INTERVIEW: beau SMITH ON IDW’S WYNONNA EARP

This post is Filed Under:

Home page Highlights,
Interviews and Columns

Wynonna Earp #1 cover by Lora Innes

In his career in comics, beau Smith has written guy Gardner: Warrior, parts Unknown, Cobb: Off the Leash, Batman/Wildcat (with co-writer Chuck Dixon), and many others. You can read his column Beauology 101 frequently here at the Westfield blog. Now, he returns to one of his creations, Wynonna Earp, for a new series from IDW. Westfield’s Roger Ash recently talked to Smith to learn more about this upcoming series and the upcoming television show as well.

Westfield: For people who’ve never encountered her before, who is Wynonna Earp?

Beau Smith: She is a descendant of the famous lawman, Wyatt Earp. I don’t get too much into the she’s the great-great-great-great-great granddaughter; she’s a descendant. That way it doesn’t put an age on anyone in particular. He was a us Marshall at times, who hunted fugitives running from the law. She is also a us Marshall but of the covert branch, the Black Badge Division. They’ve been around since Teddy Roosevelt’s time. What makes her different from her ancestor Wyatt Earp is she hunts down fugitives but they’re paranormal fugitives. For example, if a werewolf and his pals decide to rob a bank and take off on the lam, she’s the one who goes out and hunts him down. If a vampire evades taxes and takes off, it’s her group, The Black Badge Division, who hunts that vampire down. Werewolves, vampires, spell casters, demons; anybody that commits a crime on the paranormal side, then they’re gonna have to face her and the Black Badge Division.

Westfield: aside from Wynonna, who are some of the other characters in the series?

Smith: Where I’d always focused on a 35 year old, established, and blonde Wynonna Earp, this focuses in on the rookie us Marshall, a 27 year old, brunette Wynonna Earp. In the new series that we’ve got coming out in February at IDW Publishing, we get to meet her direct supervisor which is agent Xavier Dolls, who’s got quite a serious past himself. Her team develops as the series goes on. I can’t tell you who a few of them are because we haven’t presented them yet. Doc holiday comes from the past and he is also on her team. We really don’t know if he’s quite an ally or a possible enemy or both. He does appear quite a bit in the series.

Wynonna Earp #1 Valentine’s Day cover by Chris Evenhuis

Westfield: Can you say anything more about the story?

Smith: In the first series I created in 1996, the original villain was Bobo Del Rey. He’s a trailer trash demon gangster and he’s also going to play a prominent role in the new television series. In the opening of the new comic book series, we find Wynonna up against Bobo’s brother, Mars Del Rey. Mars is a facilitator for the paranormal black market. In the case that we deal with in the first two issues of the six issue series, he’s dealing in black market organs. The rich, pre-decaying zombie crowd don’t want to dip into the mindless, limping dead state. They want to stay as they are and continue to eat nothing but the best brains, which are facilitated by Mars Del Rey. Spell casters need certain human body parts to cast spells. He provides nothing but the best for them. Vampires don’t want just any blood; they want the best blood. Mars Del Rey facilitates that as well. He’s the head of the Chupacabra Cartel and that is what they deal in.

Westfield: since you mentioned the TV show, how closely is what you’re doing here tied to the TV series?

Smith: There will be some of the same characters like I mentioned with agent Dolls and Doc Holliday. Wynonna doesn’t really look different than she did before except she’s brunette and she does somewhat resemble Melanie Scrofano who is starring as Wynonna Earp. The same with Shamier Anderson who is playing Dolls, and Tim Rozon who is playing Doc Holliday. Lora Innes, who is doing the series art, does do a likeness of them. It won’t be a jarring effect if you’re the comic book reader and have been a longtime Wynonna reader or if you never read the comic and go “Oh, there’s a comic book. I watch the TV series” and pick it up. I like to think it’s a very good mixture of both. Both the TV series and the comic series have a lot of fun, a lot of action, a lot of quirkiness, and some seriousness and some horror.

Wynonna Earp #1 photo subscription Cover

Westfield: how much input do you have into what they’re doing on the show?

Smith: It’s a Canadian production so you’re looking at Canadian tax breaks so everything has to be predominantly Canadian; writers, cast, production crew, all that kind of stuff. It’s filmed in Calgary. We’ve got some stunning scenery. I’m going up there in two weeks to see the set and meet everybody. It can’t be influenced that much by this side of the border because of all that kind of stuff. but they are delving off the background stuff that I’ve laid out in the previous comic book series, but most of all they have created a really kick-butt and interesting slant on Wynonna. I email the showrunner/writer/creator of the TV series, Emily Andras, quite often, and the cast for that matter. It’s gonna be good. Wynonna Earp the television series is in very good hands.

Westfield: and when does that start?

Smith: The TV series starts April 2016, so that’s just right around the bend. The new comic is February 2016 from IDW Publishing.

Wynonna Earp #1 preview page 1. Art by Lora Innes

Westfield: You mentioned that you’re working with Lora Innes on the comic. I know she’s been a pal of yours for a while. What’s it been like working with her?

Smith: It’s something she and I have wanted to do ever since we first met. Jeff Smith introduced us at Mid-Ohio con a while back. Lora was probably 18 years old at the time and Jeff and I saw so much potential and future stardom in her work. She’s been doing The Dreamer that she created, writes and draws for the last eight years. She has always enjoyed Wynonna Earp, so this has been a chance for us to work together on something that we both can add extra layers to. Lora is an amazing story teller, and it really shows in her pencils and inks.

You get some artists who do expressions well, Kevin Maguire comes to mind immediately, and she is also in that vein. She captures so much of the intimate likability of characters in this, whether it’s a serious moment or one of the humor-laced moments. I’m just thrilled to death. Her storytelling is dead on. She knows how to do that. It’s gonna be a real pleasure to work with her.

Wynonna Earp #1 preview page 2. Art by Lora Innes

Westfield: You’ve mentioned a few times that this is a real mix of things; action, horror, humor. What appeals to you about mixing all those elements together?

Smith: It’s kind of like fantasy/real life. By that I mean, in our real life we have a mixture of awful, terrible things that happen, funny things that happen, sad things, bittersweet things, every day. I wanted, writing wise, to portray that in the supernatural comic book world where yes, things are amped up a little bit, but the likability comes through. You can’t have super heroics or supernatural stuff that’s just cut and dried. then it becomes boring. I wanted this to become like real life only in a very unusual situation. This goes to show that people laugh and cry and all the while they’re chasing down the Chupacabra Cartel.

Westfield: any closing comments?

Smith: I think it’s gonna be a fun comic. and by fun I don’t mean slapstick, ha ha funny; I mean enjoyable entertainment for everybody. No matter if you like horror, comedy, crime, action, whatever your genre is, this crosses over into all of them. I hope everybody’s not afraid to take a chance on this. and also, watch the television show. I think it’s going to be a good transfer back and forth for the comic readers or TV viewers.

Purchase

Wynonna Earp #1

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.