Have you read WYTCHES #6 yet? The first arc ended with some pretty big twists. You can read our review HERE. The series by Scott Snyder, Jock, and Matt Hollingsworth has been oozing with some really creepy moments. We talked to Scott about some of the events in the arc as well as what we can expect in the bigger picture as the series continues later this year.
There will be some minor spoilers so be sure to read the issue ASAP!
COMIC VINE: The status quo of the series pretty much changed with the revelation from Sailor’s mom. Can we assume this was always your plan?
SCOTT SNYDER: Oh yeah, 100%. It’s written into the outline and the stuff we gave to Plan B, the movie people and all that stuff. It’s certainly always been there from the very beginning. It’s like the big surprise, hook, and twist of this arc of the series. It was rough to write but it was one of the things we’ve been bracing for since page 1.
CV: I was going to ask if it was it easy to write this dark turn with the characters you’ve been building up and giving life to?
SNYDER: No, it’s really hard, man. Once you get into it, there’s nothing more thrilling in some ways, as horrible as that is to say since it’s such raw emotional material. It takes a while to get to those scenes and you build them slowly over multiple issues. When you’re finally there, it’s like this is the moment I’ve been waiting and waiting to get to. So there’s a certain release that comes when you’re writing where you can finally go as dark and truthful and open as you want with these characters. But it is hard because you care about them.
CV: Now we all hate the character in question.
SNYDER: [laughs] I know, I know. But I hope it’s kind of sympathetic too. I mean, I know it’s terrible. In some ways, what she’s saying is, “They’re going to pursue us forever. They’re going to pursue her forever. There was no other way. I’m trying to save you and save me and save us. We could start over.” Yes, it’s definitely evil and selfish and horrible. I hope it doesn’t read, in any way mustache twirling. Instead what makes it scary is the kind of strange kernel of truth or the allure to what she’s saying.
CV: As a parent, there’s the two different types of sacrifices that are touched upon here. I don’t even know how someone could approach that.
SNYDER: I think, ultimately, this arc is largely about the terror and wonder of being a parent. The thing that Charlie struggles with, and it’s pretty autobiographical but not identical…I wouldn’t necessarily do what he did or slip the way he slipped. The thing you wrestle with is how you’re not living up to your idea as to what a parent should be. I think, in a lot of ways, that has to do with, like you’re saying, a lack of sacrifice and the feeling that you’re too selfish and not selfless enough. There’s the feeling that you’ll never be able to just give yourself over to having priorities that aren’t yours. What I wanted here was for him to be able to make that sacrifice and to say what he’s learned is that it’s okay to be flawed and it’s okay not to be the best. It’s okay to have thoughts that don’t fit with what you think begin a parent should be or to make mistakes. We’re all doing that. But when you sort of swallow that down and bury it, you become angry at yourself and your life and all that. That’s when the Wytches come out of the woodwork and prey on those things. I wanted the sacrifice here to be instead of sacrificing someone else…because that’s what they are, the Wytches are based on this idea of giving someone else over for your own selfish needs. Being a parent is the inverse of that in a lot of ways. It’s giving yourself over for the needs of your kids.
CV: Do you feel a little relieved to have this part of the story out?
SNYDER: Yeah, definitely. For me, I’m just very proud of the issue. I’m happy that Sailor really steps into the spotlight here too, without giving too much away. This issue really speaks for what the series is going to be from here forward. In that way, it’s almost an origin story for our hero.
CV: Will Sailor return in the next arc?
SNYDER: Oh yeah. She’s the star of the whole series.
CV: When can we expect the next arc?
SNYDER: We’re going to start working on it again in about a month. We’re hoping to have it out by around Halloween. That’s our goal. It’ll probably be right around then. We’ve planned the story and I’m really excited. The first arc really has to do with the terror and wonder of being a parent. The second arc really has to do with the terror and wonder of growing up and losing your parents. Not just if you’re Sailor’s age but metaphorically losing them when you’re someone like our age.
CV: What can we expect in the next arc?
SNYDER: The whole universe expands a lot. Without giving too much away, Sailor finds the group, the Irons. You’re going to see maps of the country with suspected locations and burrows everywhere. The Irons has been able to use a lot of the methods the Wytches use against the Wytches themselves. There’s all sorts of equipment and trinkets and a lot more of the lore of Wytches comes into focus in the second arc. You get a lot more of what does what. What they’re able to do and how you take down a Wytch and what really is the origin of a spell. It’s not a spell, it’s actually a mineral to the brain and all this fun stuff. This is all just the tip of the iceberg. The series will become much more about this kind of conflict between us and them as things go forward.
CV: How much time will pass between the arcs? Will it pick up right away or years later?
SNYDER: It’ll pick up not long after this arc. Probably close to about real time. We might push it a little more since this arc started in 2014. We might push it a little forward to about 2016.
CV: What can you say about the whole design of the Wytches? How did you guys come up with their look and the whole mythology?
SNYDER: A lot of it was just fun talk between me and Jock about how we would create something that was biologically as real as possible. We decided we wanted something that was humanoid and looked sort of reflected of us, but at the same time, completely alien. He came up with this idea of giving them this pale androgynous very lanky body. I came up with the idea of what if we put their eyes on the sides of their heads? When they peek around a tree, they’re looking at you with these eyes on the side of their skulls with their face going forward. The reason would be because that’s how they hunt, they’re always looking around trees. They would’ve developed that way or done something to themselves with their science to change their physiology to become this. The design was just really about trying go make something that had utility. I always believed that monsters that are the most realistic, that are one step away from what’s possible, are the scariest. If you have to suspend your disbelief very little to imagine they’re out there in the world, those are my favorites.
CV: When you get deep into writing this, do you ever go out late at night and start thinking what could be out there with you?
SNYDER: Yeah, we just moved to a more rural area. Literally I’m in a house, as I talk to you, with boxes and we’re in the woods by the water. The other night when I was getting stuff out of the car, I was seriously considering asking my wife to just stand out on the porch while I had to go down the steps to the driveway. I’m a city kid. I grew up in New York. For me, the woods and trees, they’re scary. I grew up with apartment buildings, sidewalks, streets…none of this stuff is familiar to me. I’m always squeamish out in the woods.
CV: I guess you have to hope you’re not really uncovering the truths and somebody’s going to be out there.
SNYDER: There’s something so primal about being lost in the wood. We’re so used to such a manicured landscape around us everywhere. All you have to do, let’s say you pull over on the shoulder of the road for a minute for anything—to change a tire, you look at the shielding itself, you realize, the woods extend back for miles. It’s not just in places like Utah where there’s uninhabited land. Even in the places you find really familiar by your own house. A lot of the time, if you go just a little bit off the beaten path, you’ll discover areas that you can get completely lost very quickly. That’s always very interesting to me and spooky.
CV: With this first arc over and you moving to the woods, has the overall story gotten any bigger or do you have the same kind of endpoint in mind?
SNYDER: Everything is the same. It has the same endpoint. I know how the series ends. I know the final image of it. I told Jock and we discussed it. We’re all headed towards the same spot, no matter what. We’re very excited about the journey and the next couple steps along the road to that ending.