Trouble Bruin - Matthew Craig

BUILDING A BETTER BRUIN: AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW CRAIG
By Fret Frenulum

Picture of Selfridges Birmingham sourced via Wikipedia. Image released into public domain by photographer.

The last time I had a chance to interview Matthew Craig, the year was 2002, I still had all my hair, and I still had all my money. But Time makes Fools of us All, and now my ex-wife has both.

We met in a restaurant in the Birmingham branch of Selfridges to discuss Matthew's latest work: TROUBLE BRUIN, a superhero memoir best described as BATMAN meets SLADE.

Needless to say, he was paying.

(NOTE: Move mouse over images to reveal accompanying captions)

FRET FRENULUM: What was the original inspiration for this book?

MATTHEW CRAIG: Trouble Bruin was originally intended to form part of a pitch document for a longer graphic novel starring another Brummie superhero, NEWSTREET. Indeed, the original ending would have revealed that Bruin was telling his father's story to NewStreet, instead of the reader.

FRET: Ah, so this is a prequel to something in the pipeline?

MATT: Not exactly. It doesn't lead into anything else, if that's what you mean. It stands on its own, for sure. But the themes of the book – the hole made by the loss of a loved one, the notion that children (even grown-up kids) can often feel overshadowed by the legend of their parents' youth – are, or would be, reflected in the full-length NewStreet graphic novel. And as Dave/Trouble Bruin is a key supporting character in that putative epic, it seemed appropriate to tell his story first.

FRET: Why Birmingham, though? These are characters that you've been tinkering with for a while. Why is Birmingham such an important location?

MATT: Well, the city inspired the characters. Over the last few years, Birmingham has been remade and renewed and remodelled. It's Jack Kirby's Birmingham in some places - such as this very building! - and there's no better place for superheroes to live than that.

Pre-production sketch of Trouble Bruin. Based, embarrassingly, on the artist.

FRET: Let's look at the process behind the book. Where did you start?

MATT: I carried the story around in my head for a few weeks, telling it to myself over and over again until I was ready to put pen to paper. While this was happening, I started sketching out the characters, and began to research some of the sets, props, and historical information that I would need for the story.

Early sketch of the moment that Eric Brown was struck by "a mysterious force." Note the rough and somewhat generic uniform, as well as the overly exaggerated camera angle.

FRET: Historical?

MATT: I knew that Eric [Brown, The Blue Ted] would be a veteran of National Service, so I Googled up some appropriate memorial sites, and tried to get a feel for the sorts of training and assignments the conscripts would receive. Then I tracked down some old photographs of Birmingham between World War 2 and the present day, in order to get a handle on the changing shape of the city. Finally, I spent a happy afternoon learning about Teddy Boys and their fashions.

Original sketch of The Blue Ted, here called "Teddy-Boy." Note the less exaggerated quiff, and the more barrel-chested physique.

FRET: It sounds like you enjoyed the research.

MATT: Oh, hell aye. I got to see the Second City from a new, weird angle. Like a work in progress: shaped, like clay, over the years. Not all of the research made it into the book, though, which is sad.

FRET: Why do you think that was?

MATT: Because I didn't have enough time or pages to get into it, and because my art – my drawing – wasn't quite up to all of it. Trouble Bruin is a family drama, though, not a local history lesson, so as long as the story is well-informed, I think that most readers will forgive the, um, occasional inaccuracy. I did my best: I hope that's good enough.

FRET: Back to the process. You had the story written in your head: then you wrote the script?

MATT: Ah, no, actually. I sketched the main characters, as well as a few of the crucial scenes, then I wrote dialogue, plot and character notes next to the sketches. Then, when it came time to write the story down, I stuck with a bulletpoint plot summary, divided into pages. It helped me avoid waffling, as well as control the pacing. Then I started drawing the comic.

FRET: How does this process differ from, say, writing a script for an artist?

MATT: Well, when writing for a proper artist, I normally write dialogue and action notes alongside the bulletpoint summary, all in one great burst, then I turn that into a properly-formatted script. With Bruin, I already had the pictures and most of the dialogue in my head.

FRET: Only most?

MATT: Yeah. I had the main thrust of the dialogue in the back of my head, but I made sure that it I left the actual scripting 'til last. Just to keep it fresh, and to give it that little bit of extra time to percolate, if that makes sense.

FRET: Let's talk art. Or Art, even. Pencils and inks?

MATT: Yep. Full-on pencils and inks – with a proper ink pen, even! Normally, I ink with a selection of biros and bingo markers – I get all my art supplies from the pound shop – but for Trouble Bruin, I chose to risk a fineliner pen for the figurework, and a biro for the backgrounds. I used a black pencil crayon to enhance the textural effects on Blue Ted's wig and drape-coat.

FRET: So, a little more ambitious than usual?

MATT: A very little.

FRET: Did it help?

