Janet Harvey and I were colleagues, and I used to use it to talk to her about the kickstarter that is currently running (funded and almost complete!) and create a high street hellcat with Megan Lebens. High Street Hellcats is an original graphic novel about a 1920s girl gangster of thieves and grifters, and I’ve already backed it up myself.
Check out Beat’s interview with Harvey below!
Johanna Draper Carlson: So, it’s been quite a few minutes since Janet, we set up our office next to each other in DC Comics. What have you been doing recently?
Janet Harvey: Haha! Wow, I feel like I’ve lived a few lives ever since. After moving to LA to pursue writing and directing, I moved to Austin in 2009 as a writer for DC Universe Online Mmorphg, for my first job in the game.
But no matter what else I’m working on, comics have always been a great love in my life and I always seem to be drawn back to them. I’m really excited to work with the Megan Lebens again on our latest project, the High Street Hellcats!
DRAPER CARLSON: I saw that! It’s amazing. You and Megan previously worked in Angel City, another comic featuring tough gals in historic settings. Why that type of story? What draws you to those characters and settings?
Harvey: You know, my father was a history lover, and I think the love of history has rubbed me down. I find history fascinating and reading about it always sparked the idea of a story for me. I’m excited about the story. You need to tell everyone about it, especially if history is about shiny women.
I’ve heard about this multi-generational girl gangster called 40 elephants, but like many people, I was immediately intrigued and wanted to know their stories. Telling stories about these women is a way to connect with them and go back and say, “Yes, they’re here and their stories are worth telling.”
I also really love tough women and crime.
Draper Carlson: How much research do you do and how do you go about it?
Harvey: When I get interested in a subject, I go down the rabbit hole and follow the idea and see where it leads. In this case, it was able to see the underground passages used hundreds of years ago to carry prisoners from Newgate prisons, as I bought some antique books on highways in the 1700s, a map of the ancient Roman waterways below London, and a non-alcoholic G&T in a bar across from the old Bailey!
Hellcats has a lot of information about the period and where I need to dig into. For example, what did Harrod look like, and what was South London like in the 1920s? I traveled to London and did a lot of research on the ground while I was there, but I read a wide and deeper into gangs and periods. As Megan knows, I collect many photo references for both historical references and the “look and feel” of the story.
For this story, I wanted to refer not only to gangsters, but also to the bohemian, variety whole culture and “bright young” of the era. In that sense, making gangs fictional is freed. You can imagine what life of these women would look like in the context of their time, but it still gives it a modern feel. No one needs to go “Oy, Guvna, what a Toff” like Oliver’s twist.
DRAPER CARLSON: I’m jealous of the excuses to visit London! Obviously you and Megan are working well together, or I don’t think you’re doing it again. How did you come to work together?
Harvey: Initially we were put together by Angel City editor Ari Yarwood. At this point, I helped out with six issues of Angel City, Wonder Woman Story, the Geiger Universe story featuring Bonnie Borden, and several other pitches and scripts that haven’t seen the light of the day (yet!). I mainly feel lucky that she will have me sitting at her contable and she has never been sick of me ever!
Megan is an incredible talent, her storytelling is amazing, and she has a love for historical details, especially her costume. She is the perfect collaborator for something like this. There was no doubt in my heart that Hellcats was a collaboration between Harvey/Levens from the start.
DRAPER CARLSON: What is your style of working with her as an artist?
Harvey: We have a lot of trust in each other – we spend a little time going back and forth on character designs, but once we have a set of those, I don’t give her much direction. Her instincts are always amazing.
When we were in Angel City’s three or four I was writing shorthand for the characters she was portraying. We were so trapped, it was like writing a description of a panel like, “Dolores looks straight and walks out the door. There’s no copy.”
Draper Carlson: Do you most appreciate her work?
Harvey: Above all, she has this innate drama-like sense and expressiveness in the characters she portrays. It’s like working with a great actor. Her characters live uniquely and their emotions really draw you in. She can make the character feel completely indifferent or deeply vulnerable, and you believe it. And she makes it look easy! But that’s the most difficult thing.
Draper Carlson: Comics have changed dramatically in the eight years since Angel City was released. According to the Kickstarter page, we went to the traditional publishing route, but it has now become crowdfunding. Can you talk more about that? Is there a general silence among publishers to try something new, different, or inclusive?
Harvey: I don’t think they’re silent about doing anything inclusive or different, in itself. I think the will is there, but ever since we started this project, there has definitely been a contraction in the traditional publishing world. And this project is split between the cracks – it’s for adults, but doesn’t fit properly into the marketing category.
Honestly, I think if we had pitched it three years ago, it would have been snapped. But even the editors who were passionate about this project said, “Oh, we love it! We can’t wait to read it! But we can’t get it.” It shows me that the problem is not the book, but the market.
Draper Carlson: Kickstarter was a trip. How about that? What advice would you give to others?
Harvey: Hahaha. Yes… it was definitely a trip. Honestly, it was nail bitters! I had moments of incredible uplifting, but also a dark night of souls that made me wonder if we would achieve our goals. The response and infusion of support from the comic community is truly incredible. We say, “Hey kids, let’s have a show in the barn!” Things, and people say, “Yes! We’re with you! Let’s start the show!” People are really showing up for us, and it’s moving and humble.
Amidst the helplessness, uncertainty and stress of the past few months, this kickstarter has become a wonderful soul healing experience for me. It’s great to feel we have a connection with a large comic community and some kind of agency.
What’s my advice for people who play Kickstarter? Run Kickstarter for 30 days and promote it using the preview page in advance. Seriously. They optimized that shit. Do not do this for 60 days. It’s not worth it! Also, if you can avoid the launch of Kickstarter when a small hand-held tyrant decides to wreaking havoc in trade and democracy, do so.
Draper Carlson: Lol, great advice. What draws you to writing manga rather than other types of media?
Harvey: What a juicy question! I love writing comics for a number of reasons – especially visual storytelling – but if I choose one of the reasons why I’m attracted to it, it’s because you have a lot of freedom in comics. You can take a big risk.
In movies (and AAA games), everything has to be done through committees and budgets hit tens of millions. It is a very risk aversion medium. Meanwhile, comics are more independent. You can always write, draw, copy and staple your own manga (or place it on your website). Manga can be a work of singular voice and vision in ways other media really don’t. Wild imaginative tales like Alan Moore’s swamp and the preacher never become a green light as a film. “Hey, in this episode, there’s a woman having sex with a plant.” But in the manga it’s like “Cool!”
Draper Carlson: That’s a great thing, and you captured the charm of the comic well. Good luck with these Kickstarter stretch goals. And thank you for your time!
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