Creator Interview with Jason A. Hurley of The Beauty
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Interview by Paul Fiander
The trailer to the left will introduce you to one of the most original and thought provoking released comics in recent years. The Beauty ids the Brain Child of creators Jeremy Haun
& Jason A. Hurley. Below we have a interview with Hurley the writer on the series a job he shares with Haun. We take a look at the origins of The Beauty as well a look at some of the central characters. It's an insight into the workings of the Beauty and the creative team behind the series. You can see our review of the first trade of The Beauty here |
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To read our interview with Jeremy Haun click this link
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1) The Beauty is a rather odd of mix of STD and cosmetic makeover, how did you come up with the idea of the disease itself?
HURLEY: The disease sprang from conversations we had about vanity and America’s obsession with looking good. We also really liked the dynamic of having something with such an obvious visual upside combined with the very real downside that it is still a disease. No matter how good you may look, you’re still sick. 2) Once the disease was conceived did you ever think to have in a society unlike our own, or was the idea to always use the real world angle for the story? Hurley: We always wanted to reflect our real world, and relate our feelings about physical beauty’s impact on our society. Again, the obsession with physical beauty and the lengths people will go to to obtain it. 3) Detectives Vaughan and Foster are our central players in the story, yet their relationship with The Beauty is rather different than the general populus, was this distance from the Beauty Craze an essential part to their characters? HURLEY: I don’t know that they’re that different from most of the people in their world. The Beauty is just a reality of life for them and those around them. Part of the reason that we started the story almost two years into The Beauty’s existence is that it allowed us to deal with characters who were used to the disease’s effects. Seeing someone on the street who very obviously has contracted an STD isn’t even that shocking to them anymore, it’s just a part of their lives. 4) The air of a police procedural could have overwhelmed the story but you manage to cram in a variety of social issues, action scenes and more, how did you manage to balance the story so well? HURLEY: We use the trappings of a police procedural to set up our characters and our world, but we always knew that the story was more of a political thriller. I’m glad you think it worked out and all of the elements blended together well, that was the goal after all. |
5) Where did the inspiration for the truly breathtaking Mr Calaveras come from?
HURLEY: Jeremy is a sick bastard. We needed a really disturbing visual for the Calaveras, and he came up with his look while we were sitting there discussing the character.
6) You co-write this story how does the process work?
HURLEY: We do most of our writing while sitting in the same room together. We use Google Docs pretty heavily as it allows us to simultaneously write within the same document file. We do a fairly extensive outline before we begin, and break the beats of the story down to approximate page counts, then just kind of dive straight in.
7) What plans can you tell us if any for the future path of The Beauty series?
HURLEY: Our next arc is a crime/romance story that takes place about a year and a half before the first arc. We’ll be dealing with a new set of characters within the same larger setting, and seeing how all of the threads tie together. The third arc will see Vaughn and Foster again, and we’ll get a lot of their backstory at that point.
8) Would you opt to contract The Beauty? If you did not the know the ultimate consequence of the Disease?
HURLEY: Even though it has some pretty desirable upsides, The Beauty is still a disease. I don’t think I could justify contracting it on purpose.
HURLEY: Jeremy is a sick bastard. We needed a really disturbing visual for the Calaveras, and he came up with his look while we were sitting there discussing the character.
6) You co-write this story how does the process work?
HURLEY: We do most of our writing while sitting in the same room together. We use Google Docs pretty heavily as it allows us to simultaneously write within the same document file. We do a fairly extensive outline before we begin, and break the beats of the story down to approximate page counts, then just kind of dive straight in.
7) What plans can you tell us if any for the future path of The Beauty series?
HURLEY: Our next arc is a crime/romance story that takes place about a year and a half before the first arc. We’ll be dealing with a new set of characters within the same larger setting, and seeing how all of the threads tie together. The third arc will see Vaughn and Foster again, and we’ll get a lot of their backstory at that point.
8) Would you opt to contract The Beauty? If you did not the know the ultimate consequence of the Disease?
HURLEY: Even though it has some pretty desirable upsides, The Beauty is still a disease. I don’t think I could justify contracting it on purpose.
