This week we are spotlighting a new graphic novel, John Barleycorn Must Die. Written by Howard Gayton and illustrated by Rex Van Ryn, this comic has a wonderful energy and flow to it. I met Rex a few years ago and he introduced me to Howard earlier this spring. Not only did I get a chance to see the comic in post production, but I was also privy one night to see Howard sing in a band called the Nosey Crows in a pub in Devon. Not only is Howard a fantastic writer, but a wonderful singer and guitarist too. His passion for writing comes out in everything he does. His talent is never ending and this graphic novel proves it.

Starting off at Exeter University in Devon, Howard studied English and Drama. He then co-founded The Ophaboom Theatre Company in London and specialized in the slap-stick masked theatre of Commedia dell’Arte. He then spent the next twenty years writing, directing and performing Commedia extensively throughout Europe, Canada, and Southeast Asia. He has taught Commedia at drama schools in the UK and abroad, and directed shows for other companies, most often for the Little Angel Puppet Theatre in London. He returned to the university to study the History of Western Exotericism at Exeter University and in 2010 formed a comics-production company with Rex Van Ryn. In September, Howard and Rex released their first graphic novel, John Barleycorn Must Die.

Interview with Howard Gayton the writer of the graphic novel John Barleycorn Must Die

John Barleycorn Must Die

Design Team
Howard Gayton – Writer
Rex Van Ryn – Illustrator

BBPC:
What is your title?

HG:
I’m the writer.

BBPC:
How long have you been a writer?

HG:
I’ve co-written many plays for my theater company, Ophaboom, so in that respect I’ve been a writer for twenty years.

BBPC:
Do you have any other published works?

HG:
I’ve published nonfiction on theatre, puppetry, and myth, and also poetry.

BBPC:
Have you written a graphic novel or comic book before?

HG:
No, this is my first.

BBPC:
I know you have theatrical experience. How much of that background
helped in creating this novel and the characters?

HG:
I was surprised to find that it helped a lot. The theatre that I specialize in is Commedia Dell ‘Arte — an Italian folk tradition of masked theatre (from which the characters of Pulchinello and Harlequin come). Commedia is a very ‘image-driven’ theatre form, so when I direct shows I use image to convey the narrative as much as words. When I started working on graphic novels, I found it was a remarkably similar process.

BBPC:
How did you come to work on John Barleycorn Must Die?

HG:
That’s a long story! I’ll try to be brief. Five years ago, I was working on a novel about a modern-day alchemical detective living in London — and being used to theatre, I was finding the mechanics of novel writing rather hard going. When I met Rex and found out that he drew comics, I gave him the manuscript to see whether it could be turned into a graphic novel. He liked the story, and he drew a lot of art for it, but for various reasons the project stalled. At the same time, he was also drawing art for two other graphic novels — and then all these projects ground to a halt. Rex didn’t want to waste all that artwork, so he combined the art from all three books into a new story.

He showed it to me, and asked me what I thought. To be honest, it was an unintelligible garble of fractured narrative (as he himself admits!), but the central theme of magical Fraternities and Sororities really piqued my interest. Plus, of course, I loved his art. So instead of merely offering him advice, I asked if he’d like me to work on it with him. He did, and the rest, as they say, is history.

BBPC:
Where do you begin when you start a project of this nature?

HG:
As I mentioned, we began with pre-existing art (which will not be the case for Books 2 and 3), and with a rough draft story from Rex. His draft had a lot of plot holes, however, and the narrative was way too fractured — time and events all over the place, with no indication as to why! So the first thing that we did was to rip the story apart, and then we remade it without the fractured narrative. That way we could see what the individual story lines were, and where the the plot holes were. We then worked on each individual story line, asking questions about character motivation and the rules of our world as we went along. As we slowly retold and rebuild the story, Rex created additional art.

BBPC:
How long have you known Rex?

HG:
About five years. We used to hang out and have nonsensical musings in a coffee house in town called the Big Red Sofa. For a couple of years, there was a group of artists, writers, and general ne’er do wells that would meet of a Friday afternoon to wind down from the week. Sadly, that coffee shop is closed now.

BBPC:
Did you and Rex collaborate on the story line and illustrations, and if
so, how did that work?

HG:
Yes, very much so. I’m a collaborative artist by nature. It’s how I make theatre, and how, I’ve discovered, I prefer to write. I like having a partner in order to talk through ideas and to give me feedback  — which then inspires further ideas.

