Steve Thompson and Gonzalo Ruggieri make their Comixology Originals debut with their first long form original graphic novel, Ill Vacation.
The hallucinatory thriller (now available on Amazon’s Comixology) is set in the South Pacific in the 1940s during World War 2 and involves two young soldiers who volunteer for a military experiment that has some unexpected results.
We spoke to Thompson about his experiences writing Ill Vacation in this exclusive interview.
What was the genesis of Ill Vacation?
Steve Thompson: Hi, thanks for having me! The origins start with me seeing a picture in my head of some soldiers running away from a towering monster on a sandy beach with palm trees. When I have ideas for stories, they generally start with a single image like this, and I go from there. After that, I started building the narrative around it. “Why is a monster on an island in the Pacific, and who and why are these two soldiers running away?” Then I plot out the story beats in bullet points and write the script around that.
When I contacted Gonzalo, I realized I wanted even more monsters on the island and all these swirling clouds and colours because his style played into that and accentuated the fractured mind state of the characters. I did partial rewrites on the script to put those in, and the book we have today was born! It was important to me to build it around events and places from the real world, so there was some anchor to the more fantastical elements, so research was a large part of the process too.
Why did you choose to set the story during World War II and in the Pacific?
Thompson: I had read about a US army base on Easter Island in the 1960s and played with the timeline a bit to place that base in the 1940s, which is where our story begins. That base had been monitoring French nuclear weapons tests (and we all know that bomb tests from WWII onwards have been a background for some Godzilla films and others), so it seemed like a great setting in which to place these characters. On top of that, in real life, that base had suffered frequent radio blackouts that they couldn’t explain, so we already had a creepy real-life setting in the Pacific with which to play with! But I thought World War II was also a good setting because there were no modern weapons and communications equipment; it was just harder to get from one place to another, and that made everything feel more isolated and atmospheric.
How has it been working with Ruggieri and how do you feel his art serves the story? Any images that stand out to you in the graphic novel?
Thompson: Honestly, and this is probably an annoying answer, I love every panel on every page! One of Gonzalo’s greatest skills, and why I wanted to work with him, is that he maintains a consistent style and level of quality throughout. No mean feat! And it’s all so distinctive looking and unexpected. The image that we use for the page divider for chapter 3 is one I’d have to pick if pushed. Bob and Mary are surrounded by a sea of agents who were sent to the island to destroy them. It’s moody and exciting and the colors are great and I love it!
Ill Vacation is an official Comixology OGN. Did the idea that the graphic novel would be presented in a digital format change anything in terms of traditional scripting for you or Ruggieri?
Thompson: No, it didn’t change anything, but it did give us an opportunity to go through our archive and root out a load of back matter, such as some of Gonzalo’s sketches and script pages with notes that I think are really fun. But no, it didn’t change what was in the script.
How do you feel the European comics tradition differs from comics in the US, and does Ill Vacation represent this difference or is it a mix?
Thompson: I think it’s a mix. I grew up reading US comics like Uncanny X-Men and, before that, Superman when I was really young because my dad managed to get them from somewhere. This was mixed in with stuff from Europe like Asterix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke. I think the sensibilities of all those feed into my work. All the European comics I read were very rigid in terms of panel layout and all very skillfully plotted with clear ends to each story or graphic album. The US stuff I characterize as more freeform in terms of story and page layout. There is less emphasis on plotting and more on ideas and action. That’s just my opinion, though. I love both approaches and carry influences from both worlds into my work.
Upcoming projects?
Thompson: I am working with a different, but great, artist on a book about a fantasy world which is disappearing one bit at a time. It will be more straightforward storytelling than this book, but hopefully just as beautiful! I am also trying to finish off two self-published books that people who see me at the many conventions I attend will be familiar with. Other than that I will continue to read and enjoy comics!
