Broken Frontier

Antony Johnston is here to offer you a glimpse at the creative process of Wasteland #9, which went on sale through Oni Press last week.

The solicitation for the issue reads:

"Elusive Cure"

As the race for control of the city council gets underway, one Artisian has bigger problems - problems that he hopes a certain ruin runner can help with. And when Michael's generosity leaves him vulnerable, a curious Marcus is only too happy to take advantage.

WASTELAND #9 picks up exactly where issue #8 left off (so if you haven't read that issue yet, STOP! Because here be spoilers...) and follows Michael, Abi, Marcus, Dexus and the rest of our cast as their paths begin to cross and entangle.

There's a lot goes into each issue of WASTELAND, and this was no exception, but compared to some it was fairly straightforward to write. (And it was a veritable walk in the park compared to issue #10...) I find a dense story, with plenty of rapid scene-switching, easier to script than an issue with just a few extended scenes. I like short, sharp scenes that make their point and then get the hell out.

And on that note...

PAGE 1

Every issue in this arc starts with a flashback showing us a little of Abi and Jakob's history, a maximum of one or two pages. Last issue we had two pages showing Jakob's father buying Abi as a slave. This issue we have just one page to kick us off, because that's all it needs.

This scene actually takes place a year after that initial flashback, but that's OK - it was a pretty uneventful year, and we'll find out what she was doing during that time through this and other flashbacks to come. Placing this scene in a playing area solves two problems: first, it shows that Jakob is definitely older than the baby in our previous flashback; second, it shows that Abi, rather than his mother, is in charge of looking after Jakob. "Why?" is a question I wanted to raise in the reader's mind, here - a question answered later in this issue.

But let's not get too involved. This is just a character scene, to show the relationship building up between these two characters and emphasise the position the Abi we know and love once found herself in.

PAGE 2

And now we cut to the present day, in the Newbegin council chamber. Brother Bryn repeats exactly the same ritualised phrase here that we first saw Primate Heddor speak in issue #2 - a deliberate choice to reinforce that Heddor may be gone, but life goes on for the rest of the council.

"Neelan's daughter is unwell" is another phrase mirrored from issue #2, where we first saw this council. Again, it reinforces the regularity and banality of this political life. It's also a stroke of foreshadowing, as we'll see shortly...

And we end this page with a mini, page-turn cliffhanger. We learnt last issue that Cheffri (the one with the beard) is regarded as a cert for Heddor's replacement. He has seniority, we were told. But is Marcus going to appoint him right away...?

PAGE 3

...No, of course not. That would be dull. And furthermore, Marcus makes it quite clear that he may appoint someone completely different - something we already know Watchman Dexus would like very much.

This scene is important because it shows how nobody on the council will dare backchat Marcus. Perhaps they might have, once, but no longer. None of them wants to end up like Heddor.

The second exchange on this page highlights the problems Marcus' grand plan faces in reality. (If only Marcus knew a little more history - if there's one thing all of us in the twenty-first century know by now, it's that you can't make people convert to a different religion by simply threatening their freedom. Of course, in this world Marcus has the advantage that non-converts merely swell his slave population...)

Dexus' comment in the last panel can be taken as a reference to past events - we already saw the slaves being unceremoniously oppressed last issue - but also, possibly, as a harbinger of things to come... I like a little ambiguity and portent in my dialogue.

PAGE 4

And cut again.

(Much of this arc is made up of short scenes, quickly cut, to keep the story moving and keep each of the protagonists in the reader's minds. You may think that's awkward, especially for a writer, but I can't bear long-winded scenes - which forces me to write more of them.)

So now we've followed the metalcar, which we saw Michael catch with Abi at the end of #8, to its ultimate destination near the top of the city. The Artisian district. A very (perhaps the only?) exclusive, wealthy area of the city. So how do we show this, in a world of dust and rust?

By having an armed guard standing in front of a gate. Corruptible he may be, but he's still carrying a gun, and that tells you all you need to know about this district in a nutshell. And his parting words to Michael tell you just what kind of people join the city Watch. (Which, believe it or not, is a small foreshadow of a story that will take place in about ten issues' time...)

PAGE 5

Finally, we begin to find out why Michael rescued Abi from the compound. Whoever this house owner is, he clearly pre-arranged this with Michael.

("Who the hell is Lyndder?" is a small quasi-easter egg for regular readers, who found out in issue #7 that Lyndder is the daughter of Neelan - the Artisian who keeps missing meetings because of her illness. People who may have missed that issue will find out soon enough who he is, but I like to reward regular readers with a few "a-ha!" moments.)

The close of this page reinforces that this was pre-arranged, and is some kind of bargain between Michael and Neelan. Why? How? What, exactly? These are all questions to be answered later. Notice that Michael has reverted to his usual clipped, imperative manner of speech.

PAGE 6

A quiet character-led page. Not a lot happens. We hear some of Lyndder's symptoms. We see that Neelan cares for his daughter a lot, and doesn't mind doing it - he doesn't hesitate when Michael asks him for a bedpan. And that's about it.

*Or is it*? But I've already said too much...!

For more on Wasteland, go to the series’ official website at www.thebigwet.com.