“A Cross Between John Constantine And A Bin Man” — Talking ‘Herne And Shuck: Power Trip’ With David Barnett And Lee Milmore

Given the violence that was required to turn Herne into Herne the Hunter, it’s not really a surprise that having demigod powers isn’t a walk in the park or that not having an instruction guide on how to use said-powers isn’t causing Herne to make some mistakes. What matters is Herne and Shuck are back in a brand new arc from creators David Barnett and Lee Milmore and you can learn more about ‘Power Trip’ in the following interview:

Rachel Bellwoar: What can you tell us about Herne and Shuck? For new readers, who are this odd couple?

David Barnett: Herne is a gruff, sometimes stupid Mancunian occult trouble-shooter for hire, who plies his trade among the hidden magical communities of Britain. He’s always accompanied by Shuck, who is a talking demon dog, and often the voice of reason and common-sense in the pairing. They go back a long way — Herne was abandoned as a baby on the steps of Manchester Cathedral and was found by Shuck, who, sensing he had great power and a rather unique destiny, brought him up.

Lee Milmore: David described Herne in the initial script as a cross between John Constantine and a bin man. That’s lovely isn’t it? Shuck in my mind, is his long suffering guardian.

Bellwoar: Herne is looking a bit different when ‘Power Trip’ begins. For those who might’ve missed the end of ‘Suffer the Children’ (Prog 2399), why did you want to hit readers with Herne’s new Herne the Hunter persona right away and what was it like coming up with that look?

Barnett: At the end of the first full run, Herne fulfilled the destiny — in a quite explosive manner — that Shuck had sensed in him, and he became Herne the Hunter, a demigod with amazing magical powers. As the God of the Hunt, Herne becomes slightly different… less stupid, less haphazard. The look is all down to Lee Milmore, who works wonders with my initial vision and delivers in spades every single time. At the start of ‘Power Trip’ we see Herne in his full Hunter majesty … but it doesn’t last long, as Britain’s magical community aren’t quite sure he’s fit to hold the mantle.

Milmore: I wanted the Hunter persona to be very “Old English”, so a woodsman like Robin Hood, but also for him to inhabit the wild with his antlers and furry breaches. Herne the Hunter is first mentioned in Shakespeare as a folkloric character, and I leant that way rather than a more than an other worldly Puck archetype.

I load iconography on him as well that relates to Herne the Hunter from folklore, he’s often depicted with a hunting horn and a snake coiled around his neck. I think he’s often blended with Cernunnos and other “horned God archetypes that abound in folklore. Obviously, I steered clear of Herne looking anything like a certain Horned God we may all be familiar with.

Bellwoar: You really see the difference when Herne returns to his normal beanie, jacket and jeans look later in the strip but it’s not just the outfit that changes when Herne is Herne the Hunter. It’s a whole vibe. How was it finding the right balance between having Herne still be Herne but also letting his demigod status change him?

Milmore: If I’m honest, I think I could have pushed that difference in tone more. I’m glad you got that from the strip as it’s intended, but I was still very conscious that underneath was our goofy, loveable rogue, and it tempered how far I went with it. I have the same struggle with Shuck. He’s Black Shuck, the demon dog who has 9 demons living inside him, but most of the time he’s Herne’s mate and a father figure to him and also to Caris — hence I’ve made him a more relatable wolfhound. I keep dropping a more demonic look in more recent issues to remind you all that he’s not to be messed with.

Barnett: This was a major consideration, because once Herne gets powered up, he essentially becomes a whole different beast than he is in mortal form. In a way, becoming a demigod “ruins” the character, because people like him when he’s a bit daft and flies by the seat of his pants. So it was a deliberate move to essentially have his powers temporarily removed until such time as he can prove himself worthy.

Bellwoar: Caris is a little girl, and Herne is an adult, yet they’re both in the same boat when it comes to not having a full handle on their powers. What was it like getting to tell those parallel stories in ‘Power Trip’?

Barnett: Herne sees a lot of Caris in himself — they were both abandoned as children, both destined to be sacrificed by the evil pagans of the village of Cudd, and as you say, are both struggling to cope with their powers. Caris is a Summoner, which means she can bring forth demons… most notably seen in the first story, which appeared as a 3riller, ‘The Crawly Man’. Like Herne, Caris doesn’t have a handle on her powers and needs as much guidance to control them as he does.

Milmore: David has used this to great effect, making the characters more emotionally accessible. I personally love the moments when they are, well — people.

Bellwoar: There’s something innately delightful about seeing fantastical figures show up in domestic spaces. Did you enjoy the chance to have Herne, Shuck and Caris stay at Jordy’s place instead of the forests they usually camp out in?

Milmore: Err, no, it’s a lot easier to draw twisty organic trees, but for the story, though, yes, I agree! It’s a story meant to walk that line through our reality and into the fantastical. It’d be a shame to change that because a sofa is harder to draw.

Barnett: Although Lee is absolutely the master of drawing woodland and forest backdrops — and we do get to see quite a bit of that in “Power Trip,” we felt it was time for a change of location … after all, they’re looking after a small child, and camping out in the woods isn’t always practical, so the crew relocated to Jordy’s farmhouse for a bit, while they decide what to do next.

Bellwoar: Herne and Shuck shows a world where when Herne is reckless once with his abilities there are immediate consequences. Would you say this arc was a response at all to the lack of accountability we’re seeing right now from people in positions of power?

Barnett: As some famous comic character — I forget who — once said, with great power comes great responsibility. Power always has consequences, and it depends on what kind of moral compass you have whether you care or don’t about what those responsibilities and consequences are. So, of course, what we’re seeing in especially the US and to a lesser but no less worrying extent in the UK is that people with even a small bit of power are riding roughshod over the rest of us. Comics might not change the world, but they can at least reflect it, and Herne’s journey in particular in this arc is going to teach him a lot about that.

Milmore: Oh wow, David, were you being that deep? Levels upon levels I’m unaware of. Hopefully, though I draw it good.

Bellwoar: This is a tricky question because I don’t want to spoil the surprises but one thing that becomes clear by the end of part 1 is that fans shouldn’t rule out any characters from returning — even ones they might’ve thought were down for the count. How was it getting to make those calls and decide who to have come back, as well as how they might be returning changed from their ordeals, both physically and emotionally?

Milmore: That’s all David: I get to find those things out as I draw the strips! But I really love not knowing what may happen around each twist and turn, and I love getting to work on some old friends again too.

Barnett: I love it when any story, whether film, TV or comics, makes it so anything goes, and no character is safe. Herne & Co live in a dangerous world, and there’s nothing to say any of them are going to survive the next adventure. The strip’s called Herne & Shuck, but that’s just furniture on the page … it could be called Jordy & Shuck, or Herne & Jordy, or anything in the future.

Every character has to have their own journey and narrative arc, and they can’t be anything but changed by what they’re going through… and there are huge things to come for every single character, as I’m just putting the finishing touches to the scripts for the third run, which is going to turn literally everything in Herne & Shuck’s world upside down.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, David and Lee!

With colors by Gary Caldwell and letters by Annie Parkhouse, Herne and Shuck: Power Trip started December 17th in 2000 AD Prog 2463. Part 5 drops Wednesday, January 28th, in 2000 AD Prog 2467.