Horror Comics - 12/12/12

I'm biased of course, but I think it's an exciting time for horror comics. Dark Horse, in particular, has taken a chance this fall on some really unique stories.

Hellboy in Hell, art by Mike Mignola

Last week, Mike Mignola returned to the helm of Hellboy. It's been a while since he wrote, pencilled and inked a full miniseries revolving around his most famous creation and, according to editor Scott Allie, he's been working toward this for a long time. Hellboy in Hell #1 does what the best Mignola comics do: It surprises you. I don't know what I was expecting Hellboy to find in the underworld... but I'm pretty sure it didn't have anything to do with Charles Dickens or hand puppets. Once again, Mignola shows his eclectic literary influences, suggesting a series arc that will have more in common with Dante's intricate vision of Hell than with anything in modern-day horror.

The Conqueror Worm, art by Richard Corben

 
A few weeks ago, Dark Horse also published Richard Corben's The Conqueror Worm, a darkly comic morality play inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Corben is a legend in the comics industry and a recent inductee into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. He also has a long history with horror and with Poe, who he has adapted several times for recent issues of Dark Horse Presents. My first encounter with Corben's work was in the 1982 film HEAVY METAL. Remember the segment about the nerdy guy, voiced by John Candy, who becomes a muscle-bound He-man in a postapocalyptic world full of hideous monsters and buxom women? If so, then you know this guy has a wild sense of humor. That humor is on full display in The Conqueror Worm, which revolves around... more hand puppets! Naked, fornicating, murderous, worm-infested hand puppets! If that's your thing (you know who you are and I won't judge), the art is grand.

Poe also turns up (at least part of him does) in Baltimore: The Play, a recent one-shot from longtime collaborators Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden.  This one is a nod to "The Masque of the Red Death," and it's as solemn and as beautifully macabre as a horror comic can get.  Seriously, if you have any doubts about Dark Horse's loyalty to the horror genre, just compare this to the current Night of the Living Dead series from Avatar Press.  While Dark Horse creators have tried to capture the spirit of Poe, Avatar creators are simply exploiting Romero's public domain title.  I don't see even a glimmer of Romero's dark, satirical vision in Night of the Living Dead: Aftermath.  The comic is pure splatterpunk.  I'm not knocking splatterpunk and I'm not knocking the writers or the artists of Avatar's series, but I think the comic should have been called something else.  For honesty's sake.

Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities and the Orm of Loch Ness #3, art by Kyle Hotz

Equally interesting things are going on in Eric Powell's Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities and the Orm of Loch Ness.  I wrote enthusiastically about the first issue of this miniseries a few weeks ago, and I'm pleased to say that issues #2 and #3 (out today) are just as good.  The second issue introduces Dracula and his lusty brides, along with a running gag about Mormon fish monsters. The third issue is full-blown monster mash.  Imagine a spaghetti western by way of Hammer horror (later Hammer horror, when they started to get really weird).... Nah, forget it.  This comic is better.

Another title that manages to do something surprising with familiar horror elements is Ex Sanguine, a vampire-meets-serial killer miniseries by Tim Seeley with co-writer Joshua Scott Emmons. The end of issue #2 (out last month) suggested that there is more to this story than just a twisted romance.  Issue #3 (out today) delves into serial killer Ashley's backstory.  The way it humanizes her reminds me a lot of Seeley's excellent Hack/Slash: My First Nightmare miniseries.  The issue also features a few supporting characters in ways that open up the world of this story.  What happens next is anyone's guess, and that seems like a very good place to be at the mid-point of a mini-series.

Ex Sanguine #3, art by Tim Seeley

Ex Sanguine #3, art by Tim Seeley

I'm also completely hooked on the Paul Tobin / Juan Ferreyra miniseries Colder.  This is probably the most unique and literary comic I'm reading right now.  Like Ex Sanguine, the story revolves around two freakish characters -- but the freaks in Colder are not your usual horror movie monsters.  One of them is frozen (he makes Brad Pitt's stoner character in TRUE ROMANCE look animated), but he seems like a nice enough guy beneath the icy exterior.  The other one is an invisible soul-thief, with a wicked smile and limbs like Gumby.  Both of these characters, we're told, are batshit crazy.

Against all odds, issue #2 manages to trump issue #1 by giving us some startling glimpses into the otherworld that these two characters share in their darkest moments.  Ferrayra's art conveys a touch of madness by making key details stand apart from everything around them.  The effect is hauntingly beautiful.   If you pick up this issue, be sure to notice the shadows in the park scenes, the subtle mist in the "hungry world," the violent blurring effect that signals a character's transition between worlds, the soft fiery hue of Declan's shared flashback, the menacing glow of the burning asylum and the electric gateway that appears within it.  Every color choice, from Reece's yellow dress to the rainbow tendrils that Nimble Jack bleeds from his victims, enhances the surreal quality of an already compelling story.  At the end of the issue, Nimble Jack (the soul-thief) appears at his most vibrant in a scene that finally brings him together with his nemesis.  I can't wait to see what happens next.

