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Interview - Dave Heeley & Andrw Sawyers

Dave Heeley & Andrw Sawyers chat all things The77 and their new strip - Silver Jubilee...




The77 has gone from strength to strength since its launch back in 2020. The anthology is entirely funded via Kickstarter crowdfunding and every campaign has smashed its target by a clear mile. It's easy to see why as The77 has a great mix of stories, and a fantastic roster of talent that includes industry veterans, and up-and-coming talent. 

Two 'veteran' contributors to the anthology are writer Dave Heeley and artist Andrw Sawyers. Both Heeley (who also happens to be one of the publications directors) and Sawyers have been with the anthology since its opening issue. Heeley has gained much success with writing the sci-fi tale Division'77, while Sawyers has taken us through the psychedelic sci-fi dystopia that is The Cell.



With both Division'77 and The Cell ending their current arcs, the creative duo have teamed up to bring Silver Jubilee to The77 Issue #6. 
I recently chatted to both Dave Heeley and Andrw Sawyers about their new strip, The77, Division'77, The Cell, and the possibility of a Heeley sibling team-up...

Hi Dave, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to me about both The77, and your new strip – Silver Jubilee.

Dave Heeley: No, thank you! It's wonderful to be here.

As one of the Directors of The77, how has the publications success over the last year been for you?

DH: It’s been both humbling and exciting. No-one, least of all the team behind it expected the77 project to be so popular. Both the fan and comics creative communities have rallied behind it and helped forge something that I feel is truly special.

The77 recently came second in ComicScene's best of 2020 poll. How did you react when seeing the anthology being not only the UK's top independent comic, but also beating the likes of The Judge Dredd Megazine and also offerings from both Marvel and DC?

DH: Well, it’s wonderful to be recognised by the comics community. I guess it means we’re doing something right. And being second gives us something to aim for next time!

Your no stranger to writing for The77. We’ve already seen the fantastic Division’77 play out over the last five issues with its current arc ending in The77 Issue #5. With Division’77 Origins set to explore the Division's origins. Can you give us a rundown of what we can expect? 

DH: With Division 77’s first arc ending and there being a gap of a few issues before part two begins I wanted to explore how the Division was created. I also wanted to show some more of The Grakon and how they use the various races employed by them to commit genocide on a galactic scale.

Within the pages of The77 Issue #6 we see the debut of Silver Jubilee. What can you tell us about the story and its themes?


DH: Silver Jubilee has been in gestation for some time. Way back, at the start of the pandemic I’d seen what the77 was capable of producing and figured the only genre we weren’t really exploring was that of superheroes. 

Now, I’m a huge fan of Marvel and DC but the two strips that provably inspired me the most to take up a pen was Zenith by Morrison/Yeowell and the Moore/Davis run on Captain Britain. There is just something special about British superheroes that sets them apart from their American counterparts.

Setting it in 1977 was a no-brainer, given the comics title. The name of the strip came easily enough given that the Silver Jubilee was one of the defining moments of my childhood. However it wasn’t enough to just do a by-the-numbers hero story, I wanted to show a side of Britain that’s often forgotten, and give her a hero that wouldn’t be expected, that of Ameena Patel.

 

Silver Jubilee also sees you team-up with Andrw Sawyers, who’s work on The Cell has received great applause. What's it been like working with Andrw? 


DH: The idea of working with Andrw came way before Silver Jubilee. I’d been keeping a very close eye on the Judge Dredd pieces he was doing for Drokktober, and when we were looking for an artist for The Cell I suggested Andrw as I thought there was real potential in his work.

I dropped Andrw a line and he said yes! Andrw is a consummate professional and it was a pleasure working so closely with him. My script evolved along with his artwork and it really was a team effort. I don’t know how long I’ll have with Andrw (he really is going places) but I plan to continue our partnership for as long as we can. There really is scope for 44+ years of Silver Jubilee stories so expect her to be around for a long time.


Readers will also know that your sister – Jo Heeley also has a strip currently running within the anthology (Red By Night Black By Day) and Jo will also be helming the upcoming Pandora anthology too. What is the likelyhood that we'll see a Heeley sibling team-up in the future? 


DH: I would love that to happen. Most of my life has been spent bickering with her so I can only imagine the fun we’d have co-writing something. She’s really coming into her own and I think people are going to be blown away by her next projects!



And finally, Aside from both Division’77 and Silver Jubilee what can we see from you next?

