'All Talk' Interview: A Wannabe Gangster's Paradise
Apr 11, 2023
Interview by Nicki Faust
Rahim is a suburban kid like any other, a "good kid." Chilling with his boys, hearing the legends of "Immortal Al," the greatest gangster who ever lived, it's hard not to get stars in his eyes. Rahim starts dreaming of becoming a kingpin, idolizing his local gangsters in the hopes of climbing their ranks. But his friends laugh: they say he's all talk, no action. Until one day, he sees an opportunity to prove himself.
In the following interview, All Talk writer Bartosz Sztybor takes action and answers our questions about his new graphic novel...
What is All Talk about at its core?
All Talk is, for me personally, a book about how lies become truth and how difficult for a lot of people that can be. That's what I wanted to write about that's one of my biggest fears.
What motivates you to write stories like All Talk?
Always complex characters and some philosophical questions, that's what I like. That's why even when I'm going into a genre I'm looking for something else, something mortal about my characters or, like in All Talk, to have, as I said, maybe one philosophical question I would like to answer or just ask without an answer. In All Talk it’s “what's true–is it what you think about yourself or the things that people are saying about you and thinking about you?" What becomes the truth about the character? These kinds of questions or problems are the things that interest me the most and, of course, character-driven stories.
How does this theme relate to your characters?
That’s Rahim's problem, and that's the problem of many characters from this book: “How can you live your own life if someone creates a story about your life that’s different than the reality? So what should you do then? Should you tell the truth? But there's a chance that no one will believe you? And what's really the truth, the things that you think about yourself or the things that people think about you?
How did you come to collaborate with Akeussel?
It started because I found his art on Instagram and I saw that he has an amazing style, so we started talking, and I asked him if he would like to work with me on something– on a comic book. He said, “No, I don't have time right now; I don't want to work in comic books right now. I'm doing some other stuff.” And then we started talking about movies, comic books, books, [etc]. I think we were talking for a week or even two weeks about The Wire, which we both love, and I told him, “Man, I think that your style is perfect for a story similar to The Wire that takes place in Berlin.” I was living in Berlin; I think it has a great atmosphere, and he would be perfect. And then Akeussel told me, “Okay, if you want to write something like The Wire for me, then let's do it,” and that's how it happened.
What are you working on right now?
Right now, I'm working on another The Witcher miniseries. It's out right now. It's with Miki Montllo, an amazing artist from Spain, and the first issue was published, I think, in December by Dark Horse. So that's one thing, and another thing is another mini-series of The Witcher. I really love the world. Geralt and The Witcher Universe is really exciting because it looks like a normal fantasy, but it's not simple. It's always about characters. It's also about drama– about choosing the lesser evil, and for me, that's always important. Even if you’re creating a noir story, the psychology and the drama behind the character and his or her choices are always the most important thing, so that's why I like The Witcher.
All Talk (JAN231379) is available now at your local comic shop. Reserve your copy with PREVIEWSworld Pullbox.
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Nicki Faust's heart is as cold as concrete in the Chicago winter. When not writing for PREVIEWSworld, Nicki is busy playing Limbo on Twitch, writing about the great robot uprising on Medium, and completing the untitled follow-up to the 2012 best-seller, Sue Storm: A Nude Photobook.
