Darcy Van Poelgeest Talks ‘Precious Metal’ And Exploring The Surrealism Of SciFi
by Tito W. James
To celebrate the highly anticipated return to the Little Bird-universe with Precious Metal, I caught up with series writer Darcy Van Poelgeest.
Tito W. James: Was there something you were inspired by when making Little Bird? What new inspirations are you incorporating into Precious Metal?
Darcy Van Poelgeest: Precious Metal was something I was already thinking about as we worked on Little Bird and it focuses on a couple of characters operating on the edge of that series in a meaningful way. There’s moments in LB where I could feel these characters begging me to tell their story and I think you can see that in the pages of LB. It’s a big world with a depth and history that go far beyond Little Bird’s character (even if she remains at the centre of that universe) so I wanted to spend more time there.
DVP: A few things come to mind here. The first being Ian Bertram. He’s designing this world and the characters within it, so much of what makes this world look and feel unique is what makes Ian unique as an artist.
The other thing that comes to mind is that we built this world from the inside out, from the characters outward. So the world is a reflection of the characters within it. When you take this approach you’re going to end up with a world that’s as unique and complex as the the characters that occupy it. The last thing that comes to mind on the topic of surrealism is that I wanted to explore the idea of memory, which remains a great mystery to me in many ways, and you get to a point where exploring this idea becomes a surreal experience.
TWJ: You described Little Bird as being about rereading as much as reading. Is there anything readers should keep an eye out for when revisiting the story before diving into Precious Metal?
DVP: Yes. But that’s spoiler territory! I’ll just say that Precious Metal is a story all it’s own. You don’t have to have read Little Bird to read or, ideally, enjoy it. But they do inform each other and make for a slightly richer experience having read both.
TWJ: What I love about Little Bird is that it’s wickedly funny and unpredictable. The book has compelling characters, a unique world, brutally awesome fight scenes, and cathartic themes. What advice would you give to someone who wants to write comics that are qualitatively as good as Little Bird?
DVP: I’m really not all that good at giving writing advice, particularly on how to make something “good” because I never know if what I’m doing is any good. Not everything is for everyone. But I know for myself a huge part of the process, that I think results in a surprising read, is that I make it a difficult journey for myself. I know where it begins and I know where it ends but I make sure that it’s very difficult to get from one place to the other. Often my collaborators aren’t even sure where it’s going or how I’m going to get there. Then I set out with that challenge in front of me. In many ways, I set myself up to fail, then just do my best to get there in one piece.
I’d like to thank Darcy Van Poelgeest for taking time to do this interview. Precious Metal #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, June 5.
