Following the release of Negative Space #1, I got a chance to interview writer, Ryan K Lindsay about his latest excursion into the world of creating comics.
Ryan K Lindsay is a well talented and well respected writer, responsible for series such as Head Space and deconstructive analysis of fiction like The Devil is in the Details: Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil. Negative Space is the story of Guy Harris, a previously successful writer with depression but gets writer’s block attempting to pen his suicide note. When Guy walks out of his apartment to clear his head he stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a secretive group manipulating our emotions to placate an unknown evil.
We The Nerdy (WTN): Negative Space has a strong focus on the suffering that a person with depression may experience and the power that small actions can have on someone, such as a dropped ice-cream or a supportive friend, what influenced you in pairing this with Ancient Ones styled horror?
Ryan K Lindsay (RKL): The idea of our emotions – the things that control and fuel us – being tethered to this external source was horrifying to me. Making that outside entity a scary, unknown race of underwater beings was just icing on the cake, especially because I knew Owen Gieni would be illustrating it all so it would be gorgeous. It’s taking our most mundane, that feeling of sorrow we get from the smallest things, and pairing it with a gigantic ghastly conspiracy and this leads to the balance of moments in the book becoming fascinating.
WTN: Looking through issue one, every page and panel is used perfectly and throughout the book there is almost no fat. Were there ever many scenes or ideas that you had to cut out or didn’t use in order to get it to this state?
RKL: I took the script through a handful of drafts myself before sharing with a few critical eyes who gave me nice thick honest feedback. I reshuffled, tightened, and then Daniel Chabon [our editor] and I took the script to the mat and worked it over a little.
Even before all that, we beat up the entire story synopsis plenty before settling on what we liked/needed. There were a few iterations of how the whole story would play out, though the first issue was always this amount of set up, this long investing you in Guy and his problems.
I try to iron out the kinks in plot form first so the script can hum but sometimes you shuffle til the very last minute. The splash of Guy outside his apartment was a late addition when some space freed up as small parts were consolidated and created a hole.
WTN: With the covers for the remaining three issues now being revealed (issue two may be my favourite cover this year for subliminal message) Owen Gieni’s art is a perfect marriage with the writing of the book. How did you get Gieni onto the project and what’s it like working alongside him?
RKL: I used some sort of Australian trickery to lure Owen into this book, that’s for sure. He’s been a mate for a while, we’ve long wanted to find something to do, so when this all came together it just made sense on every conceivable level.
Working now with Owen has been a blast. Every time he sends art in it’s a glorious hour for me as I stare at the screen. Watching him give designs for the covers and slowly whittle to our four champions was a wild ride. I also love his character designs because they’re so loose and interpretive of who the characters are on the inside.
And in the end, I trust Owen wildly. I know that the script is there as a template and he will add/subtract panels as the story fits and he’ll make it better. He always does.
WTN: Throughout your writing career you seem to have adopted a very strong, collaboration-focused way of working with artists, putting a lot of trust in their skill and giving a lot of free reign to experiment with the world and characters of the story.You can definitely see Gieni’s fingerprints and touches throughout the book but what has been your favourite addition of his that just made the scene come to life for you?
RKL: The page where Guy leaves his coffee and the note flies away is totally all Owen. he put way more beats in there than I did and it’s all the better for it.
His whole design of the Kindred Tower and the way he controls the room inside it is bananas and that’s definitely all on him.
WTN: I remember listening to an interview that you did back in… 2014? on the Vodka O’Clock podcast and you were talking about this idea for a character you were mulling over. This sounded like Guy to me so I was wondering since this early idea, how much have Guy and Woody as well as their relationship changed?
RKL: I wish i could remember what I said, but I’m assuming that it was Guy I was talking about. This story has been kicking around a little while. And I gotta say, Guy has mostly stayed the same since inception. I think I became more well rounded as I really infused my understanding of what depression is into him. The idea he won’t be mopey at every single turn because sometimes the world is beautiful, or it needs help, and he’s down for both because he loves the world, he just thinks it’d all be better off without him.
And Woody has also been very similar from his first thought. Chilled out, unflappable, he’s a cool customer. Though you will see a different side to him in issue 2.
WTN: So the film 500 Days of Summer plays an important role in the book so I was wondering why specifically that film and are we ever explicitly told what’s on that note Guy writes or is it left up to us?
RKL: I specifically wrote this flick in because, to me, it’s the ultimate rom-com of the last decade. Because it’s sweet as hell, it’s this perfect romance, and then it’s this toxic downfall. It’s everything about love in one place. Normally you get told love is awesome by one person/movie, or it stinks by another flick/peep. But this movie really dropped both sides on you in this perfect manner, and then they wrap it up by showing that no matter how bad it goes, you’ll do it again. You’ll jump at the chance.
That’s incredibly sweet and bat guano insane to contemplate. It’s the beautiful dichotomy of the power of emotion in our brain to mess you up. As such, it fit this book right down to the ground.
As for the note, no, you won’t get to see his words. For me, they are too powerful, I couldn’t imagine sharing them with anyone.
WTN: Looking at your blog I see that you’ve uploaded writer’s annotations for each page, and was wondering if you were considering including them in the TPB format if we were to expect that to happen.
RKL: We don’t yet know what will appear in the TPB collection but it’s something I’d consider if there’s space. I love seeing writers break down their process, and roll up their sleeves and get narrative grease all up their arms. I want to know how all this stuff works and peeking inside the mind is getting it straight from the horse’s mouth. As such, I try to offer that service for my own work as well where I can.
But you’re right, I should really compile a list of things I want to see go into the trade.
WTN: Guy’s inner monologue is probably one of my favourite things about the book; they will often
send a shiver up your spine, cause me to wince and go “ohhhh mannn…” the best example being when Guy loses his home. What I’m wondering is, how do you come up with lines like this as well as ones dripping with grim irony like Woody saying, “Writing is living, Guy. Live a little.”?
RKL: I honestly wish I knew. I look at these razor sharp writers we are blessed with today, the likes of BKV, Waid,
Tom Taylor, Fraction, and I see these beautiful minds that just come out with solid gold so often. So I try to emulate that and predictably, not much happens.
Getting that perfect line is hard. having it encapsulate the character, the scene, the tone, the theme is bloody hard. You want just the right words to make it all pop, and sometimes you get them, and sometimes you don’t.
I find, I’ll just write like seventeen different versions of a line and see what works best. Otherwise I’ll ask myself what I’m trying to get across with a page before I start, I consider that angle and then I script and that helps. But I’m still miles behind where/who I want to be but I can only improve every page, one at a time.
Also, recently, I’ve found a lot that when I agonise over a caption I eventually just cut it and the panel/page works better for it.
WTN: Finally, is there anything you’d like to say to our readers or any future projects you’d like to mention? (A sequel to Deer Editor perhaps?)
RKL: There is a script for Deer Editor, and Sami dug it, so we’ll no doubt make that eventually. First, Sami and I have a miniseries launching soon which should be announced one day. First issue is nearly complete on it.
I have a handful of one-shots coming down the pipe that I’m really excited about. lady kung fu, intergalactic espionage, Viking ghost stories, all fun stuff really.
Negative Space #2 will be on sale 12th August.
If you are suffering from depression or are struggling with it in any way, THIS LINK will take you to a page of RKL’s blog where he talks about depression and offers a variety of helpful places and societies to turn to. For those in the UK, THIS LINK will take you to the NHS Choices page on Clinical Depression and if you are having suicidal thoughts THIS LINK will take you to a page with a collection of UK based helplines and support groups.
