Talking ‘The Addams Family: Charlatan’s Web’ With Writer Leah Williams

From Invasion of the Body Snatchers to The Stepford Wives, it’s never easy being the only one in town who realizes something bad is going on. In writer Leah Williams and artist Juan Samu‘s upcoming story for The Addams Family: Charlatan’s Web, it’s Wednesday Addams who has picked up on the fact that a suspicious number of people have taken to wearing pink polos all of a sudden. Will Wednesday unravel the truth behind their plastered-on smiles? That’s for readers to find out, but in the meantime check out this interview with Williams below:

Rachel Bellwoar: Charlotte’s Web is a sweet (and secretly devastating) book about farm animals. For this story, what does the title, “Charlatan’s Web,” mean to you?

Leah Williams: Well, firstly I have to credit the brilliant Chynna Clugston Flores for coming up with the title — I tend to come up with titles last and for the longest time, this project had a working title so boring that I can’t even remember it now. Chynna suggested “Charlatan’s Web” to our editor, Jamie Rich and we both loved it. A charlatan is a fraud or shyster and in this context we’re referring to the BetterWe system of indoctrination and cultish group-think surrounding their toxic positivity movement.

Bellwoar: As someone who’s background is more in the original TV show than the recent animated movies, I was wondering if Wednesday’s friends are from the films or if those characters were created for this story?

Williams: I created them for this story! Strangely enough they became the crux of this story for me—from the earliest stages of this story I knew that I wanted the villain to be a thought-leader and influencer of toxic positivity, and I also knew that I wanted to show Wednesday with an expanded group of friends. A posse! She’s shown as a loner and outcast often but in middle school the outcasts tend to stick together for survival reasons. At least, that was my experience!

Bellwoar: One of the reasons I ask is because I really appreciate how each character has a distinct way of speaking. Whether it’s the melodrama of Wednesday’s teal-haired friend using words like “starteth” or the fast talking of her other friend who has the lavender streak in her hair, you don’t just read their dialogue. You can hear what it sounds like. What was it like establishing those voices in conjunction with letterer Shawn Lee?

Williams: Lafayette’s manner of speech is something I envisioned for his character from his inception. I mentioned that this expanded group of Wednesday’s cohorts were important to me in forming this story, and I believe that even from the outline stage I listed out their names and character descriptions. That’s pretty unusual for my process—normally I would work the other way around, but in this case the characters came first and quite vividly. They each have distinctive personalities and dialogue. From the very first descriptions of Lafayette I described what I imagined as this morose young man who speaks with a “Victorian affectation.” So not only does Lafayette use a lot of speech that has fallen out of style by a hundred years give or take, but also In my scripts I described it as his text having a kind of “archaic” styling to it. I wrote “LAFAYETTE SFX” for his dialogue as a kind of shorthand for his dialogue appearance. Shawn Lee nailed it on the first pass! he totally understood what I was going for.

Bellwoar: Then there are the antagonists in this story, who use words such as “like” and “babe,” and are as out of breath as the girl they’re pursuing in the preview pages. How does working with a character like Wednesday make you rethink what an antagonist for them would like?

Williams: Something I associate strongly with the Addams Family is authenticity—being your most authentic self. To me, the antithesis of authenticity is assimilation. And weaponized, forced assimilation as practiced by the ladies of BetterWe is particularly insidious.

Bellwoar: First days of school are always nerve-wracking events. Why do you think that was the perfect timing for this issue?

Williams: I have really fond memories of my mother taking me school supply shopping at the end of every summer, and I just wanted to show this same rite of passage with Morticia and Wednesday, especially since imagining the way their process of getting school supplies would be so different, i.e. going into an antique shop for cursed writing implements.

Bellwoar: Not unlike Lucy and Linus Van Pelt, Wednesday might torture her brother, but she’s also protective of Pugsley, too. Did you enjoy getting to tap into their sibling dynamic?

Williams: I did! I’m an only child and have always been slightly envious of siblings, even when sibling rivalries become slightly contentious. The Addams Family have one of the healthiest, warmest, and most supportive familial dynamics in all media. They’re a team.

Bellwoar: What’s been the best part about writing for the Addams family so far?

Williams: I’ve been a fan of the property since I was a little kid. My parents have this giant coffee table book of Chaz Addams’ collected works, called The World of Chaz Addams and I remember flipping through it over and over again, even before I knew how to read. Something about the Addams Family has a “home team” vibe with me and it was thrilling to work with these characters for the first time!

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Leah!

The Addams Family: Charlatan’s Web #1 (of 2) goes on sale December 13th from IDW and includes a backup story by writer Chynna Clugston Flores, artist Francine Delgado, and colorist Danny Sanchez Chaves.