Interview with Ben Aaronovitch
By Paul Fiander
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London is seemingly a treasure trove of ideas for writers. From Dickens to Wyndham, Hornby to Wodehouse, every genre of fiction is covered with enough depth for the reader to lose themselves forever in the streets. When then a new London based series is then released it has a lot to live up to and Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch has gone through this initial test and become a rather large hit.
With 5 books already released and the sixth The Hanging Tree due out in June 2016 the series is fully established but now we have a new addition to the story of PC Peter Grant in the form of a Titan Comic series. This initial series is called Body Work and you can take a look at our review of the trade paperback here. So it was with great pleasure that I got to pose a few questions to Mr Aaronovitch about Body Work and its relationship to the greater adventures on one PC Peter Grant. |
Rivers Of London: Body Work
Writer: Ben Aaronovich, Andrew Cartmel Artists: Lee Sullivan Publisher: Titan Comics Page count: 128pp Price: $14.99 US / $19.99 CAN Comic Store Release date: March 2, 2016 Book Store Release Date: March 18, 2016 ISBN: 9781782761877 Peter Grant looks look your average London police officer, but he is actually a part-time wizard in a very elite branch of the Metropolitan Police. It's his job to investigate those crimes that regular cops don't like to talk about because they often involve vampires or strange things in Underground tunnels. Peter's latest case features a self-driving killer automobile, a Serbian refugee, the Most Haunted Car in England, a handsome drug dealer with a nice paisley scarf and a seemingly harmless wooden bench with a dark past. |
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1) What was the drive to adapt Rivers of London into a comic series?
The media, and by that I mean that broad fiction orientated section in, has always been close interconnected so that if you have success in one media you are often given the opportunity to try your hand at something. So Remembrance of the Daleks (TV) led to a paid gig writing the novelisation which led to me writing prose. So Rivers of London is a success which means I get to pitch Titan a project which they can see as immediately financially viable. The guys at Titan love comics and will take chances but they are still a business that has to make money so you so success in another field always help. 2) You co wrote the series with Andrew Cartmel, how did the comic writing experience differ from your prowse work? Comic writing is the most fun you can have writing – in my opinion. This is because with prose every word has to be considered and is up for scrutiny. With scripts your writing for narrower much less discerning audience who don’t really want to read your stuff in the first place. With comics you are writing for one person and one person only – the artist! They then do all the hard work and you get a ton of credit – it’s brilliant. Of course everything is always easier if you work with someone else talented. It’s great to be able to lean on someone else when you get stuck. Andrew appreciated the art of comics long before it was fashionable and he has a keen almost analytical approach to storytelling coupled with this ridiculously fertile brain that will throw four or five ideas in the time it takes me to drink some coffee. 3) Your character descriptions are quite extensive within the books, did you use new details for the artists or go from what was already create? Where I had very strong opinions or specific actors/models in mind I would supply photo-references but in you have to give the artist as much freedom of interpretation as you can because they’re the poor sods who are going to have to draw the face day after day. |
4) The visual depiction of London you create is very important for the authenticity of the book series, how essential do you think this is in the comic series?
It’s very important and Lee goes to great lengths to fit even fictional places like the Folly into actual London street scene.
5) Cars play a prominent part in your work, if this one of your passions or is it more to do with Peter’s character?
I can’t drive Peter is the one that loves cars, this means I have to spend time researching what cars are cool. I have to say Top Gear has always been very handy for an insight into what the average boy racer thinks about cars.
6) Body Work feels like a case file set within the greater Rivers of London canon, will this allow you to jump around in the timeline for future series?
Ah ha – you wanted to write casefic there didn’t you? Actually the big secret of Rivers of London is that all the books are case files. This is because the series is modelled on the traditional detective/police procedural series in the manner of Rebus, Morse or the 87th Precinct novels.
From my point of view there is no distinction between the comics and the novels in terms of canonicity. The differences come from the strengths of weaknesses of the different media, the novels are good for depth and subtlety but are limited by the first person format, the comics do mood and, obviously, visual information and allow you to follow characters away from Peter.
When we write the comics we first decide when each story is set, it’s entirely possible we may decide that a story fits into a slot much earlier on in the series – particularly if we decide someone other than Peter or Nightingale for an issue or two.
7) Are there any of the characters you have used previously that you would like to see depicted in a comic series?
All my bloody characters want to be in the comics they sit in their imaginary green room and loudly demand screen time.
8) Was writing for Night Witch easier after the experience you gained from creating Body Work?
Yes, of course, writing is a matter of practise. The more you do it the easier the technical aspects of it get. When you shift media there’s always a period you are feeling out just what it is the format can do. Often this is a period of exciting creativity because you don’t know what the limitations are. The downside being that sometimes those limitations are there for a reason.
It’s very important and Lee goes to great lengths to fit even fictional places like the Folly into actual London street scene.
5) Cars play a prominent part in your work, if this one of your passions or is it more to do with Peter’s character?
I can’t drive Peter is the one that loves cars, this means I have to spend time researching what cars are cool. I have to say Top Gear has always been very handy for an insight into what the average boy racer thinks about cars.
6) Body Work feels like a case file set within the greater Rivers of London canon, will this allow you to jump around in the timeline for future series?
Ah ha – you wanted to write casefic there didn’t you? Actually the big secret of Rivers of London is that all the books are case files. This is because the series is modelled on the traditional detective/police procedural series in the manner of Rebus, Morse or the 87th Precinct novels.
From my point of view there is no distinction between the comics and the novels in terms of canonicity. The differences come from the strengths of weaknesses of the different media, the novels are good for depth and subtlety but are limited by the first person format, the comics do mood and, obviously, visual information and allow you to follow characters away from Peter.
When we write the comics we first decide when each story is set, it’s entirely possible we may decide that a story fits into a slot much earlier on in the series – particularly if we decide someone other than Peter or Nightingale for an issue or two.
7) Are there any of the characters you have used previously that you would like to see depicted in a comic series?
All my bloody characters want to be in the comics they sit in their imaginary green room and loudly demand screen time.
8) Was writing for Night Witch easier after the experience you gained from creating Body Work?
Yes, of course, writing is a matter of practise. The more you do it the easier the technical aspects of it get. When you shift media there’s always a period you are feeling out just what it is the format can do. Often this is a period of exciting creativity because you don’t know what the limitations are. The downside being that sometimes those limitations are there for a reason.
