Broken Frontier

After the critical success of their take on the events of the Biblical book of Exodus in The Lone and Level Sands, creators A. David Lewis and mpMann recently returned to Old Testament sources with their look at the flood myth in the four-issues series Some New Kind of Slaughter from Archaia Studios Press. Broken Frontier sat down with A. David Lewis to find out more about the genesis of this project.

BROKEN FRONTIER: What stuck out to me is the length of the title: in full, it's Some New Kind of Slaughter, or Lost in the Flood (And How We Found Home Again): Diluvian Myths from Around the World. That's a mouthful. Quite possibly, it even breaks the record for longest series title for a comic book? Why are you flooding readers with that many words?

A. DAVID LEWIS:It is a flood of words, you're absolutely right, and Marv and I rather liked that effect. In all honesty, we were both having a somewhat hard time landing on an appropriate title. High Waters was the working title, but that reminded me too much of both the Madeleine L'Engle book Many Waters as well as that silly style of pants. Lost in the Flood and Some New Kind of Slaughter were both quotes from elsewhere (the first being Springsteen, the second being Robert Frost), and when put together, it created what we thought was a timeless sensation. That is, a lot of the best books have wild subtitles: Slaughterhouse 5, The Hobbit, Frankenstein, etc. Since we were reaching all across time, it made some sense that the title should feel atypical for our era as well as stretch quite a ways!

BF: Why are you referring to the flood as "a new kind of slaughter"?

ADL: Again, I give all credit to Robert Frost and his poem, appropriately titled "The Flood." He was reflecting on the 1927 Mississippi Flood, which, strangely, was an intentional, man-made deluge in order to safeguard New Orleans. But it still killed a lot of people and destroyed a great deal of property. It was a combination of nature's raw power and the blindness of humankind. His voice in it is rather fierce, and, while our book withholds any summary judgment, I like that intensity in the title.

BF: The project is billed as the follow-up to Lone and Level Sands. In what sense is that the case? You re-teaming with mpMann, the series being inspired by religion, or both?

ADL:The re-team is the most obvious part, really. After the surprise success of The Lone and Level Sands, we were looking for another chance to work together. I had the idea of World Flood Myths but not the same sort of time to dedicate to writing as I had The Lone and Level Sands. Marv, though, was eager to pick up more storytelling duties, and he was certainly up to the task! While it does include myths from a number of religions, I think we were more intrigued by "playing with a classic" again.

BF: Strictly speaking, it's not a follow-up or a continuation of biblical history, since Noah's story took place before Moses'. Why did you settle on the flood myth as the topic of your new book?

ADL:True, it's not a "sequel" of any sort. Without sounding too cliche, Katrina really compelled the project as did the Indian tsunami not too long ago. One of the themes to The Lone and Level Sands was the idea of how a culture deals with disaster; I think we tried to show how even an ancient society like the Egyptians might respond similarly to events beyond their control as, say, modern America might with attacks and natural disasters. To some degree, we've continued that here, except with a topic -- worldwide flooding -- that seems to have worried and plagued cultures almost all across time and locale.

BF: The scope of this series is also larger than Lone and Level Sands, as it touches upon more than just the one biblical diluvian myth.

ADL:Right, that was the new challenge for us. The Lone and Level Sands was about one time and one place, even if it did tend to echo mythically and religiously to the present. Some New Kind of Slaughter is an attempt to demonstrate how Flood Myths are already echoing across cultures – to identify this worry and its universal impact. In a sense, this also makes a nice argument for how all humankind is, in fact, united rather than broken up and disjointed by languages, politics, and religions.

BF: Were you already aware of the existence and/or the intricacies of the different flood stories from across the globe before starting the project?

ADL: I was somewhat aware, sure. But, as we've chronicled on the Production Blog for the series, both Marv and I were blown away by all the stories we found. We almost, metaphorically, drowned in them!

BF: What do these different myths have in common? Where do they differ?

ADL: A lot of the myths make the Flood about humankind's errors. That is, the floods come because we have been bad in some way. There are a few that don't have that moral component, but the majority seem to. The Flood is a judgment against Man, an attempt either to wipe out our species or make us start again. The source of that flood, though, can vary a lot: That is, the biblical Noah myth is one of the few where an unseen, almighty force singlehandedly sends the waters. In many others, it's an animal deity or some anthropomorphized natural force that causes it to happen. Big-G God really is the trademark of only the Judeo-Christian-Muslim story.

BF: In this time of global warming and climate change, and the predicted rise of the sea levels, has the story of the flood become painfully topical again?

ADL:I absolutely think it has, and that's what made this story so important to Marv and me. That is, I don't know how much we're going to change anything with this book, per se, but it is definitely relevant and pertinent to larger topics that are already upon us. If the story entertains, educates, and puts the matter in the reader's head, much as with The Lone and Level Sands, then I think our goals would be much accomplished.

BF: When did you and Marvin lay the groundwork for this series? While still working on The Lone and Level Sands, or sometime after?

ADL:When The Lone and Level Sands moved to Archaia Studios Press from my own Caption Box imprint, the topic was first broached: What's next? Is there a next? Marv had plenty on his plate already with Inanna's Tears, Ba'al, and the possibility of The Grave Doug Freshley; I was working on my segment for Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened with Danielle Corsetto and some role-playing game work for Archaia (not to mention my PhD.!). But, as The Lone and Level Sands picked up momentum and Marv & I attended more conventions together, the embryo for what would later be Some New Kind of Slaughter formed.

BF: What's next for you and Marvin following SNKS?

ADL:Like I said, Marv's moving ahead full-steam, having finished Inanna's Tears and getting down to The Grave Doug Freshley. I have the honor of writing an Introduction for the collected Innana's Tears collection shortly, and then I'm down to work on a new project tentatively titled Stitches about 1948 in America. Marv's got Ba'al on the horizon, I know, and I'll be back with Archaia as a writer of their Artesia: Adventures in the Known World RPG adventures in 2008. As for future collaborations between Marv and me, I think we really enjoy working together, and, should Some New Kind of Slaughter be as well received (or better??) than The Lone and Level Sands, I would be surprised if we didn't cook up something new again in the years to come...

Some New Kind of Slaughter is published by Archaia Studios Press. The first two issues are out now priced $3.95.