Stephan Franck returns to his neo-noir graphic novel series Palomino with two new volumes in the popular series.
The new volumes (currently available to back on Kickstarter) explore new decades and new problems in the city of Los Angeles.
We spoke to Franck about where the series is headed and how the new time periods impact the story in this exclusive interview with the writer/artist.
The upcoming Palomino graphic novels jump from the 1980s to the 1990s. How does the shift in time to another decade influence the story?
Stephan Franck: The first three volumes of Palomino take place in 1981. We follow a private detective and his teenage daughter (respectively Eddie and Lisette Lang) who, while already dealing with a tragedy in their past, see a new crime-mystery wedge its way into their lives. In 1981, Lisette is just a kid, so it’s of course Eddie who’s running the investigation. As Palomino Vol 4 starts, we find ourselves in 1995, and the focus turns to Lisette, now 29 and going by Liz, who works the Music & Lifestyle beat of a free weekly. When she reopens the case her father couldn’t solve in 1981, all hell breaks loose.
What would you say are the biggest differences between the decades?
Franck: That fifteen year span represents a turning point in American life. 1981 is a world that feels frozen in time. In terms of everyday life, 1981 doesn’t seem that different from, say 1971. In reality, deep changes are on the horizon as people are starting to get sold the idea that the New Deal is what’s holding them back, but as far as the eye can see, the cars are still big, there’s still only three networks, the Cold War looks like a permanent state of affairs, and the arch enemy is outside.
By contrast, 1995 is the onset of the digital revolution, and the texture of everyday life is being transformed. Emails, cell phones, from work to family life, it’s all changing fast and furious. There’s no longer an opposing superpower, however Oklahoma City just happened. The call is coming from inside the house. In a sense, Liz’s reluctance to embrace the new gadgets of the digital revolution feel like an amusing reminder that she’s clinging on to a past that was never fully resolved. However, it’s also a function of her being an old-soul, a truly empathetic person–a classic noir character deeply plugged into the human condition. As far as the Palomino itself, 1981 was the club’s high watermark, and 1995 was the year that it actually closed, so that is providing a great metaphor as well as a great framing device.
The 90s was also a time when some great noir stories were produced. Do you find any of these films influencing how you approach Palomino in the 90s?
Franck: One of the great neo-noirs of that era was To Live And Die in LA, and I definitely looked back on it for inspiration, not only in the way that Los Angeles is almost a character in it, but also because it passes the baton from one investigator to another. In retrospect, you realize that the movie was that second character’s story all along. That’s what’s happening with Eddie and Liz. The clues were all there, but you only understand them as such in hind sight–which is what happened to me in the writing process, by the way.
Where does the story pick up in Vol. 4?
Franck: The story picks up when Liz’s childhood best friend Kelly, now working for Wall Street as a forensic accountant, comes back to town to run an acquisition audit on an aero-space company in Northridge. This will set a chain of events in motion, which will lead Liz to reopening the case her dad couldn’t close back in 1981. Liz is still the same badass as she was as a teenager in the first three volumes, but now she has the agency of being an adult, which makes her even more formidable.
You are also back on Kickstarter for the project. Why is Kickstarter an effective platform for getting these books to fans and readers?
Franck: Kickstarter is a way for the readers to truly support the stories they love and to help forge the cultural ecosystem that they inhabit. It gives the storytelling community–and I include the readers in it–real agency, and that’s a very rare thing to find these days.
Any premiums that are being offered this time around?
Franck: In addition to the two new Palomino volumes, we will also offer a super rad Slipcase (like we did with Silver back in the day), which will turn your existing first three Palomino volumes into a beautiful boxset! We will also offer delicious book plates that are based on the “in world” catalog of TV producer Philip Lamaz–one of the characters pulling the strings from the very start of the series. So these book plates are super meta and super fun! Then there will be more surprises!
Future projects?
Franck: First and foremost, the sixth and final Palomino volume, which concludes the series in the biggest, most epic way possible! I’m already halfway through drawing that one, so we shouldn’t have to wait too long for it!
Palomino is currently available to back on Kickstarter until June 6. If you enjoyed this interview, check out our previous one with Franck about Palomino right here.
