The name “Antony Johnston” may not be familiar
to you right now, but it will be. In the last couple
of years, Johnston has become one of the most popular
writers of webcomics. His works include the CITY OF
LIGHT serial in Unbound Comics’ REMOTE VIEWS
anthology, the hypercomic AFTER DAYS OF PASSION with
Ben Templesmith at Opi8,
SMOKED GLASS with Tony Rollinson at NextComics
and of course the illustrated novel FRIGHTENING CURVES
with Aman Chaudhary. Originating at Chad Michael Ward’s
site Reactor,
FC became a cult hit that eventually spawned a
hard-copy reprint and expansion from Cyberosia
Books.
Now Johnston has been picked by influential creator
Warren Ellis to participate in the new anthology NIGHT
RADIO from Avatar Press, along with Matt Fraction,
Micaela Petersen. In addition to this, Johnston also
has a piece with Mike Norton (THE WAITING PLACE) in
the new 9/11 anthology from DC/Dark Horse/ Chaos, and
remains a regular contributor to the site NinthArt.com,
where he’s also one of the editors.
With Johnston poised to become the Next Big Thing,
Slush’s Zack Smith caught up with him for an AIM
conversation on his past, current and future projects,
author Jeff Noon, and what he thinks of people
misspelling his name...
Let's start with the FRIGHTENING CURVES
questions, as those are most fresh in my mind...How
did the idea for FC come about?
A good few years ago, now - three, I think,
just after I'd moved from my hometown of 25 years to
take a job - I started having nightmares about the
Tube system. Which is weird, because I love the Tube
and have no problem with traveling on it
What kind of nightmares?
Well, that was the thing. They were so 'good'
that I wrote them down. Zombie tramps, people getting
lost, getting frantic and confused by the system, that
sort of thing. It was in those that The Man With The
Wrong Eyes first appeared.
I wasn't even living in London at the time, that
was also a weird thing about them.
Dream diary, huh?
not really. I've never been able to keep one. I
always forget my dreams too easily!
But these ones really stuck in my mind. I think the
only way you can keep one is to write them down
immediately upon waking. And I don't have the
discipline for that first thing in the morning. I'm
really not a 'mornings person'. Just ask my
girlfriend...
SO anyway, yeah - I had these things in my head.
And I didn't really think any more about them.
But then one day, totally unconnected, the title
FRIGHTENING CURVES popped into my head. It was
inspired by something Alan Moore once said about the
world being a place with a lot of "frightening
edges."
And I couldn't help but think, what about the
curves and smooth bits? Aren't they dangerous, too?
Deceptive, like.
So it was a combination of geometry and
nightmares.
Yeah. Sounds terribly Lovecraftian when you put
it like that...
And *then*, Chad Ward asked me to do something for
REACTOR. And the two things kind of merged in my head
as an idea.
Were you familiar with Aman's work before Chad
hooked you up?
Not at all. Chad approached Aman, also about
REACTOR. And a little bit later he thought we'd be a
good match.
Good thinking.
Oh, yeah. Chad worked some good mojo, there. I
gave Aman the general idea, he did some sketches...
and it clicked.
Now, how did you know Chad before Reactor?
Initially, from online discussion groups. I
loved his artwork, and we started chatting. At the
time I was working for a magazine called .net -
best-selling UK internet magazine back then - and I
commissioned Chad to do some artwork for the mag.CHad was also my host to a couple of great goth clubs
when I visited SF some time ago, which helped us bond a little....!
Any chance of you doing anything with Chad or
Aman again in the future?
Chad and I are talking about doing something,
have been for a while. A bit like FC, but much more
freeflowing, with the text and images interwoven more
tightly as images.
Any ideas yet for that, or is that still a ways
off?
Oh, we have ideas. Chad's already done some
artwork for it, and we've worked a little on a
preview. But scheduling issues arose, and it'll be a
while before we're ready to talk about it.
Well, I'll be looking forward to that.
It'll happen, but I wouldn't like to commit to
saying when. I'm big on not promising stuff until I
know it's definitely happening.
See, you're already ahead of a number of
creators that way...
It's just basic professionalism, to me. I hate
being told something is going to happen, only to
discover it's then been put on hold for years. That's
why some things I started two years or more ago are
only just now starting to make their way into
conversation...
A few more FC questions -- Why were some
portions of FC in screenplay format? I mean, why did
you make that decision as a writer?
Well...A couple of reasons. One, because I
wanted to give the text itself a very modern feel. I
wanted to take advantage of the modern audience's
ability to switch between formats and styles - in all
media - quickly. Two, there are some... clues... in
the book which are given through the format. It was
also a way of compressing the story, when we were
originally doing it in web-serial format.
Cutting to the chase?
Yeah. Especially as a lot of my stuff is very
dialogue-driven, and FC is no exception. I'm very
aware of that, and thought I could use the screenplay
thing to my advantage.
FC is very much a pulp - there's not one word in
there which is filler. it's all go, go, go. Which some
people have criticised, actually...! But I like it.
For that story, I think it works. Adrenaline from
start to finish.
What was it like meeting Aman face-to-face for
the first time in San Diego?
Meeting Aman for the first time was great,
though. He's a hoot - a real party animal. I was glad
that we got on just as well there as we have online.
Have you been surprised by the success of FC?
A little. I was surprised by the initial
success, certainly - the initial orders were way above
what I expected, but then I'm a pessimist of the
highest order...
And it's still going, slowly but surely. I'm not
moving to the Bahamas just yet, but we're pleased with
it. And I'm certainly pleased with the critical
reaction. We haven't had a real slating review yet,
which is odd.
Maybe it's just that good. Tell yourself that.
You said that, not me.
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