Interview with Comic Book Creator/Writer, Scott Wilson on Indigiverse & Dark Heart

Full transcript of Interview with Comic Book Creator/Writer, Scott Wilson on Indigiverse & Dark Heart.

0:04KT: It's another week in the For Your Reference household. And another edition to our interview series, Oti, mm-hmm, love splooshes and shout outs to Scott Wilson. Thank you so much for your time. Also shout outs to all of the fam at Indigiverse, including. Katie Houghton-Ward, Justin Randall, Wolfgang, Benny, as well as Zelda.

0:28KT: We had a very amazing experience at Comic Con. First time is press coverage, Oti. Yeah, it really was. Uh, and we've read the first chapter of this comic. We would strongly recommend it is available in Australia and everywhere. Don Cheetos, algae, rhythm, internet. Um, I really enjoyed it. And I guess this is also time to lay respects to the Gooniyandi people.

0:54KT: Um, for. First of all basing the story in the comic, as well as the proud ancestral history that Scott talks about. And it is very clear, um, throughout the book as well. But you know, there there's so much that we talk about in way of film in way of. TV, especially in regards to indigenous storytelling and, you know, a as much as our, my sort of limited, um, education was in schools, you know, there is a periphery of understanding the rainbow serpent, um, and a little bit of the law.

1:29KT: Um, but there's so much expansive detail, especially the expressive coloring, um, in the comic as well. How did it feel for you, Oti, potentially being new to this sort of. No,

1:40Oti: it's really good to read something different and to experience something that I've not heard about. You know, there's a lot of details in there that I wasn't privy to, and I enjoyed it.

1:50KT: And I'm looking forward to your Dark Heart related cosplay at the next Comic Con, Oti a hundred percent. thank you so much. Play the interview. Hey friends and lovers. We're at the Sydney Comic Con 2022. And we have the amazing opportunity to talk to Scott Wilson about Indigiverse and Dark Heart chapter one and chapter two on its way very soon and potentially, maybe another guest along the way. Maybe not. Um, Scott, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us and congratulations on a brilliant first.

2:29Scott: Oh, thank you so much. It's been, uh, such a blessing, uh, you know, coming here to Sydney this weekend, first time the Indigiverse here sharing with the deadly mob from Sydney and, uh, we've sold up, you know? Yeah. Um, it's absolutely crazy. And so we're feeling the love, feeling the support, feeling the positive vibes.

2:47KT: And we just want to say thank you to everyone. That's come down and starting the indigenous journey with us. Well, I think it's it's, it goes beyond a comic and it talks about, you know, traditional law that needs to be told as well. So I would love to acknowledge where you come from and as well as where the comic is based as well.

3:05Scott: Yeah, absolutely. So I am, uh Gooniyandi man, uh, from the Northwestern Western Australia. So my mob is from MOIA community, um, and has 600 kilometers outside of Broome, but my dad's mob and my mob from con and Meron GA. People. Um, and so I'm pretty blessed to have, uh, that connection in the Kimberley that has laid the foundation for who I am and to be able to share these stories.

3:28Scott: And so the stories, uh, from Dark Heart is inspired by, uh, the Gooniyandi people and all of our language is in the book and shared through that. So now I look at it as a way of preserving, protecting it, but also celebrating it with everyone. And so we're on that first journey on establishing how we can do that through comic.

3:48KT: And I think what's so great about the comic is it covers stories that have been here forever, but it's now starting to be told. And I think something that would be interesting would be where did this all come about? Was it all just a dream?

4:02Scott: Yeah. it was all just a dream. You're gonna read that. Did you used to read Word Up magazine?

4:08KT: Yeah. So gold that, yeah, absolutely. Well, it was all in the dreaming basically. So 65,000 years, and plus has led us to this point. And I shared this at the panel today, is that if our ancestors were living today, what mediums and what kind of, uh, you know, uh, things would they use to continue that storytelling.

4:29Scott: And so I believe that they would be using comic books and the visual representation through film, television, and all those things that we have today. And so we have those mediums now, and we are using that to empower people, not. Indigenous people, others First Nations peoples, but empower all people to get behind our beautiful rich culture that is still existing 65,000 year plus here in Australia.

4:53Scott: And so comic books is a perfect way of sharing that. And I know we're on so much different, uh, steps of the journey across Australia. And so for me, I've always felt, uh, with the connection and the foundation. Who I am as a Gooniyandi man, and that has been a long journey for me. Um, due to, uh, a lot of history with my family and the Stolen Generations that, uh, you know, it is all about how can I use where I am today to start sharing, to start protecting preserving, but also empowering our, my younger, uh, siblings, cousins, families, uh, to come on that journey and learn about their culture, but also be empowered by it and also to empower them, uh, you know, Yeah.

