Ed Brisson talks about The Orchard
The first interview we ran was with Ed Brisson, the brainchild of Acts of Violence. In that article, we learned how the project was conceived, planned, and executed. Now Ed is back to tell us about his comic contribution, The Orchard, and about how one man can be a writer, letterer and publisher.
The pacing in The Orchard is excellent. It doesn’t build and build its tension. From the very beginning the tension exists and it remains steady, even after the climax. In effect, there is no release for the reader. Was that your intent from the very beginning or did that pace come to be as you wrote the actual script?
My rationale was that I wanted to drop people right into the middle of a situation. Rather than building to what was to come, I’d rather start out full-tilt and give back story as needed, when needed. In this case, I felt that it was also important write it with that same sense of dread and confusion that Charles would be feeling throughout the night in which the story takes place.
How did you hook up with Damian Couceiro and why was he the right artist for the job?
Damian and I have been working on a series called The Division which will be out someday from Arcana. I really enjoyed his artwork when I first saw it and he’s just been improving by leaps and bounds in the nearly four years that we’ve been putting this other project together. (It’s not an intense project, it’s taking four years due to a lot of ass dragging on my end).
Since I already had a relationship with Damian and enjoyed his work so much, he was the most logical artist to bring in. He was the right guy for the job because he’s a kick ass artist.
Ed, you’re a triple threat: Writer, letterer and publisher. Tell us a little bit about each, including some examples of recent works in each field.
Well, as a writer, I’ve been plugging away for a few years. I used to do a fairly popular webcomic under a pen name, but have since given that up. It was a humor strip and quite different than the stuff I’m working on now. I used to draw it as well, but had to bring on an artist for the last 40 or 50 strips because I got so busy with life (day job, family and freelance work).
Now that I’m staring down the barrel of 35, I find I’ve shifted in to high gear. It’s time to make shit happen. No more screwing around.
Lettering is something I kind of fell into accidentally back in 2006. I’d already had experience doing it with my webcomic, which had been going for about two years at that time. I also had a lot of print production experience by then, which is something that plays pretty heavily into a lot of lettering gigs. A friend was telling me about his gig lettering for a manga publisher and I thought it sounded great. Luckily, the publisher was hiring. I sent off anything I had lettered and was sent a lettering test which I passed. I’m still not sure how I passed, as I’d never read a manga title previous to that and had no idea about a lot of their own lettering conventions.
Since that time, I’ve been able to keep going and have been building a huge portfolio. The most recent gig was lettering The Sky Pirates of Neo Terra for Image Comics. I also lettered one of the stories in their Free Comic Book Day titles Fractured Fairytales.
As for publishing. I started New Reliable Press back in 2005 (actually, 2004, but didn’t publish until 2005). Originally it was just going to be to publish the anthology You Ain’t No Dancer. I really didn’t have many plans beyond that. But then, after that book came out, I started to look around for other things to publish and have just been pushing on since.
Most recently, we published Horribleville Vol. 1, which is a collection of KC Green comics. Last year we released True Loves Vol. 2 by Jason Turner and Manien Bothma, and the Joe Shuster Award nominated Jan’s Atomic Heart by Simon Roy. (www.newreliable.com).
You were responsible for the design of Acts of Violence– layout, the inside title pages for each story, etc. Book design is probably something a lot of creators don’t think much about so give us some insight into why book design is important and what creators should keep in mind when laying out their books.
Well, just so there’s no confusion. The cover art was all Fiona Staples. The only input I had in that was to make the figure a full wrap around. Fiona did an amazing job. People see that cover from across the aisle at a Con and they’re just pulled in by it. She knocked it out of the park.
The cover was something talked about going in. It had to be striking and had to somehow speak to all the stories and let the reader know what they’re about to get into.
Book design is something I think a lot of self and indie publishers really don’t put enough thought into. They rely too heavily on hoping the content will sell the book and forget that people really do judge a book by its cover. You really do need something that’s going to pull the reader in– especially a reader who has no idea about you or the book.
There is no doubt the comics industry is a tough one to get into and do well in. How do you measure success in each of your fields (writing, lettering, publishing)?
For writing, I measure my success by how people react to it. If people get it, then I’m happy. If people hate it, or are indifferent, I worry. So far, the reaction to The Orchard has been overwhelmingly positive.
Obviously, I’m hoping to progress and get to the point where someone else is paying me for my writing, rather than me having to shoulder all the costs.
Success in lettering is just getting work. The money I make from lettering is the money I use to pay for my own projects. So, being a successful letterer is what’s helping me in my goal of becoming a successful writer. Also, this is not something mentioned often, but lettering a comic really helps you become a more solid writer. You need to know what works in a panel and how you need to be thrifty with your words. Every writer should letter at least one comic.
Success in publishing is just putting out good books. With New Reliable Press, the goal has always been to only publish books that I would buy. That’s why after 5 years of publishing there are only 8 books in the catalog. I’m not looking to expand the catalog with books that I don’t think are up to par, just so I can have a larger catalog. Every book has to be gold, and I think that so far, I’ve been able to maintain that. Success, for me, is publishing a book that I’m proud to hold in my hands.
What’s up next for Ed the writer, Ed the letterer, and Ed the publisher?
For Ed the Writer, it’s more crime. I have short story that I’ve written and Simon Roy (artist of Jan’s Atomic Heart) is currently illustrating. That will likely go online and then maybe get collected into a collection of short stories down the line. I’ve got a pitch that I’m writing right now, and I’ll be sending that to other publishers. I’ve got a few other crime stories outlined and even a Twilight Zone-style short horror story.
For Ed the Letterer, who’s to say. I’m always working on a million things for others. I’ve got a manga title I need to finish in the next few days. An indie book I’m lettering for a self-publishing writer; a couple shorter and pitch projects and one title that I’m not allowed to talk about (it’s exciting though)!
As for Ed the Publisher, we will see. I’ve got a few books in the hopper and another venture that’s early enough in development that I really don’t have enough details nailed down that I can say anything.
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Acts of Violence: A Crime Comics Anthology is listed in the April edition of Previews on page 299 under New Reliable Press. The order code is APR101035. Head to your local comic shop and ask them to order you a copy.
CLICK HERE for a PDF that you can print and bring to your local comic shop to let them know you’d like to order the book. The PDF contains all the info that your retailer will need for Acts Of Violence.
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Tags: Ed Brisson, The Orchard