Broken Frontier

After the amazing success of Top Cow's last intercompany crossover Broken Trinity the ramifications for the regular titles (Witchblade and The Darkness) were big and ongoing. At some point Top Cow announced that a storyline would start in 2010 that would focus on the 13 mystical Artifacts in the Top Cow Universe and to start that story, Top Cow will first release a direct follow-up to Broken Trinity called Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box. Broken Frontier interviewed the writer-team on this and more and today we start off with the first part of this two-part interview, showcasing exclusive material from the series' artist!

BROKEN FRONTIER: Hello Rob & Bryan. You will be writing the new six-issue miniseries Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box in which you team up to follow up on the Broken Trinity miniseries by Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic. The early press releases revealed that you both have done a oneshot for the Cow, but I would like to know more about you to start this interview of. Please introduce yourselves, if you will.

BRYAN HILL: Bryan Hill here. In addition to writing comics, I also write screenplays, some journalism. I fancy myself a filmmaker but I haven't shot anything in months, so I need to get on that. My favorite film is Blade Runner. My favorite desert is the chocolate chip cookie. I take my bourbon straight, no chaser.

ROB LEVIN: Rob Levin here. I've written a couple of one-shots for Top Cow, just had a story published in the DC Holiday Special, and that's about all I can talk about writing wise. Background wise I studied film in college, then immediately got into comics as a profession. I ran Top Cow's editorial department for a few years before going freelance this past January. I enjoy fresh burritos and short walks on the beach. If you're buying, I'll take a Captain and diet. It's for my figure.

BF: You have done a oneshot before. How did you two get to become a tag team?

BH: I met Rob while working on another project and we really vibed on our approach to narrative. Rob's a "consequence" writer. I'll explain what that means. A lot of people write things in comics, but most of the time those events have no real consequence on the world and the characters. Not physically. Not emotionally. Things blow up. Things die, inhuman and human. Nothing ever changes. A "consequence writer" does the opposite. They explore the effect of people's actions. On the world of the story. On the lives of the characters. It's harder work, but to me, that makes a better experience for the reader and I'm interested in working with anyone who wants to make a better experience for comic readers.

RL: Bryan says lots of nice things about me, but that's only because he's a swell fellow. I met him through Nelson Blake II (the incredibly talented artist on Top Cow's Murderer and upcoming The Magdalena series). They had jammed on a book, Nelson thought we'd vibe, and Bryan and I hit it off. We talked a little bit, then he started pitching me while I was editing. His pitches were amazing, so I told him I wanted to read some of his work. And I did. Then kept asking for more, and more, and more. Bryan's one of my favorite writers, so when he floated the idea of jamming on something, I didn't hesitate. Sucker..

BF: What do think of your partner? What are the pros in working together?

BH: Pros? Momentum. When you're collaborating with someone you never have to break momentum when writing. You can dish the script off to your partner when you hit a bump, they can do the same and things keep moving forward. I have a background in filmmaking and that process is so collaborative on every level that although I work by myself plenty, I have no problem with being on a team...as long as I believe in the mission.

RL: Bryan writes the kind of stuff I want to read, so I always known I'm going to get back something I like regardless of what I ask for. It's very much in my wheelhouse. I think he has two key strengths (amongst many others). First is that he's extremely visual, both in language/style and in terms of story. Comics are a visual medium, so he's killer at making a mundane scene pop, or finding the most iconic image with which to get a point across. Secondly, his writing is visceral. It really does hit hard on all fronts - action, emotion, character, etc. But I could do this all day (and have), so let's call it a day with just those.

BF: How does the co-writing work in real life?

BH: We send drafts back and forth. References. Discuss ideas. We're working on the whole script all the time. It's not like he writes the first half and I write the second half -- that would read very badly, HA! It works more like television does, in the sense that we spitball ideas and when we find something we like we say "okay, cool. Let's get a draft together" and then we'll send it back and forth until we're satisfied.

RL: That pretty much sums it up. And the nice thing about this collaboration, because we both work outside of comics, there's a definite freedom to try something different out. On the second issue, we had a lot we wanted to fit in. Sometimes the scripting of a comic can become rigid if all you think about is page count and panel count. So Bryan floated the idea of tackling our first draft as a screenplay, and it really opened us up to do some interesting things.

Just because I've seen this question asked online (and posed it myself), tools-wise we use Final Draft, Pages and Word, as well as a shared folder via DropBox.com to keep things happy. And if we ever figure out what the point of Google Wave is, we'll be all over that.

BF: You will be following up on one of the most impressive intercompany crossovers the Cow has done. I do not want to lay a burden on you, but you have big shoes to fill. Honest and friendly yet direct question: why do you think you can pull this off? Or more specific: what do you think you are going to be doing to the fans?

BH: Ron Marz is a beast at writing comics, so obviously you come into this situation full of humility. You hire a writer for a reason and I can't speak for Rob here, but I believe that you hire Bryan Hill when you want impact. You want something visceral. You want the story to hit hard. You want it to have an unflinching and serious take on the subject matter. That's what I do. For the fans, I always want a story to feel authentic. I want them to feel like the writers understand and have a command of the narrative. You can't go on a fun ride if the driver doesn't know where he's going right? If he doesn't understand the car you're in? I always want to bring as much of my personal experience to a project. I'm a martial artist. I've had small arms training. I've done journalism with people who risk their lives on a daily basis. When it comes to action/adventure stories I believe I have a particular set of insights that I can bring to book, and hopefully the fans will get the experience they deserve.

RL: Top Cow is still fighting a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions. People say they're T&A, their books have no substance, or whatever other nonsense people who haven't read the books want to spout. But in reality, they're doing some seriously amazing books by some of the best writers and artists in the industry. With Broken Trinity, because the mini featured Sara and Jackie so prominently, we really have a clean slate to re-define what a Top Cow book can be without those preconceived notions, and to put our stamp on two characters who will be major players in the TCU for years to come. And I let Bryan do all the impact.

BF: You will be focusing on the bearers of the new-found gems, that (to me) look like a take on the elements (fire and ice). Do other elements come out of this story as well?

BH: There are elements, yes. Some of them make an appearance. You're not getting any more than that out of me, lol.

RL: The ninjas are here, Bryan... Tell him to stop asking me these questions. He knows I can't answer...

Join us in part two of this interview in two days, when the writers will be talking in more depth about the upcoming miniseries...