5:35KT: So I, so I'm Tongan, uh, born in Australia, but being on watching the panel today, I got emotional hearing. You guys talk about it's about time. It's high time. Yeah, it is. It's about time. This has happened. Right? We need these stories out there, whether we're talking about television, whether we're talking about books, um, and also comic books as well, like it's so important to have to have it.

5:57KT: And you know, Oti and I have read the first edition of this comic and it's so. Like you can tell there's so much about to happen. And, you know, even on the panel you talked about, and even just now you're talking about dispossession, the Stolen Generation, colonization with the capital state. Um, and it's like, Ooh, I'm just waiting.

6:16KT: And like, um, when you. Start to release the first chapter. How do you decide, you know, where you want to go? Yep. You know, the richness that you wanna have, but this is just the taster. This is the first sort of course. Absolutely. How do you decide what hap, like what happens inside of that? Yeah.

6:32Scott: Uh, I feel like it came organically naturally.

6:35Scott: And so with a lot of. Things, we don't want to share the origin story , uh, at right at the beginning, we want to throw people right in it. And where we threw people was that, uh, this understanding that our dreaming still exists right now. And so when you're going and traveling across Australia, um, whether you're camping, whether you're on country, all that our dreaming exists.

6:57Scott: And so we wanted people to have an insight behind a veil to see what still exists here in Australia and that rich connection. And a lot of people are fighting for that connection. And so if we can convey, uh, this message and get people on board in terms of the preservation protecting and now celebrating through what we are calling informative, enter.

7:18Scott: Then we start to grow in terms of our potential to make sure that this is, this is protected forever. And so it don't just, uh, it's not something that's just for Aboriginal people to protect. This is something as Australia we need to protect. And so with this first issue, we wanted to give an insight into that and how it still exists, you know?

7:38Scott: And we're gonna go deeper on that, uh, rabbit hole of just dismantling and understanding what the dream. Yeah. And we're gonna show that, and we've got deadly artists and illustrators that are going to convey what the dreaming is in this next issue. So issue two, we're gonna go deeper into that to show how it exists here, uh, in the city, uh, you know, it, not only does it exist out in the Bush.

8:02KT: Yeah. You know, it not just exists. Representation of Aboriginal people is everywhere, not just out in the middle of nowhere, but still here in the city, you know, and we're grow. And we're expanding. And now through our comic books, we get to share that with people and even with the artwork, I think what was really impressive was you see the depictions of Aboriginal First Nations.

8:25KT: They don't look like, you know, like black Americans sort of characters, and they're very specific to the culture. How did the working together of illustration and bringing it to the page? Look.

8:37Scott: Yeah, absolutely. So Katie Houghton-Ward, uh, is our amazing, uh, illustrator and, uh, working with her was just an absolutely magical journey.

8:47Scott: Uh, cuz everything I shared with her, she just got, you know, and it was just this match made in heaven for us. And so, uh, it started, uh, not in terms of her illustrating, but becoming a part of the family and cuz that's what we wanted to do. And with her passion and her drive. You know, our culture and the work that she's done, uh, before in Alice Springs and in other places in regards to sharing and supporting in terms of capacity building for illustrating for our people, uh, it was just, it just worked, uh, you know, and I think that's one of the brilliant things about it is that when you're looking at all of this, it has to start with passion.

9:25KT: And then from there you must find other people that are passionate. And so working with her to actually get that right. Felt just like we had already done it, you know, it was like we were walking in the footsteps of our future self mm-hmm yeah. Explain a like, cuz I obviously don't wanna talk too much about it, not to spoil the comic, but can you talk me through a little bit about the color scheme? Because it felt very deliberate in the panels and the way that the colors were chosen.

9:54Scott: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the things that I wanted to, uh, represent is this, uh, differentiation between. What we see in the dreaming that exists now, mm-hmm uh, and then playing with actual present time. So one thing with the dreaming is that past present future is coexisting, but we wanted to break it down.

10:13Scott: So anyone it's accessible and everyone can understand, uh, that the dreaming exists right now. But to represent that I wanted to play around with the colors. Yeah. And one of the biggest things, uh, symbols of our story is the rainbow serpent. Yeah. We call it guru in my language, which is a dreaming serpent.

10:31Scott: And so we wanted to make sure that it was bright. It was colorful. We had a huge strategy around sharing color through our whole comic book, and we're gonna continue to do that. And you know, when I spoke to Justin Randall, our colorist, I, uh, shared with him that there was this glow that I wanted to see where when you looked at it, you were transported, you were impacted not only by the visualization of the story through Katie, but also in the color.

