When shots.net heard that Watchmen guru Alan Moore had tipped writer John Harris Dunning's debut novel as the future of comics - well, we just had to find out more.
On the cusp between brownish green and sienna, the autumn leaves signal that it's still just early October. Said leaves are certainly less New England crisp than Old England soggy, yet thanks to a certain package that dropped through the letterbox we're grooving on the idea of a stateside Halloween.
Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers is the debut graphic novel from writer John Harris Dunning and artist Nikhil Singh. It's the tale of a dapper Laundromat owner who rocks up at a shadowy manor house to uncover the secrets of his dead father. With its Amityville architecture it's an outsider's view of an American dream, a fantastic, hyper-real myth. Noirish, Victorian, rococo, hallucinogenic, magical, dense, burlesque, Lovecraftian - any attempt at a coherent description collapses into a stream of adjectives.
But then within the hundred pages, there are so many ideas and influences weaving together. With such intricacy and complexity involved, it took the South African pair seven years to complete the book. For a considerable chunk of those, artist Singh was based in South Africa while Dunning was working in London.
"I first met Nik when he was living in London momentarily; he was working on reception at a Hare Krishna temple, and was scaring them all with his black ringlets and black nail polish," says Dunning. "I got on with him and found that we shared a love of Victoriana, Capes, Jack the Ripper, Ed Wood and spookiness generally." What followed was several years of sporadic activity. The pair created three five-page Salem Brownstone episodes for UK comic anthology Sturgeon White Moss, which slowly grew into a novel.
Given the lengthy process, Singh's illustration style evolves throughout the book. Not that its inconsistent - it ebbs and flows depending of the demands of a particular scene, and the headspace of the artist at any given moment. Towards the centre of the book is a scene set in a midnight city called Mu'bric. It's shadowy and sinister - as one would expect - but it's also tinged with palpable angst. "He lived each of those styles and it was a very heartfelt piece," comments Dunning. "I'm sure he'll always do that, but this was our first piece of complete work and he really plunged in, possibly more than he would again."
For Dunning there was something exciting about seeing his work realised by Singh - each piece of artwork he received was "just like getting a Christmas present. Having worked as a journalist for the likes of Dazed & Confused and iD, Dunning is no stranger to the role of writer, but for the transition to graphic novels he also had to adopt the role of director. Thankfully then, Singh was always on the same page (ahem).
"At first I did write an awful lot of detail in but very quickly it became apparent to me that it wasn't really necessary," says Dunning. "When we finished it Nik had moved back to London and we were living in the same neighbourhood. We were watching the same films, reading the same books, sending each other music all the time over Facebook. There was a constant exchange of ideas, so there was no need to be too directional because it was coming from both of us. It was a very intense way of working but very satisfying."
Equally satisfying, Dunning achieved something he had dreamed of since childhood - making his own comic books. "Comic books were the things that really started me reading. I got to the point when I was ten years old and I was dreaming in panels and captions and word bubbles. For me it was a real obsession, and I think my mum was quite concerned because she's quite a literary snob - in the best possible way - and she was worried that I was never going to graduate beyond Super Friend."
Dunning's love of comics runs deep - he's also involved with the Comica festival at London's ICA, which celebrates the medium as an art form. Unfortunately things have been a little stagnant in the UK comic scene over the last few years, with few avenues for aspiring artists and writers. But could this be about to change?
"I think it's a very exciting time for comics in the UK. There was a real moment in the 90s when the UK was really important comics wise in terms of publications like Crisis, Escape and even 2000AD, which was a very important launching pad for Alan Moore, Grant Morrision and Pat Mills. But there was a collapse of all those magazines and a brain drain of talent over the US," muses Dunning.
He hopes that the arrival of Salem Brown may reinvigorate things a little. Rather than banging on the doors of traditional comic publishers, Dunning and Singh went to children's publisher Walker Books. With little experience in the world of graphic novels, Walker were open to experimental and unconventional ideas and techniques, allowing the pair complete freedom. If their risk pays off Dunning hopes that it will encourage other UK publishers to start putting out graphic novels.
And there's every chance that the graphic gamble will come good - All Along the Watchtowers comes with a glowing endorsement from Watchmen and V For Vendetta author and all round comics legend Alan Moore. When Singh and Dunning sent Moore a copy of the book and a crystal ball, he wrote back saying the book was 'a perfect example of the adventurous new directions that comic books should be taking in the future'.
It's impressive stuff, especially given Moore's reputed reluctance to give quotes and interviews. And the significance was not lost on a devoted comic nerd like Dunning.
"He is like the grand wizard," he gushes. "He's consistently put out great work for decades, we felt so honoured. When we sent it to him, we did it as a crazy scheme because he doesn't normally give quotes to people. Part of it was just to give him an early heads up and to thank him for inspiring us."
So for a long and spooky story, it looks like it's got a happy ending. And as a post script, it seems that Dunning's career in comics is just getting started. "I'm working on a pitch for DC for Batman - not strictly Batman, but in his world. And then most importantly I'm doing a sequel to All Along the Watchtowers. I've got a very clear idea of what that's about. I really want to carry on focusing on the character Salem. It feels like he's just started, and there's a lot further for him to go."
