Shawn McBee:
1st: How did you and MJ Jankowski end up creating “Westron”?
Shawn: MJ came up with the initial concept of a private investigator who faces monsters from Slavic myth, as well as the character’s name, many of the specific creatures he’d face and some of the broad story points. Because he knew me online and knew of my work on Stargirl, he had asked if I’d like to co-write something with him, so when he came up with this idea, he brought it to me. I saw the potential immediately and we got to work fleshing out the character and ideas, crafting a coherent story from what was kind of a messy pile of initial concepts.
1st: Who is Jan Westron and why did he become a private investigator?
Shawn: Jan (pronounced Yahn) is a highly skilled investigator, practically a savant, in the vein of Sherlock Holmes. This story arc actually includes flashbacks to the events that led to his becoming a private investigator, but in short: As a teenager, when one of his best friends is blamed for the murder of their other best friend, Jan is the only person willing to prove his innocence. He discovers a skill for sleuthing and ends up training at a specialized academy, where he hones those skills.
1st: Why use Slavic folklore and not some other folklore?
Shawn: Mostly because MJ is Polish, so those are the tales he grew up on. From a more practical perspective, these are incredible legends with creepy and interesting creatures that don’t really get any attention in pop culture. It’s an opportunity to bring rich legends to life for people who might otherwise never encounter them. And while our focus is largely Slavic, it’s not exclusive. As the series progresses, we’ll encounter creatures from legends all over: Wales, Scotland, the Philippines, and more. But that lesser-known element is common to them all.
1st: What makes “Westron” stand out from other comic books?
Shawn: We’d like to think a lot. Not only are we featuring these creatures from little-known legends, but we’re bringing them into a modern-day setting, which is completely new for these creatures (as far as we’re aware). We’re also telling a bifurcated story, with flashbacks that tie into and have symmetry with the main story, while still telling their own tale, and with their own artist, lending a contrasting style within the book that still fits the tone. We have plenty of familiar elements, but we think we’ve managed to do something new overall that will excite readers and give them a unique comic reading experience.
1st: Which supporting character in “Westron” is your favorite?
Shawn: I really love Filip, Jan’s best friend and business partner. Jan is somewhat reserved and introspective, but Filip has known him since they were both babies and has no trouble bluntly calling him out in a way that lets the reader get to know more about the both of them. But he’s only my favorite for now. There’s another character that we haven’t properly met yet who is definitely my favorite and I can’t wait until we get to them in the story.
1st: Do you think the public will agree the occult and a mystery go well together?
Shawn: So far, people seem to like it! But we’re far from unique in this particular sphere. Supernatural detectives have been around as a genre for quite some time. House of Secrets had a recurring feature in the ’60s called “Mark Merlin” who was a supernatural detective. John Constantine isn’t exactly a detective, but it’s safe to say he fits that mold. So it’s a tried-and-true format, we’re just trying to do our own take on it.
1st: How many issues of “Westron” are planned?
Shawn: We have seven story arcs planned, but don’t know exactly how many issues each will be, as they’re only outlines at the moment. But those seven comprise our core Westron story and, if we get the chance to finish that, we have ideas for a miniseries spinoff and possibly another ongoing following that, but Westron as it is now is only those seven chapters.
1st: How does Nicolás Nieto’s art enhance “Westron”?
Shawn: Nicolás is a fantastic artist with a style that we love because it doesn’t feel “polished.” It has a rawness and energy to it that really suits the darkness of our book, and he draws gore really well!
1st: You worked with James Robinson and Geoff Johns. What did you learn from them?
Shawn: Oh… so, so much. It was my responsibility to map out three seasons of Stargirl, poring through every script, every episode and every scene, breaking down every level of the story. I wrote a 300-page series bible that covered every story arc, every character arc, every subplot. I tracked how they progressed over the course of a season as well as episode by episode. I got to see firsthand exactly how these two (and their writing staff) crafted story and character in a compelling and interesting way within a serialized format. And it’s important to note: Stargirl didn’t get the audience it deserved, but it is genuinely one of the very best superhero shows ever created. I would not have had the same experience from most other shows.
After Stargirl, I still learned a lot, primarily from James Robinson. He really helped Westron out with a lot of advice and guidance. He read the early drafts and helped us with advice about the industry, convinced us to change from seven prestige-format books to normal floppies, which gave the story more room to breathe, and has generally been very supportive.
1st: How has working in film helped you in creating comics?
Shawn: Well, working in film is how I got to know James Robinson and Geoff Johns, so I’m going to say that’s a definite yes! I’ve also worked on some truly terrible TV shows, which is far more helpful to the development of a good writer than you might think, despite the fact that writing was not part of my job on any of these shows. But exposure to hundreds of terrible scripts that have to be carefully analyzed can do wonders in making you recognize WHY a thing is bad so you can avoid it.
1st: What was your role on the Stargirl TV series?
Shawn: For the first two seasons, I was the graphic designer (my usual film role), creating logos and signage and props and all sorts of things like that. But for season three, Geoff personally created a new role for me that he referred to as “Keeper of Lore” where I was responsible for creating the 300-page writer’s bible I mentioned previously. It was to be the reference document for the writing room to use in future seasons to keep continuity, established character biographical details, plot lines and generally any sort of established canon. Unfortunately, there were no further seasons on which to utilize it, but making it was rewarding and educational.
