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THE FIRST DECADE
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BEN C
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TEMPLESMITH
& WORMWOOD
TA: In the Art of Wormwood, you mention that you’ve been working on Wormwood since you were in high school. BT: Yeah, Wormwood was probably the first thing I ever created, starting as a high-school student doodling in my spare time. He’s changed a lot since then but the basic idea was always there.
comedy shows like Blackadder. The British sense of humor and the offbeat nature of a few things. In comic books, I was reading Hellboy, John Constantine [Hellblazer], and a few others like that. TA: The Wormwood books are very funny and, now that you say that, I can see that British sense of humor. BT: I just think genitals are funny.
TA: What where your influences back then? I always thought that Lovecraft was an influence on you–mostly because of the tentacles–but you recently told me you never read a lot of Lovecraft.
TA: Did you ever see the Captain Marvel villain Mr. Mind? He’s a worm–a talking worm. BT: No, I never saw that.
BT: I’ve never really read Lovecraft but I’ve probably been influenced by people who were influenced by him. My influences go back to Ralph Steadman and also British TV shows like Doctor Who and some _________________________________________ Art from Art of Wormwood by Ben Templesmith.
TA: Well, he wasn’t in a corpse anyhow. How did your education and training impact the development of Wormwood? 171
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BEN C
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TEMPLESMITH
& WORMWOOD
TA: In the Art of Wormwood, you mention that you’ve been working on Wormwood since you were in high school. BT: Yeah, Wormwood was probably the first thing I ever created, starting as a high-school student doodling in my spare time. He’s changed a lot since then but the basic idea was always there.
comedy shows like Blackadder. The British sense of humor and the offbeat nature of a few things. In comic books, I was reading Hellboy, John Constantine [Hellblazer], and a few others like that. TA: The Wormwood books are very funny and, now that you say that, I can see that British sense of humor. BT: I just think genitals are funny.
TA: What where your influences back then? I always thought that Lovecraft was an influence on you–mostly because of the tentacles–but you recently told me you never read a lot of Lovecraft.
TA: Did you ever see the Captain Marvel villain Mr. Mind? He’s a worm–a talking worm. BT: No, I never saw that.
BT: I’ve never really read Lovecraft but I’ve probably been influenced by people who were influenced by him. My influences go back to Ralph Steadman and also British TV shows like Doctor Who and some _________________________________________ Art from Art of Wormwood by Ben Templesmith.
TA: Well, he wasn’t in a corpse anyhow. How did your education and training impact the development of Wormwood? 171
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BT: It was the first thing I ever wanted to write but it wasn’t the first thing I wrote. The first thing I wrote was Singularity 7, which I consider a learning experience. I learned how to write the way I do now from working with Warren Ellis. I saw some half-finished scripts by him and realized what the process of writing was for him. So, I took that on board and, hopefully, it improved my dialogue skills and how to generally make a story flow better. Before that, I was trying more of a Marvel method where I’d come up with what I wanted to draw and would then make up the dialogue after the fact. But then I realized the dialogue is much more important than just throwing it in at the last minute. Unless you’re really, really good. But I’m not. _____________________________________ Opposite Page and This Page: Art from Singularity 7 by Ben Templesmith.
TA: So when you’re writing something for yourself to draw, are you doing full scripts? You’re doing the dialogue at the same time as you’re plotting it out? BT: I never do full scripts. What I do is, I have a plot–a story in a sequence. Whether or not it’s any good, that’s debatable. So, I have the scenes–the events that will happen–and then I just go along and, purely in a conversational sense, I write down the dialogue of what the characters would say to each other. And then I lay out the book visually from there. So, there’s no panel descriptions or anything– it’s not a full script by any means. It’s just a rambling sense of dialogue that no one would know except me because I know who the characters are. And then I write it up right after the art’s done and give it to a letterer so that they know who’s talking and what 173
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BT: It was the first thing I ever wanted to write but it wasn’t the first thing I wrote. The first thing I wrote was Singularity 7, which I consider a learning experience. I learned how to write the way I do now from working with Warren Ellis. I saw some half-finished scripts by him and realized what the process of writing was for him. So, I took that on board and, hopefully, it improved my dialogue skills and how to generally make a story flow better. Before that, I was trying more of a Marvel method where I’d come up with what I wanted to draw and would then make up the dialogue after the fact. But then I realized the dialogue is much more important than just throwing it in at the last minute. Unless you’re really, really good. But I’m not. _____________________________________ Opposite Page and This Page: Art from Singularity 7 by Ben Templesmith.
