Undercurrent Investigates...

In an exclusive interview for Undercurrentcomics.com best-selling crime writer, and author of the critically acclaimed ‘Inspector Rebus’ novels Ian Rankin, tells all about his love of comics, his concern for the current state of the industry, and a tempting offer from DC and Vertigo…

For the uninitiated, Ian Rankin is a crime writer par excellence. His Inspector Rebus novels are international best sellers, inviting glowing reviews, and gaining him numerous awards.

Born in Fife, Scotland, in 1960, Rankin has had an eclectic range of jobs from grape-picker to pig farmer, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist and punk musician. He was a prize-winning poet and short story writer before turning to novels, Knots & Crosses, the first of his Inspector Rebus novels was published in 1987.

The Rebus novels have been translated into 22 languages and dramatised for TV. In 1997 the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) awarded him the Macallan Gold Dagger Award for Fiction for his novel Black and Blue, which was also short listed for the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) 'Edgar' award.

Rankin is twice winner for the CWA Short Story Dagger. Dead Souls, the tenth novel in the Rebus series, was short listed for the CWA Gold Dagger in 1999 and in 2004 he won the MWA Edgar for Resurrection Men.

Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow and is a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Abertay Dundee, and was elected Alumnus of the Year of Edinburgh University.

He was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Golden Jubilee Birthday Honours List in June 2003 and in 2005 Rankin won the Cartier Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers' Association to celebrate a lifetime in Crime writing.

The name Rebus means a picture puzzle in Greek, and the title was inspired from Sunday puzzle supplements that the young Rankin would solve from the age of four.

For those who have read his books more than fleetingly, Rankin also displays a number of interesting facets to his character – one being a genuine interest in comics, and another being questions about God and religion.

For the inaugural Undercurrent interview, I caught up with Ian Rankin in the middle of writing his next Rebus novel, ‘The naming of the dead’ to ask him about writing, comics, and, just for good measure, to ask him if he believes in God.

To begin with, I wanted to know if comics have played a significant role in his life. Rankin was clear that comics were the very stuff that he cut his literary teeth on.

“There weren't many books in the house where I grew up  - neither of my parents was a great reader.  So I started off reading lots and lots of comics  - the Victor and Hotspur and Dandy and Beano, then the U.S. comics such as Superman and Batman.”  He explained.

“In my teens, I gave up on comics for a short while, but started reading 2000AD, and loved some of the stuff in there.  I remember heading out to the newsagent's on the morning of my wedding to get my weekly fix of 2000AD. 

“When Alan Moore graduated to DC Comics with Swamp Thing, I went with him.  Watchmen is still my favourite comic of all time  - I read it again just last week.”

So has Rankin been influenced by all the comics he’s read?

“I'm not sure I've been influenced by comics, except that they got me started writing in the first place!”

But any reader of a Rankin novel will note the very visual style of writing; everything is incredibly well detailed, as if the author can see it as he writes, kind of like a comic...

“I do visualise everything as I write.  When my detective pitches up at some location,
I'm never sure what he or she will see when they walk through the door.  But as they walk through, I begin to see what they see. 

“It's a weird process, but it seems to work. 
I think I must have a vivid imagination  - I described a trip to an oil-rig in Black and Blue, and experts told me how vivid and accurate it was... they couldn't believe I'd never set foot on a rig in my life. 

“With Black and Blue I also began to use real-life stories, cases, mysteries as the starting point for my novels.  It's a way of making the reader forget they are reading fiction; they start to think of it as a true story, and become more involved in the plot as a result.”

“I tried making my own comics as a kid, but wasn't much good at the art aspect.  So I switched to song lyrics, poems and short stories…”

Whoa! There’s a shocker, Britain’s premier crime writer could have become Britain’s premier comic book writer, but decided not to because of a lack of artistic ability! Well if that held others back…

So what about this rumour of a ‘tempting offer’ from a certain publishing company?

“Vertigo contacted the Scottish crime writer Denise Mina and she ended up scripting Hellblazer.  They seem keen on getting established writers to try their hand at comics, and it was maybe her who gave them my details. 

