From indie comicbook creator to the writer of such titles as District X, Spawn and Silent War, David Hine has come a long way in the past 14 years. Now, he returns back to his roots with a re-release of Strange Embrace, the comic that would go on to catch the industry’s eye and bring him to the forefront of not just one but two comic book publishers. We caught up with David Hine to take a look back at Strange Embrace and find out how it all began.

PopCultureShock: I know a lot of writers and artists who, looking back at a work, always seem to see the flaws or bits and pieces of what they would have done differently. In re-releasing Strange Embrace was there any temptation to change the story or tweak it in anyway?

David Hine: I always see things in my work that I hate and the more time passes, the more you see, so that was a temptation, but if I started I wouldn¹t know where to stop. It’s impossible to achieve perfection, but I have a lot of affection for Strange Embrace as it stands. In fact I did re-draw just one panel ­ one that I was never happy with, even when the book was first published. It only involved re-drawing one character’s profile so it wasn’t a big deal.

This will be the first time Strange Embrace will be released in color. What was that process like? Why color now? Had you always envisioned it that way?

Hine: There were several reasons for doing the book in black-and-white at the time it was originally published. It was cheaper. I had more control over the way the art would look, and I just plain like black-and-white comics. I was really into the European comics by Tardi, Pratt and Munoz and those were all coming out in black-and­white.

Richard Starkings is handling the design and lettering of the book through Comicraft and when he suggested doing the book in color we had a real debate about it. I was a little reluctant initially. Richard felt that black-and-white comics are something of a niche market and we were missing out on a whole swathe of comic readers who only pick up monthly color books. What I didn’t want was to see a slick airbrush/Photoshop job on it, which would have ruined the atmosphere of the book. But when I saw what Rob Steen did with the first few pages of sample art I was convinced. He has managed to enhance the atmosphere and add a whole new dimension to my story. I couldn’t be more pleased.

For those who have never been exposed to it in it’s previous incarnations, what is the story about?

Hine: A malevolent psychic named Alex becomes obsessed by an old man who collects ancient African carvings. He searches the old man’s memories, gradually uncovering the story of an alienated and hopelessly damaged individual, whose wife was driven to commit suicide back in the early years of the twentieth century. It becomes a kind of detective story as we see Anthony Corbeau’s history first from his own perspective, then from the journal of his wife Sarah and the reasons for her suicide become apparent. It’s a story of madness, murder and self-harm.

Not a lot of laughs.

What I set out to do with this book was to create a well-crafted graphic novel with all the layers and nuances of the novels that influenced me most when I was younger. I was really into nineteenth century novels ­ Dickens, the Brontes and Wilkie Collins. I also love Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories. I wanted to capture that gothic style where the landscape and architecture reflect the deranged interior mind. And hopefully scare the crap out of my readers.

Looking back, how, if at all, has your writing and drawing style changed at all?

Hine: I hadn’t done an awful lot of writing when I produced Strange Embrace. As far as the plot and characterisation go, I think it stands the test of time very well. I think my dialogue has improved. That’s one of the things that comes with practice. I write so much dialogue now that it becomes a lot easier to get into the skin of the characters and let the dialogue flow.

As for the drawing, I’ve hardly done any drawing in that style since the book originally came out from Atomika in the early nineties. I have a more commercial style for mainstream comics and my illustration work. I’ve been producing new covers for this edition so I’m getting back into it, and really enjoying it. I also did a short strip for Elephantmen recently in this style. That was the first drawing of any kind I’d done for a couple of years and I was a little rusty, but I¹m developing an itch to write and draw another project. Now I just need the time to start scratching it.

If the David Hine of the newly released Strange Embrace met the David Hine of 2007, outside of the typical time travel “Are you really me? Prove it” conversation, what would you envision the meeting would be like?

Hine: Me 1993 “So what are you doing these days?”

Me 2007: “I have a kid and a mortgage and I’m writing superhero books for Marvel. Just did an event cross-over X-book. Oh, and I’m writing Spawn.”

Me 1993: “Okay, that’s it. I¹m going to shoot myself right now.”

Not many people are aware of your history as an artist and illustrator, how did you make the transition from artist to writer? Do you ever miss drawing?