TA: So when you’re writing something for yourself to draw, are you doing full scripts? You’re doing the dialogue at the same time as you’re plotting it out? BT: I never do full scripts. What I do is, I have a plot–a story in a sequence. Whether or not it’s any good, that’s debatable. So, I have the scenes–the events that will happen–and then I just go along and, purely in a conversational sense, I write down the dialogue of what the characters would say to each other. And then I lay out the book visually from there. So, there’s no panel descriptions or anything– it’s not a full script by any means. It’s just a rambling sense of dialogue that no one would know except me because I know who the characters are. And then I write it up right after the art’s done and give it to a letterer so that they know who’s talking and what 173
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panels they’re talking in. I can do that because it’s all me. TA: Have you ever thought about writing something for somebody else to draw? BT: No, I don’t think I’m that good. TA: I think you’re a really good writer–particularly your dialogue and your sense of humor. I don’t think there’s anybody else out there writing like you. I noticed in the first Wormwood book that you gave thanks to Douglas Adams and Terry Nation and Russell T. Davies–as you mentioned before, British humor writers. So, it wasn’t just the BBC but also guys like Douglas Adams that were an influence on you. BT: Douglas Adams actually wrote for Doctor Who. TA: He did? I didn’t know that. I know him for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels. BT: When he wrote for Doctor Who, he made it according to the “law” of whatever he was doing so those two universes are one and the same. He put them together. I dig his sense of humor a lot. TA: You grew up reading Douglas Adams? _________________________________________ Art from Art of Wormwood by Ben Templesmith.
BT: I actually watched the TV shows. There was a big series of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy TV shows that I grew up on. Not the movie. TA: Did he write the scripts for it? BT: I’m pretty sure he did. Because that was around the time he was involved with BBC TV. TA: Were there any other writers, prose writers, that were influential to you? BT: I wouldn’t say influential in that I work the way they do or I aspire to be them or anything. I was very into Harry Harrison when I was young but I can’t say he rubbed off on me or anything. But I like his ideas. Harry Harrison did a series of books [the Eden series] where the dinosaurs never died out but humans still evolved and then you had humans fighting dinosaurs and stuff. TA: You mentioned Ralph Steadman before–were you reading Hunter S. Thompson, maybe Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? BT: Not until a lot later, I actually saw the film first. TA: Wormwood is always talking about when he’s going to get his next beer and Thompson often
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panels they’re talking in. I can do that because it’s all me. TA: Have you ever thought about writing something for somebody else to draw? BT: No, I don’t think I’m that good. TA: I think you’re a really good writer–particularly your dialogue and your sense of humor. I don’t think there’s anybody else out there writing like you. I noticed in the first Wormwood book that you gave thanks to Douglas Adams and Terry Nation and Russell T. Davies–as you mentioned before, British humor writers. So, it wasn’t just the BBC but also guys like Douglas Adams that were an influence on you. BT: Douglas Adams actually wrote for Doctor Who. TA: He did? I didn’t know that. I know him for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels. BT: When he wrote for Doctor Who, he made it according to the “law” of whatever he was doing so those two universes are one and the same. He put them together. I dig his sense of humor a lot. TA: You grew up reading Douglas Adams? _________________________________________ Art from Art of Wormwood by Ben Templesmith.
