Comics
[Interview] David Schulner Talks “Clone” & Developments On The TV Adaptation
Last year Robert Kirkman’s Skybound launched “Clone”, a new ongoing science fiction epic by writer David Schulner about a secret government cloning project gone awry. The series features the artistic talents of Juan Jose Ryp who has been turning in ultra-detailed, blood dripping pages month in and month out. Together Schulner and Ryp have made “Clone” one of the most underrated books out there.
Issue #11 kicks off a brand new story-arc that serves as the perfect jumping on point for new readers, and Bloody-Disgusting had the opportunity to sit down with Schulner to discuss where the book is headed. Schulner gave us the inside scoop on the latest developments on the “Clone” television series and what readers can expect in the coming months as the characters battle religious zealots, fear, ignorance, and intolerance from the world at large.
Bloody-Disgusting: I’m interested to hear what spawned the initial idea for Clone, because the idea of cloning has been a hot topic across the globe over the past few years. Is it true that the idea blossomed out of your wife being pregnant?
David Schulner: That’s right. This was seven years ago. That’s how long these things take to get off the ground. My wife was pregnant and I was like, “Holy shit I’m going to be a father!” And not because I felt immature, but because I just became a husband. And I still felt like my parent’s son. How could I become someone else? Again? Then couple this identity crisis with all the debates about embryonic stem cells and the ethics of cloning happening in the news everyday and BAM, Clone!
BD: You are a television writer and this is your first foray into the comic book world. How big was the learning curve from TV to comics and how different is it writing for each medium?
DS: Well, the truth is there’s a huge learning curve. In issue #11 (which will be the start of our 3rd trade) we do a big reset, where new readers can jump in without having read the first 10 issues. And the reason we did this was twofold. One was just practical, we want new readers! And the second reason, to be completely honest, was that I finally felt like I knew how to write an awesome comic and I didn’t want people to read those first 10 issues. But to be fair (to myself and to the amazing team that makes Clone every month) people really liked the first ten issues. But I only see what I could have done better.
And in terms of writing for the screen vs. writing for comics, I think we’ll start to hear more and more people say there isn’t much of a difference. Because a lot of us go back and forth now. One of the reasons I’m writing Clone with Aaron Ginsburg and Wade McIntyre is that I love the TV model of a writers room – a bunch of smart folks sitting around pitching ideas with the best idea always winning. Especially for a comic like ours, which eats up a ton of story and plot, it makes the heavy lifting more bearable.
BD: Jose Ryp has been turning out some jaw dropping pages in this book each month. Tell us a little bit about the creative process between you both. Do you give him tight, detailed scripts or do you leave the scene up to him to come up how to portray it on the page?
DS: Juan is incredible. I mean, he’s in a class unto himself. He has a splash page in issue 13 that is the greatest (and when I say greatest I mean most horrific) in our series. Or the cover for issue 15? It’s breathtaking. So, in terms of process, we give Juan the emotion of the scene, or the takeaway of the scene, sometimes we’ll have specific angles, but we try to be as open as possible. I don’t want to tell Juan how to do his job. He’s been doing this a lot longer than me. I want him to be as creative as we get to be coming up with the story. It’s the same when I work with a director on set. As long as they’re telling the story, surprise me. You didn’t think I wrote all the excruciating detail Juan puts in his panels, did you? Nope. That’s all Juan.
BD: In the last two issues have begun the third arc, where a new threat has emerged for Luke and the clones in the form of religious zealots who believe that the clones are abominations against god and must be killed. Another big part of the third arc is that Clones are now on the run from the rest of the world. That must open the door for you as a writer to play off humanities fears and prejudices…
DS: I think anytime a new race/class/religion/genetically modified clones are introduced into the populace there is some pushback out of fear, ignorance, and intolerance. So we thought once the clones were outed to the public this would be a realistic reaction. What it does is it puts pressure on Luke to find the remaining clones. Like he was found by Foss (R.I.P.). But once Luke is captured by the Coalition, and a very needy member of the Coalition I might add, he realizes no clone will ever be safe here again. But how do you escape the country with sixty clones who are America’s Most Wanted?
