Writer Garth Ennis is well-known among comic book enthusiasts. His portfolio includes such titles as Hitman, The Punisher, Sara, Marjorie Finnegan, and Temporal Criminal. He is also the co-creator of The Boys and Preacher. Ennis has now joined forces with acclaimed artist and frequent collaborator Jacen Burrows (Crossed, The Ribbon Queen) for Ahoy Comics’ BABS, a keen satire of the sword & sorcery genre. Before the release of the first issue (Wednesday August 14th), we had the opportunity to talk with Garth about his early career and the genesis of BABS. Let’s extend a warm welcome to the exceptionally talented Garth Ennis as he joins us on GVN Talking Comics.
Beginnings
GVN: Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your time, Garth. Before we get into your latest book with the good folks at Ahoy, let us start with a bit of your background. You started your comic writing career at the tender age of 19. What made you decide that writing was your path, and whose work inspired that decision?
Garth: That was a particularly exciting and dynamic time for comics, with things like Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight, Maus, Concrete et al suggesting that the medium was now maturing, and that anything would be possible—that comics were capable of telling any story, just like novels, plays, film, TV, poetry etc. etc.
As far as inspiration, I suppose first and foremost would be Alan Moore, but other British comics writers had already laid much of the groundwork: John Wagner, Pat Mills, Alan Grant, Gerry Finley-Day, Tom Tully and Alan Hebden.
Meeting Alan Moore
GVN: Since you mentioned Alan, it was around this time that you met the iconic writer. How did that meeting occur, and what did you learn from that encounter?
Garth: We were both attending an exhibition of comic art in Colchester, in the north of England. Alan was as kind, welcoming, interesting and charming as you hope someone like that would be. He gave me a vital piece of advice, one I’d hear again and again from his generation of comics writers, including some of the guys I mentioned above: own what you create, don’t let what happened to us happen to you.
Ahoy Comics BABS
GVN: Your most recent project is a 6-book mini-series for AHOY Comics, created with frequent artist collaborator Jacen Burrows, and it’s called BABS. (After reading the review copy of issue #1, I was hooked from the beginning by your description of BABS; it’s hilarious stuff). I also appreciated that you included talking horses. How did you start working with AHOY Comics?
Garth: Tom Peyer and Stuart Moore are old friends; we go back to the beginning of Vertigo in the early ‘90s. Indeed, Stuart was the editor both for my run on Hellblazer and the first year of Preacher. They’ve established AHOY as a humour line, for which Babs is of course a natural fit.
A Garth ‘BABS’ Synopsis
GVN: It is certainly that. Could you please share with our fans the storyline behind BABS and what your thought process was as you developed it? (You certainly spared no expense in the clever pun department).
Garth: Babs is the story of an itinerant barbarian woman, who wanders a fantasy kingdom populated by elves, dragons, wizards, and other fantasy kingdom-type beings. Our heroine is a one-step-forward, two-steps-back kind of a gal, very capable at the job but cursed with shitty luck and a very sarcastic magic sword. Her ongoing attempts to enrich herself land her in all sorts of trouble—as she herself says, if she was incredibly rich, she wouldn’t have these problems…
Sword & sorcery is a genre I’m not normally drawn to—I was just saying in another interview that what attracts me to it is also what I find lazy about so much of it, the notion that in a fantasy world anything can happen at any time, and you can invent whatever magic spell or enchanted creature you deem necessary to get your heroine out of trouble. That makes for a lot of dull storytelling, and I do tend to avoid most of the material I see out there, but it also provides for a certain degree of comedic potential.
Anyway, I’d done Hawk the Slayer the year before—it’s one of the few entries in the genre I like—and I suppose it must have put the hook in me. I do find that once my mind starts wandering down whatever creative path it’s decided on, there’s not much point in trying to hold it back. The ideas keep coming regardless.
Jacen Burrows
GVN: As I mentioned, you are collaborating with an artist you have worked well with in the past, Jacen Burrows. Is there a comfort in working with an artist you know well, and did you consider anyone else for this book? (Judging from issue #1, Jacen was a great choice)
Garth: I don’t think I ever considered anyone other than Jacen. We’ve been working together for 20+ years and at this point are pretty much finishing each other’s sentences, in creative terms. In particular, he brings a clarity and precision to his work that I’ve often had cause to be grateful for—in this instance it makes humour very easy to bring off, as the reader is never in any doubt about what they’re seeing as each gag progresses.
More BABS?
GVN: BABS is set for a six-issue run. If it is received as well as I believe it will, do you have more BABS goodness available for perhaps a 2nd volume?
Garth: Oh, yes. Jacen told me he’d happily draw Babs for the rest of his career, and I know just how he feels.
The Boys
GVN: Thank you once again, Garth, for your kind attention. Before I let you go, I would be doing a disservice to my grandson if I didn’t ask about “The Boys.” Your Amazon Prime adapted series just completed its 4th season and will end after the 5th season. When Prime initially made the decision to adapt your and Derick Robertson’s characters for this series, did you think it would make it to 5 seasons? Overall, are you pleased with how the series has been portrayed?
Garth: Essentially, I want it to keep going forever and sell a billion trade paperbacks. I notice they’ve just announced the new spin-off series—I read the first script on this one and was very impressed.
Ahoy Comics BABS, Issue 1 by Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, Andy Troy and Rob Steen comes out August 14th and can be found at your local comic shops and where all great books are sold.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst 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 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
