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HEAVY SPOILERS FOR JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 638
I was asked on my Formspring “Was that always the real origin of your Disir, or something that evolved for EXILED?”. To which I responded….
When I created the Disir back in SIEGE: LOKI and NEW MUTANTS 11, I knew the origin I gave wasn’t the true one. I didn’t think I’d be ever writing them again - my run was meant to end after SIEGE, if you remember - but wanted to leave something interesting for people to tug on if they want.
When THE FINE PRINT happened and I got to go further into the Disir, I started building explicitly for the twist, as every retelling of the myth was slightly different - a pretty explicit hint that something serious was amiss. Though I don’t think I knew the exact nature of the truth at that point.
I can’t remember the exact time the real nature of the origin came to me. I think it was either late in THE FINE PRINT or during the development of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY. It was explicitly being worked towards from the start of JIM - re-reading all that and you’ll see it coming. JIM 631 especially is worth a re-read.
I wasn’t ever sure that I’d get a chance to pull the trigger on the story, so when the crossover was suggested, it struck me as a good time to do it. The Disir debuted chronologically in NM, after all, and it provided a big, emotionally meaningful hook for the story.
How did the specific idea grew? It’s just the one which made sense. That ancient myths tend to be misogynist was built into the Disir’s conception. In terms of how they talked about the devouring, it’s about traditional male fears and demonisation of female sexuality and desire. The Disir’s dialogue was already talking about the cannibalism in loaded sexual terms from SIEGE: LOKI. So this was already the themes I knew I’d be dealing with in the origins, even before I realised the specifics.
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I mentioned this on twitter earlier, but when writing the Disir - and Brun specifically - PJ Harvey’s TO BRING YOU MY LOVE album was an almost constant presence. PJ’s Cave-influenced period’s murder ballads are basically what they’re all about, as desire curdles into righteous hate.
If I had to choose one track that’s most Brun, it’d be SEND HIS LOVE TO ME. This Love Becomes A Torture/This Love My Only Crime indeed.