MATT: Hm. Yeah, probably. But not as much as having spent the year drawing things like Trixie Biker and Experihondle. You quickly learn to value the use of rough thumbnails and light layout sketches to plan pages and control the storytelling.

I did draw on better-quality paper, though. However, I think that cost me some time in the long run.

Thumbnails for two pages of Trouble Bruin. Note the smiliarities and differences between this and the finished version. Also note the copious notes that accompany each page.

FRET: How so?

MATT: The good paper held the pencil a bit better than the low-grade stuff, so when it came time to construct the pages in the computer, I had to do a lot more cleaning-up.

FRET: This is post-production, then?

MATT: Yep. The pages are pencilled, then inked to bring out the linework, then scanned into the computer and cleaned up – smudges, notes and rogue pixels are erased, leaving a sparkling fresh page of art with which to tinker. Then I apply greytones and shading to the figures and the backgrounds.

FRET: How do you achieve that effect in the computer?

MATT: Real artists have layers and brushes and Photoshop doodads to create screentone effects. But I'm on a budget, both financially and technically, so I bodge my way through it by altering the brightness and contrast of selected parts of the image. I use the selection/lasso tool in Paint Shop Pro to ring off the area I want to tone or colour – like the Blue Ted's coat, for example – then I drop the brightness a few percent, and voila – simulated shading. Repeat as necessary to create degrees of shading, shadows, etc.. As long as I maintain consistency from page to page, it looks great.

FRET: This sounds like a lot of work, though. Isn't there an easier way to go about things?

MATT: Probably. But I have a tendency to run up against the deadlines for these things, so it's easier to learn on the fly, than to put time aside to really absorb everything about the image program, all at once. I learn a new trick with every project, so it all adds up, over time.

FRET: Then, presumably, you letter the pages. The font used in Trouble Bruin is sort of familiar: where have I seen it before?

MATT: The lettering was done with a free font called Tintin Talking - based, I guess, on the one used in the Tintin books. It struck the right note for me: it combined clarity with a handwritten quality, and gave the captions that anecdotal dimension that I wanted.

FRET: You used it for both the captions [Bruin's monologue] and the dialogue balloons. Didn't you think it might confuse the reader?

MATT: Not really. I hoped that it would give a uniform feel to the book – like Bruin was telling the whole story, not just reading the captions. There are moments, of course, where an ancillary character speaks, that sort of betray that conceit. But on the whole, it works.

Cover roughs for Trouble Bruin. The Rotunda can be seen in the background of one cover, anchoring all these Brummie Superhero stories in the same geography.

FRET: Looking at the cover, and indeed the rest of the book, the Rotunda looms large in this story. What is it about that building that fascinates you so?

MATT: Well, even today, it's an iconic location: a symbol of the absolute Now. The sight of The Rotunda, rising up from the excavation of the new Bull Ring, is what set me on the road to Trouble Bruin. It's a building with a mixed history: hated and loved in equal measure. People have even bombed it. But it's still there, like Birmingham is still there, changing with the times. It's soon to become the home of a couple of hundred lucky souls, as it has been recently converted into an apartment block.

FRET: But not you?

MATT: Not unless that's a million pounds in your coat pocket, no.

FRET: Now that the book is done: any regrets?

MATT: Oh, certainly. I've felt hobbled by my poor drawing skills, and I've had to hold back on the story as a result, I think. I would have liked to have shown much more of the changing face of the city, both in terms of the buildings, the fashions and the people. Some of the houses are a bit too generic, perhaps. I also feel that, between Hondle and Bruin, I've done all the anecdotal comics I want to do for a good long while. And I probably could have done a better job drawing Bruin's mother. Women are hard!

But yeah: I'm sure that in six months time, I'll stop looking for the flaws. But it's done now. On to new things.

Original sketch for the moment Baby Ted and his father are separated. Note that in this version, Baby Ted is approximately eight years old, as opposed to fourteen, as in the story proper.

FRET: Like that NewStreet pitch?

MATT: Yeah, maybe. There are good reasons for me to put that to one side, though, and concentrate on writing something a bit less superheroey. I really enjoyed the research part of producing Trouble Bruin, and I'm desperate to put those skills – learned during five years of expensive University education! - to good use. I have an appropriate idea for a book set around the time of the Industrial Revolution, so that should be fun. As well as something a bit more...socially conscious.

FRET: Good God!

MATT: I know!

But mainly I want to keep writing. 2006 has been a great year, creatively. I want 2007 to maintain that momentum, with perhaps a little more in the way of reward.

FRET: And speaking of which: here's the bill.

...Matthew?

MATTHEW?

...damn...

Fret Frenulum is a highly respected columnist for the Manchester Morning Star, a cultural pundit for shows such as "Snoop Cock" and "RNG! BRAINARGH," and a figment of the author's diseased imagination, although you would be forgiven for believing otherwise. You crazy diamond.

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