We’re approaching Book 2 very differently, however, since we’re no longer working with pre-existing art. This time, we sit and discuss plot points, and then Rex brings in his rough sketches. We go over them together and discuss the ‘camera angles’ and narrative flow of the art. For Rex, this is more like the way he’s used to working as a storyboard artist for t.v. and film; and for me, it’s more like the way I’m used to working when I direct theatre.

BBPC:
Do you have a certain process that you use when you write?

HG:
To be honest, part of writing the first book, and why it took as long as it did, was I had to teach myself how to write in the graphic novel form. One of the things that I’ve learned is that sitting in the chair every day, putting in the work, is the only way you get things done. With theatre, it’s different. There’s a month or two of hard, intense work, and then the play is done. With writing a book, it’s a slower, longer process — a marathon run instead of a sprint. I had to learn to pace myself.

The way I work is to ask questions: What are the grand themes of the book? What images do those themes conjuror up, and how might those images tell the story? Why are characters doing what they are doing? What motivates them? What’s their history? By constantly asking and answering such questions you discover your story.

BBPC:
When you sit to write, can you describe your ideal setting? For
example: do you have music playing, if so what kind or artist, what
kind of drink do you have next to you and what are the tools that are
a must for you to have on your desk?

HG:
It depends on what kind of writing I’m doing. I work at my desk in an office that’s away from the house and household distractions. I use a Mac, and write notes using the Pages word processor. Once we have art for a particular scene, we scan it into a software package called Comic Life. In Comic Life, I write directly onto the art, with manifold notes in little boxes at the side.

I drink tea, not coffee. (I only really drink coffee when I’m traveling, for some reason.) In terms of music, again it depends on what part of the work I’m in. If I’m in the ‘ideas’ phase, I have my iplayer on shuffle — so the music might be anything from The Clash to the Punch Brothers to Klezmer to the music of the Spanish Renaissance.  But when I’m writing text, I tend to listen to something like medieval guitar music, something without words. And then, when I’m writing dialogue, or I’m at the point of refining the work, I have to write in silence. It’s too distracting otherwise, and gets in the way of the characters’ voices.

I normally have a pad of paper at the side of my keyboard, for putting down ideas that I need to talk to Rex about — though these too are sometimes written in the boxes at the side of the art in Comic Life.

BBPC:
How long did it take you to write John Barleycorn Must Die?

HG:
I think it was about 2 years in total, since we weren’t working on the comic full-time. The second book is going much faster.

BBPC:
Does the novel coincide in any way to the “John Barleycorn” poem and folk song, or have any hidden meaning, such as the poem referring to the process of creating ale? Or is that a secret and I need to read the novel to find out?

HG:
Ah, well, yes…and no. It is not a retelling of the poem, but there are deep themes within the poem that we explore throughout book, such as mythic ideas about the cycles of life, and of the dying-and-rising god.

There are a lot of hidden esoteric meanings and mythic references enfolded into the art and story. My hope is that people will read the book on many different levels.  It can be read simply as a thriller, but there are also gnostic and magical themes that run throughout the book. Both Rex and I are interested in magic, so there are various magical principals in the story — for example, in the use of mirrors.

BBPC:
What kind of genre does this comic book fall into?

HG:
We keep debating this! We call it an ‘esoteric mystery’ but it could also be considered ‘urban fantasy’ or a ‘metaphysical thriller’. Or you could call it ‘interstitial fiction’ because it plays with quite a few genres.

BBPC:
Did you experience writer’s block at all or did the storyline fall
into place immediately?

HG:
Yes, absolutely, there were periods of writer’s block. There was a time during the second draft, for example, when the story just wasn’t working and we couldn’t figure out how to fix it. We have three different ‘realms’ within the book, and one of them is the Archetypal Realm — but it wasn’t working with the rest of the story, and we came very close to pulling it out. Both Rex and I were loathe to do so, however, so we labored on and found a way to solve the problem. As it turns out, it’s many people’s favorite part of the story, so I’m glad we didn’t scrap it! And wrestling with the problem was what gave us the idea for the John Barleycorn Tarot.

Sometimes when you feel the most stuck, which is what I call ‘being lost in the dark forest,’ you’re actually close to an important break-through and just have to perservere.

BBPC:
I love your idea of having a Tarot card deck for John Barleycorn. Is
it available for purchase and will it be available as an app or in a
digital format in the future?

HG:
We’d like to make it available, but at the moment we’re focused on getting Book Two finished. At some point I’d love to make an app for our Tarot in which the cards spread themselves, with animation and voice-over interpretations of each card. Rex always says that the cards are so connected with the book that one would have to be familiar the story to fully understand  each major arcana card.

BBPC:
Can you elaborate on how the Tarot deck coincides with the novel?

