Beauology 101: Dealing Cards And Questions With “Doc Holliday”-Tim Rozon Of TV’s Wynonna Earp
by Beau Smith
Twenty years ago, I created a character, and a comic book series called Wynonna Earp. I had no idea back in 1997 that twenty years later, I would not only still be writing her adventures in comic books, but there would also be a television series of it going into its third season (The SyFy Network).
The book and the TV series are going strong, and so much of that is due to the amazing cast and crew that has put this show on the map. Showrunner and writer, Emily Andras, has been able to take the seed I planted twenty years ago and blossomed it into a flourishing flower of a TV series. With the cast, I have also been lucky enough to work with them actually joining me in writing some of the current issue of Wynonna Earp from IDW Publishing. I did a series called Wynonna Earp: Legends with both Melanie Scrofano, that plays Wynonna Earp, as well as Tim Rozon who plays the crafty, cunning gunslinger with a heart of possible stolen gold, Doc Holliday.
Tim is a lifelong comic book reader/collector as well as an actor, restaurateur, and avid outdoorsman. He and I have found in many ways, we are cut from the same piece of Gore-Tex when it comes to writing and making up action and emotional tales of fists, fury and females that stand their ground in a word where others seek to bury them in it.
Through the various versions of voodoo in technology, Tim and I talked about what it was like for him to venture into yet another creative endeavor, that of writing comic books. Here are the results of those said talks:
Beau Smith: Wynonna Earp: Season Zero is a five issue series/story arc. It’s been referred to as Wynonna Earp: Mean Season (In the best way) by some of the reviewers that have read the first two, on sale issues. Please enlighten us on what this series is about and do you think “Mean Season” is justified as a nickname title for this series?
Tim Rozon: Mean Season! Man, why didn’t you and I think of that?! This series is super special because it fills some gaps for the fans from Wynonna’s past. The series starts off by letting us know that Wynonna used to run with a hard-core gang called The Banditos. When I say hard-core I really mean it. This gang are tough as nails, and live and die by their beliefs and Wynonna is very much one of them. At its core this series is about the choices we make and how they affect the paths our lives take. Wynonna must face off against one of the original core Bandito’s “KEEGAN” that has chosen to walk the path of darkness and destruction. Wynonna is also more gritty and raw than we have ever seen her before. She learns that to kill the devil, you must sometimes become the devil yourself. It’s also the first time we see Wynonna’s present gang of Valdez, Waves, Dolls, Doc, Smitty and Haught mixing it up and fighting along side elements of her past gang. It’s pretty much if The Wild Bunch met The Justice League and fought to the death.
Beau Smith: You and I wrote Wynonna Earp: Legends-Doc Holliday #1 and #2, you brought forth the villain Boone Helm there, so you’re obviously no stranger to giving Wynonna a toe to toe villain to play with. For the bulk of this series, the Big Bad is, as you just mentioned, former military, biker, and mentor of Wynonna Earp, named Keegan. What are your thoughts on a making a villain, in this case Keegan, a worthy bad guy and compelling?
Tim Rozon: Like I said before, this book at its core is about choices. The choices we make and how they affect the outcome of the rest of our lives. The cool thing about Keegan is I could easily see him as still one of the good guys, laughing it up and raising hell with the rest of the Bandito’s. Unfortunately he was tempted by ego and being greater than his counterparts. He made a choice at some point in his past that lead him down a different path and now he lives with that choice.
Beau Smith: There’s a large cast of characters in this story arc, not only Wynonna’s current group of family and friends, but her former “family”, the Biker gang, The Banditos as well. As a writer, how do you navigate a cast this large without short changing any, or all of them? Do you enjoy working with this many characters, or do you pine for more solo staging?
Tim Rozon: The greatest thing about Wynonna Earp is the endless size and possibilities of the world you have created. Wynonna is at the front and center the most important character and will always be the rock. The other characters will always be the water that break against her. The super cool part of the world you created is the vast amount of awesome, flawed and well-rounded characters that inhabit it. The funniest part for me was finding each of those other character’s voices and finding what makes those characters tick.