10:55Scott: So everything had to, uh, come together like pieces to the. And so when we did that, it was just like, oh my. This is just, uh, like I saw it in my head, but then seeing it on paper in my hands, uh, the creation of, you know, Katie and Justin, it just took it to the next level. And so all those colors, uh, yeah, it made sense.

11:17Scott: So from the dreaming, we had the neons, we had the glow of those colors, pinks, purples, all those colors. It was inclusive of the rainbow. As well as when we had, uh, in real time, we had the earthy colors. When you go through the book, we had stuff that represented, you know, a lot of our earthiness, the color, the ground, we said, Barner Barner is the land, you know, so we wanted to be transported in this world where we saw color that represented everything holistically. Yeah.

11:42KT: I, I think it was mentioned in the Gestalt panel about deciding when to, cuz you're not going to see the full motion of a punch and deciding when, and it was so interesting going through the panels and seeing there was like a 300 que type quote of like you better hold back or you're gonna text my speed. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I love

12:02Scott: yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. You have like, you know, uh, These moments where you can take, I guess, uh, your creativity anywhere. And I always think, cause Wu is actually my grandfather, it's our grandfather's name. So throughout the comic universe, you'll get all of my, uh, elders names from Jonu to Wu, to Goodham Mindy, all these names that pop up.

12:25Scott: But in those scenes it just shares the power and the richness of our culture, but also. Stance of, uh, respect and this, uh, I wanted to share, like he was a gentleman in the sense of like, you know, you'll taste my spirit, but I'm giving you. Uh, you know, I'm I'm 3, 2, 1, 3, 2 1. Exactly. Yeah. So it's like, you know, we, it is not just brute force.

12:47Scott: It is calculated. It's thought through, it's just elements of the dreaming, which can be, uh, looked at, uh, like against quantum physics. Yeah. You know, there is science, there's everything intertwined with it. And so it's not separate, you know, when you talk about the dreaming and quantum physics, and that's what we want to explore to show that, ah, there's so much value.

13:06KT: In our stories that go beyond just, you know, just, uh, Dreamtime stories, what people often just look at it as this is stuff that's not mythology. It is calculated. It is something that needs to be shared because these are the things that's gonna save our planet, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And I, in, in the forward of the first issue, you talk about that, how the stories can sustainably.

13:29KT: Live and coexist. Yeah. And it's more than just like all of the sustainability departments and corporate areas do not as much as the comic does. Like when we talk about culture, when we talk about First Nation sort of law. Yeah. It is symbiotic. Yeah. It all just comes together and I really enjoy it that you had that in the forward as well.

13:49Scott: Yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah. I, I believe that like entering into the indigenous, it must be explored with a lot of openness. You. Uh, you know, this isn't just as, uh, Benny talked about on the panel in terms of mythology and what is like real, you know, what is happening now. And so, uh, there's a whole evolution of, uh, you know, the dreaming of what existed, you know, 65,000 years ago.

14:14Scott: Yeah. And what exists now, isn't separate. It is coexisting right now. And so how we speak the language we're speaking, you know, it is a continuation of something that was here from day dot. And so everything that we wanted to share is that interconnectedness and that comes from when our people was 65,000 years ago, thinking about the ideologies that was there, that allowed us to coexist with the land, the birds, the grass, the trees, every single species on this planet.

14:45KT: And so we're bringing that forth in how we tackle a lot of the storytelling now about holistic interconnectedness. Yeah, another, another wisdom, uh, nugget that Benny brought on the panel was talking about the villain. Yeah, absolutely. And I am ready for people to be woke. I am ready for the awakening and I'm very excited. Cause you know, there was talking about the dynamic of the villain or are they just misunderstood? Yeah. And I'm kind of like it's time to shake some things up. Yeah. I'm very excited about the.

15:16Scott: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, yeah, cuz at the end of, uh, Dark Heart issue one, we leave you with thinking whether it's, you know, is it the awakening of something good or bad, but I always think, uh, you know, what is it?

15:28Scott: You know? Um, and so I left people, you know, uh, when you read the book, I hope everyone's gonna be. Wanting more uh, but yeah, I feel like with the villains that we go on that journey and sharing, it just opens up this whole world of, uh, you know, shifting the perspectives on Aboriginal people from, uh, all different kind of perspectives that, uh, we have not been in control of, you know?

15:51Scott: And so when we are going into villains and we're going superheroes, there has to be a balance, an equilibrium, uh, uh, you know, where the powers of good is there. So shall the powers of. And, uh, so in this, you know, we have a story, a great story about, uh, the fight between two perspectives within, uh, you know, uh, Aboriginal communities.

16:11Scott: You know, there's, uh, groups that, uh, you know, are still on that journey where, you know, uh, where colonization, uh, is something that we need to stamp out in the sense of you guys stay over there, we stay over here. You know, we stay segregated, we'll do what we want to do. You guys do what you want to do. Uh, whereas our superhero is about how do we come together?