 

DH: In the future I’m keeping busy, I have a fun little strip called The Filth and the Furry in the77 annual, it’s illustrated by the amazing Peter Western and will tell a tale of Punks Vs Aliens. I have a strip coming in Pandora called The Devil’s Bride, also illustrated by Pete which will be a tale of vengeance set in the Wild West. And I’m working on a top secret project for the77 publications that I hope will be coming out towards next Halloween!



Hi Andrew, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to me about Silver Jubilee and The Cell.

Being the artist on Silver Jubilee sees you team up with Division’77's Dave Heeley. What's it been like working with the writer? 

Andrw Sawyers: In short, it’s been great - Dave, much like Bambos is a gregarious and outgoing guy, who’s bright and breezy character has not only made him a very firm friend, but professionally very easy to collaborate with.

It’s been a year in progress and inception, I feel I’ve yet to find my gear or lane with Jubilee but it’s now out and I’m sure it’ll develop it’s own identity - but the collaborative process combined with Dave’s scripting and Fillipo’s lettering has made it a fully realized thing !!!

Without going into spoilers, the opening episode of Silver Jubilee sees the character go through a pretty serious transformation. What's it been like crafting what's essentially a 'super-hero origin' ?On paper it was easy enough, societally, it’s a minefield to navigate with a wide variety of potential pitfalls and traps to navigate - visually it’s tough, trying to develop a characters visual identity and tell a story sequentially if a tough act to juggle.

Don’t get me wrong - there was a fair amount of pre visualization put in, but naturally things change and adapt to tell the story.But even my favorite characters change over time, so I’m cool with the process.I think, I know in fact, questions about her origins will be fully detailed as the story unfolds, and perhaps the six page count is perhaps not best suited to an origins story, but collectively it’ll all come together.



Are you able to divulge any hints as to what's coming next in the story ?


AS: It’s essentially a revenge arc, but moves onto a more political broader scale and theme wise will be written with far broader brush strokes - what you’ve seen so far, and will see in the next episode are a very microcosmic view of Jubilee - as we move forwards she’ll clash with the State, Government and Public…

…she is the good guy, but as a migrant child, punk, young adult, and a super power she’s a real threat to the status quo and there’s a lot of people who are going to be very worried that someone’s who’s from a marginalized background now has real choice, a voice and power to effect change !!!


Silver Jubilee also sees you tackle a punk rock 70's London. Was it easy to transition to this from the more sci-fi setting of The Cell?


AS: Well, I was pretty ill, suffering from the long term effects Post COVID - not long after a very heavy run on The Cell, I really struggled to find, as I mentioned previously, my gear, or change gears for Jubilee - but, I’m pleased to say I’m pushing through and whilst it’s slowed to a more glacial tone, my style for Jubilee is coming along.

I work full time, and it’s been prohibitive of pushing things to the next level - I think as it goes on my iteration of 70’s and 80’s London will take shape !!!



Away from your work on The77, your social media followers would have seen news that yourself and fellow writer, Dave Bedford are teaming up for the launch of Scar Comics'  Dead By Dawn. What can we expect to see from the comic ?


AS: Sheer Terror !!! (laughs).

It’s Shane Chesbey’s and Andy Richmond’s brainchild - and has got a whole host of established writers and artists in it, including Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead) and Dan Abnett (Marvel, 40k) !!!

Personally, I’m thrilled and very lucky to have a crack at Dave Bedford’s strip, and whilst Dead by Dawn crosses a wide variety of genres, all horror themed - Dave’s script had a real late 80’s vibe, and little X-Files feel to it, which, as serendipity would have it  was right up my street !!!

From me you can expect, artistically, the usual crazy distortion of reality with hyper realized colorization - but some classic horror tropes in there too, I think there’s a little Cell Easter Egg in there, and there was in Jubilee too !!!

The Kickstarter starts Friday the 13th (August).


And finally, when will we see the return of The Cell within the pages of The77 ?


AS: The Cell will DEFINITELY return right after the fifth episode of Jubilee, but it’s back for a one shot in The ‘77 annual due out later this year - I’ve sent in sneak look at the pencils!!!

Thank you to both Dave and Andrw for chatting to me, and giving a behind the scenes look into their work. With plenty of new strips on the horizon from both talents, 2021 is shaping up to be another busy year for the two.

 

Be sure to check out my review of The77 Issue #6 which will be up on the blog within the coming days. 


Back issues of The77 and Blazer! can be purchased via the publications store by clicking here.


Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev


*images supplied courtesy of Andrw Sawyers and have been used with the artists consent. 





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