“Basically, they'd be interested in me pitching ideas to them, either for ongoing series or with wholly new characters and situations.  But as I told them, I need to get the final two Rebus novels written first.  After that, who knows?”

So best selling crime writer Ian Rankin is really thinking about going into comics then, (despite lack of ability to draw…) I wanted to know what he would do, and who would be his favoured artist…

“I'm going to have a think about creating some new characters for a comic book.  My favourite artists are Dave McKean, John Gibbons, and Bill Sienkiwicz. 

“There's also a little comic called Death Takes a Holiday which I love, although I've only found two issues so far.  There's not much real horror in comics right now (the way Swamp Thing used to do it  - good versus evil taken to the max), and I love horror movies, so that may be a possibility.  But I also love comedy, and that's another road.”

Incredible. But before that Rebus must come to an end of course…

“Well right now I'm busy writing the next Rebus, which is due to be published in the UK in November.  It's set during last summer's G8 meeting in Scotland.  After that, it's straight into the next and final Rebus - he retires at sixty, which means next year.  As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the series.  Unless Siobhan takes over, of course.”

Of course! What really strikes one about Rankin’s writing is that he is a writer who is more interested in what’s going on with your characters, than the plot itself. I suggested that this must be difficult for a crime writer, with the ‘solve the mystery’ compulsion.

“The crime novel is an interesting form  - it is very difficult to escape the conventions.  You begin with a mystery, usually a murder, because murder is still the ultimate crime  - the taking away of something unique and irreplaceable from the world, then there's an investigation, and then the murderer is revealed. 

“I'd love to give away the ending on page one, so readers could concentrate on the actual themes of the story  - which are what interest me. 

“The crime novel has been criticised for focussing on plot over character, but what interests me is how crime affects and changes people  - Rebus is changed by every crime he investigates, and remains haunted by the ghosts of every victim.  I don't like it when the detective isn't allowed to evolve between books, and remains unchanged by the work he or she does.”
 
But Rankin is also a writer who isn’t afraid to wrestle with issues of good and evil, of spirituality and religion, does he consider these to be important parts of his work?

“Good and evil are important to the crime novel.  Many fans like crime fiction because puzzles are solved, the guilty brought to justice, and everything's all right with the world at the end.  Problem is, life isn't like that, and the crime novel must change to reflect the cynicism and reality of everyday life.”

“Rebus feels as if he is stacking up sandbags as the floodwaters rise.  Eventually, he'll run out of sand...  As to spirituality, the early Rebus books in particular were written at a time when I was searching for some 'bigger truths', reading up on various religions, trying to find a system I could believe in. 

“As ever, I gave my own concerns to Rebus, so he could investigate on my behalf.  He is good at his job because he has a basic need to gain answers and results... but that also applies to his personal life, and he still hasn’t found an answer to the biggest question of all: does God exist? 

“It's a moot point, especially in the crime novel where the author is dealing with human depravity, horror, murder, etc. etc. Comes down to the question of how God can allow evil to exist in the world.”

And so..?

“Best call me an agnostic. I find it hard to believe, but equally hard not to.”

I would put Rankin in the tradition of writers like Graham Greene, who also worked through these kinds of questions in their writing. Did this ring any bells?

“Graham Greene was an inspiration.  I did my PhD on Muriel Spark, who is a deeply religious writer, and she in turn had been influenced by Greene, so I ended up reading his books and enjoying them.”

Back to comics – what does Rankin make of the current crop?

“There seems to be a bit of a lull, doesn't there?  People are reading a lot of manga, but some of the excitement seems to have drained away from the comics market. 

“In the 1980s, we had Alan Moore with Swamp Thing, we had Hellblazer and Frank Miller's Dark Knight and Watchmen and the emergence of Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman  - I remember Gaiman when he was a geeky fan writing long letters to DC Comics. 

“I'm now waiting for the next big step in comic book evolution, whatever that may be!”

Ian Rankin, thank-you very much.
 
“Cheers.”

Buy Ian Rankin’s best selling Rebus novels from Amazon.co.uk
Buy Alan Moore’s classic Watchmen from Amazon.co.uk