Leading with Watercolor on the Seven Seas: Bear Pirate Viking Queen
This is a feature story from Unwinnable Monthly #185. If you like what you see, grab the magazine for less than ten dollars, or subscribe and get all future magazines for half price.
———
A comic book is ink on paper stapled together, often brought to life by a handful of people. There’s no relying on special effects houses or massive budgets, it’s limited by the scope of the talent of those involved. And yet, in America, most comic books are men in tights with flashy personalities. Even if you peruse lists of the Best Comics Ever, you’re probably only going to see things that look suspiciously like movies. The biggest comics of any particular year are almost certainly decades old properties that are household names. Take 2024 for example, the biggest sellers were a new relaunch of both Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It almost feels like everyone is fine with the status quo. But that’s not true. That’s never really true.
Bear Pirate Viking Queen by Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barraveccia is a comic that stands out on the shelves. In a sea of brightly colored action romps, the enchanting watercolor paintings by Barraveccia soar like a mighty albatross. It unfolds like a strange dream, with the painted panels floating alongside a poetic story that is both thrilling and surprising. When asked about the project Lewis said, “Bear Pirate Viking Queen does not work like a typical comic. It’s not ‘plot’ based. It’s theme-based. So once one issue is given to Jonathan, my job was obviously to keep the story going forward but to ensure that the theme slowly worked its way into you.”
This approach flies in the face of many comics and how they are perceived by fans. Writers are almost always the top credit and they are the first creators fans talk about, most typically. Sean Lewis is an accomplished writer, having won awards as a playwright and written some of the top characters in comics (Spawn and Superman). When he starts a new project, he always begins with a conversation, “When I find an artist I talk to them a bit and I try and find a way to write to them (a comic script is basically just like a letter to the artist) that details all the things that need to happen, but also allows them to dream.”
As different as Bear Pirate Viking Queen appears in the world of comics, is it all that strange? A painter depicting the ocean and ships is common. When asked if he considers himself untraditional, Jonathan said, “I don’t think I’m doing anything particularly “untraditional,” I am just using (maybe) different tools than what American comic book readers are used to seeing.”
The initial announcement and run-up to the release of the series was interesting, and unique, because often comics are announced and their artwork is an afterthought. Lewis instead led with images taken straight from the book. He described the choice to lead with the art had two inspirations, “I knew the art was great. I also knew it was different from most comics art, and as much as people might think that’s a positive, it can also be a deterrent. People are really resistant to different. So putting the work out early got people some time to wrap their heads around what the art would be like.” Barraveccia added, “I was happy to have the art front and center – and frankly for a book like Bear Pirate Viking Queen , I think a striking (hopefully) image gets someone’s attention or gets our point across faster than an explanation of our thoughts on empire and violence and colonialism.”
Many comics, especially independent comics like Bear Pirate Viking Queen, fade into obscurity faster than they release. And typically comics last as long as their release cycle, because the wheels are turning and everyone is onto the next thing. For Lewis and Barraveccia’s tale on the high seas, they saw enough of a response to receive a second printing of the first issue, something almost unheard of for a book like this.
Summer months, like in film, are saved for the big budget spectacles, Bear Pirate Viking Queen launched in May and was immediately rushed back to print, proving that the comics market is eager for something different from the summertime superhero mega clashes. Trouble is, artists of Barraveccia’s caliber are often swayed to better paying industries, where they can excel unhindered by the rigorous churn of monthly comics publishing.
What Barraveccia and Lewis created isn’t all that different when you look at the past of comics, there used to be spaces for these types of things. Legendary artists like Bill Sienkiewicz and Alex Ross are painters who have contributed to some of the most well-known comics ever made. Yet, when Barraveccia does it, it seems alien and unheard of.
The most unconventional aspect of the creation of Bear Pirate Viking Queen is how when they first started talking online, they had no idea they had both moved to the same upstate New York town. Barraveccia said, “I’ve spoken about this before, but this was certainly one of the most collaborative books I’ve worked on, it was a much more dynamic experience than making comics typically is – or at least has been for me – with weekly meetings often taking us in different directions than I would have expected.” On the subject, Lewis added, “Well, we could work a lot of it out in meetings. Which also probably allowed for an epic poem to be the script. We’d get together and talk out scenes, plot, visuals.” It harkens back to the days of the old Marvel bullpen, so maybe Bear Pirate Viking Queen isn’t unconventional or untraditional, it is a throwback to how comics used to be. True collaboration that predates the online discourse debate of writer vs artist.
If anything, Bear Pirate Viking Queen proves that comics have power and that power is rooted in the art. It may look different on the shelves, but that’s more of a condemnation of the comics industry and its trend chasing.
A repeating mantra throughout Bear Pirate Viking Queen is “Become what you are.” Maybe you’re a bear or a Viking. For Lewis, he said, “I just try and make great books. Books different from what I previously made and different from what I have seen. And hope it works out. It has so far.”
———
Known for passionate coverage at pop-culture publication GateCrashers, Edward Kane is also an author of prose and comic books. With over two decades of retail employment, he is far from faint of heart and aims to show that through his fiction. Edward lives in Connecticut with his wife, where they are most likely watching The Office, again. You can find him on Bluesky and his website.
