After immersing readers in North Hollywood circa 1985, Stephan Franck is taking readers back to the deadly world of private investigating, this time in 1995 and following Eddie's daughter Liz, with Palomino: Volume 4 and 5, and with the new collections now on Kickstarter via Dark Planet Comics (along with Romance in the Age of the Space God), we caught up with Stephan Franck to discuss what readers can expect to encounter in the latest installments of Palomino!
Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Stephan, and congratulations on the upcoming releases of Palomino: Volume 4 and Volume 5 in your six-volume series! When you began writing Palomino, did you always envision it as a six-volume series, or did the story take on a life of its own as you wrote it?
Thank you, it’s my pleasure! The original plan for Palomino only involved 4 volumes, which all were going to take place in 1981. We were going to keep following our super fun father/daughter detective duo as they ultimately solved the web of crimes and mysteries that had crashed into their lives. But art is discovered, not decided, and when I sat down to write Volume 4, it became clear that these characters and their stories had become much deeper and bigger than I had anticipated. Specifically, we really needed to follow Lisette into adulthood and explore the themes of the story to their ultimate conclusion.
Palomino: Volume 4 and Volume 5 take place 14 years after the events of Palomino Volumes 1–3, transporting readers from 1981 Los Angeles to the City of Angels circa 1994, shifting the point of view from private investigator Eddie Lang to his now-adult daughter, Liz. As a writer and illustrator, how did that leap forward in time impact how you approached this story?
It was really fun to jump to 1995, which is the onset of the digital revolution, so the world is undergoing serious change. Emails and cell phones are now becoming part of people’s lives, and capturing the characters’ relationships with all these new elements had to be a big part of how the story is told. As Palomino: Volume 4 begins, we find Liz, with a mild case of arrested development—clearly due to the tragic events of her youth. However, she is still that badass old soul, now with the full agency of adulthood, so it was very important for me to find that voice, which is fun and powerful, yet insecure and vulnerable at the same time.
The beating heart of Palomino has always been the father-daughter relationship between Eddie and Lisette Lang. Fourteen years after Palomino: Volume 3, Lisette (now going by Liz) has followed in her dad’s footsteps and become a P.I. herself, and like Eddie, she’s also obsessed with the unsolved Eileen Wilcox case. How much fun was it for you to see where Liz would be 14 years later and how important was it to explore her dad’s continued influence on her life all those years later?
Super fun! One of my favorite aspects of Palomino is that we get to explore the parent-child relationship from both points of view. As a dad who raised three teenagers, it was easy for me to connect with Eddie’s point of view, especially that tension that every parent knows between giving your kid enough room to grow, yet making sure nothing truly bad happens. But also, we have a story from the point of view of a child who’s already lost a parent, and there’s that anxiety of watching the empty driveway, when the other parent’s car doesn’t show up on time. That was my experience growing up. And also the fact that if you lose a parent before you are old enough to really know them as a person, there will always be a cloud of mystery above who they were and who you are—at least in early adulthood. And as you try to piece the person together with a mixture of early memories, unreliable narrators and family lore, it’s almost like going on an investigation into your past. That’s the truth of Lisette’s story, and that’s also mine (without all the murder and mayhem).
At the center of this enthralling mystery story is the country music club Palomino, which transitions from its heyday in the early ’80s in Volumes 1–3 to its twilight years in the mid-’90s in these next volumes. The end of Volume 1 even includes an insightful interview with the Palomino Riders house band who played at The Palomino Club in North Hollywood, and I understand that you also played in music clubs for years. How have your experiences in the live music scene informed your authentic depiction of life in a music club while creating the world of Palomino?
The Palomino itself had just closed by the time I arrived in LA in 1995, but I had the good fortune to play with some of those very musicians who I interviewed in Volume 1 in other clubs around town. It’s true that those situations have a very specific texture. For lack of a better word, I am kinda “method” when I draw comics. Especially if it involves something that I have a lived experience of, so I just try to relocate that feeling and hang inside it, so it shows up organically in the work, and hopefully also brings the reader there.
Palomino: Volume 3 ended with quite a bang, or rather a boom. Even with the time jump to 1995, will readers get more insights into Eddie’s pivotal and deadly case from the ’80s?
Yes, we leave 1981 behind with many unresolved questions, and they will all reemerge in 1995, as Lisette—who now goes by Liz—reopens the case. But while the first three volumes are more of a procedural mystery, the second half of the story quickly becomes an epic gauntlet that Liz has to survive.