BD: Luke’s wife, Amelia, also seems to be going through some major transformations in the past couple of issues, but she seems to be taking on much more of a leadership role within the Clone safe house. What can you tell us about her character and where she’s heading in the coming months?
DS: Amelia’s strong as hell. But what’s great about Amelia is that she’s also a new parent. And new parents are very vulnerable, fiercely protective, but also quite emotional, and completely self-sacrificing. They are pulled in a hundred different directions. And that’s fun to write. As much as we put Luke through the wringer we wanted put Amelia through the wringer as well. Just because she’s not captured by the Coalition doesn’t mean she’s not going to face the toughest decision possible for a new mother.
BD: At the end of issue #13, Luke meets a series of female clones. What can you tell us about that development?
DS: Luke just assumed he and his clones were the only clones “made”. So we get to blow his mind here and hopefully the reader’s. These new clones were also made by Luke’s father, and they have decided to risk exposing themselves to save their “brothers”.
BD: Clone has been optioned for television, can you give an update on the series status and how far in the development process it is?
DS: The script is done. It was a blast to write. Everyone wants to be in business with Robert [Kirkman], who is executive producing with me, so we’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed.
BD: I remember Robert Kirkman saying that he wants the Walking Dead television show and comic to be two separate and different entities, because he doesn’t want fans to watch the show and know what to expect next. How closely is the Clone television adaptation to the source material and will the comic and show be able to exist simultaneously?
DS: Robert is very smart for someone who is so good looking. Usually god doesn’t give with both hands. But I digress. The TV script of Clone is different from the comic in that I combine certain characters (The Vice President and Davis become one character) and Foss, a fan favorite in the comic, dies at the end of the pilot episode. But it’s very much the same in terms of Luke’s arc and emotional journey.
BD: How far do you have Clone planned and is there a definitive ending in mind for the series?
DS: We are currently writing issue 17 and we have a detailed storyboard through issue 25. No end in sight! We have so many insane twists and turns coming up we’ll just keep going until someone turns off the lights.
Charles Burn crafts a methodical masterpiece about self-discovery and main character syndrome that’s cast against Super 8 science fiction and the power of cinema.
“I didn’t know it would be like this. I thought making a movie would be a lot more fun.”
It’s hard to compare to the euphoria that’s experienced from a good graphic novel horror story. Expressive, disturbing images linger on the page and proceed at the viewer’s discretion as they set the pace, rather than vicious visuals that flash across the screen in a movie or television series. It’s easy to get lost in a graphic novel’s artwork and almost become haunted by its imagery. It’s a form of possession that can even feel otherworldly, as if the reader has left their body or become inhabited by something foreign. This isn’t an experience that’s felt with every graphic novel or comic, but the right one can feel magical. The right one can feel extraterrestrial.
Charles Burns became an indispensable name in the graphic novel and comic industry after publishing his STI-suffused body horror epic, Black Hole, which expertly deconstructed and cut through reckless teenage apathy like a knife in a slasher film. Burns is back with Final Cut, his first standalone graphic novel in nearly two decades, which in itself makes this a must-read title. However, it’s rewarding to see that Burns has only become a more accomplished, confident, and ambitious storyteller and artist in the 20 years that have passed since Black Hole’s release. Final Cut feels like the perfect evolution of Black Hole that touches on comparable themes of identity, community, and alienation, but is also very much its own unique identity. Final Cut will surprise audiences and get under their skin, but not in the way that they expect with such a sci-fi-laden narrative. Final Cut is another character-driven triumph from Charles Burns that’s a dark allegory about addiction, denial, and mental health that’s far scarier than any pod person or alien invasion.
Final Cut is a love letter to the joys and pains of the creative process – specifically the art of filmmaking – and how easy it is to get hopelessly lost in one’s own creations and artificial worlds. Brian is a detached teen, talented illustrator, and budding amateur filmmaker who spent his youth making homemade sci-fi and horror films with his friends. Now, more inspired than ever, Brian heads out to a secluded cabin in the woods to film what he knows will be his magnum opus. It just has to be. Surrounded by friends, would-be performers, and the object of his desire, Brian is determined to have an experience that he’ll never forget.
