I was recently given an opportunity to review the TPB Vol. 1 collection of Breaklands through Dark Horse Comics. This epic post apocalyptic tale of a world where almost everyone has a super power is now running full steam ahead in its 2nd Volume through ComiXology Originals. But after reading through Volume 1 and catching up on Vol. 2, we were given the chance to talk to the writer behind this expansive saga, Justin Jordan. So that being our good fortune, let’s welcome Justin Jordan to GVN’s Talking Comics Interview.
Starting Out
GVN: Thanks for giving some of your time, Justin. Let’s start with how you got started. When did you take an interest in writing and were comics always on your radar as far as writing went?
JJ: I was always into comics. And I mean close to literally always. One of my very first memories is ‘reading’ a Popeye comic when I was maybe two. It had the Seahag and the Goons in it. And I never really got away from them. I read the Electric Company magazine for the Spider-Man strip Stan Lee wrote, and I’m old enough that you could still grab comics at gas stations and such when I was a kid.
I started writing at an early age. And I mean early. I know I was writing short stories and stuff as early as third grade. So I landed on that early. But because I can’t draw, and grew up pre-internet in very rural Pennsylvania, it never occurred to me comics were an option.
But I got to college, which did have internet, and pretty rapidly found the Warren Ellis Forum, where I mostly lurked. Eventually, it occurred to me I could find artists on the web, and maybe do it that way. Just a short decade and change later, I broke in with Strode. Overnight success!
Luther Strode vs. Breaklands
GVN: Well since you mention Luther Strode, in your book The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, you mixed in a number of historical, horror, and pop culture references into your narrative. So what is Breaklands based on? Are there any legends or historical references intertwined in its story?
JJ: As with most of my stuff, a bunch of things. One big one is that I’ve been kind of interested in what you’d call, I guess, post post apocalypse. Not a typo. Basically what happens a hundred or two hundred years after the end of the world.
And then I got to thinking about ways for the world to end, and one I’d never seen (which may well exist, but I’m not aware of any) is what if everyone developed superpowers. Because humans and the power structures we’ve got wouldn’t deal well with that.
So Breaklands is that. But it’s also stuff like me being kinda disappointed in how the Jedi and Sith used their powers in the Star Wars movies, and being exposed to Akira when I was a pre teen and a whole lot of other stuff. But mostly I wanted to build a big gonzo world to tell stories in.
Introducing the Characters of ‘Breaklands’
GVN: As I read through the TPB of Vol.1, one of the intriguing things about Breaklands is that while some new books might have one or two intriguing characters, Breaklands is replete with them. Rask, Kasa Fain, Adam, Nitro Eddy (like watching a big kid…bang! BANG!!), Gargarin (my personal favorite), Toy, Shattersword, and Ruth. As you created your story, did you have your characters already developed before you scripted or did you add some as you went on?
JJ: A mix of both. One thing I really like about, say, the Mad Max movies is that there are just so many characters with their own thing going, so I was trying to replicate that, as best I could. Or, honestly, Star Wars again, with the cantina scene. We go into a little more detail, but the big fun was developing all these weird ass characters. The main crew, Kasa, Toy, Gargarin and Ruth were all pretty developed going in. Everyone else though, grew fairly organically as I wrote the scripts and saw what Seta and Sarah were doing with the art.
Artist Tyasetta and Colorist Sarah Stern
GVN: You are working with acclaimed artist Tyasseta on Breaklands. How did this collaboration come together and did the results change any aspect of how you envisioned your original story?
JJ: Seta actually contacted me a few years before Breaklands and asked me if he could show me his portfolio. I loved his stuff, but it’s a very different style than what you typically get in direct market comics, so it took a bit to find the right project to work together on. So when Breaklands came along, it seemed like a good fit.
And it was! Seta and Sarah (Stern, the colorist) working on the book has changed it a lot. Not so much the broad strokes of the plot, but the way the characters act and the way the world is built is at least as much them as me. Mostly, the whole thing has gotten weirder, which I am all about.
Freedom vs. Security
GVN: As you have moved into Vol. 2, you are exploring some interesting questions about the value of freedom and what it’s worth vs. security. Did you have these concepts in mind to explore later as you worked through Vol.1?
JJ: I did, and they’re stuff that interests me and that I find myself gravitating to. One of the things I pitched pre Strode was a book called Overthrow, about a supervillain who conquered the world and things were…better? Like, he ended poverty and climate change and honestly, most people’s day to day lives were better. They weren’t free, in any meaningful sense, but they were safe and secure and reasonably happy. So was it right for the hero to try and, as the title goes, overthrow him.
Which, you know, you can draw a very direct line from that to the second volume of this. I get frustrated in post apocalyptic fiction with rulers who rule ONLY by force. Because, you know, eventually someone is going to stick a shiv in Negan’s back, you know?
This is a reaction to all that, and looking at what we value. There’s a couple different versions of it going on volume two, to show different facets.
Calling Mr. Mikkelsen
GVN: Thanks for giving us some time. Last question of the hypothetical bent. Breaklands has been positively embraced by fans and critics alike. The possibility of an animated adaptation is presented to you. With so many great characters, would you have a preference in who voiced a particular one?
JJ: Oh man, hard to say, except Ruth sounds like Mads Mikkelsen in my head.
GVN: Thanks again, and we will continue to follow Breaklands with interest.
Breaklands Volume 1 TPB goes on sale March 2 in bookstores and everywhere books are sold by Dark Horse Comics. Breaklands features art by acclaimed artist Tyasseta, colors by Sarah Stern, and letters by Rachel Deering.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
