Spread #12 - An Interview with Writer Justin Jordan
By Paul Fiander
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Justin Jordan is something of a Image comic's staple (although he has worked for a variety of publishers). From the Luther Strode series to Dead Body Road his creator owned work has been edgy to say the least and this is no different in his series titled Spread.
In its twelfth issue we posed some questions for Justin to tackle concerning the issue which you can read below. |
SPREAD #12
Story By: Justin Jordan Art By: Jen Hickman Colours By: Felipe Sobreiro Cover By: Camilla Torrano Published: January 13, 2016 by Image Comics. Molly’s Story. With Guest Artist Jen Hickman. |
For our Interview with Artist Jen Hickman click here
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1) Justin, throughout the issue you deal with a number of subjects that many would deem no go areas, was it a struggle to write the issue?
Yes. Which is pretty unique. I’ve had a hard making issues work, but this one was genuinely emotionally taxing. I had a hard time writing that. Which, you know, the subject matter being what it is, should be surprising, but was. 2) This is in essence a origin story for Molly, what made you want to go back to her beginnings? I wanted to show, to some extent, what growing up in this world is like. Molly is a somewhat unique position in the book. No and Jack where already adults by the time the Spread emerged. The kids the Professor helps have never known anything but the world after the Spread. Molly though, Molly grew up in the Spread but her early childhood was before it, and I thought it was important to show how life had gone for her as a result. So we need a big picture to understand why she’s who she is. And that, hopefully, helps us understand the world. 3) The pacing of this issue feels rather slow at points but works perfectly, how essential was it to get this right? Very. I mean, the issue as a whole needs to build to the moment that breaks Molly, that makes her the person we know in the rest of the book. And the reader, hopefully, should know that’s where this is going so there’s some suspense in what did it. Maybe. I hope. |
4) Rachel is perhaps the most intriguing new addition in the issue, how did her character develop?
By accident.
Which is not exactly a joke. In the first arc, Kyle drew a female character missing a nose in Ravello’s raiders, and she just looked kind of awesome. So I upgraded her to a speaking role in that arc.
And I knew when I was writing the issue I needed a character to fill that role, so the issue also serves, to a certain extent, as her origin issue as well. Which also lets me do what these interstitials are designed to do, which is deepen the world.
5) On this issue you are working with Jen Hickman on art, how do you find your process alters when working with different artists?
A good bit, but in a way that’s hard to explain easily. When I’m writing, I’ve got an artist in mind, which is often but not always the artist who does it, and that affects how I visualize the script looking, which changes how it comes out.
So I knew Jen was doing this issue and I wrote it with her in mind, so it’s a different thing than if I’d written it for Kyle.
6) What do you hope people take away (if anything) from this issue?
Some more sympathy for Molly, and a greater understanding of who she is. And what the world these characters exist in is like.
7) The final Image is a powerful look at Molly, does this finish her "backstory"? or will we be coming back to this time of her life?
That’s it, more or less. The end of the issue is a just a few weeks before she finds No and Hope, so this is it. We could spend more time with her during her John and Raven years, but I’m not sure there’s a lot of story to tell.
Her time with them does figure into the next arc, though. Which is part of what I wanted to do with these interstitials – they’re designed to fill in some backstory that informs the future of the book and, hopefully, what we’ve seen before.
By accident.
Which is not exactly a joke. In the first arc, Kyle drew a female character missing a nose in Ravello’s raiders, and she just looked kind of awesome. So I upgraded her to a speaking role in that arc.
And I knew when I was writing the issue I needed a character to fill that role, so the issue also serves, to a certain extent, as her origin issue as well. Which also lets me do what these interstitials are designed to do, which is deepen the world.
5) On this issue you are working with Jen Hickman on art, how do you find your process alters when working with different artists?
A good bit, but in a way that’s hard to explain easily. When I’m writing, I’ve got an artist in mind, which is often but not always the artist who does it, and that affects how I visualize the script looking, which changes how it comes out.
So I knew Jen was doing this issue and I wrote it with her in mind, so it’s a different thing than if I’d written it for Kyle.
6) What do you hope people take away (if anything) from this issue?
Some more sympathy for Molly, and a greater understanding of who she is. And what the world these characters exist in is like.
7) The final Image is a powerful look at Molly, does this finish her "backstory"? or will we be coming back to this time of her life?
That’s it, more or less. The end of the issue is a just a few weeks before she finds No and Hope, so this is it. We could spend more time with her during her John and Raven years, but I’m not sure there’s a lot of story to tell.
Her time with them does figure into the next arc, though. Which is part of what I wanted to do with these interstitials – they’re designed to fill in some backstory that informs the future of the book and, hopefully, what we’ve seen before.
