Talking ‘Welcome To The Maynard’ With James Robinson And J. Bone

Starting a new job is never easy, but when your new job is working as a bellhop at an exclusive hotel for magical guests, there’s no telling what might happen over the course of a shift. Such is Pip’s predicament in writer James Robinson and artist, J. Bone‘s new series, Welcome to the Maynard. With colors by Ian Herring and letters by Jim Campbell, Robinson and Bone offered some insight into the series in the following interview:

Rachel Bellwoar: Having previously worked together on The Saviors, why did you choose Welcome to the Maynard as your next project to team up on?

James Robinson: J. and I were always looking for something to work on, following Saviors, but this was definitely the right idea and the right time. J. was just finishing one job when I reached out with some ideas including Maynard. That was the series that resonated with J. and from there we were off to the races.

J. Bone: James had several pitches that we talked about and I read through them. There were three that I could see myself drawing — but The Maynard was the one we both had a high level of excitement for. When I’m starting a new project, the first question I ask myself is “Can I picture it in my head?” Reading James’ Maynard pitch and character descriptions, I could already envision scenes and how I would draw them. That helped a lot in narrowing down which project we went with.

Bellwoar: Pip is a character who’s nursing a lot of secrets. What’s been your favorite part about writing or drawing for her?

Robinson: Pip is a character who writes herself. Her reactions and actions play out on the page so easily but sometimes in ways I wasn’t expecting. I love her optimism, even when dealing with sad or troubling things and how she seems to bring out the best in those around her. She truly loves her job, bell hopping at a magical hotel, and J. does such a grand job of making her fun to look at on the page with her bright, inquisitive face, that it’s even more fun to write her.

Bone: Drawing Pip, I wanted to give her a young, bouncy energy. She’s new at the Maynard but also bold and steps forward without hesitation in any situation. She’s not afraid to take a risk, which is something she regrets almost immediately in the first issue. Physically, she’s petite, which I’m using as much as possible when she interacts with other characters. She looks up to Margot, but when I draw her with Cramer, I want a sense of Him looking down on her. If that makes any sense.

When Pip interacts with her girlfriend, she’s still open even though she’s holding in those secrets.

Bellwoar: Issue one begins with a robbery. Were you inspired by any robbery sequences in other comics or movies?

Robinson: Not especially, although I did have Cary Grant as John Robie in the Hitchcock movie To Catch a Thief in mind a bit. The series as a whole is more about the magical hotel and a bigger mystery that arises from the thefts than merely about catching the thief.

Bone: There’s a silent action scene in an issue of Firepower drawn by Chris Samnee that I thought of. It’s so beautifully drawn and choreographed. I pictured that opening scene with our ninja/thief silently moving things around, conscious of every click as they break into the safe. I like to let scenes play out like a movie in my head and then thumbnail them out on the page. There are probably any number of little movie moments that help me envision a scene, but that particular issue of Firepower was definitely on my mind.

Bellwoar: It’s during this robbery that we learn that magic exists in this world. Why did you decide to set this series in a real place (San Francisco) rather than a fantastical city?

Robinson: I’ve always preferred magic and fantasy in our world existing secretly right under our noses, than I have with magic in magical realms or otherworldly dimensions. (I think fans of Harry Potter might agree with me.) I chose San Francisco because I wanted to set the Maynard in an actual city, not somewhere spread out like Los Angeles (where I lived before that) or Vegas (where I live now). And [I] lived in San Francisco for 6 years so I knew the place.

Bellwoar: Given that guests must be at least half-magic to see the Maynard, will there be any humans in this series?

Robinson: Yes, we’ll see non-magical humans, although in the first series that’s primarily Ronnie, Pip’s girlfriend. Their relationship runs in[to] difficulties as the series progresses, due to Pip’s vow of secrecy about the Maynard which means she can’t tell Ronnie where she works. In future arcs of The Maynard we’ll have other human characters who the Maynard and its staff have to cleverly keep the truth from.

Bone: There are non-magical humans in the real world of San Francisco. Pip’s girlfriend is non-magical. I mean … all the people are humans, it’s just that some of them are capable of using Magic. In the Magical World, there are humans and a lot of fantasy or magical creatures. In the first series, we’ll see dragons, fairies, gnomes (if you look closely enough), odd birds, and a lot of cats.

Bellwoar: My favorite part of the first issue was guest watching. How much have you enjoyed getting to fill each panel with magical beings?

Robinson: That’s very much J.’s department. He doesn’t just make up characters here and there, he comes up with whole backstories, and threads them as background characters throughout the series. The couple who are robbed at the start of Issue #1 pop up throughout the series, as do a group of older female magicians who love to do things together. They’re always getting in Pip’s way. There are others too, and it’s been a delightful surprise to see them as J. dreams them up and adds them to backgrounds.

Bone: I’m thrilled to hear that was something you enjoyed. Filling the backgrounds with magical characters has been one of my favourite things to do in this series. I’ve managed to draw in quite a few “celebrity” guests and also created a lot of my own recurring characters. There’s a group I’ve called The Mollys, a cute little coven of witches who appear in every issue. I also tried to get animals into backgrounds as much as possible.

Bellwoar: The other great part about all the guests is that it really forces you to take your time and savor each panel, rather than try and rush through to the end. Was pacing something you thought about?

Robinson: Honestly, pacing is something I always think about. The moments of action, humor and the buildup to an exciting ending. Maynard isn’t a series that’s just fun and humor, there are thrills too and life and death situations.

Bone: Good question. I thought about pacing as far as what is going on in the panel and being conscious of moving the story forward when it needs to get going. But I didn’t actually think about readers pausing to look at background details as a way to slow things down. There are definitely moments where we want the reader to slow down and take a breather with the characters. My hope is that the reader will go back later and spend some time on certain panels – but I hope my panel filling isn’t too distracting or pace-slowing.

Bellwoar: As we get to see more and more of the Maynard, do you have a favorite room in the hotel?

Robinson: My favorite room in the current series is the office of Margot, the hotel manager, which combines a wide-open mid-century design feel with tons of magical artifacts. Margot is a very stylish woman, and J. did an amazing job of conveying that about her in terms of her work area.

However, my favorite room in the Maynard, overall, is the one I have in mind for the 2nd arc of the series. It’s the one in the hotel where a locked room murder takes place that Pip and Sam, the Maynard’s house detective, have to solve. It’s a mystery that will take them to the Maynard Hotel in Osaka Japan (yes, it’s like the Hilton with locations in many parts of the world), and the room that kicks that off is very much on my mind right now.

Bone: No favourite rooms. I like the statues on either side of the front desk — one side is fire-based, the other water. I think as we go along with the series I’d like to play around with the interior, changing decorations depending on the needs of the story.

I do have favourite characters to draw, though. The fussy front desk manager, Leonel Cramer, is a caricature of a French comic book stereotype. The big nose, little moustache, impossibly lanky body — I meant for him to be someone you might find in Spirou or Asterix. I love designing looks for Margot (speaking of characters with secrets). Playing around with Boots as a sidekick/mentor character for Pip is also a lot of fun. I look forward to drawing them getting into trouble when we tell more stories.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, James and J.!

Welcome to the Maynard #1 goes on sale November 27th from Dark Horse Comics. The FOC date is October 7th.