Colder #2, art by Juan Ferreyra

Colder #2, art by Juan Ferreyra

This brings me to a comic I've been waiting to talk about for a long time.  It's called Final Night, and it not only brings together two rival publishers (IDW and Dark Horse) but also combines two of the most popular mythologies in horror comics today.  Where to begin...?

A few years ago, I was producing an unlikely episode of an unlikely TV series called Deadliest Warrior -- the episode pit vampires against zombies, and pretended to be scientific about the outcome.   I called on Steve Niles, creator of 30 Days of Night (the title that renewed my interest in horror comics), to represent the vampire side.  A year later, while I was writing Not Bad for a Human, I introduced Steve to Lance Henriksen.  It turned out that Steve's favorite vampire movie was NEAR DARK and Lance's favorite vampire movie was 30 DAYS OF NIGHT.  So they hit it off.  Steve introduced us to some of his friends in the comics community, including Tom Mandrake, and then offered to publish Not Bad for a Human under his Bloody Pulp imprint.  Long story short: Lance, Tom and I have our first comic book coming out today... the same day that Steve Niles pits his 30 Days of Night vampires up against his other name-brand creation, Cal McDonald.

I suppose this is my way of admitting I'm biased about Steve's work.  Nevertheless, I happen to think he's doing a lot of very interesting work lately.  He's got a new supernatural thriller called Lot 13 over at DC Comics.  The second issue came out a few weeks ago, and in my opinion it was better than the first.  I confess I had some reservations about the story initially, for one specific reason.  In my opinion, the best ghost stories hinge on the psychology of the main character(s).  They should constantly be asking, Are ghosts real?  From the very beginning, however, Lot 13 dismisses this question -- the ghosts in this story are real and they are fucking pissed.  These are not the kind of apparitions that appear briefly in your peripheral vision, or tickle your feet while you sleep.  These are in-your-face ugly demons that make the ghosts in THE SHINING look tame by comparison.  Niles knows the genre, so he's not pulling any punches.

Lot 13 #2, art by Glenn Fabry

While reading issue #2, I decided that the story works for me because of the artistic choices of Glenn Fabry and colors by Adam Brown.  In many of the panels, the background fades into darkness (often black, but sometimes an even more unsettling lifeless grey) in a way that is profoundly unsettling -- the way the "real world" would have to fall away if a person actually encountered ghosts like these.  The nightmarish drawings of the undead are enough to satisfy any horror fan, and the human characters are realistic enough to be sympathetic.  Given the level of intensity in this issue, I'm very curious to see issue #3. 

I'm even more impressed with Niles's latest collaboration with Bernie Wrightson, Frankenstein Alive, Alive!  A few weeks ago at Long Beach Comic Con, I had an opportunity to see some of Wrightson's original boards for issue #2 of this miniseries.  Words cannot describe my sense of awe.  Bernie humbly said that he can't do the minutiae as well as he used to, so he's adopted a slightly different style emphasizing water colors.  You can see the results in Frankenstein, as IDW has wisely opted to reproduce the graytones of his original work.  The textures are gorgeous, and the minutiae is still pretty damn staggering.  (I can't get over the roof on Dr. Ingles's house, to say nothing of the texture of the bones in his lab or the creases on the books in his library!)  Some of the panels are so detailed that the publisher has featured them in close-up at the back of the issue... evidence suggesting that Bernie Wrightson on his worst day would still be better than a lot of very fine artists on their best day.

Frankenstein, Alive Alive! #2, art by Bernie Wrightson (CLICK TO ZOOM IN)

Niles includes a bit more prose in issue #2 than he did in #1, and the writing makes it clear that he's not going to cater to the baser expectations of horror fans.  He's not attempting to mimic Mary Shelley's prose either -- simply conveying enough of the monster's tortured inner thoughts to create genuine pathos.  My biggest complaint about the issue is that it's not long enough, but that shortcoming is negated by the fact that this series is already living up to the high standards of timeless art, not just monthly thrills.

Final Night looks like it could also be one for the ages.  The first page expertly drops us right into the drug-addled mind of undead detective Cal McDonald.  Even if you've never read a Criminal Macabre story, this page will tell you what you need to know about him.  Cal is as wry as Phillip Marlowe and, in a world that's constantly throwing new types of larger-than-life monsters at him, that's really saying something.  On page 2, he meets Alice Blood, the heroine of the recent ongoing 30 Days series -- and the unfortunate soul who provoked onetime heroic vampire Eben Oleman into declaring war on the human race.  Right off the bat, their rapport is classic.  I suppose I shouldn't say any more than that... Let me just note that Niles is obviously very invested in bringing out the best in his characters before he has to say goodbye to one of them.  The final pages promise a truly EPIC battle ahead.  In fact, the very last panel filled me with the kind of geeky fanboy excitement usually reserved for the trailers for Hollywood's summer blockbusters. 

