Toronto’s James Turner is interviewed by Newsarama’s Michael C Lorah about his newest project Rex Libris, which is being collected in a trade paperback in June. Turner’s Nil, a stand-alone graphic novel, was a surprise gem of 2005.
NRAMA: Is it harder or easier creating stories for the limited space of serialized comics?JT: I’d say it’s harder. I like the freedom of the graphic novel format. Serialized comics forces you into an issue-by-issue rhythm. It requires much more rigorous plotting and pacing.
NRAMA: What was the inspiration for Rex Libris?
JT: Rex Libris was inspired by the whole genre of work in which mild mannered occupations are crossed with the world of action and adventure. Often this includes the supernatural and various sorts of monsters, in which case the original occupation no longer has to be mild mannered (such as the X-Files). There’s all sorts of stuff out there like this. It was also a response to working on Nil, which was a satire on nihilism and quite dark. Rex is more positive. I also wanted to include a secret order, which are always popular. Sort of a communal secret identity.
Rex Libris is published by Slave Labor.