What if Jack The Ripper left London and made his way to the American West? That is the central concept posed by the brand new Aftershock Comix series by writer Marko Stojanović and artist Siniša Banović. The official synopsis for the book, which arrives in your local comic books shop on 13th October 2021 gives us an idea of what to expect from this historical horror thriller:
'Jack the Ripper was never caught because no one was looking for him in the Wild West... No one accept The Order: An organization made up of the descendants of Crusaders sworn to eradicate the unnatural, The Order will stop at nothing to fulfil the pledge their forefathers made, even if it means crossing the ocean or a line or two.'
Stojanović offers more info on the story: "The book is about Jack the Ripper fleeing to America in 1889 and heading straight to the Wild West -- because his own savagery can avoid detection at the still savage frontier. He is, however, pursued by the Order made up from the descendants of Crusaders knights set on eradicating the unnatural -- and what could be more unnatural than the first documented serial killer grabbing all the headlines and causing mass hysteria? Only thing is, these crusaders are far from their usual haunts and they'll need help from a man who severed his ties with the other at the price of abandoning his own family."
Diving into the books' themes, he elaborates further: “Cross to Bear tackles many themes including the old world meeting the new one, family ties versus all the other ones, nature of power and fear, examination of extremism no matter how just the cause and of course, the danger of becoming a monster yourself as you do battle with monsters.”
The writer has a history with Western stories, despite originally hailing from outside The US: "I’m excited about the book because when I was a kid during the '80s in Yugoslavia, there was a special cult of the Westerns, which our dads and grandads used to call cowboy movies. True, we were not behind the iron curtain, unlike the neighbouring countries, but from the movies that were shown on national TV, westerns came closest to what we call the action movie. And so when there was a Western on, it was a must. Also, about 60 percent of all comics that came out in Yugoslavia at that time were westerns – regardless of whether they were American, Latin American or European, as we got an influx of comics from all sides of the world. Westerns were a big thing back then out here – the public couldn’t get enough! Seeing how I fell in love with the Western from an early age, is it really surprising that I am more than excited for the chance to bring my own take on that mythic genre – to the very country that gave birth to it? Part of the excitement also lies in the fact I got the chance to bring in my own creative team on this book, with my longtime collaborators Sinisa Banovic and Aljosa Tomic, which is not something that happens very often – so you certainly need to celebrate it when it does.”
PECKINPAH’S THE WILD BUNCH AND PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID ARE INFLUENCES
Stojanović cites Sam Peckinpah as an influence, saying that The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid are among his favourites: “There is a pretty big homage to one of the Westerns I`m going to name later on. As someone who was reared on the steady diet of Westerns, I naturally have quite a few favorite ones. With all due respect to the classic era of the Westerns, all the Ford`s, Hawks` and Wayne`s works, what formed me were revisionist westerns that had their day in the 60s and 70s. I love Peckinpah – Pat Garet and Billy the Kid is one of my favorites as well as The Wild Bunch. Outlaw Josey Wales is a gem of a movie. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is masterfully done on more levels than one and Willian Goldman is a personal hero, but, at the risk of alienating true purists, my all-time favorite must be Sergio Leone`s Once Upon a time in the West – though I`m quite partial to a Fistful of Dynamite too. It would be unfair not to mention Unforgiven and Tombstone, but also one of my guilty pleasures – The Young Guns 2. Why I love these Westerns – I guess most of them are just told really, really well. Being a writer, I like a good script, and most of these movies have great dialogues – but it`s the whole package that does it for me. These movies pack a punch!”
Banović discusses the art: “Cross to Bear is the first western comic I've worked on, so I had fun studying the characters and getting used to cowboy hats and other things we see often. After the character design I’d turn the Marko’s script into thumbnail pages in order to set the basic shapes, and then I would work on interiors and exteriors. Sketching a plan for background ambience may not be a necessity, but I find it much easier to position the characters and viewpoint if I have the broader picture of where the protagonists are. After that I’m working on more detailed layout pages digitally, and then trace these drawings by pencil on paper using light pad. The process ends with inking, so I guess I’m a one third digital artist. It seems that layouts and initial sketches always possess more spontaneity than the final artwork, so I’m going for that kind of aesthetic in inking part.”
i like submerging the scene in dark areas
Banović elaborates on his design and techniques: “I find the chiaroscuro technique most helpful and effective in establishing composition on a page and making the characters gain a three dimensional appearance. So, submerging the scene in dark areas also helps improve the atmosphere if it is a mystery or a horror genre. I also enjoy different stuff, such as drawing animals and cartoonish characters. It is a kind of relaxing from the more serious stuff, since I grew up on Franco Belgian comic books.”
When asked if he has a favourite piece of art in the first issue, Banović said: “Sometimes in the script you can find a part where you can improvise, so you get a slightly different thing, but serves better for the storytelling. If I’d pick that moment, it would be on page 22, where 3 pictures in a row shows a character in 3 different actions, and at the same time we get to see the second character in front of him, using symmetry. It’s no big deal, but I love it when it happens spontaneously. And I’m pretty happy with how the main character’s library came out, it kind of stands out from the wild west setting in the episode.”
You can pre-order Cross To Bear #1 now from Gosh Comics. The book is available from 13th October 2021.