DF Interview: Deniz Camp mixes history, politics and comics lore into the saga of ‘20th Century Men’



By Byron Brewer

At the end of the 20th century, superheroes, geniuses, madmen, and activists rush towards WWIII! A Soviet "iron" hero, a super-powered American president, an insane cyborg soldier, an Afghan woman hellbent on building a better life for her people: these strange yet familiar beings collide in a story that mixes history, politics, and comics mythology into something totally new.

Welcome to 20th Century Men – from writer Deniz Camp and artist S. Morian – where the edges of our reality and fiction touch, overlap… and then explode! I had to learn about this new book right away, and so sat down and chatted with scribe Deniz Camp.


Byron Brewer: Deniz, tell readers about the inspiration for 20th Century Men, a very layered, speculative comic, I would say. Is this a concept you have been carrying around for awhile? It is very tight and concentrated, as good comics are.



Deniz Camp: I have been thinking about it for a long time, but the story has changed and evolved in the writing, as I think all the best ones do. The main goal is, and has always been, to put as much humanity into these pages as possible. I think people are their most beautiful when they are at their lowest, that vulnerability is the truest, bravest, most inspiring thing in the world. War doesn’t interest me for the sake of war, war interests me because it’s human beings in extremis, and there you can find every human characteristic in heightened state. Everyone is beautiful, and ugly, there, often at the same time.

In terms of being tight/concentrated, I think that’s just my overall obsession. Decompressed comics can be and have been great, but the ones that made me a fan were the ones that gave you a lot. It takes a lot more work, but I’m not here to make disposable comics. I want you to be reading and rereading my comics all month, all year, for the rest of your life.


Byron: Can you give us an overview of the atmosphere of the world you and artist S. Morian are building here? What is life like on this Earth (I assume), and how did it get this way?



Deniz Camp: This world is pretty similar to our own, actually. I wanted to keep the story grounded and historical, to intertwine the fantastic with real events. The major difference is that super soldiers have been a significant factor in the outcome of both world wars, Korea, Vietnam and, now, Afghanistan. The Soviet Union is stronger here than it was in the real world, thanks to the super-technology and economic reforms of one of our characters, Petar Platonov, The Iron Star. Much of what we know from our world still happened, but HOW it happened is different; for instance, there was a Chernobyl meltdown in this world, but it was the result of a super-powered conflict, not a technological malfunction.

Most of the action takes place in Afghanistan, during the incredibly brutal Soviet invasion and occupation of the 1980s. In our world, the Soviets have managed almost complete victory thanks to the direct intervention of the Iron Star. But things quickly change, and the International “Great Powers” — represented by super-powered stand-ins — converge on the country to fight their proxy war, without consideration for the damage they do to the Afghan people.
There will be a bunch of easter eggs and fun twists for fans of history and pop culture, but you won’t need to know of that to enjoy it.
This is a world very much on the brink, with sentient weapons of mass destruction working in the brutal interest of their states with almost total impunity. It’s a powder keg that seems ready to blow at any moment.


Byron: Introduce readers to your protagonists, which I am guessing are “...a Soviet ‘iron’ hero, a super-powered American president, an insane cyborg soldier, an Afghan woman hellbent on building a better life for her people”. Who are they, and what is their common denominator?



Deniz Camp: We have a pretty large cast, none of whom are the “main” character. Our POV shifts issue to issue, and the goal here is to establish for the audience one interpretation of events, and then, through other characters, undercut or challenge that interpretation.

We start with Petar Platonov, the soviet diplomat-hero the Iron Star. He’s an alcoholic genius weapons manufacturer who built himself a futuristic suit of armor. Sound familiar?
We also see President Thomas Goode. Goode was one of the first super-soldiers, emerging in WWII with the name The American Dream. He is America’s greatest hero, having defeated the Nazi Uber-mench, commanded American forces in Vietnam, and is generally one of the most beloved Americans to ever live. He’s also a sociopath who sees war as a purifying process, and as the president he’s got the power to do something about it.
There’s Egon Teller, an American technological genius who helped design American weapons as “The Big Idea” in Vietnam and has since become the richest man in the world. He regrets pretty much everything and is trying to atone, with mixed results.
Azra is an Afghan woman who is extremely smart — even smarter than she lets on — and is trying to balance all the various factions for the good of her people. When we open she works for Platonov as his right hand, but by the first issue she leaves to pursue her own goals.
Finally, there’s a Soviet reporter nicknamed Krylov. He comes to the war to report on what’s happening, “to find the truth about war”. It quickly becomes clear he was not at all prepared.
There are many, many other characters, and I genuinely empathize and love each of them, for all their madness and flaws. It’s a big, sprawling cast, but we try to make all of them come alive.


