certain
way, and I think that comics (at least “mainstream”
comics) work very much the same way.
Of course, there’s lots of other stuff out there that tweaks my
brain. I read a ton of books and magazines. I mostly read trashy
fantasy books, but I’ll try just about anything that catches my
fancy. I read a ton of business magazines, which have more seeds for
story ideas than you’d think. Music. Can’t work without music. Would
have trouble getting out of bed without music. Listening to The
Libertines right now. Which doesn’t mean I support crack use.
Obviously, I don’t.
MR: Sure… um… so, where can your web comics and
other works be seen?
BC: http://www.moderntales.com. You
have to use the “More Comics” button and then scroll down
to the massive list of “more comics.” That’s where
you’ll find Outside The Box. If you want a copy of
Without a Past, find me at the next San Diego con and
I’ll tell you I’ve misplaced all my copies. I’ll be
lying, but, really, you don’t need to see that.
MR: If different, where can people learn more about you and
your art?
Webcomics are quickly
taking the place of self-publishing a print comic. Webcomics
cost almost nothing, distribution is automatic, and
people may read it because it’s free.
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BC: That’s about it. I really don’t have a lot
up in the public sphere. I have a website at www.brendancahill.com, but
that’s more a placeholder for what will eventually go there than
it is anything in its own right. There are some old comic pages and
sketches and stuff up there, though. Some of it’s even not
terrible. Some of it will clue you in on just how big a D&D geek I
really am.
MR: Any plans for future work for Marvel?
BC: Yes, please. Right now, nothing’s cooking, but I am definitely
pestering them with phone calls on a regular basis.
MR: With the talent you’ve displayed in Sable &
Fortune one can only hope! Any non-Marvel projects at all that you
would like to let our readers in on?
BC: Not at the moment.
MR: Any advice for aspiring comics creators?
BC: Have friends in the industry.
Failing that, here are the two most important things, as far as I’m
concerned: DO A WEBCOMIC and START EARLY.
The Webcomic thing is great because a.) you have somewhere to send
people who you’d like to hire you. They can see finished work that
you’ve produced, rather than just one more set of sample pages or one
more two-page pitch. Also, you can use the Webcomic to get used to
meeting deadlines (hard), to build up a fan base (harder), and
possibly even to get editors interested in YOU, rather than you
having to track them down (hardest of all). Webcomics are quickly
taking the place of self-publishing a print comic. The problems with
self-published print: it costs a lot of money; Diamond probably won’t
distribute it; even if they do, no one will buy it. Those are the sad
facts. But with a Webcomic: it costs almost nothing (except your time
and a pittance for your hosting company); distribution is automatic;
people may read it because it’s free and/or they’re already
subscribed to the site it’s on. Despite the fact that I have a good
friend in Marvel editorial, I can tell you with a very high level of
certainty that he never would have asked me to pitch him a story if
he hadn’t seen me demonstrate I could write well and on a schedule,
which I did by putting out OTB.
The Start Early thing is just my own little personal thing. See, I
concentrated very hardcore on my “regular” job throughout
my early- to mid-20s, which means that I have enjoyed a nice level of
success in the corporate communications graphic design industry, but
which also means that I back-burnered the comics stuff that I really
wanted to do. So now I feel like I’m trying to start a second
career, which is a difficult transition to make. I’m not saying
I necessarily regret the way I did it, but I do think that I may have
wasted some of the restless creative energy of my 20s on corporate
clients instead of pouring it into stories I really cared about
telling. So, yeah. Start early and hit it hard. (I sound old.
I’m really not. I’m 29. I’m just saying.)
MR: Anything I forgot to ask that you’d like to fill
us in on?
BC: Nah, I think that covers it.
MR: And finally, at the bar last night I ordered a ‘single
malt sunrise’ and the guy pulled a gun on me. I had to
round-house kick him in the forehead Chuck Norris style. You
wouldn’t happen to know anything about this… would you?
BC: I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. Next time,
stick with a Laphroaig 10-year, neat.
MR: Will do! And thank you very much, Brendan, for taking
the time to answer these questions. I wish you the best in your comics
career, for your own good and ours as readers!
If all you Crafty Comic Cosmonauts out there want to learn what
this humble interviewer thought about Sable & Fortune in
detail (and why you should already have this book in your collection)
then mosey on over to my review of this astounding
comic! Take care!
—CCdC—
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