The following is an interview with Warwick Johnson-Cadwell regarding the recent release of the graphic novel, Our Encounters with Evil: Adventures of Professor J.T. Meinhardt and His Assistant Mr. Knox. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Johnson-Cadwell about the inspiration behind this latest graphic novel, his creative process in working with Mike Mignola, Clem Robins, and Dave Stewart in bringing the story to life, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: This month will see the release of your new graphic novel, Our Encounters with Evil: Adventures of Professor J.T. Meinhardt and His Assistant Mr. Knox, in collaboration with Mike Mignola, Clem Robins, Dave Stewart, and Dark Horse Comics. For returning readers, where will this sequel graphic novel find our titular characters in their adventures?
Warwick Johnson-Cadwell: This book will find the titular characters and their companion Ms. Mary Van Sloan in the thick of their adventures. It is three stories pulled from their case files and could sit anywhere before or after the events of Mr. Higgins Comes Home (our introduction to the characters). These stories show us how the Professor, Mr. Knox, and Mary Van Sloan spend the days and nights.
BD: Given that you were able to maintain the same creative team from the previous graphic novel, do you find that there was an ease of process in your collaboration?
WJC: What I find from this creative team is a total sense of awe. Working with Mike Mignola and Dark Horse is something I obviously dreamed of but never imagined could really happen. Then, add to that the skills of Clem Robins’ letters, Dave Stewart’s colour on Mike’s incredible cover, and the editing work and support of Katii O’Brien and Jenny Blenk, and I feel my work has been transported entirely. The collaboration was very easy with their various support.
BD: Having written and illustrated within this story universe in the first graphic novel, Mr. Higgins Comes Home, how would you describe your experience in expanding the universe and delving deeper into your characters?
WJC: Great fun above all else, but expanding the universe was not a problem. While drawing Mr. Higgins Comes Home, I was making all sorts of decisions and throwing up all sorts of ideas about what these characters did and what sort of world they lived in. It’s also a place very well nested in my memories of horror movies in the older tradition like the Universal Monster films or Hammer Horror. By the time I finished Mr. Higgins, I had a wealth of stories to get into.
BD: Are there any other entertainment mediums that you would like to explore with these characters?
WJC: My drawing isn’t a very realistic style, of course, but I think a lot in cinematic terms, so it’d be interesting to see these guys in film. Animation, too. I love collaborative work and the new ideas and avenues it forms. A collaboration across mediums would be a very exciting prospect.
BD: What makes Dark Horse Comics the perfect home for these graphic novels?
WJC: Dark Horse is where I go to find my fix of these comics. Hellboy and his universe are extensive, and I come from the same sort of place in terms of genre, so it feels like a perfect place to be.
BD: Are there any additional projects on which you are working that you are able to share with our readers?
WJC: Very sadly not. There are projects that I am working on but am not able to talk about and also projects I’m hoping to get working on, so I’d rather not mention till they are confirmed. Once, I used to see artists talking about this and thought it must be an exciting and mysterious place to be, but now that I’m here, I find it frustrating. I’d love to tell you all about what’s on my drawing table. But, rest assured that I am busy drawing something.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell fans who want to learn more about Our Encounters with Evil?
WJC: I hope that folks want to find out more about those guys. The Professor, Mr. Knox, and Mary Van Sloan have a great wealth of experience to share, and it’d be very exciting to be able to find out more about their adventures. There are many more vampires to meet and other evil creatures to encounter.
