Interview: Delilah S. Dawson on BOOM! Studios’ Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk


Delilah S. Dawson is a novelist and writer of such comics as Ladycastle, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, and Adventure Time. Her latest comic from BOOM! Studios is Sparrowhawk, a Victorian fantasy featuring magical creatures and lots of punching. Dawson shares more about this fun new series with Westfield’s Roger Ash.

Character design by Matias Basla

Character design by Matias Basla


Westfield: What was the genesis of Sparrowhawk?

Delilah S. Dawson: Back in 2011, I tore through a copy of Savage Beauty, and Alexander McQueen’s designs spurred me to create something fantastic and violent and magical. I tried to write a young adult book about a teen girl who fell into Faerie and had to fight her way out, but the magic remained elusive, and I never finished it. Then I got into writing comics and realized I’d finally found the medium to combine the visuals of Savage Beauty with a dark version of Alice in Wonderland and the real life figure of Dido Elizabeth Belle.

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 1

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 1


Westfield: What can you tell us about the protagonist of the series, Artemesia, and who are some of the other characters she’ll meet?

Dawson: Art is above all things a survivor. While her stepsisters learned piano and dancing, she sat outside in a tree, rejected but watching, preferring horses and play-fighting with local boys to ladylike graces. Once she’s pulled into Faerie, she must depend on her cunning and cutthroat commitment to survive if she wants to get home–and save her entire world. The first creature she meets is Crispin the Wolpertinger, her untrustworthy guide to Faerie and the Giles to her Buffy. She nearly kills the Faerie Queen’s least favorite son, Warren, and discovers a heart of gold deep in the terrifying Beast of Dean. The creatures in Faerie are definitely not what they seem.

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 2

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 2


Westfield: What can readers look forward to in the story?

Dawson: I think the pitch says it all: Fairy fight club. At the heart of it, Art must kill her way to freedom, all the while knowing that the place she’s fighting for doesn’t even value her. She discovers herself in the struggle, and anyone who has felt rejected by their family or who has chosen a different destiny than the one they were born to will relate. They can also look forward to fantastic creatures, lush visuals, and bloody fight scenes. It’s all about triumphing, fiercely.

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 3

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 3


Westfield: You’re working with artist Matias Basla on the book. What can you say about your collaboration?

Dawson: Matias truly brings these character and this world to vicious, gorgeous life. I was stunned by his character designs, which delivered a new level of savage beauty to my story. I love that I can describe an evil fairy with so few words and have him create something even more intricate, dark, and fascinating than I’d imagined. His color palette is perfect, and the pages just suck you right in. It reminds me of those little ‘grow your own crystals’ kits you can buy, where little nubbins turn into creepy, goblinesque, hypercolor crystalline structures!

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 4

Sparrowhawk #1 preview page 4


Westfield: Sparrowhawk takes place in England in 1851. How much research did you do on the setting?

Dawson: I always say that I don’t write historical fiction– I write speculative fiction. My worlds are more… history adjacent. So my research deals with deep online Google dives and watching tons of Jane Austen movies. I read into the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle but altered her history somewhat, hence the fact that Art became Art. I was especially fascinated by the Crystal Palace and the story of the Duke of Wellington and the sparrowhawks, which was the inspiration for the book’s title.

Character design by Matias Basla

Character design by Matias Basla


Westfield: On the other hand, there’s also a fantasy realm. How much world building did you do for that?

Dawson: My worldbuilding for Faerie is a lifetime of reading and media consumption. You’ll see flashes of Wonderland, Edward Gorey, Labyrinth, the Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal, and even Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones. One scene was inspired by a trail ride when I got whomped in the head with a branch and maybe kinda hallucinated on horseback. I’m pretty much a magpie who likes shoving things together in a weird ongoing game of Exquisite Corpse.

Westfield: Any closing comments?

Dawson: If you’d like to punch an evil fairy in the face and steal their power, I hope you’ll give it a shot!

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