Downland, the latest graphic novel by author/artist Norm Konneux, is known for comics such as Cthulhu and Junction, and will be released by Titan Comics in May this year.
Set in the southern part of England in the late 1990s, Downland is a rich, deeply rewarding read that incorporates stories from local history and folklore for centuries. Like the cartoon saloon film, it fuses tradition, mythology and legend with a beautiful, rivet-and-spirited and moving coming-of-age story that sees one boy deal with his first death experience in the form of a giant black hound.
Beat sat down with Konniu and discussed some of the processes behind his latest work. Please read it!
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Jared Bird: Thank you very much. Your latest graphic novel, Downlands, came out from Titan Comics on May 13th. How would you explain to someone you’re not familiar with?
Norm Convey: A fabric of folklore, superstition and history in the British region between Eastbourne and Brighton, known as Eastbourne and South Downs. It incorporates local myths and legends and incorporates them into stories about boys who are looking for answers.
Bird: That’s a good way to put it down. This is the third book in Titan Comics. What was it like working with them?
Conn: It was very easy. My first comic was crowdfunded because I wasn’t sure if anyone was interested in what I had to say. Since then, I have done more or less the same, creating my own books and crowdfunding. Most crowdfunding sales have no impact on the right publisher. It gives me complete freedom to do whatever I want to do, it is little known. There are no editors and no one is constantly looking for updates or deadlines. It’s all left for me.
Bird: That sounds nice. You can imagine it opening up more creativity because you can always work on any idea that grabs you the most.
Konyu: It will become much more personal. Not all of my books are really personal, but Downland feels very personal just like Junction. You’re not working with the team. It’s a vision of one person, for better or worse.
Art by Norm Conneux
Byrd: As mentioned earlier, Sussex’s geography and history play a major role in comics’ stories. To explore that, what attracted you as an artist?
Konn: I’m not far from it. I live in a battle opposite the South Downs from Brighton. I’ve been working visually on hiking and walking there many times, so my first idea is always visual. Walking through South Downs already creates something visual, so we had to create stories to explore in that locale. I am Canadian and have no visible depth of history. Canada’s Indigenous and Indigenous populations have been there for thousands of years, but much of their history has not been recorded. There are not many visual records left. I am always amazed when I walk around. There’s something about the Romans, the Neolithic period, and people who lived here for a while don’t realize it anymore, but it still surprises me. Folklore too. We don’t have the same folklore – you’ll hear about a scary house, but it was built in 1950. It’s very different here.
Bird: I can relate to it. I’m not originally from England and seeing pubs and similar historic places from hundreds of years ago is consistently a shock. They are surrounded in history and can be felt when they roam and see old stones that have become exhausted over time.
Conn: I live in the battle near where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. Next to it is the ruins of a monastery that was destroyed after King Henry VIII started the Church of England, and then a concrete block called Dragon’s Teeth, known as Dragon’s Teeth during World War II. There is a lot of history within 500 feet.
Bird: You play with it in books by exploring how much can happen in a certain way. You must be extensively studying British folk tales for the book. What are your favorite folk tales you’ve learned?
Connew: Must be the Black Hound, the heart of the comic. Not particularly British. There is a lot of folklore throughout Europe and in places like India, and in places like that of India, and views the black hound as a precursor to death. It is mentioned in the Baskerville hounds, and although there are no particular names in the area, there are many in the UK that have names. I often talk to me, especially when I look back on my childhood. I’ve collected Conan, a wild b-man comic, and I had some old Barry Windsor-Smith issues, one of which concerns the Blackhound and has been resonating with me ever since.
Bird: Barry Windsor Smith is one of the greatest artists working in comics. Speaking of art, I think your art style is very unique, combining cute and calm with anxiety and anxiety. What advice would you give to an artist trying to understand your style?
Conn: That’s good. My style came from my job as a professional animator. In animation, it is always the effort of a team to work with the director or someone else’s design. After years of working in animation, I didn’t know what my own style was anymore. My first book was really an experiment to find style, but I don’t know if I can point to anyone to find style. It’s really personal and if you give advice, it’s alienating from being their style. It must come naturally.
Bird: That is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting differences between animation and cartoon. It’s often hard to animate individual touches, so listening to stories like Don Bruce’s experiences becomes even more important. His films still look incredible, but not everyone thought they were working at the time, as they didn’t suit everything else.
Konyu: When he split from Disney, they had an animation of a very specific style at the time, so when he made his first film, The Secret of Nimh, it looked like it, but there was a much darker tone underneath. I think that was something the audience was struggling at the time. It’s similar to returning to Oz. Oz looks beautiful, playful and colorful, but very dark. People couldn’t really wrap their heads in what was quite visible, but was also dark at the same time.
Art by Norm Conneux
Bird: Does that apply to your job too? The contrast between beautiful and creepy things.
Konn: Yes, I think so. I think a lot of people are positively commenting that I like to use a lot of bright colors, even when it’s dark what’s going on.
Bird: I think that dissonance is really interesting. I remember seeing the first movie that scared me as a child and it was refreshing and anxious at once. It was a very obvious experience and my first encounter with the darkness. Was it important to you to explore the first experience of a young person’s death?
Konyu: It was similar to what I explored at the junction, but was handled very differently. When kids get involved, I always find something scary. It is this idea of a crime against innocence, and many of my main characters are children of various ages. Also, something is needed to drive a character, and sadness is a great change force, and it always makes people do things they don’t want to do. If someone is going to do something, it helps to stop disbelief as something is pushing them to do it.
Bird: Is it difficult to write sadness considering that sadness itself is made up of so many contrasting emotions and emotions?
Konyu: People always ask me if I’ve portrayed my experiences, but that’s not the case. We all have it at some point, but I have not yet had that experience. I had no need to deal with such losses. A lot of people nail it to me, but I think it’s just a prediction!
Bird: Your upcoming comics, space between the trees, will come out later this year. Can you give us some hints on what people can expect from it?
Konnu: There is no sadness in this. ah. I’ll describe it as a twisted episode of the Twilight Zone. In contrast to Downland, it is a simple, one-track story, exploring many things in different eras and places. It’s a twisted little story.
Bird: One of my favorite things about Downland was the exploration of the past, especially the prose sequences of graphic novels. Do you like to experiment with foam and structure?
Conn: Absolutely. In my long work, I often keep in mind that I write it out with cue cards. And then I shoot all of those individual story beats and put them on different orders to make the story more interesting and make it a twist as close as possible.
Bird: What other works would you recommend to your Downland readers?
Connue: If they enjoyed the Downlands, the junction will probably be the next closest thing. The space between the trees soon appeared, and I also made another book called the Call to Cthulhu. This is very different. Dr. Seuss encounters HP Lovecraft, an unrespectful view of Cthulhu Mythos.
Bird: Have a wonderful day.
Konn: Thank you!
Art by Norm Conneux
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