Molly Crabapple and John Leavitt are no strangers to the world of burlesque, courtesans and elaborate French architecture. From their first graphic novel Scarlett Takes Manhattan to their Act-I-Vate webcomic Backstage, they frequently push the envelope with scintillating art and sensual topics. Their latest collaboration Puppet Makers is a thrilling mystery set in a parallel version of Versailles. Aristocrats wear clockwork robotic suits called Dollies to get through the rituals of everyday life. The King’s mysterious disappearance causes a young monk to investigate, drawing him into the dark secrets of the court. With stunning art from Crabapple and a mysterious tale from Leavitt, Puppet Makers is an intriguing addition to DC Comics.
Guerrilla Geek spoke with Crabapple and Leavitt about their inspirations, working together, and how they became interested in comic books!
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Guerrilla Geek: Give us a quick summary of Puppet Makers. How did you come up with the idea for the title?
John Leavitt: The Puppet Makers is a murder mystery set in a steam-punk (okay Rococo-punk) Versailles in an alternate history were the Sun King has basically taken over the world. I think I pitched it as “Blade Runner meets Dangerous Liaisons.”
We didn’t come up with the title, actually. Our first idea was a bit too generic – too close to a Carol Channing musical – and we went through a few pages of increasingly pretentious and out there ideas until our editor just suggested Puppet Makers and it worked. Sometimes the simplest title is best.
GG: Where did the inspiration for Puppet Makers come from? What do you think is the main theme or message behind Puppet Makers?
Molly Crabapple: Me and John Leavitt thought of the concept for The Puppet Makers back when were in college. We got interested in what happens when you put anachronistic technology in a society, and how it reveals the ways in which a society is screwed up. We were also obsessed with Versailles. So we got to thinking what a steampunk Versailles would look like, and immediately thought that, since court ritual had grown to such inhuman extremes, the only people who could carry it out would be cyborgs. So we developed the dollys, or the robotic shells that aristocrats wear in Puppet Makers, the upkeep of which is bankrupting and ecologically devastating France.
In Puppet Makers, we wanted to explore what happens when an incredibly wealthy, indulged elite totally isolates itself from the larger society.
GG: Why did you choose to set the story in Versailles? What is it about France and that time period that fascinates you?
MC: Cause Louis XIV is the shiz. You have this dude, who as a child, saw the powerful, rebellious nobility murder family members, and decided he wouldn’t be so controlled. Instead of taking on the nobility directly, he built Versailles, this gilded trap where the anyone who was anyone had to live. Staying there was so expensive that people burned through their estates, but exile was almost worse than death.
As the Sun King, Louis XIV lived with the courtiers circling like planets around him, always watching him, jockeying for who would help him undress at night. It was an incredible strain, and though Louis succeeded in breaking the nobility, Versailles ultimately broke his descendants and led to the French Revolution in two generations.
John Leavitt and Molly Crabapple
JL: ‘Cause the past is an alien planet and Versailles even more so. Seriously, the Court of the Sun King was one of the strangest p laces on Earth: the best and the brightest of the most powerful country on Earth devoting all their time to increasingly complex bowing and wind-up toys. And it was built specifically to amaze and awe people and keep from distracted. If you set a science fiction story in the same kind of setting people wouldn’t believe it.
Plus, Molly and I have a huge fondness for that maximal baroque style. So much fun to look at and draw, setting it in Versailles meant we could indulge our ruffles and whalebone love.
GG: How did you become interested in comic books? What made you take the leap to making your own?
MC: The first comic book I loved was The Sandman, which the cute goth girl showed me at camp when I was 7. I honestly started doing comics though because people asked me. Then I got all addicted.
JL: I wanted to be a cartoonist for as long as I can remember, have a strip in the newspaper and all. I don’t think I really thought of comic books as a legit career choice until I read The Sandman books and I remember my school library had a copy of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing that completely entranced me. I was pretty much hooked then and there. Anyone can make a comic, and that really appealed to me.
GG: Molly, after publishing Scarlett Takes Manhattan, what brought you back to webcomics? How was the transition from Zuda to DC?
MC: Zuda came to me and asked if I wanted to do a comic with them. They were offering creative control and a nice page rate, so I said yes. About the transition, no comment or I’ll get into trouble.
GG: John, you’ve previously worked with Molly on Scarlett, among other projects. How was the experience of writing a webcomic different from your previous work with her? Is there a common thread throughout the stories that you have worked on with Molly?
JL: We’ve worked together for years and working on a webcomic wasn’t any different then working on other projects. We did Backstage for the webcomic collective Act-I-Vate and that helped get us used to working serially – plotting out scene breaks and cliffhangers.
I think we’re both very into theatricality and the willful creation of identity. We both have a big background in fantasy and SF, and the whole “what if” world building is something we do just for fun. We’re also huge history nerds so any excuse to do background research is golden.
GG: How much of a story does Puppet Makers have to tell?
JL: A big one! I hope we get to finish it!
GG: Molly, you are the founder of Dr. Sketchy’s, an alternative anti-art school that has received much acclaim since its origin in 2005. How has your experience with the school contributed to your art?
MC: Being flown all over the world and surrounded by gorgeous boys and girls from the demimonde? It’s pretty sweet for me.
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- Read Puppet Makers here!
- Buy Scarlett Takes Manhattan from Fugu Press!
- Check out Molly’s website and follow her on Twitter.
- More information about John can be found here.
