No more is this Western wonder true than with a game that debuted in 1996. Deadlands hit the tabletop gaming scene and, simply put, stood out. Practically making the term “Weird West” a known genre long before I ever heard of Steampunk, this game was everything I loved and didn’t know there was a niche for – elder god horrors, wild mad scientists, and gunslingers just to start it off. Its popularity has seen it re-imagined across multiple game systems – most recently via Great White Games’ Savage Worlds system in its 2006 Deadlands: Reloaded – but it has now finally crossed the bridge from the world of games into a new format: comics.

 

Western comics, for those who think comic books are nothing but spandex superheroic melodrama, was the main type of comics sold overall through the life of the medium, believe it or not. Without the western genre, there would simply be no Marvel or DC Comics at all. The publishers’ highest selling comics were westerns and war, and it was only after the Comics Code came in and almost killed the comic book did the westerns disappear. So, with the current media resurgence of the western, comics are – as they have always been – at the forefront of the current trend, such as the DC’s latest film Jonah Hex, adapted from the last hold out of the western comic from their long and valued history.

 

Next month, Visionary Comics, in partnership with Image Comics Group and Strider Nolan Media, are taking the Deadlands world and telling us a series of four one-shot weird west tales. The comeback of the wild wild west is exciting, and we of the steampunk world have already been on board. Between Steamcon II last fall and the Wild Wild West Con event this year, the advent of these graphic tales will be a welcome addition to our collections of all things steampunk.

 

I recently had the great pleasure of a virtual sit-down with the writer of the first story in the Deadlands series. David Gallagher, author of The Devil’s Six Gun, was kind enough to spare some time from his schedule and answer some questions.

 

Doctor Q – First off, thanks so much for sitting down with me, David. May I start things off asking you to tell our readers a little about who you are and some of the work you have done?

 

David Gallagher – Thank you for having me. The work I’m most recognized for is HIGH MOON, the werewolf western webcomic series, which was published by DC Comics. It won the Harvey Award for Best Online Comic in 2009 and got write-ups in Entertainment Weekly, Wired, Rue Morgue, Wizard and Geek Monthly. Readers might also know my work Box 13, which is a neo-noir conspiracy thriller. Both projects were drawn by the illustrious Steve Ellis.

 

Q – So, what drew you to this Deadlands project in particular?

 

DG – With Deadlands, Steve and I had an opportunity to re-visit some of our favorite western troupes. I was a fan of the role-playing game, and that certainly influenced my decision – but mostly I saw it as an opportunity to tell the kind of story that we couldn’t tell in HIGH MOON.

 

Q – So had you heard of Deadlands or Weird West as a genre before this?

 

DG – Well, Steve and I have many weird west elements in HIGH MOON and I used to play the Deadlands role-playing game many years ago. I lived down south in Oklahoma for a while… and that experience certainly colors my concept of the Wild West as a place that can be weird and bizarre.

 

Q – Tell us about The Devil’s Six Gun?

 

DG – It is a story about a young inventor – a creative fellow driven by science – who finds himself contracted to make a gun that can kill the Devil. The inventor, Copernicus Blackburne, is driven – like many young artists – by perfection. He’s a fictional character – but we treat his life as something that you might see on the Biography Channel.

 

Q – So, the Gun is a central piece of the story. That’s one bad-ass looking gun. Did you and artist Steve Ellis work together on that design?

 

DG – Sorta. Most of the credit goes to Steve though. I had a couple of notes in the script – and we talked about the gun a bit – and its creation, but the final design was all Steve’s.

 

Q – Nice to be the first story in a series like this. There are some great names in comics attached to this project, and the art looks top notch. What are the challenges you think in not only starting the project off and showing us the Deadlands world, but also in the stand-alone story format versus having multiple issues?

 

DG – Doing a shorter story allows Steve and I too narrowly focus on one aspect of the Deadlands world. Deadlands is vast and incredibly complex – and this small story allows us to not get distracted by all of the other shiny things.

 

Q – What have been the most rewarding aspects of this project for you? And the most challenging?

 

DG – Well, working with Ron Marz and Chuck Sellner as part of the editorial team was pretty rewarding. It was great to be part of that team. The challenge was making sure we got everything we wanted into the story. Steve and I both work long form… and while it’s nice to do shorter stories … it’s also a very different experience.

 

Q – The Weird West and Steampunk go hand in hand in my opinion, but I’m curious as to your thoughts about it. Do you think its label of “American Steampunk” is apt?

 

DG – That’s an interesting question. Steampunk can be so many different things to me. I mean, sure, if you want to break it down and further classify it, sure you could used the label “American Steampunk” to describe our Deadlands story or the work we did on HIGH MOON, since both stories actually take place in America, that’s kind of apt. But, I’ve seen Steampunk reflected in all sorts of different comics, television shows, cartoons, and films… that I think it works regardless of those sorts of classifications.

 

Q – I tend to ask this question of everyone I interview, as I love that I get a different answer every time. So what is Steampunk to you?

 

DG – Steampunk for me – is part rebellion and part ingenuity. It can be dressed up in cowboy hats, trench coats, Victorian hats, or blue jeans –  but without those themes, it doesn’t work for me. There’s a DIY quality to steampunk, a rejection of the status quo, which really makes it so appealing to me.

 

Q – Thanks again for giving us some of your time. Do you have anything else you’d like to add? Where can our readers keep up with your work or do you have any shout-outs you’d like to plug?

 

DG – Well, readers who want to keep up with what I’m doing can follow me on Twitter (@DavidGallaher) or on my website – www.davidgallaher.com. If they like what they see in Deadlands, I urge them to read the first issue of HIGH MOON, which is available for free at www.highmooncomic.com. Thank you for having me.

 

And so, I urge you all to keep an eye out. Devil’s Six Gun is due out in your local comic shop June 15, and then three more one-shot stories are due out monthly through September. Judging by the art, the depth of the world in which these writers are working, and the sheer creativity given them both with the world and the genre of the weird west, I simply cannot wait for this series to hit the stands.

 

Doctor Q is the Media Editor for Steampunk Chronicle. He fancies himself an acoustic arranger of music and founder of the Artifice Club. 

 

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