Here at Part-Time Fanboy we’re mostly known for our podcasts and podcast interviews but every once in a while a creator’s schedule is too busy to allow them to actually sit down and have a prolonged conversation with us. Such was the case with legendary comic creator Garth Ennis who, with the pre-eminent launch of The Boys television adaptation via Amazon on July 26th, was understandably swamped.

Luckily, Dynamite Entertainment made Mr. Ennis available for questioning to several media outlets and Part-Time Fanboy was lucky enough to be on the list to submit some inquires via e-mail. Being huge fans of his work it was an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up. As noted earlier, Mr. Ennis was very busy at the time so many of these questions were directly submitted and follow ups were not really allowed. What follows is a very brief question and answer session but we’d like to thank Mr. Ennis for taking the time to answer our questions and to thank Nick Barrucci and Vincent Faust of Dynamite Entertainment for making the opportunity available to us in the first place.

Now might also be the perfect time to mention that Dynamite Entertainment is also releasing a series of new Omnibus editions of The Boys which you can find by clicking here in case you haven’t had the opportunity to read the comics or if you’d just like your collection of the series to be, um, collected in a gathering of easy to access mammoth paperback editions. If you prefer digital comics and would like an opportunity to have part of your purchase donated to charity Dynamite has teamed up with Humblebundle in order to provide you with all the The Boys and Garth Ennis goodness you could ever want! Click here to purchase the Dynamite Entertainment/Garth Ennis bundle of your dreams!

And so, without further ado, we present to you our interview with comics titan Garth Ennis! All questions (in bold) submitted by Kristian Horn of Part-Time Fanboy and all answers submitted by, who else, Garth Ennis!

Hello Mr. Ennis,

I’d like to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I know I’m here to ask about The Boys but Preacher is a series that changed my life and that I found to be one of the best comic book reading experiences of my lifetime. I just wanted to thank you for your work before proceeding with the e-mail interview. Again, thank you for taking the time and I’m looking forward to watching The Boys when it premiers on Amazon. Here are my questions:

The Boys was supposedly your rebuttal to the superhero genre being the predominant presence in comics at the time of its publication. Do you have any thoughts on how that superhero culture has expanded into giant blockbuster films? Do you have any thoughts on how that expansion of suprhero “culture” has helped The Boys and other properties you’ve worked on break through into Hollywood projects?

I think it’s definitely helped, in that mainstream audiences have now been educated in the notion of shared universes, superteams, etc., etc.

I’d like to ask about the history of the development of the actual comic. What inspired the original creation of the project beyond a distaste for superheroes? You’re a fan of war comics and World War II history…how much of that informed the basis for The Boys?

That’s it in a nutshell, really- the corporate corruption of American government paralleled by the often catastrophic history of the CIA’s involvement in the Cold War.

The Boys started as a project at Wildstorm Comics. Was The Boys always a fully creator owned project? I’m curious about how easy or difficult the transition from Wildstorm (DC Comics) to Dynamite was. Once DC decided they couldn’t (reportedly) publish the series did they relinquish the rights outright? How soon after leaving Wildstorm did Dynamite step in to publish the series?

We managed six months at DC before moving to Dynamite, which- after the initial upset- was a remarkably simple transition. There was really nothing DC could do with the property, it was of no use to them. As I recall we were on the old Vertigo creator-owned contract, before the shitty new one came in a couple of years afterward. That certainly helped move things along.

How long has The Boys been in development as a TV show? Can you talk a bit about how the property evolved from a comic into a TV show?

You’d really have to talk to Eric Kripke about that. Apart from a few notes I submitted near the start, my involvement was pretty minimal.

How much creative control do you have over the TV show? Are you involved in the writing, casting, or production aspects of the show? 

Almost none of it. I’m content to let the book be the book and the show the show. The way I see it, I’ve told my story.

What are the biggest differences between working in the comics industry and working with the TV industry besides the amount of money you’re making? Are there any trade-offs between working on a TV property vs. in comics? Has working on developing television shows forced you to compromise more than working on comics? The reputation comics has is that your singular vision can be developed with little interference. How has it been working with other writers, directors, producers as they take your property and transfer it to another form of media?

Again, I tend to take a back seat on all these things. I have no desire to live in LA, work in a writer’s room and interact with executives- as you rightly point out, the beauty of comics is that you avoid all that.

Obviously certain aspects of The Boys aren’t necessarily for the faint of heart. Do you know if the TV show will be just as over the top as the comic series? Has Amazon set any limits as to how crazy the show can get? Or are all bets basically off because it’s on a streaming/paid platform?

There will always be things you just cannot put on TV, Eric was completely upfront about that. That said, I think the show’s still managed to be fairly feisty.

Regarding some of the more disturbing aspects of the comic…what are some of your thoughts regarding the material in the current cultural climate? How do you think the original material plays out in the rise of the #metoo movement? What is your response to individuals who might see aspects of the series as misogynistic or glorifying violence?

Generally these are sensitive times, in which people seem to prefer fiction that affirms only their own point of view and presents them with empowering fantasy figures. While I understand where that desire comes from, I’m more interested in writing about life as I find it rather than some ideal. The funny thing is, whatever the sensitivities of individual people, these are actually completely atrocious times- bad men are in charge of a bad world, and that is very much one of the themes of The Boys. It was born of the Bush era, after all.

Your projects have been known for pushing the boundaries of what’s allowed in comic books. But many of your books are also hailed for their deep characterization and personal moments. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts about how you’re able to walk the line between outrageous humor and stories that can be touching and, for lack of a better term, heartfelt.

That is really a matter of proceeding almost completely on instinct- a question of what feels right. It’s impossible to satisfy the tastes of every single reader, of course, so I work on satisfying my own.

And that’s pretty much it! Again, we’d like to thank everyone at Dynamite Entertainment for the opportunity to e-chat with one of our absolute favorite comic creators, Garth Ennis! As a reminder, The Boys TV series premiers on Amazon Prime on July 26th!

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