AMBER LOVE 27-JULY-2014 I’m so glad that guests enjoy the show so much that they want to come back on. WES LOCHER has been before to talk about his books CHAMBERS and UNIT 44. Now we get into one of his older stories that was three years in the making — see, you don’t need to put out a book a month to consider yourself “in comics.” THE UNDOUBTABLES is fun, fast-paced heist story about a playing card theme gang lead by Spencer “Spade.”
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THE UNDOUTABLES & PLOTTING HEIST STORIES
Wes Locher – writer, letters- Emre Özdamarlar – art
- Kell Smith – cover colors
- Kefas Armando – interior colors
- Amanda Kent – logo
Wes brings us up to speed on the UNIT 44 Kickstarter which continues where the story left off. It’s a comedic sci-fi story about what happens when the government storage unit housing important evidence in conspiracies goes up for auction because they didn’t pay the rent.
When I talk to Wes, it barely resembles an interview because we are able to so casually talk about comics and entertainment as if we’re sitting around a quiet table in a coffee shop. He’s far more into his indie comics career than I am and hearing about how long it takes for him to a book out, is inspiring. Like I said in my recap of the many speakers at the Mystery Writers’ workshop, some creators have a lightning speed production schedule while others have years to get to fruition.
Elements of comic style we discuss include whether or not to go straight to collection versus issues; why he chose not to have chapter breaks; the evolution of the artist’s talent; pacing and plotting key elements in a heist story with a lot of chase scenes; bottle episodes; growth of a writer to learn about how to handle a story heavy with male characters particularly if they’re mostly white; also writing when your protagonist is not “the good guy” of the story but not the baddest bad guy.
“Everybody definitely has their own motivations behind what they’re doing, in the grand scheme of things so I’m hoping that’s something that people really enjoy about it is just that there’s so many different groups of characters and each kind of have their own thing going on but still contributing to the overall plot.” ~WL
Not too involved but we did get a few minutes to chat about favorite heists in history. Cracked.com seems to put out a list every year.
HEIST RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Darwyn Cooke’s comic adaptions of RICHARD STARK’S PARKER series
- Brubaker/Phillips CRIMINAL
- LEVERAGE (TV on Netflix)
- HUSTLE (BBC TV, on YouTube)
- OCEAN’S 11 (movie)
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:
- MINDGAMES – short lived current season American TV show starring Steve Zahn; not heists but “Robin Hood” style gang using grifting and manipulation
- THE UNOFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY OF WINSTON CHURCHILL – comic by Erica Schultz and Claire Connelly, previously interviewed on Vodka O’Clock
- PLANET GIGANTIC – published and ready to order now through Action Lab Entertainment by Eric Grissom and David Halvorson
LINKS:
Wes Locher on Twitter
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.