Exclusive Interview: ‘The Boys’ Co-Creator And Executive Producer Darick Robertson On Adapting Comics For TV
Arrogant, unapologetic, and worst of all: brutally honest, Amazon Prime’s The Boys is one of the best hit series the streaming service has to offer. Taking the world by storm by its third season like nothing that’s ever come before. Aired during a time when you couldn’t even cross the street without seeing a superhero ad or marketing campaign (or just a runaway A-train), this gritty take at the corruptive power of celebrity status and superheroes is an adaptation of the Dynamite comics created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
We got to speak with The Boy’s co-creator and EP Darick Robertson, whose highly acclaimed work has been nominated for Eisner Awards in both Transmetropolitan and The Boys, and has even, had his comics adapted for TV with SYFY’s Happy! and Amazon’s The Boys. We fittingly asked Robertson Seven questions, where he’d shared his thoughts on The Boys, seeing your comic book adaptations come to life on screen, and most importantly, promoted a HumbleBumble charity package featuring several Dynamite comics (including all of The Boys) that’s raising to help feed starving victims of the war in Ukraine.
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From ‘Happy!’ to ‘The Boys,’ your influence in comics-to-screen adaptations is huge. How does it feel seeing these creations that used to live in your head space, now on TV?
“It’s an amazing thing, really. I especially appreciate it when the creators’ names are featured prominently in the show credits. With The Boys it has been a fun experience of seeing the expansion of my original visions and appreciating how the cast has captured the essence of the characters with the show's interpretation. It's so much better than I ever imagined it would be and to see it take off and become so popular has been nothing short of mind-blowing.”
You designed Hughie off of Simon Pegg, which was a big reason he was cast on the show. Can you talk about what other impact you’ve made on ‘The Boys’ TV series?
“Everyone even as far back as the scrapped feature film by Adam McKay has always wanted Simon to be involved somehow, and casting him as Hughie’s Father was genius. But I love seeing the faithfulness to my original costume designs for the Seven from the comic, and the artwork that I was hired to create for the show throughout multiple scenes and backgrounds, especially in The Seven Tower.”
Is there anything you’re excited about regarding Season 4?
“Well, I don’t want to spoil anything for those still catching up, but they really hit a big reset button at the end of Season 3, so I’m excited to see where they take it from here.”
‘The Boys Presents: Diabolical’ is specifically designed off your art style, which Variety described as having a distinct and sketchy roughness to it. How would you describe your artwork on the comics run and, looking back, what moments stand out most to you?
“I was kind of fresh to inking my own work on a monthly schedule and was really under the gun a lot of the time when creating the early issues of The Boys. So I see that work from 2007 as me learning my craft all over again and doing it, like I would most things then, as best I could with the time I had.
It was really wonderful seeing the comic versions of our characters animated by the same studio, Titmouse, that adapted ‘Invincible’ and hearing Simon Pegg voice the comic version of Wee Hughie.”
Months ago, I talked with the team at Space Bastards, and they emphasized how awesome you are at depicting dynamic motion and epic action sequences. Can you talk about how your work has evolved, along with the industry, since you started?
“I’m more salty and seasoned now than I was then and have steered towards projects that allow me more flexibility and time to do better work. ‘Space Bastards’ was a lot of fun because it was a whole world I was able to design and explore and co-create, with different environments and wildly different characters (and great humor). I like the humorous aspects of The Boys as well, and love that the show captures that.”
How do you think comics get away with things television just can’t?
“People experience a comic and still artwork, and sequential art, quite differently than they do a film experience. With film, it’s presented and edited in a way that moves at the director’s pace and choosing. With comics, you do a lot of the work in your imagination. You imagine the sound effects, read at your own pace, and the artist suggests all the movement and action but the reader puts it all together in their minds. So what people will tolerate in a drawing - where in my case, I get caught up in the skill of the artist that I’m reading - a live-action depiction can be too real for some viewers. So, violence suggested is less troubling than violence witnessed.”
Is there anything you’d like to promote or share with the audience regarding a cause, piece of work, or thing you care about right now?
“I am currently drawing Batman: Fortress for DC comics with the excellent Gary Whitta writing. Gary’s known for Star Wars: Rogue One and creating “The Book Of Eli”. That’s in stores now! Also, HumbleBundle has extended Dynamite Comics’ “Boys Vs. Girls” offering that goes to support the World Central Kitchen, sending food and help to Ukraine! So you can get a whole bunch of great comics and name your price and help out a great charity!”
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/boys-versus-girls-dynamite-books
“If you’ve only seen The Boys TV show and are curious about the comics that spawned it, here’s your big chance to catch up and help out at the same time!”
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Sources: Variety, TheWorkprint