DF Interview: Jordan Hart introduces an odd couple of teleporters collecting relics to repair time in ‘The Cabinet’

By Byron Brewer

In this vibrant, tongue-in-cheek adventure series, atypical teen Avani and midwestern jock Trent teleport across a post-Cold War landscape to collect bizarre relics. Why? Well, because they need to summon the arcane powers of a resplendent 17th-century cabinet to fix a teeny-tiny mistake the last time Avani used it... unleashing an ancient evil from its prison and accidentally slaughtering her parents.

The Cabinet comes courtesy of Eisner-nominated writer Jordan Hart (Ripple Effects) and co-writer David Ebeltoft, plus the technicolor wizardry of artist Chiana Raimondi. And – AND – each issue features a variant interconnected cover by artist Marguerite Sauvage! I sat down with Jordan and chatted about this new miniseries.

Byron Brewer: Jordan, if I am correct, the new miniseries The Cabinet is set in the 1990s on a canvas with a supernatural tilt. Before we continue, as an Eisner-nominated writer yourself and teaming here with co-writer David Ebeltoft, why the ‘90s? So many things are set there today throughout diverse media. Is it like the 1950s were in the 1970s… looking at times through a nostalgic lens? It fascinates me.

Jordan Hart: The nostalgic lens always makes writing fun, but David and I chose 1991 specifically for the visual implications. Our story, and title, feature a magical Kabinettschrank (Display Cabinet) from the 17^th century. These decorative works of art are baroque in nature – dark, drab, and desaturated. We thought dropping the beautiful but slightly colorless craftsmanship of our cabinet into the nuclear neons of the ‘90s was a juxtaposition that leant itself perfectly to the comic book medium. The contrast in color and aesthetic makes each page visually interesting.

Narratively-speaking, it was entertaining to revisit our childhoods, too. David and I called on our fond, and not so fond, memories of the early ‘90s and wove those into each issue. Trapper Keepers, Lisa Frank, Reebok Pumps, Van Halen, Van Hagar, calling cards, and “gnarly” all found their way into our scripts…and made us laugh every day.

Byron: (Laughs)… How did this vibrant adventure come about? What was the creative process between David and yourself on this book?

Jordan Hart: David has been a close friend for years and a writer I enormously respect. Every time I read one of his screenplays I was inspired and motivated to sharpen my craft. In 2018, he asked if I wanted to co-create a comic book in between other projects.

He didn’t pitch any ideas. Instead, he suggested we develop a few from scratch, together.  I went to the Getty Museum one weekend here in L.A. and saw the actual Kabinettschrank in person. I emailed David a photo and he immediately said what I was thinking – our story seed had been found.

From there, we had a bake off...which means we created independent approaches and pitched them to each other. My idea was set in the present. I saw the cabinet as an inherited piece of furniture that haunted every person who owned it. Each arc would feature a different family or person in possession of the Kabinettschrank. Then David walked through his take – a supernatural adventure with a young woman and jock sidekick. I conceded immediately. To David’s credit, he argued we should continue to blow out my idea and weigh it against his. But I knew he had the ace and respectfully declined out of sheer excitement for his approach.

Byron: Introduce us to Avani and Trent. Who are they? Could you give us a little background on their relationship?

Jordan Hart: Avani Tutzel is our pint-sized, 18-year-old, Indian American hero. She barely breaks five feet and is a unique amalgamation of early 90’s fashion with a sci-fi nerd twist. Take Clarissa Explains It All, toss a Kelly Kapowski-esque leather jacket on, and wrap her in a Tom Baker-era Dr. Who scarf, and that’s Avani. So, while she looks great, her goal is far from fun or fashionable – to fix a gargantuan life-alterting mistake that she made in her past. And to make the cabinet work to help in this correction, the first step is collecting relics that are scattered all over the globe. And she did this alone for as long as she could, until a relic extraction in Wisconsin caused her to meet--

Trent Zwick, Avani’s loyal sidekick. Prior to meeting Avani, Trent was a collegiate tight-end. But since she saved his life, he’s become her 6-foot 8-inch protector and compadre. Think of him as a corn-fed, easy-to-sunburn Chewie to Avani’s Han. He’s also the hype-man for the strongest woman he knows, even if she barely comes up to his chest height-wise.

And they can teleport! But only because of the cabinet’s magical power. And even then, it isn’t the easiest of operations. First off, you need a specific relic, which is a Victorian good luck charm called a Fumsup doll that Avani wears on a necklace. That’s the cabinet’s magical activator, like a car key to spark its ignition. But the fumsup won’t turn over the cabinet’s engine alone, you need the blood of one whose “bound” to the cabinet --  which was Avani’s parents, but when they passed, it was bound to her. And oh yeah, each time they use the cabinet to teleport, they have to wait four hours for it to recharge. So while it’s a teleportation device, it has limitations, ones that make Avani’s and Trent’s adventure troublesome. And that trouble is where all the fun comes from in this first arc!