Hine: I always wanted to be an auteur. To not have to depend on collaborating with someone who might misinterpret my intentions. Most of the work I admired was done by writer-artists: Eisner, the Hernandez brothers, Art Spiegelman, Robert Crumb. Writing always seemed like the easy part so I spent more time trying to improve my drawing. Ironically it was the drawing that attracted more attention and I got a lot of work, initially as an inker for Marvel UK and then drawing stuff for 2000AD. It became very frustrating because I had become known as a slick commercial inker above anything else and that was not how I saw myself. It got to the point where I could be inking myself into the grave so I took time off to write and draw Strange Embrace so I could say “This is what I want to do. This is ME, okay?”

Strange Embrace was a critical success but didn’t sell well or open up a career where I could survive financially doing these kind of comics. I got very disillusioned and went into commercial illustration for a long while. That meant shorter hours and better money but it was incredibly frustrating. I didn’t realise how much I was missing comics until I was offered the chance to come back by Joe Quesada when he invited me to write for Marvel. It has been an absolute joy to spend my days at the laptop, creating comics and not have the sheer back-breaking labour of drawing them. Anyone who can draw a monthly comic book deserves massive respect.

Now, I’m starting to feel the frustration creeping back. You can only really achieve the seamless combination of words and images when you write and draw a book yourself and I really want to get back to that again. It would have to be a creator-owned book though.

Strange Embrace was the book that not only brought you to Marvel’s attention but Todd McFarlane’s as well. What is it about the story that you think has made such an impression on those in the industry?

Hine: It’s a pretty unique story. It has enough of the independent comic about it to stand out from the crowd, but I was very disciplined about the way I put it together. The storytelling, plot and characterisation are very solid. If it was a novel, as opposed to a graphic novel, it would be seen as mainstream. I think that¹s what convinced those people that I could do a monthly comic book. The craft was all there. I know Joe Quesada was looking to bring writers into Marvel who weren’t just superhero comics writers. That’s why he looked to screenwriters, novelist, playwrights. And also he looked at comics outside of the superhero genre. I don¹t think Joe has been given enough credit for that. Todd has also given opportunities to a lot of more marginal writers over the years. Bendis went a similar route, starting out as an indie writer/artist then getting picked up by Todd and Joe.

How did the initial idea of Strange Embrace take form?

Hine: It grew over a long, long period. The germ of the idea was planted when I was a college student, living in an attic in a Victorian house. The old guy who owned the house would wander around the corridors pretty much ignoring me. To get to my room I had to walk through the dining room, and he’d be sitting there at this massive polished table with all the silverware set out, eating his meal all by himself like Miss Faversham in Great Expectations. His housekeeper told me she had been looking after the old guy since his wife committed suicide.

The story grew from that. I became fascinated with African art and all these elements came together. I finally stopped work entirely and lived off savings and my girlfriend’s money, while I spent six months writing the script. The original script actually looks more like a screenplay. I was writing for myself so there was a lot less description than I normally write when working with an artist. I didn’t even break it down into pages and panels until I came to draw it. I saw the whole thing as a movie in my head.

Your work now is mainly with Marvel and Image, have you had any interest in going back and doing any independent work again?

Hine: Yes. Absolutely. I have loads of notebooks full of ideas and I really want to do something creator-owned again. Something where I don’t have to worry about editorial input, or readers of established characters getting annoyed because I¹m screwing with their heroes. Something where I can have my characters cuss and indulge in pervy sex. All that kind of stuff. Mostly to write and draw. To just let the mix of words and images flow. I guess I¹m a bit of a control freak and I hate being told what I can and can’t do. Even with the best collaborators I still sometimes feel like I¹m working in a straitjacket.

With the European over sized hardcover seeming to be coming in to vogue on this side of the pond, any chance we might see Strange Embrace released again in this format?

Hine: That would be nice. I like the idea of a comic book being something you can roll up and stick in your back pocket, but I also find those deluxe hardback editions very seductive. You can put them on the shelf and have the feeling you’ve achieved something lasting.

Thanks for your time, David! You can find out more about Strange Embrace at http://www.strangeembrace.com/.