Beau Smith: What does Wynonna Earp: Season Zero offer to the readers and the viewers that they haven’t seen before or as of yet with the comic book series and the TV series?
Tim Rozon: Secrets, action and Mayhem… and on the biggest scale to date but mostly for the first time ever we’re seeing Wynonna more intense and vulnerable then we’ve ever seen her before. This is the battle to end all battles and there will be severe consequences and casualties on both sides. We learn key points of her past. Literally. Like what the key she wears around her neck opens. We also learn everything she thought she knew about her being heir to the Earp curse might be wrong.
Beau Smith: Other than the character of Doc Holliday, what character, or characters, do you feel most at home or enjoy writing, and why?
Tim Rozon: In this series?… I would have to say Dead Mary from Issue Five. In many ways she parallels Wynonna, but in many ways she is the literal opposite. She has zero filter and she’s just the right mix of innocent bliss and terrifyingly insane.
Beau Smith: Being an actor and a businessman, if you were to try and capture the scope of Wynonna Earp: Season Zero in budgetary numbers, knowing everything that goes on in all five issues, what cash numbers would you put on it to make this as a feature film?
Tim Rozon: I think we would have to call Michael Bay ASAP! Let’s just say we would definitely blow the budget on this one. I can think of many, many things being blown to smithereens in this series.
Beau Smith: Because you work with Melanie Scrofano, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Shamier Anderson, Michael Eklund, and Katherine Barrell, on a daily basis when shooting the series, you must have a built in feeling for their character’s voices and personality, but how about the original comic book characters of the Wynonna Earp Universe, Valdez, Smitty, Bobo Del Rey, who was created 20 years ago, but is reinvented a bit in the TV series?
Tim Rozon: I’ve read all your books so….. You set the groundwork and foundation so strong for your characters that it’s almost easy to find their voices because I’ve already heard them in my head from what you’ve already created. Plus, at the end of he day you’re always there to tweek and give notes if I go off character. I’m a literal sponge when it comes to getting advice from you, so I’m always learning and taking what you’ve taught me about the characters forward with me.
Beau Smith: Wynonna Earp: Season Zero is drawn by Angel Hernandez and colored by Jay Fotos. Each series before this has had its own stamp with the art, the first being by Lora Innes of The Dreamer fame, and the second arc by Chris Evenhuis. Lora is known for the whimsical fun and incredible storytelling she brought, and Chris being what we would call an “actor’s artist” where his likenesses and body movements are so true to each character. In your opinion, what does Angel Hernandez bring with his art on this storyline?
Tim Rozon: Pure grit. Words like bloodthirsty, fierce, enraged come to mind. He was 100% the right choice for his series. He has some pages and panels that will blow people’s minds. He is raw and dirty and just slays this book.
Beau Smith: Since you’re on both sides of the Wynonna fence as an actor and as a comic book writer, what would you like to see brought to the TV series from the comic book, be it characters or storylines, and what would you like to see brought to the comic book from the TV series?
Tim Rozon: I feel like we did a good job of bringing the TV show to the comic in this series to be honest. Especially the Wayhaught relationship. Without giving too much away, together they have some of the most kick ass panels and storyline of the whole series. As per what I would like to see brought from the comic to TV? Simple. VALDEZ. In all her ass kicking Mayan glory.
As you can see, there are still many more questions to be answered within the pages of Wynonna Earp: Season Zero.
By the way, Tim recently got to turn the tables on me a bit when I had a cameo appearance on Wynonna Earp and his character of Doc Holliday and I had somewhat of a showdown in a bar. You might wanna check that out as well. See who won…in your opinion.
Your amigo,
Beau Smith
The Flying Fist Ranch
USER COMMENTS
We'd love to hear from you, feel free to add to the discussion!