Last month, we took a look at one of Archaia’s most hyped books of 2010, the hardcover collected release of Joshya Hale Fiakolv and Noel Tuazon’s Tumor, the first comic book released exclusively for Amazon’s popular Kindle e-reader device.
Tumor is a noir story, but uses the reader’s predisposition of the genre to turn everything on its head. In our review of Archaia’s Tumor, we touted the pure value of the hardcover release and its bevy of bonus material. Recently, we got the chance to talk with the Fialkov about the noir genre, Tumor’s evolution, and what’s next.
CraveOnline: First, thanks for taking the time to talk with us! I really enjoyed Tumor, and found it to be interesting in that it has all the classic noir elements, but sort of twisted on their head in some ways. Was that something you set out to do?
JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV: With most of my books, I start with a narrative device I want to use... in the case of Tumor the idea of a man having two plots at once that were both completely separate and also complimentary. From there, I try and figure out a genre that works well for that device, and then, I just sort of throw it together and see what happens. I'm a huge noir freak, and I feel like the genre is so well formed that you can really tear it apart and still keep what's great about it while making something unique.
CrabeOnline: What are some of your favorite noir/pulp comics, novels or films?
FIALKOV: I love Lawrence Block most of all, probably. His novels are just breathtakingly well done, both in that they manage to follow the formula for a crime novel perfectly, yet, manage to be full of surprises. Elmore Leonard's books feel the same way to me... They just both know their genres so well that it's like watching a great jazz musician play.
As far as comics, I love Ed Brubaker's Criminal and Sleeper, and of course Brian Bendis's crime comics (including the just released and positively breath taking Scarlet) were a huge influence on bringing me into the medium in the first place.
As for films, D.O.A. starring Edmund O'Brien is one of my favorite films of all time, and Tumor owes a huge debt to it. I'm fairly well-versed in the classics and, thanks to the amazing noir festival in L.A. every year quite a few of the oddities, as well. Probably, next to D.O.A., my favorite noir is actually a western called Day of the Outlaw. It's sort of a backwards version of High Noon. A town finds out its sheriff was a criminal, so they run him out of town, just as a group of gunmen roll into town, then they have to beg the sheriff to come back and save the day. It's completely amazing, and highly recommended.
CraveOnline: How did you hook up with Noel for this project?
FIALKOV: This is the second book I've done with Noel, after 2007's Elk’s Run which was published by Random House. We get along like a house on fire, and a lot of our influences from comics are very similar. We're both big nuts for EC and the Warren horror comics, and I think a lot of what I write comes from that place.
Noel's someone I hope to work with for the rest of my life, or, as long as he'll have me.
CraveOnline: In the bonus materials of the hardcover, you mention how much Tumor evolved since its inception, and Noel’s art along with it. Can you take us through the project’s evolution?
FIALKOV: I think between the time i came up with the idea, and the execution the biggest difference was that I really learned about the city of Los Angeles and the medical reality of Frank's situation. There's a huge leap between a pitch and a book, or at least, I think there should be. As I did more and more research and understand the facts that the fiction needed to hold up, I think the fiction gained a sort of freedom, and the characters came to life. I think as conceived, the book was probably going to be more jumbly and the characters would be less succinct. But, just the process of spending time with the story and characters turned them into something that constantly surprised me.
CraveOnline: How did Tumor wind up with Archaia, a publisher best known for the fantasy genre?
FIALKOV: I've known Mark Smylie for years and years and have always loved and respected the amazing books they put out. But, I was actually courted by Stephen Christy, who was recently named their Editor in Chief. It was really thanks to the strength of their core books that I decided to take a chance on them. The Killer, Mouse Guard and Artesia are all just such staggeringly wonderful creations, that I just had to be a part of that.
