Creature Feature: Doug TenNapel on His Body of Work
Doug TenNapel is the graphic novelist behind a host of successful graphic novels: Ghostopolis, Creature Tech, Power Up, Monster Zoo, and Gear, just to name a few. Along with graphic novels, many graphicnovelreporter.com readers will also recognize Doug for his work on television, most notably Catscratch (which airs on Nickelodeon) and Earthworm Jim. And to top it all off, living every popular-culture-lover’s dream life, readers may also recognize Doug for his work on some of our favorite video games, including Earthworm Jim 1 and Earthworm Jim 2, Boombots, and Skullmonkeys.
Recently, I had the pleasure to talk to Doug about his rerelease of Creature Tech. So, with an eye mostly on Creature Tech (and a curious attitude about the rest of Doug’s work), I asked him some questions I thought we might all want to know the answers to.
Being a professor of literacy, I was first drawn to Creature Tech when I read its many praises, most of which referred to it as a film. This struck me as odd. “I’m holding a book in my hands! What are these people talking about?” Then I read it. From panel to panel, and through every gutter, the reader feels as though he is indeed viewing a film. Was this intentional on your part? And why do you think so many people feel as though they are viewing a film instead of reading a graphic novel?
I didn’t deliberately set out to make a movie-styled comic, but I’ve watched more movies than I’ve read comics, so it’s got a much bigger influence on my visual storytelling. I did a lot of storyboarding in animation, so it tends to mimic cinema. Black-and-white books force the hand to mimic the look of film even more when shadows are used. The sculpt of a face or the lighting of a room is composed just like a movie shoot. The characters, like in theater, cheat out their performances to the audience. They tend to stand at three-fourths for a good representation of the figure.
The one place where comics tend to break the look of film is when panels go vertical instead of horizontal. That’s a constant reminder to me that the window isn’t bound the way it is in most movies.
Another fascinating aspect of Creature Tech is its plot. The driving ideas behind the plot center on the often-divided themes of faith and reason, but, as you demonstrate in Creature Tech, the uniting themes of faith and reason. Was this uniting of faith and reason purposeful on your part?
Yes! I never found my religion to be irrational, so it bothered me that so many people conceded that it was some kind of leap of faith. I don’t approach my faith with leaps of my rational mind, so Creature Tech was my way of complaining about what I consider sloppy thinking. The great scientists were almost always Christians, often funded by the church, and the split between faith and reason begun about 500 years ago, and the best thinkers of my religion never found the two in conflict. Dr. Ong claims he rejects religion because of his rational mind, and that’s not usually the case. There are irrational people who reject religion, and rational people who accept it. We have a rich history of logic, science, and sound argument in Christianity.
The pages of Creature Tech are not numbered. Was this a purposeful decision on your part?
I don’t know why I didn’t number them. I think back then I thought they weren’t necessary and junked up the page. After a few books, reviewers commented on a section of the book by saying, “About 2/3 of the way through,” and I knew I needed to open up to the idea of numbering the pages.
The character of Katie is especially thought-provoking. With an atrophied hand and an amblyopic eye, she is beautiful, both to the reader and to Dr. Ong. Why do you think Dr. Ong and the reader both find themselves falling for Katie?
Katie is tragic. I hate the idea that all women in action stories have to be the Princess Leia type, where they have to smart off and really prove female empowerment on the same level as the hero. So you have Indiana Jones chewing up arguments with a gal, and burly women in the Alien series, a butt-kicker in Terminator, and I just wanted a small-towny type. There’s also something disarming about Katie that represents the small town that Dr. Ong’s snide personality does feel comfortable snarking against. She walks in a room and he’s lost his biggest weapon. He is forced to try to communicate like a real human being! She’s a powerful character, a real fan favorite.
Creature Tech has been picked up by Fox/News Regency as a movie. Congratulations! Are there any details, updates, or inside information you can share with GNR readers about this upcoming film version of Creature Tech?
