A World Without Walls in BOOM! Studios' The Backstagers

by Vince Brusio

Life can go sideways when you least expect it. But it’s up to you to think about what you can take from it. Do you write off that unexpected ice bucket challenge as a one-time trip on the yellow submarine? Or do you use it as a reason to book future expeditions, as what you learned the first time surprised you, amazed you, and made you think twice about who you are, and how you’d like to hit the reset button? In James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh’s The Backstagers #1 (JUN161217) from BOOM! Studios, we get to see how some lucky high schoolers get the chance of a lifetime when they walk into their own personal Narnia.

The Backstagers #1 (JUN161217) is in comic shops August 17.

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PREVIEWSworld: In looking at the premise for The Backstagers #1 (JUN161217), were either of you a big fan of The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe? Can you give us the backstory on your muse for this story?

James Tynion IV: I was always more of a frequent traveler to Neverland and Oz than Narnia, but I have always loved the trope of the young person tumbling sideways out of our world into someplace magical and impossible. The main reason is that it happens in life all the freaking time... I remember being a closeted queer middle schooler, and getting dragged along to “Rocky Horror” for the first time. I remember showing up at the first college party with all the people who would be my friends for the rest of my life. Hell, going to my first comic convention was pure “magical world” escapism. I think what I like most about those kinds of stories — and The Backstagers absolutely plays into it — is that these are new and frightening worlds where you get to find your real self, define yourself on your own terms, and then re-enter the world better and stronger. I think as a young person I was waiting for the literal version of that, over and over, but I didn’t see the little magics that were happening around me every day as I coalesced into the man I am now.

With Backstagers, I wanted to go back into my own experiences early in high school, feeling like a total outcast from the world, and finding myself among the outcasts, and building a real community there in the strange underground passages connected to my school’s theater.

Rian Sygh: I remember reading that book for school when I was young but I can’t say it was particularly inspiring. I’ve always been a fan of “the fantastical collides with mundanity” trope and I feel like my personal brand of magic is 100% what James and I have put into The Backstagers. When James approached me with the initial pitch for The Backstagers I could immediately tell that this would be a story I wanted to tell. It had all the bones of a quirky, queer, adventure book that subverts just enough to keep it fresh. I think after James and I poured our combined experiences of high school into it, the book really found it’s personal “Narnia.”

PREVIEWSworld: Do either of you have any first-hand experience with theater? Are there any untold tales of terror from back in the day that helped you create a chestful of chaos that can now be repurposed for plot lines? Or were there other personal anecdotes that helped you fuel the fires of creativity?

James Tynion IV:  I was absolutely a theater kid. 100%. Finding Stage Crew in those first couple of months in high school pretty literally saved my life. I was a depressed, overweight, queer kid in an all-boys’ high school, and I didn’t think there was a place for me in the entire world. But then I found a group of people, who felt just as outcast and didn’t care about it. They just cared about each other, and goofing around, and occasionally building the sets that we were there to build. We all had weird nicknames. I was Monkey, because I have a ludicrous high-pitched laugh that I have been told sounds like a monkey (that is true to this day). Honestly, when I graduated and got to paint my brick backstage (an old HS tradition), the name “MONKEY” is about three times bigger than my actual name. Because of Stage Crew, I was the only kid who was a part of all 12 high-school productions.

But these stories are based a lot on the little day-to-day weirdness of crew. The times that felt like family. Like the time we left a freshman named Josh at the mall 30 minutes before the show was supposed to start, and had to go try and hunt him down, while the Director was ready to serve all of our heads on a platter. It was the little bouts of chaos and friendship that inspired Backstagers.

Rian Sygh: Unlike James, I actually had zero theatre experience going into Backstagers, save a few Broadway plays I’ve attended, so on that front I was leaning into the stories and suggestions of James.

What I did get growing up, however, was an extremely broad upbringing. We moved around a lot so by the time I graduated high school I had lived all over the U.S. I’ve met a ton of different people and lived in extremely different areas and economic classes. I think what I lost in that niche camaraderie you find in high school was made up for in just how many new people and places I got to experience. I have so many disjointed memories and stories that ease into the characters as I draw them more and more. I feel like even though they are completely different people, they’re all still me in a way from one time or another.

As I’m drawing Backstagers I’m constantly projecting headcanons onto the boys (are they headcanons or just canons if they’re your own characters?). I think about their lives outside of what we’ll see in the book and how that might affect the ways they react in-story. A lot of that “extra” characterization is me projecting my own life onto these kids I see as conduits for my past selves. Although I don’t have any one specific anecdote to inspire this story, every page has something—some little piece of me—that gets reflected in the book.