Final Night, art by Christopher Mitten

Like I said, it's an exciting time for horror comics.

12/12/12

 
Today's the day!  The official launch of To Hell You Ride, the new comic series I co-created with Lance Henriksen and Tom Mandrake.

I've been trying to come up with something to mark the occasion.  I haven't wanted to give away anything about the story, so I started a series of posts about apocalyptic prophecies in different cultures throughout time and around the world.  The problem is that these posts took on a life of their own, and inevitably began to reveal too much about the THYR story.  You see, my head is still in the game... I don't have the ability to be objective yet.  Everything comes back to the enigmatic tale of an American Indian named Two-Dogs.

To explain: I heard the first notes of this story from Lance nearly three years ago.  While researching Not Bad for a Human, I ran across a brief mention of it in a 1993 article from a Fangoria interview...

I asked Lance to tell me his stories.  (I was, after all, writing a book about his twisted mind...)  He was pretty dismissive of Tracer Pierce, but he shared the entire prologue of Telluride with me.  Lance is a visual storyteller, so he described the scene shot for shot.  You can see it for yourself if you pick up the first issue today. 

From there, things took on a life of their own.  At last year's San Diego Comic Con, Dark Horse president Mike Richardson asked Lance if he wanted to write a comic.  Lance said hell yeah and pulled me into the mix.  One week later, we met Tom Mandrake at a convention in New Jersey.  Tom had done an exquisite illustration of PUMPKINHEAD for Lance's bio, but this was the first time we'd met him in person, and the three of us just... clicked. 

Roughly twelve months ago, Lance and I put together a five-act script.  The focus of Lance's story changed (from the character of Shipps to the character of Two-Dogs), and so did the title.  Ever since then, Lance, Tom and I have been piecing this thing together, one detail -- one word -- one panel at a time.  I have two thick binders full of research and ideas.  We could never possibly use all of that material in our story, but it provides the backdrop of the world and the characters we're exploring. And that's really what this is: an exploration.

Even as the first issue goes public, we're not quite done with Two-Dogs yet.  The end is in sight, that's for sure (and it's going to be a doozy), but this tale has a life of its own.  It will keep evolving, right up until the very end, like a human life.  We know the cycle of life, of course, but every day we encounter something new.  It ain't over till it's over.

Today we enter a new phase.  The readers (that's you!) become part of this world.  As I've said elsewhere, what is a story without someone to absorb it and pass it on?   If you happen to join us on our strange little adventure, drop me a line -- either here on this blog or on the THYR forum at Tribespace.org -- and let me know what you think of the first issue.  I'm very curious to hear which details resonate and which ones fade into the background, waiting for their moment.

To Hell You Ride #1 is available at your friendly neighborhood comic store.  While you're there, let me also recommend our friend Steve Niles's latest miniseries, Criminal Macabre: Final Night, a continuation -- and possibly the conclusion -- of Lance Henriksen's favorite vampire series. 

In the meantime, here's a taste of things to come....

Horror Comics - November 7, 2012

Looking for a way to unwind after last night's election?

Cover art for "Criminal Macabre: They Fight by Night" by Fiona Staples

Steve Niles and Christopher Mitten have a new comic out today, and it's a good way to get re-introduced to laconic, pill-popping, ghoulish detective Cal McDonald before he goes to to toe with an army of vampires next month.  Fiona Staples' cover art for They Fight by Night has to be one of the smartest covers of the year, and it expresses a truth that horror fans know by heart: Monster stories can be a great form of socio-political commentary.  In a recent interview with Comic Book Resources, Niles promised more of the same in the upcoming 30 Days of Night / Criminal Macabre crossover, which revolves around a new war between vampires and humans: "I think that monsters, vampires and zombies in particular, really reflect some very primal fears that we're all experiencing now, and have been since 9/11.  Our enemy is ourself. I mean, look at right now: I'm hearing people say our country is more polarized now than it has been since The Civil War. A lot of people believe we're actually killing the planet. If you're a monster and you're immortal, you want the planet to live more than the species occupying it."  