In addition to your own real-life experiences as a musician, have you been influenced or inspired by any neo-noir mysteries or music-based stories in film, television, or comics while working on Palomino? Also, do you have any favorite country artists you listened to while creating the world of Palomino?
I rediscovered William Friedkin after his passing, and realized he might be one of my favorite directors, because he’s literally redefined every genre he’s worked in. So To Live And Die In L.A. was definitely an inspiration, or at the very least something giving me permission when I was considering whether to do the time jump and pass the baton from Eddie to Liz or not. Musically, the pedal steel guitar is my favorite instrument, and it’s also Eddie’s instrument, so I listen to anything that has steel in it.
Readers can help bring Palomino: Volume 4 and Volume 5 to life through a new Kickstarter campaign launched by your company Dark Planet Comics. What types of perks can supporters look forward to?
We will have fun stuff like a groovy set of book plates that are all Palomino “in-world” posters, from fictional TV producer Philip Lamaz’s catalog—Lamaz’s name might be familiar to the reader because he’s been pulling the strings from the shadows since Volume 1. Those book plates are cool and ironic, and really fun world-building! And then, we have cool “1981” slip cases that will turn your existing Palomino: Volumes 1–3 into a stylish boxset! Eventually, the full series will be collected in two boxsets: “1981” and “1995”.
What advice would you give to writers and artists who are just getting started?
Don’t wait for a green light from someone else. Just write, draw, tell your stories. Do completed work (so maybe start with short stories), and move on to the next. Also, unlike propaganda, which is about dehumanizing people, real story is about putting yourself in other people’s shoes. So approach storytelling as walking through your characters' shoes. Be them for a moment. If you do that honestly, you’re on the right track.
In addition to Palomino: Volume 4 and Volume 5, are you also currently working on Palomino: Volume 6, and do you have plans to continue this story beyond six volumes if the opportunity ever arose?
I definitely have plans for more Palomino that are creatively legit and exciting, so it is possible. We’ll see.
With Palomino: Volume 4 and Volume 5 now on Kickstarter, do you have any other upcoming projects that you can tease for our readers?
Well, there is Romance in the Age of the Space God, a one-shot magazine-size graphic-novella… which is also part of this campaign. I call it a comic for and about weird times–it’s got bits of sci-fi dystopian thriller, fun slice-of-life comedy, and a smidge of political satire! Oh, and it’s done with cute anthropomorphic little mice… It’s unlike anything you’ve seen.
Thank you very much for your time, Stephan, and congratulations on continuing the immersive story of Palomino!
It’s my pleasure, thank you!
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From the Press Release: Acclaimed cartoonist and award-nominated animator, writer, and director Stephan Franck’s graphic novels have caught the attention of comic book creators including Elsa Charretier, Jim Lee, Jeff Lemire, Jim Mahfood, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Bill Sienkiewicz. His stylish books have been covered by The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, The Nerdist, and NPR. Now Stephan's company Dark Planet Comics is back with two all-new books and a new printer of an impossible-to-find graphic novella, never before available on Kickstarter. The campaign will introduce new readers to ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD — a hyper-timely dystopian sci-fi comic that Franck quietly published last year with a super limited edition 150-copy print run — as well as two brand new volumes of PALOMINO, his Ringo Award-nominated neo-noir graphic series set in the lost culture of Los Angeles’ country music clubs. ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD and PALOMINO: Volumes 4 and 5 will both be available via Kickstarter.
“There are certain eternal themes that always seem to come back in my stories,” said Franck. “One of them is family, in all its forms. Whether it’s a father/daughter detective duo in a generational crime-mystery in PALOMINO, or two foster siblings like in ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD, or even a ‘family by choice’ like in SILVER where a band of misfits find each other to recreate a family unit and steal from a castle full of vampires, it’s always an affirmation that — even in worlds that are amoral, cynical and transactional — there are people who will always have your back. It’s on you to find them, let them help you, and never let them go. The core idea is that we’re not alone, and I think that’s something we can all relate to.”
Born in heavy times which have not gotten any lighter, ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD is set in a world in erosion, in which the hallowed-out trappings of civil society remain in place, merely existing as a maze for people to stumble through. And then there is the Space God. What is it? What does it want? Is it here to Judge us? To Rule us? To end us? To enlighten all of us or maybe just a select few? Or does it want nothing at all—its inescapable presence an inscrutable void for people to project their existential struggles into?
“ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD is a strange comic for and about strange times,” said Franck. “It is cute and funny, it is sci-fi and dystopian, it has political satire and the kind of slice-of-life that I love. It introduces Nate, Lydia, Anya, all looking for their place in a difficult world, all profoundly human — even though they are adorable little mice. It started as a webcomic, but the plan was for it to be released in print, in an oversized format like a magazine. We did a very, very limited run last year just before San Diego Comic Con and it immediately sold out. The time has come to pull out all the stops and bring this comic to a much wider audience. It’s a little weird gem of a comic, and I hope you will give it a shot!”
A captivating neo-noir crime mystery, PALOMINO begins in 1981 Los Angeles with Eddie Lang, an old-school, hard-ass, hardboiled former Burbank PD detective juggling his 6-nights-a-week gig in the Palomino house band, his P.I. business, and Lisette Lang — his teenage daughter, who might be even more hard-ass and hard boiled than her dad is. But tragedy looms large over their past, and a brand new case that's hitting a little too close to home upends their lives, sending them each down very dangerous paths. Told with action, suspense, humor, drama, and slice-of-life irony, PALOMINO, 1981 (Volumes 1-3) takes place at the Palomino club's high watermark, with Eddie leading the investigation in the Wilcox case, while PALOMINO, 1995 (Volume 4-6) takes place in the twilight years of the club, with his now-adult daughter Liz leading the case and bringing the story to its epic conclusion.
“As PALOMINO time-jumps 14 years at the beginning of Volume 4, not only do we transition from the club’s heyday to its twilight moments, but we also pass the baton from one detective to the next,” said Franck. “The world has moved on from the unsolved Eileen Wilcox case, but Lisette — now 29 and going by Liz — hasn't. So when a routine assignment at one of the Valley’s free weeklies reopens old wounds and Liz takes it upon herself to revisit the case her father was never able to close, she finds herself entering a world of deception and danger where the only way out is through.“
Stephan Franck has worked with some of the most popular characters of all time—including Spider-Man and the Smurfs — and has contributed to classic contemporary animation projects, including Despicable Me, The Iron Giant, and Marvel Studios’ What If...? as head of animation and director. But writing and drawing the graphic novel series PALOMINO is Franck’s passion project. “From my years playing music in clubs, to having raised two amazing and quite hard boiled daughters in Los Angeles, many of my lived experiences converged in PALOMINO with my absolute passion for noir, to create the most personal and lived-in work of my career,” added Franck. “At its core, PALOMINO is about the impermanence of all things we wrongly assume will always be there for us, as a society, as a culture, and about how the only thing that truly remains is the moral fiber of individuals, passed-down from one generation to the next.”
The Kickstarter will feature copies of all five available volumes of PALOMINO, as well as PALOMINO, 1981 box sets, slipcases, and signed book plates from the in-world fictional syndication catalog of Lamaz Television.
Here’s what folks are saying about Stephen Franck:
“Stephan Franck has the unusual gift of being a great writer and an even better artist.”—Jimmy Palmiotti, co-creator of Painkiller Jane
“Writer/artist Stephan Franck is firing on all cylinders.”— NPR
"Great."—Jim Lee, acclaimed artist and DC Comics Publisher
“"Couldn't put it down. Want more. Now."— Legendary Writer Mark Waid
on ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD
To support the project, head to Kickstarter. For updates, follow Stephan Franck on Instagram and Bluesky and Dark Planet Comics on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
About the creator:
Stephan Franck is an Annie award-nominated animator/writer/director/ who most recently directed multiple episodes of MARVEL STUDIO’s ”WHAT IF…?”. He was a supervising animator on the cult classic THE IRON GIANT, and contributed story to DESPICABLE ME. He co-created the animated TV series CORNEIL & BERNIE (Nicktoons - Hub Network), received an Annie Award nomination for Best Director In a TV Program for the featurette SMURFS: THE LEGEND OF SMURFY HOLLOW. Equally active in comics, Stephan founded the comic-book publishing company DARK PLANET COMICS, and his graphic novel debut SILVER earned a nomination for the prestigious Russ Manning Award at San Diego Comic Con’s Eisner Awards. SILVER was followed by its prequel ROSALYND, and Ringo Award-nominated L.A. crime series PALOMINO. A new hardcover edition of SILVER is currently published by Abrams ComicArts.
Palomino: Volume 4 Cover Art:
Palomino: Volume 4 Preview Pages:
Palomino: Volume 5 Cover Art:
Romance in the Age of the Space God Cover Art:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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