Final Cut celebrates a bunch of horror and sci-fi junkies who are at their happiest when they’re lost in a B-movie film marathon. It’s a perspective that’s not just relatable, but one that helps the audience get a firmer grasp on the type of individual that Brian is and what he gravitates towards. There are definitely traces of Ed Wood, X, and even Super 8 in Final Cut as these passionate storytellers try to put together a scrappy film production that becomes something considerably deeper and an allegory for who they are. Burns’ graphic novel captures the joy and spark of meeting someone who is on your wavelength when you’ve previously been otherwise alone. To that point, Final Cut nails the sensation of feeling alien and abnormal in a world that seems like it’s made for other people and doesn’t make sense.
The story captures a certain adolescent innocence and the corresponding freedom of having your whole life ahead of you. Final Cut is brimming with awkward, burgeoning sexuality and misplaced hormones, not unlike Black Hole. However, there is also harsher and more somber material that creeps up and rears its head. Burns’ graphic novel is very indebted to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and echoes its themes of conformity. Final Cut doesn’t pretend for a second that this is subtext and these parallels are front and center. Burns wants the reader to have other tales of extraterrestrial invasion and societal calamity on their mind as they wade through Brian and Laurie’s plight. We’re all pod people, to some extent.
Final Cut understands that filmmaking and storytelling can be used as the ultimate escape from reality, but it also addresses when hiding behind artifice can go too far and becomes problematic. Friendliness can be a horrifying veneer and the perfect disguise for more troubled individuals. There are so many powerful moments where inner monologues play out over scenes from classic cinema, like some celluloid therapy session, and these worlds continue to endlessly blur together. Brian’s video camera becomes a tool that’s akin to a time machine or a portal to another dimension that helps him disconnect. Burns’ graphic novel features a glorious, devastating moment where it swallows its own tail and unintentionally reenacts a scene from The Last Picture Show that’s as gutting as it is glorious.
There’s a powerful story that unfolds in Final Cut, but Burns’ artwork – which is in vibrant color – is just as precise as his storytelling. There are so many effective panels in Final Cut that distort Brian’s appearance and his perspective of how he views himself. The graphic novel consistently returns to festering visuals of an alien mass that don’t just haunt Brian, but the reader. They intervene and break up the narrative like intrusive thoughts that become increasingly overpowering and deafening.
Final Cut adeptly switches perspective between Brian and Laurie as the graphic novel casts a dueling account of events. It masterfully blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, and fact and fiction, as Brian heads deeper into this dream-like wormhole of creativity. There’s excellent tension that comes out of how Final Cut treats Brian like a ticking time bomb who is liable to go off at any moment. He lulls the audience, and Laurie, into a comforting sense of security. However, this increasingly feels like a facade that’s ready to crumble away. There’s such a dark sense of denial that overpowers the storytelling and turns this into a tragic tale, even if the characters refuse to acknowledge it as such. Final Cut has a really melancholy core that’s tinged in sadness and regret.
Final Cut presents a very tender romance, just not with the characters that you might expect to be at the center of it all. It reflects the unpredictable, happenstance nature of life and our tendency to make ourselves the main character of our stories. There’s a sense of comfort to be found in the ability to hide behind a script, storyboards, and a fictional narrative. This is a story of young love and wanting to be understood and seen — whether it’s on a video camera or in real life — that overpowers any intense genre material. Final Cut will resonate with anyone who has ever lost themselves in a movie, the creative process, or had their imaginations run wild. It’s proof that Charles Burns’ is still one of the masters of his craft and a name to turn to when it comes to provoking human stories with a horror edge. Final Cut hits hard and will stick with the reader long after the extraterrestrial spectacle of the lights, camera, and action has faded to a dull hum.
Charles Burns’ ‘Final Cut’ was released September 24 by publisher Pantheon.
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