@’s by the REED GUNTHER Team of
Shane and Chris Houghton!!!
LYZ REBLIN (LR): How would you describe REED GUNTHER for those unfamiliar with the comic?SHANE HOUGHTON (SH): REED GUNTHER is a bear-riding cowboy that fights monsters in the Wild West. It’s an action adventure comedy about friends and friendship but with monsters thrown in. We told a friend about it recently and we got really into the relationship between Reed and his bear Sterling and their gal pal Starla. Reed is kind of the heart of the group but is kind of this bumbling idiot who creates more problems than he solves, Starla is just this tough as nails kind of lady, and Sterling is the wise, smart one. So we just started talking all about the character dynamics and then “oh, there are also monsters. It’s really cool and they fight monsters and that’s a big part of it.” We just get wrapped up in talking about the characters and who they are, which helps new readers relate to the characters, identify and get into it. They just happen to be set in this exciting and adventurous world.
LR: Was the inspiration for your iteration of the Wild West based on Westerns you grew up watching or parodies of the genre like BLAZING SADDLES?
SH: As much as we love BLAZING SADDLES and parodies I think we have a very genuine comic in that it is more an action-adventure comic, more like how STAR WARS was: adventure, funny, heartfelt—it’s high adventure where it is also sci-fi. But you don’t always think of that at first. So it’s like with REED GUNTHER where we have these really true and fun characters and they just happen to be in a Western setting.
CHRIS HOUGHTON (CH): We never really thought of it as a Western. It’s not really a John Wayne or Ford film. It’s a comedy-adventure that just happens to be set in the Wild West.LR: So it was more the setting?
CH: Yeah, I always loved cowboys and Indians growing up and just the thought of the Wild West where anything can happen. It’s kind of a neat time period, there was a lot going on in the United States. We try to tie in a lot of history and folklore. It just seemed to be an exciting setting to have monsters and bears and cowboys and bizarre happenings.
LR: So it is lacking in some of the typical Western clichés?
CH: Yeah, the main character of Reed Gunther is sort of your anti-Clint Eastwood or John Wayne. Sterling, his trusty steed, is a bear, very much not your Silver. So it takes the Western and flips it on its head, which is very fun to watch.
LR: Did the idea of the series start out as a comic that was less “family-friendly” or has it been toned down since its inception?
CH: When it first started out it was just these short comics I was drawing and writing and they were a little darker. They didn’t really have focus; I was just exploring and having some fun with it. And then the project got shelved. Then Shane re-vamped it and he was really interested in it and made it much more fun. It just sort of became this family-friendly thing. We never set out to market it that way by any means, but it is just what comes naturally to both of us.SH: We set out to make a comic that would entertain us, first and foremost. We wanted it to be fun, funny, high adventure, with real stakes and real danger. When we finished the first issue, we were like “hey, this is kinda an all ages thing” just because there is nothing objectionable that would keep kids away. But it’s not just a kid book because we were gearing it towards people our age in their mid-20s. We just realized it’s an all ages book where if your older or you’re a kid or an adult who has kids it’s for all of you. We like to say we are a legitimately all ages book, but sometimes we get pegged as a kids book, which we are always fighting because it is fun and exciting and dangerous; it’s not just Mickey Mouse walking around having a great time. It did start out family friendly, just not intentionally.
LR: Issues #7 and #9 have brought in more supernatural elements. Do you feel that this direction ties into the tall-tale element of Western folk tales or were these additions more a representation of other interests you have in various other genres?
CH: I think we just pull in stuff we like. You don’t really see classic monsters like werewolves mixed with Westerns. But for us it just made perfect sense, like why not throw in mummies or weird creatures we made up. In one issue, Shane wanted to bring John Henry back from the bdda but instead we ended up making him out of railroad parts instead of being a human corpse. Anything goes in REED GUNTHER and I think it makes for some unpredictable and really fun scenarios.SH: We definitely have been into supernatural stuff. A lot of our influences are books like BPRD and THE GOON and stuff that are more mature and have lots of cool monsters in ‘em. So we always set out every single issue where we need to create a new monster or new take on a classic monster. So in every issue we have these crazy creatures that will have a basis in our mind of something that is cool and I always thought that it was kind of supernatural, even from the first issue, like this giant snake, so big and large and spoiler alert:
It bursts open with a ton of little snakes inside of it. Snakes lay eggs; they don’t like carry their young inside them. So it’s a snake but not a scientific snake because snakes don’t work like that. But I always thought of it as all these little snakes were controlling this big snake body. So even from back then and then from there we had mole creatures and the John Henry zombie then just those crazy creatures unleashed in New York and all those creatures were created by this monster-generating idol that when it’s disturbed it makes these creatures to kill off the people who are disturbing it; it’s like a self defense mechanism. So we’ve always had these weird things and then the issues you mentioned we’ve got a werewolf and people are like “that’s a monster I know about” but we’ve got this pretty unique twist to it . But I’m not gonna give that one away because that’s a good twist. Every monster we have has got something a little new and different.
