Broken Frontier

Jason Burns follows his comic book breakthrough, May’s The Expendable One from Viper Comics, with A Dummy’s Guide To Danger. As Burns and Viper Comics prepare for the release of the first issue of the mini series at next week’s ComiCon International, BF discussed the series with its writer and creator.

BROKEN FRONTIER: One of the most famous, or infamous ventriloquists ever seen in comics is the classic second-tier Batman villain Scarface/The Ventriloquist. Was he in any way an inspiration for Alan Sirois (and his dummy), even though Alan’s on the right side of the law?

JASON BURNS: It’s funny, I thought I’d get this question all of the time, but this is the first, and to that I toast you. But, no, Scarface/The Ventriloquist didn’t really inspire this character or story at all. I wanted to write a buddy story about one guy’s relationship with himself and the ventriloquist became that outlet, basically because there was one in my basement growing up and I hated it. I thought it was the devil itself. I’d go down there to play with my Roller Racer, weaving in an out of the poles and boxes, and there he’d be… lurking in the shadows, staring at me with his lifeless eyes.

As you can see, this has stuck with me for a long time, so as opposed to going into therapy, I thought I’d just work it all out of my system by making the dummy a good guy. I have a few other things that scared the hell out of me growing up that I’m sure will wind up in my books at some point.

BF: Whether or not Alan was in part inspired by Scarface, what they have in common is that they’re both not all right in the head. Did Alan’s wackiness lead him to a life as a private investigator?

JB: We don’t get a whole lot of Alan’s back-story in these first four issues, and what little background there is, it’s actually just the history Alan made up in his head. The thing with Alan is… he’s not as crazy as Scarface. Somewhere inside of Alan, he knows Mr. Bloomberg isn’t alive, but for reasons we’ll find out in the future if this series continues, he has grown dependent on a puppet that he has had in his life since he was a kid. They’re best friends and bicker like a husband and wife… and when you peel away the layers, Mr. Bloomberg is everything Alan doesn’t like about himself, or can’t be in the real world.

BF: Logically, a story about a private investigator is as much a tale about a case and a whodunit. So, what kind of meat does your Sherlock have cut out for him?

JB: Alan and Mr. Bloomberg get thrown into a case involving a serial killer known as The Flesh Collector, a maniacal killer that is not only turning famous people into murdered victims, but stealing a piece of them before he’s done. Whether it’s the head of a beautiful actress or the arm of a famous pitcher, The Flesh Collector is turning Los Angeles on its head and it’s up to Alan and an inanimate ventriloquist puppet to bring him down.

BF: One of the trademarks of many Viper Comics releases is their tongue-in-cheek quality. The Middle Man, Oddly Normal, Daisy Kutter and Random Encounter were all stories that, in one way or another, had a slight askew feel to them and A Dummy’s Guide To Danger appears to live up to that tradition…

JB: Yeah, A Dummy’s Guide To Danger definitely fits in with the Viper vibe and is slightly out of left field, but even though there is a strange premise to it, essentially it’s a buddy book drenched in mystery. And that is what Viper tries to do, find interesting stories that still have that human element that people can connect with—whether it’s Oddly Normal or The Middle Man, they all pull you in by being emotionally real.

BF: You started out writing comics at Viper with a short story in the first volume of Dead@17: Rough Cut, with your first fully-scripted book being The Expendable One, a graphic novel released this past May. Although you have some experience as a screenwriter, how much do you feel you’ve grown as a comics scribe with a few stories already under your belt?

JB: I’m of the belief that everything you do makes you a better writer and the more writing you do, the closer you are to perfecting your craft. That being said, I don’t think you can ever truly perfect your craft, because the day you stop growing is the day you stop having stories to tell—which is most likely, the day you die. Whoa… that was all deep and stuff.

BF: While there’s not really any ground to compare the horror story of The Expendable One to A Dummy’s Guide, what may attract people who liked your writing on the former to your latest project?

JB: I think my strongpoint is dialogue, so with all of my work, the conversations are quick, snappy and filled with humor, and that tends to be what people are drawn to. Life is everything—sad, funny, dramatic, ridiculous—so I try to put a little bit of everything into my stories.

I mean, the story of a killer that collects body parts is as serious as it gets, but the story of a private investigator that thinks his partner is a paraplegic ventriloquist dummy is not. So, you combine those two concepts together and you have life, and I try to express that in my dialogue.

BF: Is loyalty important to you as a writer, i.e. will you continue to pitch new ideas to Viper first for as long they’ll have you?

JB: Yes, loyalty is very important to me, especially where Viper is concerned. They gave me my break and I’ll always remember that. I give them the first look at everything I do and because I’m also assistant publisher with the company, I feel even more invested than before. It’s a great place to be creative.

BF: One of your new projects coming up following A Dummy’s Guide is the horror anthology Dreadful Things Dwell Here. When you last spoke to BF, you couldn’t reveal too much about it yet. Can you be a little less tight-lipped this time around?

JB: I still have to tiptoe around this one because we’re not yet sure when it’s going to be released, but I can say that each issue is a story within a story. There will be a continuous storyline happening that will allow readers to connect with the series as a whole, as opposed to each issue being self-contained. There are lots of twists and what I like to call ‘the Ambrose Bierce endings’—heavy in irony.

I really like this series a lot, because a lot of the stories within the story were ideas I’ve been developing for… God, one of them for up to ten years. So, it was fun for me, and I think when all is said and done, it’s going to be fun for readers. And the artwork is amazing. Martin Abel is on this and the pages really jump to life.

A Dummy’s Guide To Danger #1 debuts at this year’s San Diego ComiCon International, with both a regular cover and a convention exclusive, limited to 175 copies. BF was able to secure one copy of this rare edition for one of our readers. If you want to get your hands on it (cover image depicted below), all you have to do is send an email to contest@brokenfrontier.com with your full address and “I Want My Dummy!” in the subject line. The winner will be picked randomly and will get notified personally Monday, July 17th.