Back in September, documentary filmmaker Sara Kenney debuted her first comic book:Surgeon X#1.
The book, which was illustrated by the late John Watkiss, was notable for several reasons.
ButSurgeon Xalso stood out for its depiction of a dystopian future where overuse of antibiotics has rendered them ineffective.
Credit: Image Comics
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The premise of Surgeon X is so striking.
How did you come up with this idea?
SARA KENNEY:My background is as a documentary filmmaker.
Image Comics
My dad had loads of comics, so I grew up reading them.
Id actually written an idea for a surgeon character 10 years ago as a comic.
I was supposed to submit it to2000 AD, but I chickened out.
Image Comics
What were challenges of your comics debut?
What was the learning curve like?
I was very, very lucky that I had the most amazing editor, Karen Berger.
Image Comics
Also the brilliant artist, John Watkiss, who sadly passed away a few months ago.
He had an extraordinary understanding of the physical human body, which really helped.
So I had two amazing people by my side.
I really tip my hat to all comic creators.
Theres a whole new range of skills I had to learn as we went along.
In terms of journalism, youre trying to make things as clear as possible.
I think weve created a layered story world, and weve got more stories to tell.
This was your first comic and John Watkiss last comic.
What was it like working with him, and what did you learn from him?
John and I had a lovely time.
We would always go off on all these amazing tangents about art and philosophy.
He really was interested in all these territories.
He had a real message for how he worked.
Real art fans who understand that could see that in his work.
He had a passion for the human form, he could talk about musculature and bone structures.
So when I had to give him references for the surgical scenes, he quite enjoyed that.
He always made it look fantastic and beautiful and intriguing.
We had a really good dialogue.
I was absolutely gutted when he passed away.
He seemed to really enjoy the process and bought into what we were doing.
I hope people really take their time over the art.
I feel privileged to have worked with him.
Are there any plans for the future of the book without him?
Obviously Karens in for series 2, even though shes at Dark Horse now.
This is the first comic Karen Berger has done in a while.
How did you convince her to work with you, and what did you learn from her?
She loved the idea.
Both of her brothers are doctors as well, so this is territory she knows.
It was a massive learning curve for me, but shes been incredible.
It was also intimidating, because everyone wanted to know what Karen was doing next after leaving Vertigo.
But Ive just had a master class in comics over the last two years.
With the first collection out, how do you look back on the book so far?
Its been an extraordinary experience.
Weve also got a special out.
That was quite fun to do, and Id like to do more short stories like that.
Looking back, its been an incredible emotional experience.
Its just been amazing creating a story world.
Its not so far in the future that people dont find it tangible.
Even though it is pretty apocalyptic, its a world people are hearing about and feel some familiarity with.
I hope it appeals to people beyond just comic readers.
There are so many comics out there that could reach wider audiences.
Has that been weird to watch the world slowly creep closer to your post-apocalyptic vision?
There were obviously ripples on the horizon, but I have been shocked about what has come to pass.
I have to say many scientists think well do it and well get there.
Some dont, but a lot do.
You always want to create an extreme story world.
You want it to be somewhere that has a bit of bite to it, if you like.
I think there needs to be a lot of soul-searching going on at the moment.
Theres a massive chasm between these worlds, and its all boiling to a head.
For me, thats not helpful, even though its cathartic.
If youre a writer and you see things change quickly, its quite bloody interesting as well.
Its given me a lot to think about for series 2.
