Brad Cook chats with Enigmatown writer and letterer Alex De Luca…
The last time I talked to Alex De Luca, he was busy promoting his steampunk adventure comic book series Dragon Whisperer, whose four-issue debut was followed by a six-part sequel, The Search for Obsidian.
Now he has shifted gears, sticking with his publisher, Red 5 Comics, to create the graphic novel Enigmatown, which was featured during Free Comic Book Day earlier this year. (Look for the free comic Red 5 Comic Adventures to get a taste of Enigmatown and other Red 5 titles.)
Enigmatown pulls together an unlikely group of heroes: 15-year-old Luzmarie, also known as “Luzy”; 90-year-old Frankie; and a ghost named Joey. Their hometown’s creepy mansion is the site of ghastly events that have haunted the residents for generations, and it’s up to the three of them to save the souls of many children before it’s too late.
I caught up with Alex, who answered my questions while traveling around Europe with his family, to learn more about this intriguing premise.
How does this one compare with your other comic book series, Dragon Whisperer?
Well, the writer and letterer of both of them look remarkably similar. 😀
On the one hand, they couldn’t be more different from each other. Dragon Whisperer takes place in its own world, a steampunk fantasy universe where there are otherworldly creatures of land, ai,r and sea. There is magic, floating islands, sky cities, the steampunk staple of airships, and, of course, a dragon.
Enigmatown takes place in the grounded earth, our earth. It jumps eras throughout its run, but always takes place right here. There ARE ghosts, and magic, but it’s all in a haunted mansion sense instead of a fantasy sense.
But … They’re similar in the fact that the main protagonists are young people (ages 13 to 15) partaking in adventures beyond their depths. Despite being young, they have some pain in their pasts. They’re thrown into situations in which they are afraid but are compelled by an innocent sense of honor to solve the crises they’ve found themselves in. They fail at times, but they get up and try again.
They all also have elder, hardened mentors to help guide them, but they too are fallible and human, with interesting histories.
Like myself, none of these young characters are badasses. They’re like anyone else.
Both series’s plots have roots in the premise of righting past wrongs. We’ve all made mistakes. We all have a regret or two.
What inspired this story? I’m feeling a bit of an 80s Spielberg movie vibe with the premise, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Yes! I LOVE the early ’80s Spielberg aura. The fresh perspectives of naive youth without the hindrance of worldly experience that encrusts the view of us old people. To these characters it all may be scary and dangerous, but it’s first and most importantly an adventure that MUST NOT be missed.
San Jose, California’s magnificent landmark known as the Winchester Mystery House played an essential role in the inspiration for this story. I Just love that eerie and enormous Victorian mansion. I borrowed a germ from the legend of the Winchester Mystery House, tweaked it a lot, and came up with the legend of the mansion, and its ghastly secret, for Enigmatown.
Also important are my favorite series of books by the late great John Bellairs (and continued splendidly by the brilliant Brad Strickland). They are Gothic young adult horror period books, long, long predating more modern similar series like Goosebumps and A Series of Unfortunate Events. They are the books that created the formula which these later series utilize. I absolutely ADORE these books and wanted to play in a similar, cozy, deliciously creepy, “warm drink on a cold night in your slippers” playground.
Did this one originally come out as a series of floppies that were compiled into a trade paperback, or did Red 5 publish it all in one volume?
Good question. I had originally intended for it to be a series of floppies, but, as I was writing it, I found that the need of having a sense of closure or cliffhanger every 22 pages to be restrictive. I wanted the story and chapters to flow organically.
If, in a given chapter (issue), what was needed to be said took 17 pages, I wanted that to be it. If it took 29 pages, same thing. I didn’t want to add fluff or cut crucial story points, so I decided to go straight to graphic novel/trade paperback. It was definitely the right decision.
How have the sales and fan reactions been?
At conventions, sales have been fabulous. People LOVE the cozily scary thing. It’s a bit of a cross between The Haunted Mansion and Toy Story and people dig that.
As with all indie comics in this era of distribution uncertainty, direct market sales have been light. Online sales through my own marketing and word of mouth have been okay, but conventions by a wide margin have been Enigmatown‘s (and Dragon Whisperer‘s) big earners.
Any plans to continue this series? If so, what are they?
Yes! I have more stories to tell in the Enigmatown world. In fact, this first volume ends with the possibility of more stories, but not an infuriating cliffhanger. A fan put it best to me: it ends like Star Wars: A New Hope (which could’ve ended forever right there perfectly adequately) but doesn’t end like The Empire Strikes Back (which definitely could NOT have ended forever right there). I’ll for certain return to Enigmatown.
Finally, what’s next for Alex De Luca?
Glad you asked! I’m working on two vastly different from each projects.
One is a massive world-building far future epic that is truly equal parts horror, science-fiction and fantasy. I’m working on it with the astonishingly talented veteran DC Vertigo artist (Sandman and The Books of Magic, to name a few) Gary Amaro. It’s at its very early stages.
The other is a really young children’s, as in Dog-Man 7-10 or so age group, comic that I am also … drumroll … ILLUSTRATING!
Yes. I am attempting to draw a comic.
It’s fun, but it’s HARD. I’m illustrating it digitally.
Now that I am in the midst of illustrating a comic, I want to publicly apologize to every artist I’ve ever worked with. I’m sorry for those crazy scripts of mine. I get now why you were driven crazy by me.
As I letter my own comics (I’ve lettered professionally a lot of other people’s comics too!) I often joke that if letterer me ever met writer me, letterer me would punch writer me for writing so damn much. If ARTIST me ever met writer me, artist me may get arrested for what he wants to do to writer me!
My children’s comic is almost done too!
Many thanks to Alex De Luca for taking the time for this interview.
Brad Cook