1st: What comic books do you have planned next after “Westron”?
Shawn: As I alluded earlier, there are some plans for some more adventures within this world, spun directly from Westron, but I personally also have some very interesting, separate concepts I hope to develop in the meantime. Quite different from what MJ and I are doing here, but still very unique and with some interesting philosophical considerations that I’m very excited to dig into.
1st: How do you spend any free time you have?
Shawn: Talk about mythological creatures! I am always wary of sightings of this supposed “free time!” Seriously, though, I genuinely don’t have much. When I’m not working, I’m working on comics and when I’m not doing that, I’m building software to help with making comics! On the rare occasions that I have downtime and some energy simultaneously, I enjoy making prop replicas from movies and TV shows or reading voraciously (I’m on my 46th book for the year). Also, work/life balance is important, so with VERY few exceptions, I reserve the totality of my weekends for spending time with my lovely wife.
1st: What would you like to say to your Kickstarter backers?
Shawn: I love you all. Westron is only possible because our backers believe in us. Every penny they give us goes into making the comic happen. It still costs us money to make, but that cost would be too much to continue the book without the generosity and support of our Kickstarter backers. They really mean the world to us, each and every one.
MJ Jankowski:
1st: What is one thing that made you say, “I want to create a comic”?
MJ: I was writing and drawing comics for fun and as school projects when I was younger. So I think the urge to make a comic was buried inside of me for a while, but what made me say that I want to create a comic that people can read would be the interview I did with J.M. DeMatteis. The day after it, the entire concept for this world and an early version of Westron (which I assure you is different, but the most important things stayed the same) appeared in my head.
1st: What is the storyline in “Westron”?
MJ: The storyline of our first story arc is about guilt and correcting a wrong. At least that’s how Jan Westron sees it. In the actual story, Jan tries to find a missing girl after her sister’s body was found in the woods three days after they were last seen.
1st: Who is Natalia Becker and why should we care?
MJ: Natalia is the missing sister. She’s 14 and she reminds Jan of one of his best friends he wasn’t able to save 11 years prior to the main story.
1st: Matias De Vincenzo is one of two artists on “Westron.” What does his art bring to “Westron”?
MJ: His art brings a feeling of youthful innocence. He’s doing the flashbacks in which we see young Jan losing a best friend, his other best friend is locked up for the murder, and he goes to prove him innocent, which in turn makes him discover that creatures from legends his grandmother used to tell him actually exist. The art also both contrasts and mirrors the main story. They’re very complementary to each other.
1st: Have the Slavic legends been updated in “Westron”?
MJ: I don’t think we have updated the legends. All we did was take the creatures, put them in a modern setting and turn them into species. So if the legend described that there was only one of a specific creature, we take it as the people who wrote the legend only encountered one specimen, but there are multiple out there. So I think I’d say we sort of expand on the myths.
1st: What makes Slavic legends so terrifying?
MJ: Probably the nature of how the legends can be told and what creatures lurk in them. Although not all of them are terrifying. My Grandma, when we were pretty young, scared us that Baba Jaga would eat us if we visited the places my Grandma didn’t want us to visit. And it did work.
1st: How does “Westron” grab the reader’s attention?
MJ: Firstly, with a cold open that shows a bit of the mystery, and the mystery itself grabs attention, I hope. And then we have creatures you probably haven’t seen before.
1st: Can you describe a few of the characters in “Westron”?
MJ: Sure.
Jan Westron is a private investigator who sometimes has cases of the supernatural sort that he keeps secret. With his keen eye and focused mind, there is no case he’d leave without getting the answer.
Filip Grzech, his best friend and co-owner of their bureau, is helping Jan out on a professional level with research and on a personal level as they grew up together. And Jan did prove his innocence when Filip got accused of murdering his girlfriend.
Dominic Wäschenbach, the Polizeioberkommissar who got that rank thanks to Jan’s help a few years back, is a very smart POK but knows when time is of the essence there is no one better to help than Westron, even if his higher-ups rarely are happy when Jan’s involved.
1st: How did you come to love the horror genre?
MJ: When I was 8, my older sister showed me The Final Destination. The opening sequence was engraved in my brain since then and it opened the door for me to check out other horror stories.
1st: Why do you find old lore so interesting, and is it just Polish or other countries too?
MJ: I grew up on Slavic myths, so they hit somewhat close to home. I do think all mythologies and folklore are interesting because it’s a kind of time capsule to see what our ancestors were believing in all over the globe. And many things they believed in were pretty messed up.
1st: What type of comic book would you like to make next?
MJ: I did start writing a one-shot from a creature’s perspective recently. It’s all visual storytelling. I like weird stories and weird creatures, and can promise this is a creature nobody has ever heard of. I thought this would be a cool challenge. Not sure when and if it will leave the script phase. At the moment, Westron is our priority.
1st: If you could have an ability that a being from Slavic folklore has, what would it be and why?
MJ: I think I’d like to have Płanetnik’s ability to rule over storms and hail. Any day I wouldn’t feel like going out, I’d make it hail, and if I were on a walk in May, I’d make a little storm. I enjoy walks in the rain in May.
1st: Any final words for your readers?
MJ: I want to thank them for their support! Without you, this little passion project of ours wouldn’t be possible. Thanks for sticking with us and hope you will have as much fun reading upcoming issues as we had writing them!
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