PREVIEWSworld: Tell us a little about the cast. Jory. Hunter. Aziz. And the others. Who’s the leader? Who’s the reluctant follower? Is there a democracy backstage, or are things more authoritarian? What are the social politics?

James Tynion IV: Our protagonist of sorts is Jory, an anxious bisexual kid who just transferred to the school and is terrified there’s no place for him in this world.

Hunter is our fearless, fabulous Builder, the guy who can make anything you could imagine as long as he’s wielding his trusty, sparkly pink power drill.

Beckett is our mad scientist operating the light board for the crew, a tightly wound transgender kid who can wire any two things together regardless of whether it’s a good idea to do so.

Sasha is our beaming ball of positivity, without even the slightest dab of common sense. Whenever they get in trouble, it’s usually Sasha who charged in headfirst because he wanted to give something a hug.

Aziz is Sasha’s best friend and the pessimistic side of that operation. He can see EVERYTHING that could possibly go wrong, and is trying to stop Sasha from making that happen inadvertently.

As to the structure of the place... All of the kids are more or less equals, beneath the authority of the Stage Managers, Tim and Jamie, who we won’t meet until issue two. But Beckett and Hunter are the most likely candidates to become Stage Manager when they graduate, so you have to assume they have some kind of seniority back there.

Rian Sygh: I think the pecking order goes something like: Stage Managers > Hunter and Beckett > Aziz > Sasha > Friendo the rat > Sasha wearing a hat > Jory. Ha ha.

All the boys are equals backstage. A hoard of magically mutated rats or the giant, mimicking gatekeeper spiders don’t care who’s “in charge” and I figure the boys don’t either. They all love and respect their managers (because who wouldn’t) but when they’re Backstage, they are a team.

PREVIEWSworld: If you could pick a scene/scenes from The Backstagers that you would want to ramble on about hunched over a keyboard, spilling secrets to a riveted inner circle, what would you tell them? What would have you gushing for minutes over a laptop and a morning coffee?

James Tynion IV: This seems like a VERY SNEAKY TRICK to have us reveal our series’ greatest secrets before everyone gets to discover them on their own!

Honestly, I think the sequence in the book where Jory meets the Backstagers for the first time, and sees the bizarre and magical “Prop Room” is freaking phenomenal. They’re all in danger from a threatening (but adorable) supernatural force, and Jory is swept up into the chaos, but then the lights come on and WHAM, he’s face-to-face with an impossible room.

Honestly, the day I saw Rian’s depiction of the Prop Room was the day I knew that this book was going to be something REALLY special. And then when we pulled Walter Baiamonte on the project for colors, he brought the moment to life PERFECTLY. There’s a real magic back there, and it’s palpable, and I can’t wait for people to see it in action.

Rian Sygh: Oh man, you guys can’t even BEGIN to know how good this book is. James is doing such an impeccable job weaving the mysteries together and keeping the issue-to-issue happenings edge-of-your-seat-crazy.

I agree with James that the sequence of Jory discovering the Backstage for the first time is my favorite in issue 1. I had a flood of ideas about how to draw the prop room when James started describing it to me and what I settled on was this impossibly tall (maybe infinitely so?) tower-shaped room with a million shelves and alcoves and storages and impossible hallways jutting out in every direction, filled to the brim with craziness. When I got the page back from Walter Baiamonte I was FLOORED by how perfectly he captured the room in color. This book is at the very least going to be perfectly written and incredibly well-colored.

PREVIEWSworld: Do either of you have any plans to make personal appearances for this summer’s convention season? What social media sites can we visit to learn more about where you’ll be, and when?

James Tynion IV: I’ll be attending San Diego Comic Con in July, Flamecon in August, Baltimore Comic-Con in September, and New York Comic Con in October. So there are plenty of places to come hunt me down and tell me how awesome Backstagers is and how you want to buy a bazillion copies because you love it so much. You can find me on Twitter with the handle @JamesTheFourth.

Rian Sygh: I’ve already tabled at all the cons I had confirmed for this year but I’m not opposed to doing more shows if I get invited! (Ka-WINK ;D) I will for sure be at SPX as an attendee so if anyone happens to spy me maybe I’ll reveal shocking secrets of interest and horror about Backstagers! If you want to keep up with my shenanigans and get updates about Backstagers you can follow me on Twitter at @riansygh!