Byron: No spoilers, but you can tell from issue #1 that there will be a great deal of subtext in this mini-series – which, I agree, is for readers to interpret each to his own. But from a writer’s POV crafting such a tale, talk about juggling historic fact and fiction, trope politics and, best of all, comic book lore into such a satisfactory blend. Very different!



Deniz Camp: I’m glad you think so! I guess it just comes out of a mix of a lot of stuff that interests me. You can’t really understand characters without understanding their context, geographical, historical, cultural. It’s all one thing, and I spend a lot of time reading about all that, even before I started planning this story.

The deeper you go the more complicated you realize it all is, for everyone — and also, beautiful. And terrible. And funny. I think we’re able to get some of that complication into the book. I’m really proud of that.
The key is the characters. I know it’s a cliche, but it really is true; everything is in service of making these people come alive.


Byron: 20th Century Men has some brutal character work, especially the first issue. What character in the limited series best reflects its creator (scribe Camp)?



Deniz Camp: There’s a character we introduce in the second issue, a Russian reporter nicknamed Krylov. The artist based his face on mine, so that’s the obvious one! He’s a young man way out of his depth, not as smart as he thinks he is, no less destructive for being “well meaning”. Sounds about right!



Byron: Haha!… Talk about your collaboration with S. Morian, and the artist’s epic contributions to this saga.



Deniz Camp: This has been the most intimate collaboration of my life, without a doubt. S. Morian is a natural storyteller and a total genius. Our process is chaotic and work intensive and beautiful. We brainstorm together before I start to write a script, then I write a full script with panels and all the traditional stuff — then he changes what needs to be changed, sometimes drastically, sometimes not at all. He compensates for my weaknesses in a big way, and magnifies my strengths; he gets what I’m TRYING to do, and often has a better way of doing it.

He has such a variety of styles and techniques at his disposal, and changes them almost every scene to better fit the story. It is impossible to overstate how much he adds. There is no book without him.
When the art comes back I basically rewrite the whole thing from scratch to better fit his work. The end result is something that feels as though it were made by one person, I think, a person more talented than either of us alone.
And the process is dynamic, always changing. Occasionally I’ll give him just a basic description of something and he’ll go and make a scene, and I’ll letter it from scratch. It’s such an incredible experience, truly. Chaotic and scary at times, but I think that comes out on the page.
He isn’t just a collaborator, he is my brother, and the friendship that has emerged from creating this book is one of the best things ever to come out of my comics career.


Byron: Deniz, what other projects in which you are involved can you tell readers about?



Deniz Camp: My creator owned series, Agent of WORLDE, comes out from Scout Comics June 29th. It’s a mad, sci-fi spy story half a decade in the making in the vein of Hard Boiled, the Filth, and Casanova, with the most intricate, beautiful art you’ve ever seen from series artist Filya Bratukhin (and colorist/designer/saint Jason Wordie) — comparisons are often made to Geof Darrow and Frank Quitely, and with good reason. Each issue is a self contained mission, as Agent Philip Blank faces time travelers, aliens, robot armies, and his belligerent Orangutan boss.

Bloodshot Unleashed launches in September from Valiant Comics. My partners on that are Jon Davis Hunt (of The Wildstorm fame), Jordie Bellaire and Hassan Otsmane Elhaou. Another “done in one” series, we are doing beautiful violence in 20 pages, as Bloodshot tracks down a bunch of escaped living weapons and struggles with his own demons. Every issue is centered around an incredible action set piece, but we also go very deep into Bloodshot’s head (figuratively and literally). I’m extremely happy with how it’s turning out; there’s never been a Valiant book quite like it.
And then, soon to be announced, I’ve got a middle grade graphic novel coming out sometime in 2024, I think. It’s different for me, but exciting. But I’m not allowed to talk about it.


Dynamic Forces would like to thank Deniz Camp for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. 20th Century Men #1 from Image Comics is slated to be on sale Aug. 17th!



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