Cryptocracy‘s Van Jensen on Secret Societies, Filmmaking and Creating a “Grand Unified Conspiracy Theory”

Conspiracy theories, secret societies and the paranormal have long fueled compelling fiction. Narratives ranging from The X-Files to The Da Vinci Code and Orphan Black have used these elements to draw in audiences and keep them guessing what’s real and what’s been manufactured to deceive the masses. Some stories have even taken a more metafictional approach: Umberto Eco’s novel Foucault’s Pendulum focuses on an ostensibly false conspiracy spanning centuries that slowly edges into reality.

New series Cryptocracy from writer Van Jensen and artist Pete Woods takes an all-encompassing approach to this history, including underground organizations, cryptids and mind-controlling aliens in its layered narrative tapestry. The first issue, out today from Dark Horse, follows Grahame, an agent of an organization that regulates this Pandora’s box of secrets, as he faces threats from all directions. The approach is both wonderfully over-the-top and emotionally grounded, forming a brand new fiction rife with ambition and secrets. Paste emailed with Jensen about the new series, his recent foray into filmmaking and more.

Paste: What was the first conspiracy theory or unexplained phenomenon that you found compelling?

Van Jensen: Hm. I remember being really interested in the idea of aliens, and of the mystery of Area 51 when I was pretty young—maybe eight or so. I started reading Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles around then, and so the concept of space travel and the great unknown of the universe seemed both fascinating and terrifying.

Paste: Is there a direct line from there to the kind of world-defining conspiracy that you showcase in your new series?

Jensen: Yes and no. I was always drawn to things that are unknown. So much of the world is explained and quantified, and I sought out whatever remained opaque or unseen. That’s where your imagination can roam. But it was definitely later that I started to read into the Illuminati and Freemasons and groups like that, these massive, world-spanning entities. I read The Illuminatus! Trilogy early in college, and that pushed me into a pretty serious bit of reading on all those supposed shadow governments.

Cryptocracy #1 Interior Art by Pete Woods

Paste: The history of the conspiracies in Cryptocracy goes back centuries, and encompasses everything from secret societies to aliens to cryptids. How did you decide what to include and what to leave out?

Jensen: Part of the fun of it was treating this like a grand unified conspiracy theory, finding ways to make all these wildly disparate concepts work as a whole. Pete Woods and I sat down on the front end and talked conspiracies and came up with a list of ones that we had to include. I did a ton of research and basically pulled in as much as I could without bogging down the story. Because the story is what really matters, as fun as all these details are.

Paste: There’s a speech in the first issue where one character criticizes violent extremism. Where do you find the ideal balance between nods to real-world politics and the more over-the-top aspects of the series?

Jensen: It’s definitely a challenging balance. I always go back to Coleridge’s initial definition of the suspension of disbelief: what matters most is creating characters with realistic emotions. As long as that comes across, the story can be endlessly fantastical. I brought in those real elements because I think the psychology of why people believe in conspiracies is a very real, recognizable thing that is playing a big role in our society right now (I mean, just look at the fantasies that Trump spews…and that people believe). In that moment, Grahame wasn’t really criticizing violence. He was criticizing the way that people follow ideas blindly. Of course, Grahame has his own demons he needs to confront.

Cryptocracy #1 Interior Art by Pete Woods

Paste: The Nine Families have some qualities of villains; on the other hand, the way that they are imperiled puts them in more of a sympathetic place. How do you feel about these characters? Do you see parallels between their story and, say, the fall of a crime dynasty?

Jensen: That’s a great analogy. These are people who rule the world, literally. They have great control, but to maintain that control means to operate in secret. So they have to hide themselves, and that itself is morally dubious. They also have to make decisions about the fates of thousands or even millions. That degree of power will ultimately mean that you must choose to let some people die. So are they good or bad? It mostly depends on your perspective. And, to me, characters that operate in that great gray area are far more fascinating than the simple good/evil dichotomy. Most stories with shadow governments paint them as generically bad, which is what sparked me thinking about this story in the first place. What if we saw things from their side? What are their motivations?

Paste: Structurally speaking, do you see Cryptocracy as a linear narrative, or do you plan to explore some aspects of the Nine Families’ history over the years along the way?

Jensen: It’s a pretty linear story, although there are some flashbacks (starting with issue two) that delve into the history of the Families. I created a pretty thorough alternate world history, so there is plenty to explore. That’s definitely a big part of the fun of it.

Cryptocracy #1 Interior Art by Pete Woods

Paste: On social media, you recently showed an image of the script for an issue of Six Million Dollar Man. How does a script for that differ from one for Cryptocracy?

Jensen: On a given issue, not that much. But Six Million Dollar Man #3 is a really, really weird issue. All 22 pages are one panel. I look at that series as a chance to be fun and experimental, so I tackled it in a totally new way, thumbnailing the entire thing before typing out the script. Lots of credit to artist Ron Salas for being game to do something totally new!

Paste: Your Twitter feed also recently had some on-set photos from a short film that you directed called Raindrops. How did that come about? How was working within a new medium?

Jensen: I’ve been writing full-time for a couple of years now, and I realized that I miss management (as strange as that sounds). At the same time, I started looking back into my family’s old movie theater in Nebraska, which we operated for three generations. It struck me that film is in my blood, and that directing could potentially be the perfect melding of creativity and project management. I met some Atlanta filmmakers, and they pushed me to make the leap. It was crazy and intense and totally overwhelming, but I’m super excited by the prospect of doing more film work. We’re editing the short now and then will go on the festival circuit. Then we’ll just see where things go from there.