Interview: Graeme Buchan
Posted By Josh Flynn on March 2, 2013
Creepy Scarlett and The Emerald of Lucifer #1 by Graeme Buchan. Art by Felipe Sanhueza Marambio.
Graeme Buchan is learning it takes determination to be an independent comic creator. All the odds are stacked against him–he has no support from a publisher and no money to work with. Despite those setbacks, he still has a first issue completed, and another in the works.
Buchan’s comic, Creepy Scarlett and The Emerald of Lucifer, opens in 1919 with a wandering samurai approaching an isolated cemetery church. He’s looking for the church’s pastor but instead finds Creepy Scarlett, who has made the place a home for herself and her stuffed bear, Mr. Ted. The samurai is in possession of a jewel called The Emerald of Lucifer, and for forty years he has been hunted by the jewel’s previous owner, and the samurai’s mentor, the Warlord. The samurai learns he must train Creepy Scarlett to be the emerald’s new protector, but staying in one place will make it easy for the Warlord to finally find him. The Warlord brings with him Pumpkinface, a mysterious minion of the Red Sun Corporation, who is tied to Creepy Scarlett’s past.
A fast-paced and entertaining adventure story, Creepy Scarlett is a big accomplishment for a creator with modest resources. Graeme Buchan was kind enough to talk with NerdSpan about the origins of the character and the challenges of being an independent comic creator.
NerdSpan: How did Creepy Scarlett develop as a character and story?
Graeme Buchan: It grew and developed from short films I made. The Pumpkinface character came along first, a year before Scarlett.
I was working on a Pumpkinface comic and when that hit the skids I decided to make a short film for Halloween and Creepy Scarlett was born. So now I had a dead girl who lives in a cemetery with her bear and a pumpkinfaced serial killer. They seemed a perfect fit for each other and the story was built from there.
NS: What does the creative process look like for you as you work on an issue of the book?
GB: It looks like a mess probably. Because of the long term plan for Scarlett every twist and turn has repercussions for the story way down the line. A lot of it so far has been planning out each series and creating characters.
As for each issue it usually starts with three short sentences that give the basis of the story. Then I write numbers down the side of a note and write a short sentence beside each number. Each number represents a page in the comic. So from the beginning I tried to build things in a way that gave as much freedom to let the issues flow naturally. Once I have a script then I still re-write up to the last minute before sending each page to the artist. So the artist usually gets the first script then an updated script for each page. Once the art is done I then re-write the dialogue and send that to the letterer.
I’m sure none of that makes sense but basically each issue is being worked on and hopefully improved right up to the last page is complete.
Creepy Scarlett by Graeme Buchan.
NS: What are some of the difficulties you have faced putting the book together and how have you overcome them?
GB: The main issue is money and time. I fund this myself and am currently unemployed so it’s difficult. Scarlett is something I am building to last a long time, so I just keep going and believing that I can create something that is worthwile and some people will enjoy. Even with that though, making the comic is the easy part. Being an independent comic book and trying to market it with no money is almost futile as a newcomer in the industry. I’m not going anywhere though and Scarlett will be here long after I am.
There is lots of work still be done and I plan to start making grounds on an animated series and the ultimate goal is a movie series for Scarlett.
NS: Where does “The Emerald of Lucifer” fit in the Creepy Scarlett narrative timeline?
GB: It’s Scarlett’s first adventure since “coming back” and the emerald is the first of the artifacts to be brought into the mix. We’re really joining the story as Scarlett is, with not much clue as to what’s going on or what exactly happened to Scarlett in the past. It might be frustrating to some but it makes sense as we go into issue#2. The emerald has a big part to play in the series later on.
Creepy Scarlett by Graeme Buchan.
NS: What can readers expect from upcoming issues?
GB: The next issue deals with Scarlett’s younger years and her first interactions with her nemesis, Vincent and his Red Sun Corporation. The first series is all about establishing the main characters. The central character is of course Scarlett and we will see quite a turbulent road ahead for her in this first series. She may well appear to be the hero but Scarlett has her own priorities and saving the world is generally not one of them.
Creepy Scarlett is split into series and each series will have a new storyline and bring in new characters.
The second series will introduce a new artifact, the Seal of Solomon, along with a host of new characters including a city detective, a cowboy assassin, a group of gangsters and more.
NS: What’s the best way for interested readers to obtain copies of Creepy Scarlett?
GB: Everything is at the website. Issue#1 is free to download and issue#2 will be released soon. Also the short films that started it all are there.
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