I’m not sure if Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson could have asked for better timing for their new graphic novel, Justice Warriors: Vote Harder, which arrives in stores today.
Now, obviously, it is election season here in the U.S., and their sequel to the first Justice Warriors miniseries is focused on an election in the fictional city of Bubble City — so that tracks. But when the project was announced by Ahoy Comics, they had no idea that it would arrive the day after the second presidential debate or that said debate would feature different candidates than the first debate.
If you read the first Justice Warriors miniseries, you know that the story drew heavily from the headlines, twisting our reality into a dystopian satire series that poked fun at capitalism and law enforcement in a future of severe inequality — and one populated by mutants. This time around our two protagonists, Swamp Cop and Schitt, get pulled into the chaos of the first Bubble City elections that have happened in, like, forever.
I spoke with Bors and Clarkson about the new graphic novel, their work process, why they went with an OGN instead of another miniseries and more. I thank them both for their time — or at least the concept of their time.
Let’s start with your secret origins — when did you first discover comics, and when did you decide you wanted to make them?
Clarkson: My Mom bought me a collection of Far Side cartoons when I was like seven, and since then I wanted to be Gary Larson. I also watched a lot of the Toei animated 90s Spider-Man series at the time so I also wanted to be Spider-Man.
Actually making COMICS took until my mid-30s. I had dropped out of the contemporary art market and realized instead of decorating a Dracula’s townhouse, I should try to make art people actually like.
Bors: Making comics is the only thing I have ever wanted to do. I can’t remember ever not wanting to do them. From a young age, my dad got me hooked on EC Comics, Mad Magazine and X-Men. That was all she wrote.
Before jumping into the new volume, I wanted to ask — is it scary at all to see some of the “fiction” you created in the first volume inch closer to reality (or at least some people’s perceived reality), especially as we’ve entered this current election period?
Clarkson: How I see it Justice Warriors is a documentary. We try to base plot points on documented police behavior and historical events, while amping it up to be a cartoon. It makes sense that the news seems to plagiarize us since the stories are not wholly contrived.
That being said if Donald Trump unveils an orbital laser to carve his face on the sun we will still try to market the book off of the headlines.
Bors: We try to keep ahead of events the best we can. In Vote Harder, there are three assassination attempts, not merely one like our reality. Knock on wood.
In this first volume you introduced us to the world and your two main characters, Swamp Cop and Schitt. Where are they as we pick up with their story in this second volume?
Bors: Swamp and Schitt need to deal with an armed homeowner’s association in the opening of this volume, but then they are split up as the election is announced. Swamp is recruited, let’s say, for a clandestine undercover operation that requires infiltrating the mutant opposition.
Clarkson: Meanwhile in between volumes things have degenerated in Bubble City after a series of “meatball riots” and the owner/operators of society, the Bubble City trust, have decided they may need new leadership to face the current crisis. To attempt to oust the Prince, the current pop star mega-mayor of Bubble City, the Trust have resorted to an ancient and untested procedure: an election.
While the satire and humor in the story is sharp, you’ve also managed to create compelling characters readers want to root for (one of whom is literally a shit emoji, so that’s an accomplishment). How did you approach developing the characters to make them relatable amidst the comedic chaos, and how did you balance that in this new volume?
Bors: If they aren’t fully realized characters with real stakes, then I can’t ask readers to care about what happens to them. In this story, we really mess with Swamp by placing him in a compromised situation. On the one side, he’s befriended an activist named Fen, who he is catching feelings for. At the same time he is on a collision course with Schitt, who does not know about his undercover mission. There’s no way out for Swamp and the clock is ticking.
Clarkson: Justice Warriors may be insane, psychedelic even, but we take great care to ground the book in the buddy-cop bro-mance between a fish-monster and a dookie.
The big story this time, of course, is the re-introduction of elections within Bubble City. Can you talk about our three candidates, and what each represents (and any real-world comparisons you might have drawn inspiration from)?
Clarkson: The Prince is the current pop star mega-mayor of Bubble City who is widely considered to be a bit past his prime. His latest single was a light 7. So a faction of the Bubble City Trust has put forward his cousin/ half-sister / ex-girlfriend Stuffina Vippix XII to shake up the leadership of Bubble City and put it on the path towards a new age of profit and prosperity. The actual differences between these two boil down to which of the two you want to have control of a space based weapons platform.
Bors: Then there is Flauf TANKO, the mutant third-party candidate who is a Tax Tank Operator. She’s had a change of heart from violently enforcing liens against mutant subdivisions to believing the Bubble should elect a mutant mayor. She’s radical, populist, and represents the potential of the masses… if they can get organized enough to win with the cards stacked against them.
How did the collaboration process between the two of you evolve over the course of working on this second chapter? And what does that process look like?
Bors: Ben does the art, but I’ll sometimes throw out ideas for layout if my idea is very visual. Being an artist myself I think it helps—you write comics by making comics. We go back and forth from ideas through scripts on through lettering. I do backup features and letter the book so both of our hands are on things at multiple stages throughout the creative process.
Clarkson: We work very tightly together. Matt suggests layouts and poses even. We both worked on the script closely as well, editing and adding jokes. By the time the script goes to our editor it often has gone through up to 10 drafts and rewrites.
The first Justice Warriors was released as a miniseries, but this sequel is an original graphic novel. What made you decide to release it all in one volume?
Bors: We had great success in trade and that’s where things are shifting. So while I love individual issues, we wanted to hit the election window this year all in one go so that everyone could buy it while we’re all thinking about voting.
Clarkson: Also, Justice Warriors was a mega-hit in trade because we were able to snowball the word of mouth into sales. What we are doing is very new and unique, and getting the word out to catch a #1 was a challenge. I hope we can return to floppies someday after people have caught on to what we are laying down.
What’s next for both of you after this project? Do you think you’ll do more stories in the Justice Warriors universe?
Bors: We plotted out volume three the other day. It will get made if readers vote with their dollars.
Clarkson: We have over 10 years of ideas, plus one shots, movie plots, TV episodes and white papers of TTRPGs and games. Justice Warriors is here to stay, if I have anything to say about it.