Morse is a favorite among indy comics fans, and he's a popular draw at more independent-minded conventions such as the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, and the Bethesda, Maryland-based Small Press Expo. Known best for his Eisner-Award-nominated work on Soulwind (published by Oni) and earlier self-published work, Morse has nevertheless dabbled in more mainstream comics such as Dark Horse's Star Wars Tales and Grendel: Black, White, and Red, and Oni's Ghost Dog, all of which has helped Morse build a solid and enthusiastic fan base for his unique line art and very natural storytelling skills.
Our writer spoke with Morse shortly after this year's San Diego ComicCon International about his work on Ancient Joe, Joe's mysterious origins, where new readers can learn more about Joe, and more.
Shawna Ervin-Gore: Ancient Joe has made appearances in some anthologies and in a few of your self-published comics... how many Ancient Joe stories are out there so far, and where have they appeared?
C. Scott Morse: Well, Joe first appeared in a one-shot comic called Loud Cannoli that I published through my little indy company, Crazyfish. Half of the book was mine, and half was the work of a buddy of mine, Mark Andrews. His end dealt with a creation of his called "Colossus," which has since been published as a graphic novel. Mark's an
amazing guy, having storyboarded about three-quarters of Iron Giant by himself, as well as storyboarding Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man movie and being head of story on the upcoming Osmosis Jones and Brad Bird's new feature at Pixar. Anyhow, as for my end of Loud Cannoli, Ancient Joe's first tale dealt with some Cuban kids thinking he was a legendary character known as El Bizarron, who tricked El Diablo out of some silver. This actually serves as a set-up for the current Dark Horse story.
Joe's next appearance was a two-page color stint in Scatterbrain for Dark Horse.
It doesn't really tie into anything, and was rushed due to deadlines, but you'll be able to catch it in the upcoming Scatterbrani hardcover.
Joe last appeared in the Dark Horse Maverick 2000 annual, sort of picking up right
after the Loud Cannoli story. We learn a bit more about Joe's past, about his
wife. During these two stories, Joe is walking someplace with a backpack on, and
you never really find out where. You will in the new series, as it picks up right
after the Maverick annual's events.
For die-hard collectors, there's also been a Crazyfish t-shirt featuring Joe, and
a very limited two-color screen print. And the Loud Cannoli and Maverick annual
stories both appeared in Italian, in an anthology called Mondo Naif from Kappa
Edizioni.
SE-G: Considering that there have been other Ancient Joe stories published, would you recommend new readers try to find previous stories, or do you think people will be able to jump on with this new miniseries? I've only read a couple of Joe stories myself, but I didn't feel that this one needed any further introduction...
CSM: This new series is designed to tie into the old stories, but also to stand alone for the new readers out there. Everything you need to know will be explained subtly through exposition to bring the new reader up to date. For anyone dying to catch the old material, though, there's plans to eventually collect everything into one big book.
SE-G: This question may be old hat, but I'm curious as to who or what Joe really is. Do you have a solid idea of his origins in your mind, or is he simply a character you developed and really like to write?
CSM: Well, here's where fun could be spoiled if I tell too much. There is indeed a full back story for Joe, and it's all planned out. Just so I don't ruin anything for future story lines, I'll tell what is known about Joe to date, and what Joe knows for sure about himself:
As far as Joe knows, he was pulled from the depths of the ocean in 1943 by a group
of Greek fishermen. Joe was fully grown at this time, but remembered nothing of
his past, though he could speak both Greek and English. The fishermen tried to
sell tickets for people to see him as a sort of freak show attraction at their
next port in Philadelphia. Joe escaped aboard another ship, bound for Cuba. That
ship had a bit of an accident, and Joe went down with it off the coast of Cuba.
In 1949, Joe was again hauled aboard a fishing vessel, this time by Cuban
fishermen. Joe could remember only as far back as the Greek fishermen fiasco, and
soon realized he could speak Spanish fluently as well. They brought him ashore,
where he eventually found work on a plantation. He'd drink in local bars at night,
and found a sort of celebrity as a bare-knuckle boxer. He got to know locals,
Ernest Hemingway among them, and eventually fell in love with and married the
daughter of the plantation owner. The trick is, she eventually grew old, though
Joe didn't. He hasn't changed a bit. She's recently passed away, just before the
events of Loud Cannoli, and Joe is on his own again. Over his years in Cuba,
folks knew Joe was odd, and legends grew around him, though no one but Joe knows
if they're true or simply folk tales.
This is even a bit more than is known to readers at this point, but you'll catch
most of this in a three-part rhyming strip that will appear in upcoming issues of
Dark Horse Extra, in beautiful full color by Jason Hvam.
SE-G: I've read the first issue of the new miniseries, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the premise of the story. What's Joe up to, and who are the other characters he's interacting with?
CSM: Joe's meeting up in a bar with a guy we've never seen before, an old friend of
Joe's named Benny. He's a real character, a guy Joe's come to for help in trying
to confirm if his recently deceased wife's soul is in Hell. Joe's worried that
the trick he played on El Diablo, stealing his silver (as detailed in Loud Cannoli), has blown up in his face now that his wife's dead. He fears El Diablo may have her out of retribution. This guy Benny, it seems, may be of assistance in some way, but you'll have to read to find out how...
