Early on, we figured out how Scott and I worked best. NGUYEN: This was probably the best part of working on this comic. I think many comics and works of fiction that address social issues spend so much time on the issue that they forget the story, and the message suffers because of that.ĪO: How did the collaborative process between you work? In what ways did the dialogue and slapstick comedy develop and evolve as you progressed on the project? I think what makes our book stand out is that we approached it from the perspective of the story and humor first – mainly because we knew that if we hit those notes, the message would come across ten times stronger. I always think that humor is the best way to get any message across. In terms of communicating that message, what are the benefits of framing those themes in a humorous way?

We started brainstorming and thought, “what if Matt Damon, the guy destined to save everyone, was actually an idiot who made things worse for the people he was trying to save?” And thus, a comic was born.ĪO: For all the comedy White Savior is a socially relevant book with important points to explore. Years before that, I read a script from my co-writer Scott Burman – watch out for him, he’s going to be the funniest guy in comics soon – so I called him up and said, I want to work on something new. We came up with the idea around the time the movie The Great Wall with Matt Damon came out. To mark the comic’s release we chatted with co-writer and artist Eric Nguyen about collaborating with Scott Burman on the book, social commentary through humour, and what the future holds for the world of White Savior…ĪNDY OLIVER: Let’s get the very obvious question out of the way to begin with and ask about the book’s premise, characters and what inspired it?ĮRIC NGUYEN: Well first, if the title doesn’t make you do a double take, you probably aren’t reading it right. Now it’s up to Japanese-American teacher Todd Parker to warn the good people of Inoki of Garin’s true nature before he causes the very death and destruction they are counting on him to avert! if he weren’t such an awful, drunken idiot. Nathan Garin, Captain in the United States Army, known for his viciousness in battle on the American frontier, could be that man.

From the Dark Horse solicitations: An ancient prophecy foretold of an outsider that would save the peaceful village of Inoki from an unstoppable army–a man who would confuse the people at first with his unconventional ways, but lead them to the light. Out this week from Dark Horse Comics, Eric Nguyen and Scott Burman’s White Savior takes a deeply problematic cinematic standard and puts a new and very distinct spin on it.

An Old Man by Eric M. Black