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    There’s magic in this old town

    New comic blends detective noir, supernatural mystery

    A pair of Manitoban comic creators will debut a new book at the upcoming Winnipeg Comic Show.

    By: Darren Ridgley

    Posted: 11/22/2019 11:13 AM |

    PHOTO BY DARREN RIDGLEY

    Scott Boyko holds up an example of his art for The River Knows, a new comic he and writer Eric Warwaruk have created and plan to launch on Dec. 1 during the Winnipeg Comic Show.

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    On Dec. 1, Eric Warwaruk and Scott Boyko will launch The River Knows, a self-published detective noir comic. The  black-and-white book, printed in comic magazine format, follows two investigators — one from the RCMP, the other a Winnipeg Police detective — looking into strange occurrences in 1960s Winnipeg.

    Eric Warwaruk originally developed The River Knows for TV, but realized the script could be adapted to create a comic book.

    Warwaruk, 42, says the book evokes the style of the era as well as the political turbulence of the time, with hints of international espionage. He said he’s long had an interest in setting a fantastical story in familiar territory.

    "I’ve always been really interested in writing something set in Canada," Warwaruk said. "The germ of The River Knows idea is, ‘How can I create a more fantastical idea, but have it accepted as real to people who live in Winnipeg, or surrounding Winnipeg?’ That’s when I came up with these characters."

    Story details, such as references to the Devil’s Brigade (the First Special Service Force, an American-Canadian Second World War unit), and the mysteries of the Manitoba Legislative Building, root the story in Canadiana and Winnipeg history.

    While private investigators, film noir and occult secrets might evoke the work of H.P. Lovecraft to many, both Boyko and Warwaruk say the tone of the story and dynamic between the protagonists is more in the vein of The X-Files.

    "Using these characters who are local detectives brings it a little closer to home. I took my cues from The X-Files, or Supernatural, shows like that," Warwaruk said, adding that Twin Peaks was also a big influence.

    Warwaruk, a film studies graduate of the University of Manitoba, originally developed "The River Knows" for the screen but realized that the similarities in scriptwriting between film and comics meant the project could be produced in either format.

    "When you’re planning out your film, you’re storyboarding out how you want your film to look. And storyboarding is really the initial steps in making a comic book, essentially," he said.

    "So I had the thought in my head from that point, these stories I have, these scripts, if I can’t get them made into a film I could make a comic out of them. There’s two outcomes that can come from the script."

    Boyko, 35, says he became involved in the project after being approached by Warwaruk.

    "Eric was looking for an artist. He had the story bible," said Boyko, who teaches art at Elmwood High. "He saw some of my artwork online. He contacted me and we got together, and he gave me a small bit of the script... I read this small bit of it and I really, really liked it."

    Since coming together as a team, they’ve spent about a year creating The River Knows. Boyko, who grew up in the North End, said he was pulled into the story by Warwaruk’s use of the location.

    "I really liked how he wasn’t just writing ‘Oh, this story’s set in Winnipeg.’ There’s a very specific reason, being the centre of Canada, and having that mythos, around the things at the Legislative (Building), the Hermetic Code, things like that," Boyko said.

    During those early meetings, Boyko said they discovered some common ground. While Warwaruk grew up on a farm between Erickson and Minnedosa, Man., they wound up having "some of the same haunts," such as Styx Comics, which Warwaruk would frequent during visits to the city.

    Warwaruk took photographs of Winnipeg locales he wanted to see in the book, and the two browsed old Sears catalogues and other materials for period-appropriate fashion references. The Winnipeg Police Museum provided plenty of references for how officers were outfitted at the time and what kind of personnel were available. Boyko also studied Warwaruk’s short-film work to get a sense of his creative partner’s visual sensibilities.

    Boyko, who claims Garth Ennis and Todd McFarlane as influences, said one of the more interesting elements of the story to him personally is the fractious nature of policing in Winnipeg at the time...For Warwaruk, he said he wants the book to represent Winnipeg’s strength as a setting for such stories.

    "That a really cool story with believable characters you can identify with could be (set) in Winnipeg" he said.

    "It’s a global story set locally... It’s for everyone, but I think it will have special resonance for people who live in Winnipeg and across Canada."