SE-G: Fair enough. We certainly don't want to spoil anything. Here's another question, and I hope it makes sense: Did Joe's character evolve as a result of your art style? His design is very original, but it also feels like it sort of grew from your approach to drawing, which feels a bit rough and organic. I guess the real question would be, did you intend to create an immortal, primitive character around which to base these stories, or did you end up drawing him first and liking what you drew?
CSM: I think I really created Joe as a venue to tell stories involving known folk tales, legends, and myths from different cultures, but to add a twist to it all by making him yearn for humanity. The stories, as you find out more about Joe, will cross every culture I work in, but all as atmosphere during Joe's quest to realize if someone as inhuman as himself can find a spark of the human soul within. Joe will deal with theologies and philosophies we've all grown accustomed to, but he'll be viewing them with a fresh eye, all in an attempt to see where it is he fits, since he knows nothing about his past.
Joe's look, his design, sprang from the cultures he'll find his past is entangled with. I can't really go into more detail about that at this point, but it should be noted that the look of the book, all the design work for Joe and for most everything I do, is based primarily on the story material I'm dealing with. In Joe's case, the look is a bit more rustic, a bit more stylized in certain areas, because it ties in to the bigger picture of Ancient Joe, the series. In Soul Wind, I did something similar, with the art style changing as the story changed, to continuously fit what was going on. Joe may follow suit in some ways.
SE-G: On a related note, there seems to be a minor movement of independent comics creators exploring sort of primitive themes -- I'm specifically thinking of your stuff and Brian Ralph's Cave In ... what's the appeal to you in telling stories about an ancient character, and how much of his early, early life have you or will you explore?
CSM: The appeal for me, I think, is to try to work history and theology and legend into
comics on a more human level, without involving notions of typical comics devices. By this, I mean I'm trying to establish a world that we can relate to, and fantastic characters that are based in age old stories, as opposed to manufactured modern fictions, like radioactive super powers and the like. I'm trying to delve into what humanity established hundreds and thousands of years ago, things real people still believe in, things like theological beliefs and superstitions. It's just an experiment to see if the fantastic can be made to seem more down to earth and understandable, and less spandex-clad.
I'm going to explore a lot of Joe's early, early existence, but at a rate where he can handle it. The reader will come to understand as Joe does.
As for an indy "movement" in a primitive vein, I don't know. I think a lot of us are just trying to tell fun stories, and our human past is really, in large part, speculation. We can look to science and history, to what we've been taught to believe in church, but it's really very much the unknown, and therefore ripe when it comes to twisting into stories.
SE-G: Who are your favorite comics publishers, and how many have you worked with?
CSM: Well, I try to put specific projects with specific publishers because I feel
different publishers will handle different types of stories better when it comes
to their built in audience and market. I like Oni because they're dependable and
friendly, always trying to make a happy compromise between what I'd like to see
and what can realistically be done. I'm working with Dark Horse because of Diana
Schutz, and because there are people there that truly want to put out good books,
to push good books. Ancient Joe will be alongside other quality creator owned
projects like Usagi Yojimbo and Hellboy.
I worked with Image because Jim Valentino was friendly and inspired in what he wanted to do. I'm working with Top Shelf because they're truly trying to push what's accepted in comics, and are actively trying to make comics acceptable as a literary medium. I self publish through Crazyfish sometimes because there are some projects that wouldn't work
anywhere else. It all depends on who can do the best for a particular project.
SE-G: You're doing very well as an independent comic-book creator, but this is a tough market for most people who are trying to make a living at it. What's your take on work-for-hire?
CSM: Work-for-hire is a good way to explore characters and stories that I normally wouldn't do. It helps me round myself out as a creator, giving me chances to play with story devices I might not normally, and to experiment with these devices, to see what works and to see if there's anything I can bring to my own work. It's sometimes a chance to work with other people, to see what can come of that. It's sometimes a chance to make a bit more money than I would on my own stuff.
Work-for-hire is fine, as long as you know what you're getting into ahead of
accepting it, so that you're not stuck working on something you have no love for. It's always bad to be doing something you don't enjoy. As long as the conditions are good, it can be very rewarding.
SE-G: Back to the book -- The first thing I noticed in reading the first issue is how well you've laid out the introduction ... you manage to develop a lot of back story (such as the mention of Joe's fight with Hemingway) without leaving your reader feeling like she's missed a lot of information. This is usually really difficult to accomplish ... how did you figure it out?
CSM: It really wasn't a matter of figuring it out, but of letting the story tell itself, of letting the characters be the ones in control. My goal is to let the characters do their thing, to try to think like each individual would, and to let them act out how things would happen in my head. I try to make conversation seem as natural as possible, and what needs to come out usually comes out. It's all a matter of remembering that some characters, like Joe's friend Benny, are a bit on the dim side, maybe a bit slower, and as long as you play him up like that, you can have Joe explain certain things to him in a manner that also plays to the audience, a manner that doesn't seem like you're feeding them information, though you are.
A lot of it's about having characters' insecurities play naturally. People are always looking for confirmation, so they're asking themselves, and others, for confirmation all the time. This is a great device for natural exposition. It's really just about making things seem real, and not forced. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That's just how storytelling works, at least for me.
Don't miss the October 31 debut of C. Scott Morse's three-issue Ancient Joe miniseries, published monthly through December by Dark Horse Maverick. Each issue of this black-and-white tale features 24 story pages and retails for $2.99.