Broken Frontier

Kids and alien technology. If that isn't a mismatch made in heaven, there never was any. When little Charlie inadvertedly sets off a conflict between earth and outer space, his peaceful town gets overrun by the U.S. military and all hell breaks loose.

To find out what happens next, you'll have to check out White Picket Fences (written by Matt Anderson & Eric Hutchins, with art by Micah Farritor) from Ape Entertainment tomorrow. We spoke to the mini-series co-creator today... meet Matt Anderson.

BROKEN FRONTIER: When did you come up with the idea for the series?

MATT ANDERSON: White Picket Fences came to me as one of those happy accidents about four or five years ago.  I had long been a fan of movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Them!, etc. and had just been getting into the show Leave it to Beaver thanks to the continuous syndication on TV Land. 

One day, I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if we combined those film and television worlds.  That combination gave way to White Picket Fences, a tale of imminent destruction brought about by alien creatures, and seen through the eyes of a 1950’s sitcom family.

BF: What part of the story’s execution is yours and what’s Eric Hutchins? How does the writing process play out between the two of you?

MA: For this three-issue mini-series, Eric and I wrote the scripts while in the same room.  This usually consisted of one of us sitting at the computer typing away, while the other paced around rambling off half lines of dialogue, and panel descriptions.   

It’s kind of funny in retrospect, because Eric and I have known each other for over a decade, and have been coming up with stories all along, so it is entirely conceivable that we could have shortened the writing process considerably by splitting up the pages and writing them separately.  Yet, I think we needed to write this story together, because I feel that we learned a lot about each other’s methods when approaching a page, and character development. 

Currently, Eric and I are working on a project where we’ve split up the writing duties, and that it has been working so well thus far, I believe, is testament to our shared time writing White Picket Fences.

BF: The first couple of pages of issue one kind of fool the reader, as through the clever use of shadows and the ‘bigger than life’ drawings give the impression that we’re dealing with adults in military combat, whereas in fact they’re kids playing soldiers. What’s the setting of the book?

MA: White Picket Fences is set somewhere in the 1950’s, although we’ve purposely avoided stating a specific date in order to not be beholden to any particular historical event. 

The actual events of the mini-series take place in the town of Greenview, U.S.A. (there’s our phobia of specifics rearing it’s head again), your average ordinary town that everyone swears they grew up in.

As a backdrop to the idyllic setting of Greenview, we have a rapidly escalating cold war between Earth and the planet Mars.

BF: What are the O.M.F.s the military is referring to? And is there a specific reason of the technology being stored in Greenview?

MA: O.M.F. stands for “Old Miller Farm.”  In the first issue there is some indication from General Whitman that there are many O.M.F.s across the country (hence the reason the Greenview one is referred to as the O.M.F.G.), and it is reasonable to think that they may hold their own secrets.

Why this piece of technology is being stored in Greenview is simple, who, or in this case, what would look for crucial pieces of alien weaponry in a place like Greenview?

BF: How does the title refer to the contents of the book? ‘White Picket Fences’ seems to suggest the book focuses more on a rural suburban town, than it does on the alien invasion that’s coming…

MA: The title 'White Picket Fences' is meant to invoke nostalgic feelings, because at it’s core it really is the story of a boy, Charlie Hobson coming of age while navigating through his world, which just happens to be populated with aliens bent on the destruction of Earth.

BF: How integral are the three kids to the story, not only in terms of setting off the alien conflict, but in terms of how they succeed in their mission?

MA: The kids (Charlie, Parker, and Tommy) are extraordinarily crucial to the story.  In so many ways this is their story.  Putting aside the military invasion, and the alien threat, this mission that they embark on in the first issue is just the beginning of their rite of passage, which will take them through these three issues and hopefully (sales permitting) beyond.

BF: There’s also a certain Peter Pan flair to this book, with Charlie and his gang basically living in a world beyond the real one, that of their imagination. Even the grown-up men in Greenview still seem to be partly trapped in their childhoods.

MA: That is a perfect observation on White Picket Fences.  I think that in the face of crisis, be it something like the Cuban Missile Crisis, or (in our case) an impending Martian invasion, average people feel as if they’ve lost all control over their own future, and as a result, they tend to retreat to things that they can control. 

For me personally, in the wake of September 11th, I spent a lot of time writing, more time than I normally would.  I wasn’t writing anything in particular, I was just enjoying the fact that I had complete say over something while the world was seemingly spinning out of control.

In White Picket Fences, we see this kind of scenario played out between Franklin (Charlie’s father) and Walter (their neighbor).  The military has invaded their town, and they have no idea why so they occupy themselves with a childish game of who has the better fallout shelter.  On the whole, that may seem very insignificant, but for Franklin and Walter a sense of control is crucial to their very character.

BF: When did Ape Entertainment pick up the project?

MA: Eric and I pitched White Picket Fences to Ape Entertainment during Wizard World Chicago in 2006.  We came to them with a completed 56 page black and white one-shot.  Thankfully they took to it pretty immediately, but they wanted us to expand it out to a three-issue full color mini-series, which wasn’t a problem, because with White Picket Fences there is always more story to tell.

BF: What makes Micah Farritor such a good fit on this story in terms of how you wanted it to look visually? His coloring especially gives it a very private feel…

MA: I cannot say enough about what Micah brings to the book.   I love that his artwork fits White Picket Fences so perfectly, yet it still takes people by surprise the first time they see it, as if it was not at all what they were expecting to see.  I think his use of color has garnered us more compliments than anything else about the book thus far. 

There is a definitely a thrill of discovering a grossly underused talent associated with the reading of White Picket Fences.

Also, it is important to note that Micah has been involved in White Picket Fences since about two hours after I came up with the initial concept, so its not just that he is the perfect fit for the book, but that he is the only fit.

White Picket Fences #1 (of 3) goes on sale tomorrow through Ape Entertainment. Look for an Inside Look on the issue tomorrow with Matt Anderson right here.