Review Fix chats with comic book writer Peter Bergting to get the skinny on his latest work, “Domovoi.” A magical epic with roots in reality, Bergting discusses the book’s inspiration, his connection to the characters and his hopes for the future.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for “Domovoi”?
Peter Bergting: It began life years ago as a sequel to my GN The Portent, but it took off in a completely different direction. The inspiration was, I think, more a feeling than anything else. The Portent was based on isolation, a sort of post-apocalyptic fantasy where a hero without purpose is trying to find his place in the world. Domovoi was more rooted in something intangible, like a slice out of that misty world of cobbled stones and dark myths of eastern Europe but set in a fictional Sweden. I decided to publish it online since I was more interested in getting readers than money but I just didn’t know how to reach an audience. I showed a couple of pages to Scott Allie at Dark Horse and after a couple of years of false starts we finally managed to get the ball rolling for a print version.
Review Fix: What kind of readers do you think will get the most out of the book?
Bergting: I tend to write polarizing books. You either get them and love them or don’t get them and couldn’t care less. I’d be happier for a smaller number of readers than mainstream success. I don’t even think I could write a mainstream book. I did try with Portent but it ended up being even more personal than I had anticipated. But as far as readers go, I’m hoping for those who like personal stories, low-key but with a sense of magic.
Review Fix: How did you get introduced to comic books? What books influenced you growing up?
Bergting: Growing up I read everything but I leaned towards JLA and Spider-man. Later I fell in love with Moebius, and I guess, drifted towards euro-comics in style. Mezieres (Linda and Valerian) has stayed with me as an inspiration for a long time. Heavy Metal was also a huge influence over the years.
Review Fix: What’s your favorite element of the comic?
Bergting: I like the setting more than anything than else. It’s a special world and I’m proud of that creation. But DH and Scott Allie was adamant that it have a strong story as well and even stronger ending.
Review Fix: Who is your favorite character in the book?
Bergting: I like the two polish spirit-hit men and Ivan the domovoi the best. They speak in broken english, like straight out of Eastern Promises and I always read them aloud when writing them.
Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?
Bergting: I don’t really believe it will be, sure I hope for it to be but the audience for a book like this is so small anyway. I got a couple of great reviews when it came out and I could see it climbing on Amazon but this is not a book that will ever be “successful”. For it to be remembered there would have to be some kind of fluke. I just want to tell good stories with pretty pictures. The worst thing that could happen is to work on a book like this for six months, have a reader browse through it in 15 minutes and leave a “meh” review. This is a book that needs you to loose yourself for a bit and if you do that, then maybe it will be remembered.
Review Fix: What are you working on now?
Bergting: I almost hesitate to say it, but I have begun work on The Portent 2. It will be a sequel but stand alone. Synopsis is approved by the publisher. Also doing, weirdly enough, another adaptation of The Dunwich Horror. I did a miniseries with Joe R. Lansdale for IDW last year and now I will do a shorter version for beginning readers for a Swedish publisher. It will be tough, especially with that awesome Ian Culbard version out there but the target audience is wildly different (and this time in Swedish only).
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