Byron: What other characters are important to this limited series? Can you spotlight a few here?

Jordan Hart: Happy to spotlight but I’ll try not to spoil the surprise when they hit our pages. But basically, we introduce a vital character in each issue in our first arc. There’s a groovy sorceress, a corpulent assassin, a magic-wielding field scout, and a corporate mole that all work their way into the story. Each character has memorable moments and attitudes, but it’s unclear where their loyalties and motives lie. The big players are featured on their own covers to further give them the spotlight but like any great ensemble, even some of the “minor” characters pack a mighty punch.

Byron: Tell readers a little more about the titular cabinet and how it is involved with your protagonists.

Jordan Hart: Kabinettschranks were a sign of wealth and social status in 17^th century Europe. They were huge, made from the best materials (including ivory, gold, and bone) and featured a complex arrangement of interior drawers -- some of which were hidden – for storing valuables.

We built a lore that our cabinet was enchanted by a group of sorcerers called The Makers to imprison an evil force. This cabinet has 33 drawers, each made for storing a specific relic. Place the items in the correct drawers, in the correct sequence, and you release a benevolent force into the world. Mess up the placement and order…and you release that evil entity from its prison.

Which is also how it’s tied to our protagonists. Avani’s parents belonged to The Custodians, basically the modernized group that took over care of the cabinet. She made the unfortunate decision to try her hand at correctly sequencing the drawers and relics. But, as Avani was 11 when she attempted this, she... well… messed up. As to how much she messed up, and to what degree, you’ll have to read issue #1 to find out!

Byron: Can you please give an overview to the series, an expanded pitch, if you will?

Jordan Hart: In a nutshell, our series has: a magical baroque cupboard, zany relics, a jock sidekick, demonic cults, leisure-suit wearing sorceresses, corporatized thaumaturgical organizations, blood-soaked trapper keepers, fun, thrills, emotion and more! And they all center around our heroine, Avani who is the thematic poster child for – how far will you go to correct a past mistake?

Trying to remain spoiler-free, in our early issues, we find Avani and Trent on one of their global relic-collecting mission, necessary to activate the magic in the cabinet to fix her past mistake, in Tokyo. But an evil and clandestine organization called The Blackguard, who want their hands on Avani as much as they do the cabinet and are constantly on our heroes’ tails, thwart their attempt. Barely escaping with their lives, Avani and Trent use the cabinet to teleport to Pyramiden, Svalbard, a remote Soviet funded mining town in Norway where a specific relic, an antique Leeward sugar-spoon, is rumored to be located.

But it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, as Pyramiden has thousands of coal-mining inhabitants. Like Tokyo, The Blackguard’s put the pressure on by sending a mysterious agent and an elephantine assassin to Pyramiden to intercept Avani and the cabinet prior to them leaping to the next location.

Byron: Talk about the spellbinding art of Chiana Raimondi.

Jordan Hart: We found Chiara on Instagram, through searching hashtags no less, and once we saw her imagery, we immediately knew she was the perfect artist for our story. Her artwork is detailed, realistic, memorable, and…highlighter-vibrant. And her character work is not only top notch, but often hilarious, which lent itself to the levity we wanted in each issue. David and I needed a prismatic artist to do the story justice, but we never imaged we’d land someone as brilliant as Chiara. During our initial meeting, she told us making the pages vibrant would be “no problem.”

When she sent us her character tests and samples, our jaws hit the floor. She took what we had in mind and blew it into the technicolored stratosphere. Once she joined the project, David and I started writing for her style and characterizations, which just supercharged every single panel. She was able to balance Avani and Trent’s visual humor and despair so well that David and I really leaned into it, allowing our characters emotional range to amp up as the series progresses.

Byron: Jordan, what other works in which you are involved can readers expect to hear about soon?

Jordan Hart: My latest comic series from Fanbase Press, Ripple Effects, was nominated for an Eisner and a Harvey this year. It centers around George Gibson, an invincible superhuman whose biggest battle is with his type 1 diabetes. Even though it’s a contained story with a satisfying ending, we haven’t seen the last of George…which is about all I can say at the moment! David wrote a moody crime thriller, Blood For Dust, that’s releasing in theaters and digitally in April and stars Kit Harrington and Josh Lucas. And Chiara just released La Luce e Lo Spazio: Un’intervisat a Franco Battiato, a graphic novel from Feltrinelli Comics about Italian composer Franco Battiato!

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Jordan Hart for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. The Cabinet #1 from Syzygy Publishing & Image Comics is slated to be on sale Feb. 14, 2024!

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