Interview by Mike Bullock, posted November 17, 2004

Referring to new comic series as ‘cinematic' conjures images of dark theaters and the smell of popcorn. Referring to Brodie's Law as anything other than cinematic simply fails to do the subject justice.

Brodie's Law takes place in the dark nightclubs and darker alleys of a seedy metropolitan area with an atmosphere akin to the city in The Crow. While Jack Brodie didn't have his spirit returned from beyond the grave on the wings of a crow, the city does carry a similar vibe, with a hint of the Los Angeles portrayed in Blade Runner.

Take a city's seedy underbelly, mix in some urban legends and some gene splicing gone awry and you've got the ingredients for a truly intriguing story. Then take all that, bring it to a boil and use the bubbling mixture to paint your tale onto a canvas of greytones and starkly contrasting colors and you might begin to get a feel for Brodie's Law.

I had a go with Daley Osiyemi, one of the minds behind Brodie's Law to see if I could gain more insight into this oddly unique story.

Mike - How would you describe Brodie's Law to someone entirely unfamiliar with the property?

Daley Osiyemi - Brodie's Law is a take on noir films and the recent explosion of British Gangster films. It's the sort of story that I reckon would have some kind of cult following in years to come. We have gone for a totally different style which is not seen in most comics to create the mood which captures the story and where the characters come from. In fact it's almost like you're actually watching the movie rather than reading the book.

Mike - Can you explain that further, the part about 'watching a movie rather than reading a book'? What about the story and art do you think creates this effect?

Daley - Yes I really think the story and mood of the art creates the effect of a movie. The story is dramatised in issues we can all relate to; Revenge, betrayal, relationships, family, loyalty and so on. And all the characters in the comic are people we can all relate to. They are people we see every day.

Mike - So it's safe to say you see the property becoming a movie?

Daley - Yes I do. Or a TV show. Most of the reviews we have been getting and feedback from fans always goes back to this. They all want to see Brodie's Law on the big screen.

Mike - Ok, now let's play movie-maker. Who would you cast as Brodie? Who would you cast in the other prime roles?

Daley - These are the actors we see for the different roles:

Jack Brodie: Jason Statham (The Transporter), Thomas Jane (Punisher). Good in action movies. They both have the physique of Jack and they can certainly pull it off.
Tomokai Yoshida: Lucy Liu or Zhang Ziyi. Pretty, sexy and very intelligent actress.
Eugene Della Cruz: David Carradine or Terence Stamp. They both look exactly like Eugene and exude that sense of authority and power.
Harry Wade: Adrian Lester (Primary Colors, Hustle) or Forest Whitaker. Two fine black actors of our generation. Very intelligent and would pull off any detective role.
Sticks: Lennie James (Snatch), Vas Blackwood (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Danny John-Jules (Cat from Red Dwarf, Blade II)
Tony T: Vinnie Jones. Vinnie was born to play this role. Need I say more?

Mike - Most people enjoy comparisons to whet their whistle, so to speak. So with that in mind, what other comics or movies or TV shows would you compare Brodie's Law too?

Daley - I would say Brodie's Law in terms of movies is a cross between a contemporary crime thriller like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels meets Quantum Leap the TV show. In terms of comics, it's Sin City with a bit of 100 Bullets with a Sci-Fi undertone. I really love the challenge of creating stories that cross genres. On one level we kind of understand what's going on, but on another there is a hidden plot or sub-story.  Where the two levels meet is really the key story.

Mike - What kind of person is Brodie?

Daley - Jack calls other criminals "parasites", because they pray on the weak and vulnerable in society, boasting that he has never hurt a tax-paying citizen in his life. Jack views his 'career' as a community service; those are his thoughts every morning when he looks at himself in the mirror. Perhaps from the very beginning Jack wore a mask, deceiving himself that his ambition to be top dog - i.e. eliminating hard-nosed criminals (his competition) - was really a moral crusade to put criminal activity in the hands of someone righteous: namely Jack. So he chooses jobs carefully: drug dealers, pimps, underworld scum & the detestable.

Jack has always been on the wrong side of the law; he's always felt that this lifestyle chose him rather than the other way around. Which is ironic as many of his friends made tracks in the complete opposite direction, such as Harry Wade. He has a way of evaluating people he comes in contact with.

His philosophy is you can tell what someone's like from the look in their eyes. Jack will always know what move to make by getting up close and personal, i.e. bumping into his assigned target, although sometimes a snapshot will have to do. He is a philosophical man, following an ancient Japanese Samurai code of loyalty, honour and trust. Jack has never trusted anyone apart from one, his good friend Sticks.

Mike - Where did the initial idea for this series come from?

Daley - The original idea was from a character called 'Doughface' created by David Bircham and Pat Mills. It was just an idea for a long time without it being developed.

I spoke to David about using the idea of the main character from Doughface and I started developing a story around it. From there Brodie's Law just came about naturally. Since David and I have always wanted to work on a story based in London, this seemed the right character for such a story.

Mike - How much of Jack Brodie is drawn from you and your partners' personas?

Daley - Not much. But we admire a character like Jack Brodie. He's a risk taker and someone who is prepared to do whatever it takes regardless of the consequences. Jack's son Damien on the other hand was actually based on my little boy, so I guess there is some similarity there.

Mike - How many issues do you have currently planned for this series?

Daley - We have six issues planned for this series and we are currently working on the story for the second series of six issues.

Mike - Do you have any interest in taking Brodie's Law to a larger publisher?

Daley - In the early stages of development we looked into working with a larger publisher and we did approach a few. In the end however, we decided to publish ourselves through our company Pulp Theatre Entertainment, mainly for two reasons: one, we wanted to establish our name and brand in the industry and two, because of the type of product we are bringing out which is very different from what's out there at the moment. We basically want to stand out from the crowd.

Mike - Do you plan to release the first series in trade form? If so, what kinds of extras will the trade contain?

Daley - The trade is due for release next summer in time for San Diego. The exact date is still to be announced. We are looking at a famous artist working on the cover. As for extras, it will have some of David's never before seen pencils and we are also thinking about including a mini 8-page black and white story Called Brodie's Tales taken from Jack Brodie's early life.