BT: I actually watched the TV shows. There was a big series of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy TV shows that I grew up on. Not the movie. TA: Did he write the scripts for it? BT: I’m pretty sure he did. Because that was around the time he was involved with BBC TV. TA: Were there any other writers, prose writers, that were influential to you? BT: I wouldn’t say influential in that I work the way they do or I aspire to be them or anything. I was very into Harry Harrison when I was young but I can’t say he rubbed off on me or anything. But I like his ideas. Harry Harrison did a series of books [the Eden series] where the dinosaurs never died out but humans still evolved and then you had humans fighting dinosaurs and stuff. TA: You mentioned Ralph Steadman before–were you reading Hunter S. Thompson, maybe Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? BT: Not until a lot later, I actually saw the film first. TA: Wormwood is always talking about when he’s going to get his next beer and Thompson often
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wrote about that as well. Maybe not beer but other kinds of alcohol and drugs. BT: Wormwood never gets a spare moment because he’s always being interrupted by demons and things. I try to make them less stereotypical where he just has a big fight at the end and says, “Oh, I saved the world again because I’m good.” No. He doesn’t care, he just wants to drink and be quiet. TA: Right, he’s always looking for his next beer. Jeff VanderMeer’s introduction in the second book quotes a painter that says, “Be normal in your life so you can be strange in your art,” which I thought was perfect for you because you’re a very level-headed, down-toearth guy and yet you come up with this really twisted fiction and these really twisted characters that are doing all these outrageous things.
BT: I think I have perspective on the whole thing. I know I’m lucky so why spoil it by being a prima donna or going crazy. I’ll just keep my ego in check and keep trying to pump out the good stuff because that’s what turns me on, that’s what I do it for.
BT: Yeah, but that’s what I try to do all the time anyway. I think if you can’t make fun of something, there’s something wrong with it.
TA: In one of the books you appear as a character and it’s sort of an arrogant version of you–Ben Templesmith unleashed.
BT: I have a miniseries planned out that I’ll get to when time permits. The title of the story will be “Bingo Night in Valhalla” and it’s something to do with the great hall of Valhalla. Wormwood goes there and other mythical beings I won’t mention yet wish to turn it into an old people’s home and it’s already a bingo hall. It’s been turned into a bingo hall because Odin can’t pay the rent. Something like that.
BT: I think it was a reference to the fact I’ve been nominated for the Eisner awards and I’ve never won. It was a “taking the piss out of myself ” sort of thing. Hopefully that’s what it looked like and that I wasn’t being arrogant. TA: You’re a guy that I don’t think would ever need to “take the piss out of himself ” because you’re so level-headed.
TA: What’s next for Wormwood?
TA: Sounds like fun.
IDW
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wrote about that as well. Maybe not beer but other kinds of alcohol and drugs. BT: Wormwood never gets a spare moment because he’s always being interrupted by demons and things. I try to make them less stereotypical where he just has a big fight at the end and says, “Oh, I saved the world again because I’m good.” No. He doesn’t care, he just wants to drink and be quiet. TA: Right, he’s always looking for his next beer. Jeff VanderMeer’s introduction in the second book quotes a painter that says, “Be normal in your life so you can be strange in your art,” which I thought was perfect for you because you’re a very level-headed, down-toearth guy and yet you come up with this really twisted fiction and these really twisted characters that are doing all these outrageous things.
BT: I think I have perspective on the whole thing. I know I’m lucky so why spoil it by being a prima donna or going crazy. I’ll just keep my ego in check and keep trying to pump out the good stuff because that’s what turns me on, that’s what I do it for.
BT: Yeah, but that’s what I try to do all the time anyway. I think if you can’t make fun of something, there’s something wrong with it.
TA: In one of the books you appear as a character and it’s sort of an arrogant version of you–Ben Templesmith unleashed.
BT: I have a miniseries planned out that I’ll get to when time permits. The title of the story will be “Bingo Night in Valhalla” and it’s something to do with the great hall of Valhalla. Wormwood goes there and other mythical beings I won’t mention yet wish to turn it into an old people’s home and it’s already a bingo hall. It’s been turned into a bingo hall because Odin can’t pay the rent. Something like that.