LR: I would think that being brothers would come with both pros and cons. Does your relationship ever turn into Reed and Starla’s, where one is more the ridiculous dreamer and the other is the logical, yet not listened to, voice of reason?SH: It’s just like that, but we both are the person who thinks the other person is wrong. Its like “no you’re the dreamer, I’m the logical one.”
CH: I don’t know, I think we are both throwing out the weird ideas and what if scenarios and I feel like the other one is willing to listen and hopefully rein that idea maker back if they need to.
SH: But we both come up with really good ideas, but I think it takes the other person to solidify it. When we agree on something we know it’s a really good idea. We work really well together, it’s a very honest relationship, and because we’ve been brothers our entire lives we can tell each other “that idea is not so good”. Or instead of just shooting down an idea we usually go “its not there yet, what can we do to make it a really good idea.”
Some people come up to us and they don’t know how we do it. We have a great relationship; we hang out all the time.
CH: I think it’s more so than being a family relationship it’s just like any kind of partnership where there needs to be mutual respect for the different skills between the two peoples and different ideas. There needs to be a safe haven for throwing out crazy ideas and not feeling like “why did we do this, never mind, that’s a stupid idea.” It needs to be safe and we’ll hear each other out even if that idea is not going to work out. We work really well together and we’re enjoying it.LR: For those fans of yours who have been following the series, what can they expect?
SH: We just released issue #9; it’s a two-part story. It’s going to conclude in issue #10, which comes out next month. Its gonna be incredible: Reed and Sterling, best friends forever, this like evil spirit was awakened in Sterling the bear and they’ve turned against each other so these best friends are having to fight. Its called “FIENDS FOREVER” and that will conclude. I don’t wanna talk about it too much but it gets really awesome and it’s going to be mind-blowing. The trade will be out after those issues #6-10.
LR: REED GUNTHER is published through Image Comics and more information can be found at www.reedgunther.com. Here’s my review of the latest issue, REED GUNTHER #9!
REED GUNTHER #9
Writer: Shane HoughtonArtist: Chris Houghton
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewer: Lyzard
The first run of REED GUNTHER has neared the end with issue #9,“FIENDS FOREVER PART 1 OF 2.” Just as fast as the train coming down the new Great Mountain Railway, REED GUNTHER #9 steams towards a climax sure to be the size of Texas.
The title of the issue is obviously a play on the phrase “friends forever.” REED GUNTHER #9 pits Sterling and Reed against each other when the evil spirit of one maniacal Mr. Todd is awakened from within Sterling during an eclipse. Can Reed and Sterling’s friendship, which has faced so many trials and tribulations before and yet always prevailed, survive the truest danger their relationship has ever been in?
The tone of issue #9 is much darker than previous books. Even the coloring can tell you that. Instead of the bright landscape commonly used throughout the issues, “FIENDS FOREVER PART 1 OF 2” has a very dark spread. The palette features more browns, reds, and greens, lacking the lighter blues and yellows that usually fill the pages. There is a nice play on this change in style where an innocent babe clothed in light is placed within a light blue carriage with its mom, also in same hue of blue. This dichotomy, between the dark reds, browns, and Nickelodeon slime-colored green against the brightened blue, is a quick visual representation of good versus evil.
This story, more than previous, has real danger. Said baby is in danger from the possessed Sterling. A baby faces death via a 9-foot, frothing green foamed, red-eyed bear! Yeah, I’d say the stakes are high. In fact, Reed’s witty one-liners feel out of place when he faces such a true threat. The character of Reed has always come off as ridiculous, but Sterling and Starla were always there to make up for his lack of common sense. But now, Reed’s Sterling is gone, making the cowboy’s antics that much more foolish. That being said, Reed Gunther does finally get serious at the end of the issue when both Sterling’s life and soul are put on the line. I do hope that Shane Houghton has one last quip saved up for Reed Gunther, because a moment of pure seriousness from him, no matter what the level of danger is, seems uncharacteristic of him. In the next issue, in which based on the nature of the comic I am sure Reed Gunther will save the day (or more likely Starla and Sterling somehow), I want the cowboy to ruin his victory with a cheesy one-liner--a real groaner.
REED GUNTHER has always been a fun read for me due to the stakes that, at least in my mind, only appeared high. It wasn’t the tension within each issue that pushed the story, but the jokes and wackiness. This issue went away from that direction, where both dangerous consequences and humor were cast at odds and did not necessarily play well with each other. Logically, if there ever were a time to forgo the comedy it would be now. The next issue is the finale and REED GUNTHER #10 needs true tension to succeed. I only hope that in the next book that both the jokes and terror can work together.
Lyzard is actually Lyz Reblin, a senior screenwriting major with an English minor at Chapman University. Along with writing for AICN, she has been published twice on the subject of vampire films.
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
