The following is an interview with Annie Award-nominated animator/writer/director/comics creator Stephan Franck regarding the recent launch of his Kickstarter campaign for the final installment of the neo-noir graphic novel series, Palomino. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Franck about his experience in bringing this creative journey to a close, the backer rewards available to those supporting the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You recently returned to Kickstarter for the final installment of your critically acclaimed graphic novel series, Palomino. As readers approach the sixth volume of the series, where will they find Liz in her final odyssey for truth?
Stephan Franck: For Liz, it has definitely been a long quest for truth, and this sixth and final volume is the epic conclusion in which the deepest secrets are finally revealed!
The journey started fourteen years earlier in Palomino Vol. 1, when Liz was only 15 years old and living with her father, Eddie—a musician by night and a private detective by day. Eddie was an old-school, hard-ass, hard-boiled kind of guy, but Liz was always an old soul, and even as a teenager, she might have been even more hard-boiled than he was. Both lived under the shadow of a tragic mystery in their past: the unresolved disappearance of Lena, Liz’s mom and the love of Eddie’s life.
Pretty soon, both father and daughter find themselves embroiled in a web of mysteries that both are trying to solve. However, she’s still just a kid, so what can she really do when even her father is unable to solve the case? Volume 4 jumps forward fourteen years to 1995.
Liz is still the same hard case as ever, but now with adult agency, she reopens the case. Chaos ensues!
By the end of Volume 5, a great deal of the web of mystery has unraveled, but the deepest secret of all—which has loomed large in Liz’s life since childhood—still remains: What really happened to Liz’s mom? This last volume takes place over one final night, during which she will uncover the whole truth or die trying—and maybe, just maybe, reemerge on the other side, finally free of the ghosts in her past.
BD: You have lived and breathed these characters for over 6 years. What was your experience in bringing their journey to a close?
SF: It felt emotional in different ways. For one thing, a series like this is a huge undertaking that takes years out of your life, so getting to the finish line feels like reaching the top of a mountain. There’s a feeling of accomplishment that is exhilarating.
But I also felt that all these characters had been on a profoundly transformative journey, and that I had been on it with them. They truly leave it all on the field—emotionally, plot-wise, and in terms of their human journey. So, getting to the other side with them felt very powerful—almost like a privilege.
BD: In light of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
SF: Along with this sixth volume, the entire Palomino series can be ordered through this campaign, as well as my previous series. Kickstarter is also unique in that backers directly contribute to the creation of the culture we all live in, and it’s always amazing when a campaign offers extra items for readers to support and represent. That said, I always want to make sure that what we offer is truly useful and actually enhances the experience. And I have to say, so much of my day-to-day revolves around mugs! Whether it’s the coffee mug I always need by my desk as I work, or something to cozy up with while relaxing on the sofa reading a comic—I love my mugs. So, to commemorate the end of the series, we’ve got a very rad Palomino mug. We also have super cool Palomino shirts and hoodies—again, high-quality, great-looking pieces, whether you want to represent out in the world or just be comfy at home. Last but not least, we have some absolutely striking, large-format, framed Palomino canvas prints! A total vibe-maxer (Yes, I made up that word.) —and a real conversation starter for your living or workspace!
BD: Throughout your career – and across entertainment mediums – you have crafted incredible, new worlds and characters who resonate deeply with audiences and readers. Looking back at the Palomino series, why do you feel that it stands out in your award-winning catalog of work?
SF: One thing that stands out to me in Palomino is its sense of verisimilitude. For all its heightened noir qualities, it’s a world that feels textured and lived in, the situations remain credible, and the characters feel like real people. We truly share in their experience, and I think that extends not just to the main characters, but deep into the bench. And yet, it never stops being fun, and it grows and grows and grows to a really epic finale.
My favorite part of storytelling is to never stop learning. Each time, I feel like I’m getting a little bit closer to the truth, whether in the drawings, the visual storytelling, or the writing itself. That sense of learning and earning deeper access into things is a big part of what keeps me motivated.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to note for our readers?
SF: Palomino is a long, immersive saga (661 pages!), and for readers who want to enter an equally deep universe and follow characters on their life journeys, I would recommend my previous long series, Silver—an epic, swashbuckling, pulp noir adventure in which a team of con men team up with the last of the Van Helsings to steal a treasure called the Silver Dragon from a castle full of vampires. Super fun and a completely different vibe from Palomino, and yet they share a few things in common—a deep world you can disappear into, and characters that feel like people you’ve known your entire life.
Meanwhile, I also love doing short stories, and people can check out Romance in the Age of the Space God, a one-shot that I originally created during the pandemic and finally released in print a couple of years ago. It’s part dystopian sci-fi thriller, part slice of life, and even has some political satire that I thought would have become a little dated by now, but actually hasn’t, and it is all done with adorable anthropomorphic little mice! I call it a weird comic for and about weird times!
Q: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to support the Kickstarter campaign and your other work?
SF: At this time the best way is to visit (and/or maybe direct your friends to) our campaign page here.