BT: I think it was a reference to the fact I’ve been nominated for the Eisner awards and I’ve never won. It was a “taking the piss out of myself ” sort of thing. Hopefully that’s what it looked like and that I wasn’t being arrogant. TA: You’re a guy that I don’t think would ever need to “take the piss out of himself ” because you’re so level-headed.
TA: What’s next for Wormwood?
TA: Sounds like fun.
IDW
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BEN TEMPLESMITH’S OTHER IDW PROJECTS Ben’s work on 30 Days of Night is discussed in Chapter 7 and this chapter covers Wormwood. Below you’ll find information on other projects Ben’s done at IDW. Singularity 7 Written by Ben Templesmith. With the Earth laid waste by an assault from microscopic nanites, it’s up to seven men and women, seemingly immune to the nanotechnology, to fight back.
Silent Hill: Dying Inside Written by Scott Ciencin. Ben drew the first two issues of this series based on the Konami video game. More can be learned about the series in Chapter 9.
Blood-Stained Sword Written by Dan Wickline. In a dark and grim future, a Samurai must travel to Seattle, where corporations have replaced clans, to clear his father’s name. Conluvio: The Art of Ben Templesmith, Vol. 2 A second 8.5” x 11” collection of Ben’s work. This one is made up entirely of never-before-published art and includes an all-new story about the Interdimensional Part-Time Assassin Guild.
The Presidents of the United States Ben serves up a collection of portraitures featuring all of the Presidents of the United States.
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Shadowplay Written by Ben Templesmith. This series featured two vampire-themed stories, one illustrated by Ben Templesmith and one illustrated by Ashley Wood. Ben’s story, “Demon Father John Pinwheel’s Blues,” was written by Amber Benson and is about a group of vampire street children.
Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith This 8.5” x 11” 96-page edition collects many of the major images and covers from Ben, as well as many never-before-seen, unpublished paintings and personal work.
Welcome to Hoxford Raymond Delgado is the newest inmate at the Hoxford Correctional Facility and Mental Institution. He has no hope of release, parole, rehabilitation, or decent conversation. On a good day, he’ll tell you he’s Zeus and only bite your arm off. Literally. On a bad day, you won’t have time to scream to the prison guard for help. And why are people always transferred into Hoxford, but no records show anyone ever transferring back out?
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BEN TEMPLESMITH’S OTHER IDW PROJECTS Ben’s work on 30 Days of Night is discussed in Chapter 7 and this chapter covers Wormwood. Below you’ll find information on other projects Ben’s done at IDW. Singularity 7 Written by Ben Templesmith. With the Earth laid waste by an assault from microscopic nanites, it’s up to seven men and women, seemingly immune to the nanotechnology, to fight back.
Silent Hill: Dying Inside Written by Scott Ciencin. Ben drew the first two issues of this series based on the Konami video game. More can be learned about the series in Chapter 9.
Blood-Stained Sword Written by Dan Wickline. In a dark and grim future, a Samurai must travel to Seattle, where corporations have replaced clans, to clear his father’s name. Conluvio: The Art of Ben Templesmith, Vol. 2 A second 8.5” x 11” collection of Ben’s work. This one is made up entirely of never-before-published art and includes an all-new story about the Interdimensional Part-Time Assassin Guild.
The Presidents of the United States Ben serves up a collection of portraitures featuring all of the Presidents of the United States.
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Shadowplay Written by Ben Templesmith. This series featured two vampire-themed stories, one illustrated by Ben Templesmith and one illustrated by Ashley Wood. Ben’s story, “Demon Father John Pinwheel’s Blues,” was written by Amber Benson and is about a group of vampire street children.
Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith This 8.5” x 11” 96-page edition collects many of the major images and covers from Ben, as well as many never-before-seen, unpublished paintings and personal work.
Welcome to Hoxford Raymond Delgado is the newest inmate at the Hoxford Correctional Facility and Mental Institution. He has no hope of release, parole, rehabilitation, or decent conversation. On a good day, he’ll tell you he’s Zeus and only bite your arm off. Literally. On a bad day, you won’t have time to scream to the prison guard for help. And why are people always transferred into Hoxford, but no records show anyone ever transferring back out?
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