Broken Frontier

In the first part of Broken Frontier's conversation with Steve Seagle, we learned inspiration behind Adam Chamberlain, hero of American Virgin. In part 2, we'll chat about what might be expected for the fate-torn religious celebrity.

Part 2 – God's Plan and the Three Act Structure

BROKEN FRONTIER: Where do you see Adam's arc going in the long run?

STEVEN T. SEAGLE: He's got a couple of issues to deal with. The biggest issue he's got is that for all of his talk about God having a plan for him... If God does have a plan for him, it's an effed up plan. At the very least, it's not the plan that Adam thinks it is. So, I like that conflict of knowing that God has something in mind for you and having a really hard time trying to get your head around what that is. Everything Adam thinks is God's plan can get knocked over.

Then there’s the question of "does he lose faith or does he realign his faith with what God puts in front of him?" One of the things, he's got to discover what God has in mind; if God is up there and it's all preordained, what role his free will plays in all of that and at what point he has to be accountable for things instead of saying that someone else is looking out, if ever.

BF: Do you see there actually being a God in this universe you've created?

SS: I think Adam thinks so. He has visitations from his dead girlfriend Cassie pretty regularly, in the shape of an angel. In issue 10, he encounters God directly as the Word. There's a God for Adam for sure, but he's definitely going to meet people who are going to suggest he's wrong.

BF: How do you see Adam in questioning his own faith?

SS: I'm treating Adam like a biblical hero, in that biblical heroes were tried. I like trial stories. Everything is a trial for him. It's not so much that he actively questions, as that things happen to him that put into question what he believes. I'm not so into him having a big conversation about it. I want people to see him in situations that clearly are tests of faith, and see how he deals with those.

I get more extreme as the series goes along. I didn't want to jump right in because then it would seem a bit more gratuitous. We're amping up the stakes. There's a huge reveal in issue 13 that when Adam finds out it's going to completely eff with what he thinks about his family structure, his friendships at the moment. It's about turning up the heat on him and seeing if he has a breaking point.

BF: Will we ever see an issue dedicated to a supporting character?

SS: You kind of do, already. For me, the book is about Adam. He's the channel. In the story arc coming up, which is called Around the World, in yet another thinly veiled sexual allusion title, Adam literally goes around the world - Can't tell you why. He also splits with the supporting characters back in Miami, who we'll follow... The stories reflect off of each other.

BF: What has the response been like to the book?

SS: You know, it's really interesting. A lot of people had a lot to say about it before it came out. Then after it came out, people were like "this is not what I expected at all."

BF: What kinds of things were people saying before it came out?

SS: Well, I think they thought it was going to be a cheap sex book and a bash religion book and it's neither of those things. At least I hope not. Then, after it came out... I heard hundreds of times over this weekend: "I just don't know where this book is going." That's what I want. I read books and I constantly can tell you exactly where they're going.

So, I wanted a ride that you could not predict, because that's what his life is like – weird things keep happening to him. It may be a test. It may be weird happenstance, but he's in the thick of it. I like that quality of it.

BF: So you prefer when readers don't necessarily know what's going to happen?

SS: I think what they're saying is they can't predict the plot structure. But "good," I think. This book is about a kind of intellectual battle between whether you're in control of yourself or something else is in control of you. That's the story! The story is not the plot. Although I care about my plots moving forward. Things happen, but I don't care if the resolution is in the plot. It's more about the character. Everybody who reviews the book lately loves it, but it's hard to keep people reading books. You've got to constantly be yelling.

BF: What are the challenges to finding readers?

SS: I think having more issues in trade, we'll have three trades out by the end of the year, will help a lot. Especially for older readers who want that form, as opposed to floppies. I think I could do a better job of getting the word out. I hope that people will get into it in the books and [think] there's a lot of stuff going on in here. I don't want to blow my own horn, but I read a bunch of comics and I'm like "it's not about anything!" I think American Virgin is about stuff that matters to people on some level, and I hope that they would read it and see that.

BF: How do you think we would get a wider discussion of the things happening in the books?

SS: I don't know that I want it to be discussed, but I remember I read [Alan Moore's] Swamp Thing and I thought "I don't know half of these words and what the hell is this about menstruation rituals?" I felt like my brain was being pushed into uncomfortable places. I want that internal kind of sense.

So, when you read American Virgin I want you to think what would I do in that situation? Would I go there? Would I have already done these things that Adam won't do? Would I do what he does do? He does some questionable things. He's not completely without sin in this book. I just want to read a comic that makes you do that again.

BF: Especially odd because it feels like people are more interested in entertainment that doesn't challenge them.

SS: I think so. When the world is messed up, people want more escapist tales. Maybe there's too much world in our book, but it's also goofy at times. Adam I like to keep really centered and believable, but the supporting characters are as arch and out there as you can get. I do take issue with people who say they're caricatures. Everybody's based on someone I met or know personally.

The world is big enough to accommodate people who are cartoonish.

BF: Any thoughts about your creative team?

SS: Becky Cloonan rules! Every page is better than the page before. The issue we just got, which is #14... Stunning! Just stunning stuff. I don't know how she continues to get better, but she's so young she's got a lot of oomph left in her. Jim Rugg inking, who is awesome. Celia Calle doing covers. I like having women on the book.

BF: What does Becky bring to the book that you appreciate so much?

SS: I just think that even if I have written a script that's too male, its viewpoint on sexuality, with a male lead character that's possible. I think that having a woman draw it tempers that in some way. It's not even a question of "does she change it," or whatever, but I think having a woman interpret that at least brings it back to a more balanced view.

American Virgin #15 goes on sale tomorrow through DC Comics/Vertigo.