Big-Ass Sword is indisputably a perfect comics title. It reels you in, takes you on a journey, and tells you exactly what this comic is going to be about — a big-ass sword.
At least, that was my response when I first heard the title, used as it is for German cartoonist Andreas Butzbach’s new book from Rebellion Publishing, which is due out in November. But as definitive as that title was, it also made me think. Think and wonder. Who is wielding this big-ass sword? Why is someone wielding this big-ass sword? And what compelled an artist to put the story of this…well, you get the idea.
So I asked Andreas to expand a bit on the process of making this comic, and he was more than happy to do so. Below — after the cover artwork and publisher’s summary text — you can find Andreas Butzbach’s insights into the making of his graphic novel, Big-Ass Sword.
Enjoy!
In a world far from our own reality, a robot warrior wanders through a vast and hostile techno landscape, filled with strange lifeforms and mechanical beings left over from a long, forgotten war. At the robot’s side is a talking Skull. On his back, a BIG-ASS SWORD!
The making of Big-Ass Sword
From Andreas…
I started with Big-Ass Sword! on day one of the first COVID lockdown here in Germany. I’ve seen a lot of Zombie movies so I knew I would be in for a rather long time… I wanted to make good use of the time in isolation, grabbed a pencil and an empty sketchbook and started to draw full comic pages right into it.
The plan was to just fill the book with comic pages, and when lockdown would be over, I’d have a hand-drawn comic book. No scanning or adjusting, just like back in the old days when I was a kid. Ideas straight onto the paper. It turned out to be a story about a robot wandering an industrial wasteland. Thankfully, the virulent apocalypse went by rather boringly (for me at least) but I managed to draw four full stories into the book before I switched to a more forgiving workflow. Drawing on single A4 pages, scanning, digital colouring and lettering.
About the Influences:
Big Ass Sword was not made like a regular comic book. Nothing was defined. I grabbed a pencil and markers and started to fill a A-4 sketchbook with comic pages.
Working title: Pandemic Lockdown Time Killer. It later became Big-Ass sword.
I had made a few sketches of this Robot Character. If anyone out there wanted to say that there is only one Big-Ass Sword out there and it goes by the name of Dragon-Slayer – I would agree! Kintaro Miura’s work influenced me late, but it influenced me hard. Given his death, just as the story went hopeful… I could not get over it.
The title is only one of many references I make throughout all the strips bound in the book to things that influenced me. The fun in those is to find them yourself.
Anyways, I just started to draw straight into the Sketchbook with this character. As the creative mastermind I try to be, I named him Robot. On his belt, a talking skull, on which I won’t say more. Mostly not to spoil future stories and because I know, it would make him furious not to be the centre of attention.
A completely analog comic was my goal when I started. Mainly because I would not have dreamt of an international release back when I started with this project. I did it mainly for me, not the market. It’s free of commercial influence, just my thoughts put on paper whilst Covid changed our lives. Thankfully we have that stuff behind us, but who would have guessed…
This was only a mini boss and everyday new challengers arise on the horizon. Most of them not even slayable with a Big-Ass Sword!
I’m not telling one big epic story arc in the traditional way. This is not a “save the world“ comic. This is more like a “the world is how it is“ comic, set in a world the reader knows nothing about. I want to tell many little stories and give the reader tiny pieces of lore until they can put together a bigger picture.
Surprising things about the world:
The crystal woods, buildings and landscapes of the Big-Ass Sword world are home to many creatures. The technosystem in the world of BAS is just as diverse and fragile as ours: from the smallest of creatures up to the biggest.
As technology advances, and nature evolves, so does the world of BAS. Everything needs to be in balance to function. And sometimes, it needs a robot with a big-ass sword to keep balance in check. The world of BAS is just like ours to some degree: you have lands, territories, landmarks and uncharted territory hidden by fog of war. I want the world of BAS to be an analogy of an organic computer.
Surprising things about Robot:
Robot is a drifter, not sure what to make of himself. And what even is this world he wanders through? You don’t know – but Robot sure does. He has pretty clear moral standards and a great spun of knowledge about this world and its inhabitants.
This is just the average day to day stuff you have to put up with when guarding the flats and beyond with your Big-Ass Sword.
Robot clearly had a function in which he became obsolete. He knows a lot about the world and how it works. He’s around for a long time, trying to fill the void of existence without purpose.
Robot is in contact with a deity he calls mother. Mother seems to decide the fate of the lands in which Robot wanders. You might see her as nature, and Robot as the balance.
About the Boxbot and others:
The recurring Boxbot is one of many life-forms that inhabits the flats and beyond of the BAS World. Boxbots area non-hostile inhabitants of the BAS world. Their species could be something like sheep in our world which often makes them prey for larger creatures. They are machines to some degree but in this world they are living beings. They have feelings, emotions and are able to reproduce. They are an important species of the BAS world tecno-system.
The Warfort wanders the flats since the early days of Version 2.46, it’s a relic of the early defragmentation wars.
Inspiration:
When I started with this comic, I did not know where to go or where it would lead me. Kinda like robot, I just kept wandering, trying to reach the end of it. I enjoy the aesthetics of trees and flowers as much as I’m able to cherish industrial machinery and buildings with railings and huge pipes, twisting and bending. Every pipe and hose has its purpose. Just like roots and veins, Industry can look natural, a sick twisted kind of nature we needed to adapt to. So I guess BAS is about adaption, nature, respect and other human aspects.
Stuff like hate, fear, love… I have a lot of love and respect for comics, may they be British, French, Japanese or from the United States. And I wanted to pour all that into BAS. It is a personal work, a lot of me is in it but I also like to think, tiny parts of Bisley, Otomo, Mignola, Hewlett, Miura, Emond, Risso, Kow, Miller, Nihei, and many more great artists that shaped my work and influenced me over the years.
This book would not exist without them and I tried to pay respects. Sometimes obviously, sometimes not.
