Winning a baking competition is hard enough without trying to solve a murder, but in writer, John Allison, and artist, Max Sarin’s, new series, The Great British Bump-Off, Shauna hopes to achieve both things before UK Bakery Tent has an And Then There Were None situation on their hands. With colors by Sammy Borras and letters by Jim Campbell, find out which contestant was Sarin’s favorite to draw in the following interview:
Rachel Bellwoar: I really love the cover for the first issue. Where did the idea to do a cake-themed spin on the Wicked Witch of the East’s fate in The Wizard of Oz come from?
Max Sarin: Daniel [Chabon] asked for a cake like on Great British Bake Off recipe illustrations but with murder and mystery. I first went with more classic murder scene, but wanting to show the characters more I added them in. Not wanting to give out what happens to who, crushing Neil with the murder cake seemed most logical – and fun.
Bellwoar: Before working on this series, had you watched many competition shows (baking or otherwise)?
Sarin: I have not, but John’s writing got me interested so while drawing the series I did watch hours worth of clips from baking shows.
Bellwoar: Other than being told their occupations, our first impressions of the characters are entirely reliant on the group photo that opens the first issue. You absolutely nail it, but was there a lot of pressure to get that image right, and did you start with the group photo or build up to it?
Sarin: Characters were first designed with John: he gave me perfect directions while letting me play around. Placing that many characters in a single shot had me worried for a bit, but they all found their places in the end. With John’s writing, all I have to play director for a cast of wonderful actors.
Bellwoar: Murder doesn’t exactly go with the commercial world of reality television. What was it like figuring out how to depict the violence in this series?
Sarin: I have always been a person who prefers to leave the violence into the readers mind. I am not a big fan of violence and from what I know, neither is John so this wasn’t something I really needed to figure out.
Bellwoar: I’m obsessed with the main character, Shauna’s, anchor tattoos. Were they always part of her design?
Sarin: Shauna got the tattoo pre-show in John’s short. He had very clear designs for Shauna for me to follow. Shauna’s attoos are something I constantly forgot, but nevertheless appreciate!
Bellwoar: If most of the contestants/suspects have one foot in reality, co-hosts, Lonnie Butler, and Primrose the Cat, get to be more outrageous and eccentric. Was it fun to test how far you could take those characters?
Sarin: Primrose was second character I drew and spammed John’s inbox with. The first character being Fanny: I love Fanny and I will be sad to leave her behind when the show is finished. Don’t get me wrong, I am having fun with Lonnie too, but Fanny is just …*mwah*. I bet Fanny would be a twister turning in her grave, but she. Is. So. Much. Fun.
Primrose – as a cat – was a challenge to draw, but a fun challenge. When John told me the other host is cat I was just ecstatic.
Bellwoar: How do you think you’d fare in a baking competition show?
Sarin: I would do my very best, forget what I was doing and get something on fire unintentionally.
Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Max!
The Great British Bump-Off #1 is on sale now from Dark Horse Comics. Issue #2 goes on sale May 10th.
Winning a baking competition is hard enough without trying to solve a murder, but in writer, John Allison, and artist,COMICONRead More