It’s had a good effort at two launches of the movie and it never got past the script stage. There are a lot of reasons for that I shouldn’t talk about here, but now it has a chunk of change against it, so if it’s going to get made, the interested party is going to have to really want to make it. I get inquiries about it from major Hollywood producers every year. It’s a good story that won’t go away.
On your website, you have an active and up-to-date blog. I was really intrigued by your blogs about the Pool Guy and the saving of the blue belly lizard. Along with being intrigued and making some thematic connections to Creature Tech, I also found myself having a deep sense of respect for your personal boldness. You really put yourself out there, with personal ideas and thoughts. Why do you feel as though this is important?
It’s important for me to be able to vent. I have an online presence because I can’t keep quiet and I have access to the internet! My online writing reflects the things that are burning a hole in my head, the intersection of miracles and nature, politics, ideas about life. It may not be fascinating to anyone but me, but it’s my little corner of the internet, so I put it out there. I appear to be bold because I’m not afraid to use the J-word. I don’t know when it became such a big deal to talk about faith, but something happened in culture where people see me as really out there in how blunt I am about what most of history has recorded as a pretty normal expression of the Christian life. It’s only controversial because there’s enormous pressure to remove God talk from the public sector. This is my little way of saying nobody tells me what to think, what to say, and when to say it.
Your website also provides a fan forum for questions and answers. In my experience, this type of personal, one-on-one interaction is pretty rare. Why do you feel as though the fan forum is important?
Some of my best friends have come from that forum! I have a G. K. Chesterton reading group at my house on Sundays and most were somehow connected through my forum. We had 12 guys last week! They come from all different backgrounds of comics, academia, music, law, animation, and philosophy. I try to be accessible to fans who have something to say. I don’t always write back, but I read everything and am touched by how cool most of my fans are.
Ghostopolis is also generating a lot of positive attention. And, as rumor has it, this graphic novel has also been picked up for a movie version. Can you tell us any more about the movie version?
Ghostopolis is about a boy with a fatal malady that is accidentally shot into the afterlife by a ghost hunter. The ghost hunter has to go into the afterlife to find him. It’s a fairy tale.
The movie has Hugh Jackman involved and the rights were picked up by Disney. We have a script by Michael Dougherty, and that’s about all I know. Of the five comics I’ve sold, this one is the farthest along, so that’s a credit to the producers.
You have a solid and well-noted background in both animation and video games as well. Do you feel as though your work in these other arenas of creativity influence your writing with graphic novels, like Creature Tech and Ghostopolis?
I made a movie called Mothman in the late 1990s, and a lot of what I learned in cinema directly influenced Creature Tech. Ghostopolis came from studying Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien’s style of medieval storytelling. They made me think differently about world creation, which is broader and liberating.
As for the actual medium of writing graphic novels, I’m a pop-culture guy, so it’s not a big deal to move from video games to graphic novels to animation. Each form of entertainment has its strengths, so I go with that when I’m working in that medium.
Animation is probably the most influential across all of my areas of work because those principles are so universal. I use clear staging, strong silhouette, weighty poses, and iconic story techniques. Most of animation was ripped from silent film and vaudeville anyways, so the performances have stood the test of time and are well-embedded into our culture.
Out of all of your graphic novels, do you have a favorite?
The one I’m working on.
GNR readers are always excited to learn about upcoming projects from some of our favorite graphic novelists. Any new graphic novel plans in the works?
I’m just wrapping up my next graphic novel through Scholastic’s Graphix imprint called Bad Island. It will come out summer of 2011. I have a webcomic starting on January 10 of 2011 called Ratfist, and I’m in the middle of inking a grueling 288-page graphic-novel epic called Cardboard. These long books really drain me, because I’m so impatient. I want it to be done the moment I’m finished writing, but then I still have to illustrate it! Cardboard is about a boy and his father who acquire magic cardboard that brings to life whatever they make of it. They make a man. Epic ensues.
-- Katie Monnin
