By Zack Quaintance — I recently read one of my favorite graphic novels I’ve come across in some time: Titan by François Vigneault. Titan is an out of space story, although it really good happen anywhere and to any of us, at least that’s how it seems in 2020. It’s a story of worker’s rights, long-time divisions, and the dangers of acting outside what’s expected of your group and your role. It’s a really poignant book, and I was thrilled recently to have a chance to ask Vigneault some questions about it.

You can find our conversation below…enjoy!

François Vigneault Interview

ZACK QUAINTANCE: This book was first published in 2017, and I imagine you'd been working on it for some time before publication. What was the timeline for the creation of this book?

FRANÇOIS VIGNEAULT: It was a long and winding road, for sure! I began working on TITAN in 2012, so it took me five long years to complete the book, but in all honesty the first few years had so many stops and starts... When I moved to Montréal in 2015 I only had a couple chapters of the book done, so I wrote and drew almost the whole thing in the last couple years of that timeline. I had a lot of writer's block and self-doubt that I had to exorcise to get rolling with the book, but once it got going things moved much faster, I am happy to say!

The book was published in French by Éditions Pow Pow here in Montréal (a fantastic publisher who also puts out books in English from Québec creators... A great way for American readers to get to know the French-Canadian comics scene). Then came the long process of shopping the book around to American publishers, then some additional delays due to the merger of Lion Forge and Oni Press, and THEN we had a global pandemic that pushed things back even further... So as you can imagine I am really excited that TITAN is finally coming out in my home country.

ZACK: I lead with that question, because (as I wrote in my review) it feels searingly relevant to life in 2020. What do you think made the subject matter and themes in this book so prescient?

FRANÇOIS: It's terrifying, isn't it? Some of the moments from the book feel like they are lifted straight from the nightly news, sadly. I definitely couldn't have predicted that the release of the book would feel quite this relevant to the state of the world. TITAN is obviously inspired a lot by history, including recent events, so I guess it's not all that surprising that we would see scenes in the book that echo real life, or vice versa: Protests, political strife, state-sanctioned violence, and nascent revolution. But I don't think I ever would have thought that the tensions in the USA and elsewhere would be so terribly elevated at this moment. In another interview recently I was asked if the similarities between the events in TITAN and the real world was a "happy accident" and I responded that I wouldn't ever use the word "happy" to describe it, the situation right now is far too upsetting. I would much rather my book felt more speculative and less relevant.

All that said, I can't say that it is wholly coincidental that TITAN reflects the state of the real world. Colonialism, class conflict, racial animosity, unjust legal and economic systems, the abuse of power... If the themes of TITAN ring true at all it is because they are very much based in real world issues and anxieties, problems that we definitely haven't resolved yet. That was true when I started working on TITAN back in 2012, it's true today, and sadly it will be true for many years to come.

ZACK: There is quite a bit of interesting subject matter in this story -- from the science fiction to the love story -- but to me, more than anything this felt like a story about work. What inspired the working relationships and dynamics in TITAN? Was it an experience from your own life?

FRANÇOIS: Well, work has always been an important, even central element of my own life. I grew up fairly poor, and I've pinged around in all kinds of jobs over the years. I've been both a laborer and a manager, so I guess I see work relations from both sides to a certain degree, and I wanted to bring that "big picture" view to the story of TITAN, the humanity of characters on both sides of the equation. In many ways I am a bit like the character João in my book, I believe that there can and should be a collaborative relationship at the heart of our working life... That everyone can benefit if the system works. But that doesn't mean I don't also see why a character like Cyrus would view the system as inherently corrupt, exploitative, and cruel, and why he would seek to destroy it and build something new. I honestly don't know who is right... Perhaps there is a middle way, as expressed by Phoebe. Only time will tell.

ZACK: One of the many things I found interesting about the visuals was the choice of color palette. What inspired the use of these tones?

FRANÇOIS: I personally really like working in a duo-tone or spot color palette, I feel like it gives me a chance to add depth and complexity to my artwork without going overboard with full color, which I can sometimes find overwhelming on the comics page. Comics like Ghost World by Daniel Clowes had a big effect on me, I love the pared-down, economical look of black, white, and another color on the page. I experimented with a few different color palettes in TITAN, in fact the French version from Éditions Pow Pow is purple, but in the end I looped back to pink, which was the very first color I had in mind when I started the project. I think there is something rather romantic and full of life in the color pink, and I think that it serves as a reminder of the human element in the story I was telling, even though at times TITAN can get quite dark indeed.

ZACK: Finally, what are some questions you hope this book ultimately leaves its readers with?

FRANÇOIS: Ah, tricky! You've turned the tables on me, haha. Here are a couple that come to mind:

In your own life, where do you draw the line between "us" and "them," "in-group" and "out-group"? Why?

Is it still possible to collaborate and connect with people who are different than you, or do you think we are doomed to conflict?

In a world where morality is rarely black and white, how do you make choices about who or what to support?

Do you believe we can rely on reform to get us to a better world or do we need a revolution?

When you think about the future, do you have hope or fear?

And finally, on a lighter note, if you could pick one album to be around in 200 years, what would it be?

Titan OGN

Titan
Writer/Artist: François Vigneault
Publisher: Oni Press
Price: $19.99
When MNGR First Class João da Silva arrives on the moon of Titan to take charge of Homestead Station, he finds the massive mining colony plagued by tensions between the giant, genetically-engineered Titan workers and the Terran management. As anger mounts, what began as a routine posting quickly turns into something far more dangerous. Phoebe Mackintosh thought she left her fighting days behind her when she turned her back on the "mixing" circuit. Now, she finds herself caught between a past she'd rather forget and a future she can't predict. Together, they must find a way to pull Homestead back from the brink of disaster... Or Titan might be the spark that sets the entire solar system ablaze.
Release Date: November 10, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Titan OGN

Read our full review of Titan!

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.