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"A Lot Of People Have Talked About The Sex And The Weirdness" – In Conversation With Peter Milligan

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Olly MacNamee writes,

It would seem that the writer, Peter Milligan, has never been busier, what with the collection of your Image series The Discipline out next week, as well as your new Valiant comic, Britannia, and a new strip launching in prog 2000 of 2000AD last week. Not to mention his work on The Mummy comic too. Phew, that's a lot! I caught up with Pete recently and discussed some of his recent work and how each title has something different to offer the reader.

Olly MacNamee: Hi, Pete. Let's jump straight in shall we and begin at the beginning, as it were, what can you tell us about Counterfeit Girl (2000AD) that sees you once more reunited with Rufus Dayglo on art duties?

Peter Milligan: I've always been interested in the whole subject of identity and when the issue of IDENTITY THEFT kept coming up in the press it got me thinking, which led to Counterfeit Girl.  The story's about identity thieves in the future, where the whole thing has been taken to new and weird levels. It's great working with Rufus on something again, after we connected so well on Bad Company (2000AD).

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OM: Was it dumb luck that saw you involved with this anniversary issue, or a well-planned launch? Your recent return to Bad Company was very well received, after all, and a great tribute to the late, great Brett Ewing, in no small part thanks to Rufus Dayglo too. Did this lead to Counterfeit Girl I wonder? Or, are you a 'National Treasure' – a homegrown talent from the stables of 2000AD –  that Rebellion, quite rightly, recognised they should have on such an auspicious issue?

PM:  Dumb luck?  No, excellent planning on behalf of 2000AD, I'd say.  It was great that Bad Company was so well received – a fitting tribute to Brett , as you say – but this didn't lead to Counterfeit Girl. Matt Smith (AKA the mighty Tharg) really liking the idea is what led to Counterfeit Girl!  Finally, I've had a pretty long relationship with 2000AD but a National Treasure? God, I hope not: it makes me sound like Barbara Windsor!

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OM: Britannia, your new prestige format title for Valiant, is billed as the world's first detective story, or at least Rome's first detective. You and artists, Juan Jose Ryp, certainly pay a great deal of attention to detail. How much research went into this mini-series and, is it an era of history that has always interested you?

PM:   Yes, quite a lot of research.  It's this way that the unexpected strikes you, which then feedbacks into the story.  A good example of this are The Vestal Virgins, in researching this body of women I discovered some really interesting stuff which I've tried to use in the story.  I suppose I've been interested in the ancient Roman world since I was young, when I reach Robert Graves' I, Claudius.  More generally I'm interested in the classical world, Greece and Rome.

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OM: While clearly steeped in historical detail, there is a supernatural element to this too, it would seem. What can you tell us about the magic at play in this story?

PM:  Though the central tenet of the story is that our hero, Antonius (the "detectioner") is able to use rational and what you might call psychological reasoning he lives in a world where for most people the supernatural is real and ever-present.  As a counterbalance to Antonius' more modern thought, I wanted to suggest that there is another world, a world of the supernatural. It's this realization that Antonius must grapple with as he tries to get to the bottom of a series of grisly murders in the borderlands of Britannia.

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OM: One last question on Britannia; like all good hero's our detective, Antonius Axia, is flawed in more than one way. He's seen some action right, and paid the price?

PM:   Exactly.  Antonius has a brain and he uses it in what is for this era a pretty unique way, but he also used to be a soldier and so can look after himself when things get rough, which they often do.  Many of his flaws or demons come from the time when he was a soldier, indeed he has broken one of the great taboos of Ancient Rome.

OM:  The Discipline is less mainstream than your work on 2000AD. What freedoms does doing a creator-owned series like this, with Image Comics, allow you, what with its heady mix of sex, drugs, shadowy organisations and metamorphosis?

PM:  The Discipline is about as non-mainstream as you can get.  But I wasn't thinking about editorial freedom when I was writing it:  I simply wrote it the way this story need to be expressed.  It's an adult book with adult themes, these include sex and violence and some pretty weird shit  (including metamorphosis) but nothing is there for shock value or to show how far I can go.  We were fortunate to have someone like Image who allow us to tell the story we want to tell.

 

OM: How would you best describe the world of The Discipline with its opposite numbers The Stalkers and central female character, Melissa Peake and her seducer, Orlando? Clearly, it is far more encompassing than the 'sex, drugs and such' as facetiously mentioned above? It's a rather dark story, isn't it? It's not a simple tale of social mobility now is it?

PM:  For one, it's a world of moral ambiguity: we're never quite sure who the 'good and bad guys" are, even our "hero" is nuanced and her relationship and obsession with Orlando is deliberately questionable.  This story is about a lot more than "social mobility" but I'm interested in those people who move from one social world to another:  Melissa comes from a blue collar background and now lives in  swanky Manhattan apartment with her hedge fund husband.  The kind of "metamorphosis" she has to go through to occupy both of these different worlds is as nothing compared to the changes that her new life demands of her – but I was interested in how far it helps her be able to adapt.  Though a lot of people have talked about the sex and the weirdness (and there is certainly a lot of that ) I think the if I had to sum up the story in one word it's "Metamorphosis."   Maybe my long-time liking for Franz Kafka and his story of that name influenced me there!

OM: What were some of the influences at play in this first volume? And, how did Leandro Fernandez, tackle some of the scenes that must surely have seen his eyes popping out of his head upon first reading your scripts?

PM:  What I've outlined above, plus I felt this was an area I wanted to explore.  Metamorphosis. The story of a woman who is strong enough to straddle two worlds, but who is now bored with her life.  I feel that though she was in one way "seduced" by Orlando she was a very active partner in this seduction.  Nothing happens that she doesn't allow and at some level want to happen.  At least at the beginning.   I'm not sure what was happening to Leandro's eyes but his brain and his pen were on fire in this story!  Seriously it's great working with someone like Leandro who is not a great artist but smart and full of interesting ideas.

OM: And finally, what next for Melissa, The Discipline and The Stalkers? Can we expect to see them again sooner rather than later?

PM:  I'm working on the plot for the second "chapter" of the story, no firm start plans yet but it's something Leandro and I are working on fitting into our schedules in the near-ish future.

OM: Pete, thanks for your time. We covered quite a lot of ground, I feel.

Britannia No. 1 is out now, and the trade of The Discipline Vol.1 is out Wednesday at all good comic book stores.


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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