Date: Fri, 4 Nov 1994 23:10:12 CST From: [A--R--C] at [delphi.com] Subject: Antarctic Press - Antarctic Press Musings 11/3/94 Antarctic Press Musings - November 3, 1994 - Second part of the October Styx Interview: Joe Wight By Matthew High, AP net dude ---------- Here's the second part of the interview by Jeff Novotny that appeared in the October issue of UP 'n COMING from Styx Distributors. The first part, which was printed in my last AP Musings, covered Ben Dunn. This is the second part, which looks at Joseph Wight. The third part, covering Fred Perry, will appear in the next Antarctic Press Musings. Joseph is the creator of the cult classic hit TWILIGHT-X. He has recently begun a new incarnation of the title called Twilight-X Quarterly. I spoke to Joseph after I talked to Ben. He's an articulate and introspective person who seems to have given a lot of thought to the way he's approaching the series. Jeff: Joe, you now have a new series called Twilight-X Quarterly coming out. How will this be different than the previous Twilight-X series? Joe: The format will now be 48 pages long. It will include a continuing story from the old series, along with chronolog- ical explanations for new readers. Also, there will be a modeller's report for kits for Twilight-X vehicles, with painting guides. There's also a backup story by a friend of mine who is doing a story about Jed's brother, Trevor, which takes place in another part of the world. So, it'll be more like a magazine. Jeff: The story has now appeared in various incarnations. How do these storylines all fit together? Joe: They all do fit together, but they appeared out of order in publication, for a variety of reasons. I felt like doing a certain part of the story, but I didn't want to interfere with the continuity of the regular series. So I did small parts of the story that occurred before or after the regular series. I did run an explanation of the chronology, and will do that again to help people out. Jeff: What does the title mean? What is Twilight-X? Joe: The twilight part refers to a post-WWIII winding down of a lot of events that had happened. The world had gotten very small because of technology, and suddenly it was big again because the people were cut off. So, it is a twilight of an age, after the war and before peace. Jeff: The series is set about a decade from now. Why did you decide to place the action in the future? Joe: I wanted a post-WWIII setting, but near enough in the future where I could use everyday equipment and military devices, and show things people have now in a more decrepit state. I want to give a feel of what the world would be like with that sort of destruction. Jeff: What was the war all about? Joe: That will be explained in the new series with a time- line - I've been getting some requests for that. It develops from Desert Storm. The coalition breaks down and soon U.S. Forces in the Middle East are fighting a war on all sides and terrorist activity changes the rest of the world. Nuclear weapons are et off to cause unrest. Jeff: Your artistic style seems to be changing, there's more glamour to it now. It seems to be not as stylized as it once was. Joe: More glamour? Jeff: Well, in your drawings of Toots, for example. Joe: I hadn't noticed that. I've been drawing lips on her - maybe that's it. (laughs) I'm working constantly on my art. Jeff: Your scripting style is also very unique - it's very minimalistic. How do you go about writing such sparse dialogue? Joe: A lot of it is done as I do the pages. I figure out how far I want to go in the issue, how much I want to tell, and where I want to leave off. I try to write as normal people would talk. I always avoid trying to explain too much about the world around the characters. They don't talk about what's happening because they all know. That gets a lot of dialogue right out of the way. Jeff: Do you feel that in comics the picture should basic- ally tell the story? Joe: As opposed to the dialogue? Definitely. Dialogue is secondary, although it depends on the story, I guess. Jeff: Who are some of the artists and writers that you admire or look to for inspiration? Joe: When I first started doing this, I look to the simplest manga style I could find and that was from Johji Manabe from Outlanders and Caravan Kidd. I also really admire, as far as artists go, some of the guys from Heavy Metal and Masamune Shirow from Appleseed. Jeff: There's a lot of tension in the story between scenes that are very lighthearted and whimsical, and those that are more intense and serious. It very much conveys the sense of what life during a war in the jungle must be like. How do you balance these two storytelling impulses? Joe: Wow, that's a pretty intense question! It's very hard for me now to write whimsical pieces, as the story is getting more serious. The whole plot is scripted out now. The whimsical stuff is intended to develop the characters to show how they interact. The jungle fighting is just to provide a vehicle for them to react to. I think that the interaction between the characters is much more important than the fighting. Jeff: Toots, the female lead, is a very mysterious charact- er. What do we actually know about her? Joe: She listed a few of her previous jobs recently. She was a nightclub singer and she worked at a graphics job for a while. She's sort of a jack of all trades running around. She used to be a singer for a guy called Vinnie down in the Caribbean. Jed kills Vinnie at the very beginning of the series and frees her. She decides to go with him. That's all anybody really knows about her. Jeff: Your characters, in general, don't like revealing much about themselves or their past. Joe: I try to provide what they need to know in flashbacks or dreams, so I don't have to get bogged down with people explaining their pasts to each other. The characters might not know a lot about each other, but they might talk about this outside what is seen in the book. Jeff: Do you have any other projects upcoming? Joe: I'm working on a back-up story for Ninja High School that will cross over to Twilight-X. I've been talking to Ted Nomura and Fred Perry about possible crossovers with their series or a one-shot. I'm going to be concentrating mainly on Twilight-X this year, getting that back in the spotlight. Jeff: Thanks for talking to me about your book. Is there anything else you'd like to add or say to your fans? Joe: Just to thank them for their support and letters. ---------- ------------------------------ End of COMICS-L Digest - 4 Nov 1994 - Special issue ***************************************************