16:33Scott: Uh, and so with, uh, marmy, our main superhero and the leader of the pure blood order, he's set out to actually bring back, uh, uh, through a time being, uh, us to pre colonization, to stop colonization from even happening. But that would mean that we would lose the people today. We'd lose millions of peoples and lose their lives today.

16:55Scott: Um, and so our superhero is up against something, uh, planet destroying, uh, Yeah. Um, but as First Nations as well. So I wanted this thing of like, not black verse white. I wanted it to be explored as like, what if it's much like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, you know, you get perspectives of all different of the same culture, but different perspectives within that culture.

17:16Scott: And so we wanted to explore that, like how can we have a First Nations villain, uh, you know, that people maybe misunderstood, but it could be even, uh, you know, something else could be growing and something else should be building and. Uh, we see that and we go on that journey and that's one of the biggest things is that we want our characters to not just be a, you know, a character that you can go and lose.

17:37KT: We want people to come on that journey and one day seeing them dressed up like those characters here. Oh yes. At comic. I'm looking for my awakening. Sorry, routine. I'm looking for my awakening. That's that's so good. It's so important to center First Nation stories. And that's what we see here, because you talk a little bit about it as well in the industry of if you're there, it's a token.

17:56KT: If you're there, it's a cameo, that sort of thing. And there's also some subject matter. That's a bit who is very sensitive. Like I am, I, I won't talk about it too much, but there's a particular scene near the end of the first chapter that I actually felt uncomfortable looking at, but I. I felt warm in the embrace that it was being made by the people that should be making it.

18:18Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, we wanted, uh, to, uh, take people on a rollercoaster and, uh, in terms of the story, it had all been thought through to share underlining themes. Uh, so one of the things, the gore GEI, which is the fire and said, I always thought, ah, uh, what would die out the. you know, and I thought, oh, no element could actually die out this fire.

18:42Scott: You know, of Aboriginal people, you know, this fire that we have been burning for 65,000 years. And I feel, uh, how I subliminally put that in and the blood of. The elder protector is the only thing that can die out the fire. And so it just shifts the responsibility and obligation. So I always grew up with this obligation and responsibility to my culture, to my family, to my community.

19:06Scott: And so I took that as empowerment to do the things that I've done today. And so I really wanted to shape that as a narrative for people to see a scene and be taken into a place where, uh, they can be empowered to say, okay, I can see what that actually is saying. It's not just this visual representation, uh, like in the gory or horrific.

19:27KT: Scenes, it's actually underlining themes as sharing a strong message and a message targeting, you know, our mob that we have this responsibility, but then to others, you know, that the responsibility to protect, preserve, and now to celebrate our beautiful culture that is here in Australia. So. Well, thank you so much for your time. We'll be wrapping up now. So the first issue is available online. Yep. People can purchase it overseas as well.

19:54Scott: Yeah. So overseas everyone on this planet, if you have an internet connection, can purchase, uh, the first issue of Dark Heart, but issue two coming on, pre-orders on our web. Sites. So that's indigiverse.au.

20:08Scott: We currently have stores, two stores in Perth. Uh, so, uh, local anesthetics, uh, a cafe there that's selling, it's a social enterprise by the Foundation for Indigenous Sustainable Health. So if you go there, they're not just selling our books, they're selling a large range of First Nations, led publications and product. That you can buy, uh, yeah, from their stores there and at their airport. So Virgin terminal and Perth airport, you can buy our books and also be immersed. That's how it

20:33Scott: should be. Right. That's how it should be. Absolutely a hundred percent owned, uh, products by Aboriginal people, all sold at our airports as well as, um, our stores in, uh, Perth.

20:44KT: Um, but we also have Impact Comics, uh, and these comics in Canberra that now stock our. So it's it's growing, but if you want to get it now, indigiverse.au, jump online. And, uh, yeah. And where are you on socials? Can we find yourselves?

20:59Scott: Yeah. Yeah. Socials at the moment. Now it's just scottlewiswilson. We're about to move into having our own Indigiverse Instagram, but until then, I'm just sharing a lot of stuff through.

21:09KT: Yeah. scottlewiswilson, all. Uh, but yeah, follow us there. And, uh, yeah, can't wait to come and see you guys all at the next con. Oh, great. Well, I would love to say Malo on behalf of . I would say Asana. Thank you so much for your time.

21:24Scott: Know? Yeah, no, thank you so much. Uh, you know, it's so good to have, you know, this opportunity to be in, you know, a diverse representation.

21:34Scott: You know, leading those conversations in something we have limited representation at. And so I'm so excited and I can't wait to see what you all do as well. And, uh, I just wanna say stay deadly. And so thank you. Yeah. Yeah.