INTERVIEW: Ancient gods watch out, Nissy is here
Photo: Image courtesy of Humanoids / Provided by Superfan Promotions with permission.
Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen, the debut graphic novel from writer Helen Mullane, envisions a Great Britain held hostage by a modern-day druid who attempts to unleash the fury of ancient gods against the local population. All looks quite dystopian and lost — that is, until Nicnevin “Nissy” Oswald turns up and attempts to save the day.
Nissy is a London teenager who has traveled to the English countryside with her mother and brother, according to press notes. In these new surroundings, she meets the mysterious Reggie, an older man she immediately falls for, and then things start to go awry. Readers should expect some black magic, some death, some family dysfunction and some bonafide horror.
For her debut novel, Mullane, who lives in northern Sweden with 80 huskies, collaborated with artists Dom Reardon and Matthew Dow-Smith. Lee Loughridge provided colors, while Robin Jones was the letterer. Quite impressively, Mullane employed the aid of Jock (Wytches) for the cover image.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox had the chance to exchange emails with the writer about her new project, which was recently released from Humanoids. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How would you describe your main character of ‘Nissy’ Oswald?
Nissy is a pretty normal teen in a crazy situation. She can be quite sullen and resentful, especially towards her mother, but really toward anyone who gets in between her and what she wants to do. On the other hand, she’s this smart, independent young woman who’s lovely with her mates and is just trying to find her place in the world.
As we follow Nissy’s story, we see her make mistakes and let these bad things happen because she’s too wrapped up in herself, but we also watch her grow and learn before our eyes. She starts out as this angry then lovesick teen, but eventually she learns some hard lessons and finds a deep well of power within herself she never thought she had.
Are some of the feelings and thoughts of this teenage character based on your own life experiences? Is there some autobiography within these pages?
Oh, definitely. There’s a lot of my teen experience in Nissy. Like her, I had to make my own mistakes. I was very rebellious! I understand her hedonistic side, and I have a lot of compassion for people searching for themselves.
Did you have to conduct any research on druid culture and beliefs?
I wanted to write a story that was anchored by these real locations, real history and myth, so a lot of research went into this book. There are many details based off what we know of real druidic practices, whether that be small things like which flowers the characters collect during a walk on the high hills, charms described in a witches almanac or more dramatic things like how the sacrifices work and what one character does to try to bring on visions.
I always love it when I read something in a novel or comic, and then it turns out to be a real thing, especially in horror or fantasy. I would love it if someone got interested in the fascinating history of the druids through reading this book.
What was it like to collaborate with the artists on this project?
Working with the creative team on this book was an absolute dream.
This is my first comic, so I had never before experienced the profound pleasure of seeing something that I had written filtered, reimagined and enriched through someone else’s creative mind. It’s such an exciting process. You write what you write, but it’s the artists who bring it to life, who create the world and who do the ‘acting.’ To be working with artists so extremely skilled was essential to making this book work as it’s quite a quiet book with minimal text explanation of what you’re seeing. Pencils and inks from Dom Reardon and Matthew Dow-Smith hitting my inbox was always the absolute highlight of my week!
The next step of collaboration was with Lee Loughridge and Robin Jones, who coloured and lettered the book respectively. Lee’s such a master craftsman; he just absolutely nailed it, page after page. He did such a great job of evoking that kind of dark, misty feeling of a countryside full of hidden dangers and straddling those dual worlds of reality and the fey. Robin had a lot to convey with the lettering. Although the story is low on narration, there are various distinct voices that thread through the story. He did such a great job of conjuring these characters that you never see on the page apart from through his letters.
Then the icing on the cake was Jock’s cover. He really managed to distill the essence of the story into this one striking image. We couldn’t ask for a more beautiful image to draw readers into the book.
What was it like to hold your debut graphic novel in your hands for the first time?
I can hardly describe the feeling, but as a writer so damnit I’ll try!
It felt like the culmination of a lot of hard work from a really wonderful team. And it felt real, like really real, for probably the very first time. I am so proud of what we have created and excited to see it out in the world.
And Humanoids also sent a copy of the book in French, which made me feel extremely fancy and high-brow.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen by Helen Mullane is now available from Humanoids. Click here for more information.
