Comics Features Interviews

A Degree of Completion: In Conversation with Stuart J McCune, Creator of Noir

Noir is a mercilessly strange beast of a comic. With haunting artwork and a complex story at its heart, Noir can be read as a standalone comic from writer/artist Stuart J McCune, or be read as an instalment as part of his ongoing shared narrative The Human Beings.

This dark, intoxicating sci-fi collection is currently funding on Kickstarter, and we caught up with McCune to discover more about Noir‘s creation, its emphasis on black-and-white art, and how it fits into McCune’s wider vision of his interlinked comics.

A Place To Hang Your Cape: What inspired you to create Noir?

Stuart J McCune: Up until Noir all of my work was created with special attention to colour. I am a fan of pre-code EC and I’ve wanted to create something exclusively black and white for a while. Noir was originally serialised in two parts for subscribers and the Kickstarter version collects those with some extras in an expanded edition but on a smaller format.

AP2HYC: Where does Noir fit into the larger world of The Human Beings?

McCune: In terms of basic issue numbers it is issue seven. In terms of overall story it fleshes out where some of the other core characters have been since the completion of the first arc in issue 5.

AP2HYC: On the Kickstarter page, you mention how Noir can be enjoyed on its own or as part of the larger world you’re creating with your comics. What pressure might that put upon you as a creator, i.e. to create a work that’s designed to be enjoyed in different ways?

McCune: I try to make most of my books readable as one-shots as well as integral to the overall world. The current trend in media in general is to drag the story forward without resolution whereas I prefer to offer some degree of completion in each book. If you’ve never dipped in before you can get some sense of it. Sometimes that sense is understanding and connecting the story strands, sometimes it is just absorbing the tone of the world – it is deliberately designed to depend on the reader.

AP2HYC: Your art is hugely distinct, with the stylistic colours and warped shapes adding integral flavours to the overall mood of the comic. What does your visual process in creating these worlds involve?

McCune: Thank you. I enjoy very much that you view it as distinct. Influences are absorbed constantly and because of this the development of a visual process is rarely a soundbite answer. If you go back to earlier work you can see development. Where that goes is in the hands of experience. In terms of basic comic making craft though everything begins with pencils on paper, then for speed it is usually digitally inked and coloured but if I have the time I enjoy physically colouring the work too. You can see some of that process in my catch-all newspaper Reality Paper which includes varied art styles and experimentation not included in the main books.

AP2HYC: Your work feels purposefully impenetrable, and evokes an almost psychedelic feel. How might you want people to react to your comics?

McCune: Obviously the work is not impenetrable but if it feels that way at first it is largely due to the formalisation of genre in mainstream comics and I fully accept The Human Beings does not walk that path. It is much more engaging for a reader to experience making the connections themselves and when those are made it becomes a more rewarding and immersive experience for that reader. I’ve never heard “psychedelic” before and I think I know what you are getting at but that word now has connotations of earlier eras and their imagery and culture which have no connection to The Human Beings.

AP2HYC: Do you want people to react any differently to Noir?

McCune: If you mean react differently from my own books as opposed to a Marvel or Image book basically I just want people to enjoy the books in their own way, get what they get, and have their own experience regardless of my intent. On some books I subtly tailor where this leads them and on others it’s more open. Noir forms from many characters and because of this I’ve included an infographic keycard with each book should the reader want to see more clearly how the characters are connected to one another.

AP2HYC: Where does this interconnected saga go from here?

McCune: The next book is an OGN called Walk In Like An Exorcist and it will be released via Kickstarter in October. It is the most A-to-B story I’ve done in a while and follows directly on from the foundations laid with Noir and will rest in the series as The Human Beings issue 8. After that the MANifestation OGN will appear towards the end of the year. Not strictly a Human Beings title but it exists in the same universe and has strong connections to the earlier series Monologue. After that will come The Human Beings issue 10, (#9 is already released), in the spring of next year.

Have you backed Noir on Kickstarter yet? The campaign finishes this week, so get pledging if you haven’t done so! Let us know in the comments section below or send us a Tweet!

About the author

Fred McNamara