HG:
You’ll have to ask Rex that. That’s his particular hobby horse. Personally I think he’s making it up!

BBPC:
What was the most challenging part of writing this novel?

HG:
There were three things, I think, which were challenging in their own ways.

The first is that, for me, life and art are intermingled. They often influence one another. So writing a book which delves into such deep, fundamental, and archetypal ideas brought me into relationship with some very core archetypal processes within myself. Ultimately this was a wonderful means of exploring my beliefs and parts of my psyche, but there were times when it was very hard going.

The second challenge came during the second and third drafts, when it seemed like we would never finish! Particularly as I’m used to the shorter time-frame of working on theatre projects. Persevering when there sometimes seemed to be no end in sight was difficult.

The third challenge was working out all the technical things that come up when dealing with graphic art. I have an odd relationship with computers — once I get to grips with software I’m fine, but I generally have to struggle through a bit of ‘technophobia’ first. Over the course of writing the book I’ve had to learn to use a blogging platform, Comic Life, Adobe Photoshop, and how to format and upload our book for two different print-on-demand companies. It was a steep learning curve, to say the least.

BBPC:
What is your favorite part of the novel, or do you have a favorite
character that you relate with?

HG:
I think my favorite line of the novel is when Chief Justice King Henry VIII (in the realm of the Archetypes) says to the Fool, Will Sommers (who is the Chief of Police in this crazy realm): “Are all your friends fools, Will?” And Will Sommers replies: “Most of them. Why?” Those lines, combined with Rex’s image of Henry looming over Will in his jester’s hat, make me laugh every time. Will’s reply is so matter-of-fact.

My favorite character in this book is probably John Barleycorn himself, though I’m very fond of Will too. But the character who is rapidly becoming my favorite is someone we don’t meet until Book 3 (John Barleycorn Must Die: The Time Assasin). The sketches Rex has drawn for this character have blown me away, and really fired my imagination!

BBPC:
Do you have any words of wisdom for an aspiring writer tackling a graphic novel?

HG:
If you’re lucky enough to work closely with the book’s artist, as I have, then take some time to develop that relationship. The hours that Rex and I have spend just chatting are valuable, for often the ideas that emerge end up finding their way, in some form, into the work. So don’t think that time spent in dicussion, rather than hands-on work, is wasted. Or that the time spent mulling over ideas while walking or chilling out is wasted. I believe that anything that you do whilst working on a project is part of the creative process, if you view it that way.

When you’re ready to sit down and write, set a daily time and write no matter how you are feeling, even if you think that what you’re writing is crap. Remember, first drafts, second drafts, or even third drafts do not have to be perfect, but they do have to be done. Once you have something on paper, then you can go back over it and perfect it. When writing early drafts, I tend not to re-read what I wrote the day before. It’s too easy to get stuck revising what you’ve written, instead of moving forward. Just plough on and get to the end. Then try to put the book away for a while between drafts, to give your subconscious time to process ideas and to give yourself a bit of distance from the work.

Once you’ve gone back and revised your book and made it as clear and tight as you can, then give it to someone else to read. Be selective in this: you want someone who understands the writing process, and who will be honest and critical (without being negative, as that can crush your confidence). I’m lucky with this, as my wife, Terri, is a writer and editor. Although it can be hard to get her feedback (as of course it pricks my ego!), I always work through those feelings in order to take on board what she is saying. I’d advise writers who have the chance to work with professional editors to make the most of it. A good editor will make your work stronger, and help you to become a better writer.

BBPC:
Incredible interview Howard. Thank you for being open and sharing so much of your experience in writing this graphic novel. Your words of wisdom and advise will help many a writer. Cheers and I wish you well with this first of three graphic novels.

HHR

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Note – The content has not been changed to stay true to the interviewee and their British terminology and grammar.

John Barleycorn Must Die came out September 2012 and is the first graphic novel in a trilogy. Join Howard and Rex at their weekly blog where they discuss the creative process behind their work, show art in progress and hold ‘Around the Table’ interviews with such artists as Alan Lee, Brian and Wendy Froud and David Wyatt. The novel can be purchased as a paperback book or as an eBook from Lulu.com.

Below are direct links to John Barleycorn Must Die.
John Barleycorn Must Die – Howard and Rex blog
John Barleycorn Must Live – short stories and imagery
Youtube video
Buy John Barleycorn Must Die

Don’t miss upcoming events and interviews on John Barleycorn Must Die:
Thursday, November 15th – Interview with Rex Van Ryn / Illustrator
Mid-November – Launch of John Barleycorn Must Live open source website for people to write their own short stories.

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