I don’t often pick up graphic novels but when I do, they end up being some of my favorite books. On Allison Alexander’s recommendation, I am excited to talk to Lyndon Radchenka about being a graphic novelist, art and more.
Lyndon Radchenka is a writer and comic book letterer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Born in 1993, he grew up on Saturday morning cartoons and thinks 1997’s Batman & Robin was “a fun movie.” Lyndon received an English degree from the University of Manitoba in 2015 and a law degree from the University of Calgary in 2019. During the course of his studies, Lyndon wrote short stories and plays. He also acted on stage and camera.
Despite enjoying the “classics” of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Dumas, Lyndon was drawn back to comics. Lyndon became active in the comic convention scene in 2013, and was quickly enchanted by the passion and support of the indie comics community. Realizing that life is nothing if you’re not doing what you love, Lyndon released his first full comic, Infinite Universe, with Steven Kaul in 2018, following it up with What Will Not Last in 2019.
Welcome to The Creator’s Roulette, Lyndon! Which is a graphic novel that you cherish?
This is a difficult question right off the hop! It’s difficult because it makes us really look at what “cherish” means in the general context of our lives. Creatively, there are comics that inspire us and shape how we interact with the medium, and leave us with the hunger to recreate the feelings we experienced for the rest of our lives, and in that vein books like The Dark Knight Returns and All-Star Superman are a couple of my favourites.
There are books that make the actual dream of “making books” seem like a reality, even if that inspiration comes more from the creator of them than the books themselves, for instance Infinitum, by my friend and comics-mentor G.M.B. Chomichuk.
And then there is whichever is the latest comic you read that reminded you of the magic of reading comics. Something that moved you so much that you remembered all at once why you read these books, and you’re transported back to the first time you picked up a comic that moved you. Lately, that book for me was Batman: Arkham Asylum, a Serious house on Serious earth.
What are your first memories of drawing and storytelling?
I mean, I drew like every kid did growing up, and even though the habit didn’t stick with me, I still was telling stories from a young age. I played with cars and action figures and all the typical kid toys, and as an only child (which I am,) I was forced to entertain myself. How do kids do that but to make up stories that they can act out with their toys? I’m sure if you asked my parents they would say all I ever did was play with toys until I started reading books.
I was recently reading a graphic novel called Invisible Differences and so many panels in that book portrayed emotion without words. In a graphic novel, how important is illustration to storytelling (irrespective of who does the illustration)?
Illustration is the most important part of comics, full stop. Comics, or sequential art, by definition are a mix of text and art. Both can contribute to the reading experience, but it’s the illustrations that really make comics what they are. A comic without illustration is prose, but a comic without text is still sequential art.
Like you said, Invisible Differences contains panels without text, and they are still able to convey emotion, and I think that’s where the magic of comics is. There is an entire world of communication that opens up when you combine text and art!
How do you approach writing a graphic novel? You mentioned that you work with an artist. What does that look like?
Another piece of the magic that is comics is how collaborative it is. In certain respects, it’s harder to be a writer than it is to be an artist, while the reverse is true in other aspects. As a writer, it is impossible to make comics without a good artist. I can’t draw, so I automatically need help. The artist is the engine that drives the craft, and without them you’re stuck. Fortunately, that means that you are never alone in your craft.
Like any creative project, it all starts with an idea. That may be my idea, or maybe an artist that I enjoy working with has an idea, and it quickly snowballs from there. We sit down and start to talk about what inspired it, and how it feels, and the sort of story we’d like to tell, and then we begin to hit all those huge plot points. We let the story develop organically for a while before we start making it all try and fit into the box of storytelling. Things don’t have to make sense at this stage, and you just go wherever the excitement takes you. Once that slows down you can really begin making sure it all makes sense.
From there it’s straightforward in theory. I run off and start writing a script (I do my dialogue first), while my creative partner (because that’s what we are now,) starts conceptualizing characters and places.
When the script is done I hand it over, and as my partner works on it, we bounce ideas back and forth. Remember, the script that you give a writer is not the finished product, it’s just a sort of rough map. There is so much that can change from script to art that the comic might not look anything like what I pictured in my head, and that’s wonderful.
When the art comes back I look at the script I had written, and I look at how I can change it to better suit the art given to me. Sometimes passages of dialogue don’t need to exist anymore because the art conveys their meaning better, and so we get rid of it.
You work as hard as you can on something, you let it become your obsession, and then you send it out into the world. Once it’s out there it isn’t yours anymore. There’s nothing left for you to do but appreciate that you’ve created something.
Tell us about your graphic novels. What are they about?
Graphic novels in the traditional sense are just longer-form comics. Typically they are known for a singular work that tells a complete story, and that is what separates them from “comics,” which provide ongoing stories. I don’t know if that definition entirely works anymore as the medium has lost some of that rigidity of storytelling, but that’s what the difference used to be about.
I have two graphic novels right now, the first is Infinite Universe, and was published in 2018. The second is What Will Not Last, which I self-published in 2019 and was just re-published this year, 2020.
The first is a science-fiction action-adventure about a group of humans trying to find a new planet to colonize in the wake of Earth’s inevitable destruction. The second is a collection of short comics that all handle grapple with the concept of “an ending leading to a new beginning.”
Are there certain stories that would make amazing graphic novels in your mind?
I think when you’re looking at media that would translate well to a graphic novel, you really have to look at the sort of story that is aided by having a visual component. You can tell a personal story that involved just “talking heads” as it were, but that sort of storytelling may be more effective if it were just prose, you know?
Think of comics similar to how you think of film, as I think the two mediums share a number of similarities. There are trade-offs, of course, but I like to think that many of the stories that can make good films (and don’t rely on elements that are exclusive to film, such as music), can make good comics.
How do graphic novels compare to novels? Do you find they have a different audience or impact?
I touched on how comics compare to other mediums in the above question, and I think the same applies to novels. There are different strengths and weaknesses to both mediums. A single illustration in comics can communicate what a few paragraphs of prose might require, but prose can really get underneath the surface of certain elements that comics might struggle to do.
As far as audiences go, again I will make the comparison that a movie-goer might have an easier time acclimating to the storytelling in a comic than someone who exclusively reads prose, but largely I think we are still getting used to the reduced stigma around reading comics. For a long time it was considered childish, and not comparable to reading prose, but I think (I hope!) that those notions are disappearing, and people are more open to accepting comics and the special kinds of stories that go along with them.
How is the process of publishing a graphic novel different from publishing a novel? Are there other people you work with to create the finished product?
I’m working on my first novel right now, so I will let you know when I find out! Mainly, it feels like you’re not as alone. When you are making a comic you are working so closely with your creative partner that the product is really something that comes from both of you, and allows you to hold each other accountable to finish it.
My brother was into drawing comics last year (he is 10 years old). What is something you would tell a budding storyteller who occasionally dabbles in drawing?
I’d tell him that no matter what the world might tell him, there is value in continuing to do those things if he loves them. Don’t lose that love and you might be able to do it for the rest of your life. And if you like to draw, DEFINITELY keep doing that. I wish I had started when I was younger, and the next best time to start is today.
Do you read graphic novels? Why draws you to them?
I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Lyndon. Connect with him on Twitter and find more about his work on his website.
Banner Image by Reimund Bertrams from Pixabay
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