pay artists to create new ones. I need to sell books to support myself while I produce them. A book like Grandville takes me over a year of full-time work just to illustrate. Like Alice, the Grandville books are nice artefacts in themselves, with debossed covers, endpapers and quality paper, nice things to own and hold. You can’t get that with digital comics. GS: Steampunk seems to be pretty fashionable at the moment but of course you¹ve been working around the imagery of it for a long time, and continued in the Grandville series. Does it have some special appeal for you? BT: To put it simply, it’s cool. While we live in an age where design and architecture tend to be plain and functional and everything¹s made out of plastic, to me, the gothic style is far more visually interesting and everyday products were aesthetically pleasing; things made to last from brass, leather and polished
wood. Rather than the sloppy, ragged-assed fashions of today I can draw stylish, romantic costumes. I think this, combined with the element of science fiction, creates a fascinating world to inhabit for the duration of a story. Just think of it - steam trains were huge, incredibly loud iron dragons that breathed fire and gushed steam and smoke. Put them alongside a bland modern electric train. No contest.
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a teenager, but I’m not keen on them now. So I’m doing my own take. A steampunk Bond murder mystery staring a ferocious badger detective with the deductive powers of a Sherlock Holmes is far more interesting! Art is also a theme running through this book, with a a lengthy scene set in the Louvre at an exhibition opening.
GS: The released preview pages for Bete Noire have a marked “bond villain” vibe to them; and the previous two volumes have distinct tones that play across the volumes; is one of the attractions of writing a series like Grandville the freedom to move between pulp genres? BT: Exactly. I’ve joked before that the first book was a little like Sherlock Holmes directed by Quentin Tarantino and the second like Holmes directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Bête Noire is very definitely a partial pastiche of the Bond movies. I used to love them when I was
GS: So far the world of Grandville has been very focused on Britain and France, but would you consider doing anything in the wider world? BT: Funny you should mention it. Grandville Nöel’s opening scene is in America, in a place called Yasgur’s farm in New Paris State! Find out more about Bryan Talbot and his work at his official website: http://www.bryan-talbot. com
Matt Farr Sara Westrop
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