I'm always up for a good monster mash, and I'm particularly excited about this one because the original 30 Days of Night is the title that resurrected my interest in comics.  I've always been more of a horror guy than a comics guy, so my introduction to comics was the Stephen King / Bernie Wrightson collaboration Creepshow, a throwback to the EC Comics of the 1950s.  Every panel of that thing is permanently burned into my brain -- especially "The Crate."   Later, Todd McFarlane's Spawn made me a collector... at least, for a few years.  Then came Steve Niles and his snowbound vampires.  The story and the art were so visceral that I couldn't stop reading.  I tracked down some of his other work, and fell in love with Aleister Arcane and Edge of Doom (especially issue #2). 

Flash forward a few more years and Niles is again writing 30 Days for IDW, turning his one-time hero Eben into a worthy nemesis for Cal.  He's also working with the legendary Bernie Wrightson on a sequel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  (If you haven't seen the first issue, you are seriously missing out on one of the most beautiful comics ever made.)  He released three new comic last week (including the first issue of a SHINING-esque series called Lot 13 from DC, featuring memorably eerie artwork by Glenn Fabry) and now two more this week (the sixth issue of Creator-Owned Comics concludes his gothic western "Black Sparrow").  Honestly, I think Steve Niles IS a vampire... because clearly he doesn't sleep.

I don't mean to suggest, however, that he has completely cornered the market on horror comics.  I meant to do a Halloween blog post last week about some of my other favorites, but since the holiday has come and gone, I'm just going to point toward three titles that have renewed my faith in the medium.  1) Joe Hill's Lock & Key is traditional, cerebral, mythic horror.  Comparisons to Stephen King's work -- especially the second Dark Tower book and The Talisman -- are inevitable, but the subtle characterizations of Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez keep this title fresh and original.  2) Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash is edgy as hell -- perversely hilarious and sexy in a way that a lot of people would never expect from a comic.  It's like Clive Barker's version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  3) Speaking of Barker, his revival of the Hellraiser mythos for Boom! exhibits the kind of balls-to-the-wall brillaince that once made Stephen King proclaim him "the future of horror."  Seriously, Barker's work with co-writer Christopher Monfette and artist Stephen Thompson is as good as -- if not better than -- the first two HELLRAISER movies.  If that sounds like hyperbole, I beg you to check out Hellraiser: Pursuit of the Flesh and Hellraiser: Requiem.

interior art from "Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft" #1, by Gabriel Rodriguez

cover art from "Hack/Slash: My First Maniac" #3, by Tim Seeley and Carlos Badilla

cover art for "Hellraiser: Pursuit of the Flesh" #1 by the incomparable Tim Bradstreet

Barker's 2-year, 20-issue run concludes this month, but Boom! is already extending the franchise.  I just picked up the first issue of the new miniseries, Hellraiser: The Road Below, written by Brandon Seifert with art by Haemi Jang.  The storyline reminds me a bit of Dimension's early HELLRAISER sequels -- because, so far, it seems likely to relegate the Cenobites to a smaller role.  That's not as much of a problem for me as it might be for some, because I honestly enjoyed parts of HELLRAISER: INFERNO (2000) and HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER (2002), and even HELLRAISER: DEADER (2005).  (Beyond that, I admit it's a lost cause.)  Most horror fans aren't as forgiving, and I understand why.  Barker created a poetic mythology that -- even thirty years later -- feels like the cutting edge of horror.  The Dimension sequels (and, so far, The Road Below) seem tame and a bit too prosaic by comparison.  I will reserve judgment for a few more issues but, as Kirsty Cotton says, "This better be good..."  The bar has already been set extremely high.

The title I was most excited about today was Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra's Colder.  The cover of their first issue has been haunting me for months, and I've been dying to know the story behind it.  Without giving any spoilers, I'll try to set it up: Colder is about different types of insanity.  See, there's this un-human character called Nimble Jack who obviously has a lot of fun being batshit crazy.  He moves through the room and expresses himself like a rubber mime on nitrous oxide.  (See below, for evidence of superb comic timing.) Then there's this other guy named Declan, who's sort of frozen like Walt Disney.  Right now he's "the wrong kind of crazy"... but he's just getting warmed up.  So to speak.  Writing about Colder makes me smile, so I'm definitely curious to see where this one goes.

  

Last but not least.... If you're interested in my upcoming Dark Horse comic To Hell You Ride (and why wouldn't you be?), critic John Kenneth Muir has just written a review of the first issue, accompanied by an interview with the creators.

Dark Horse Comics: Drawing on Your Nightmares

This fall, Dark Horse Comics is rolling out a new line of horror books.  That's a big deal for horror fans, because horror comics are actually pretty rare.  Bloodshed is not difficult to find, but I'm talking about a particular breed of horror that is subtler -- more poignant, more perverse, and more intelligent.  Editor-in-chief Scott Allie is at the center of this horror line and he sums it up like this: "Horror stories aren't just about the willing suspension of disbelief - though this may be the genre that requires the most from the reader in that regard.  At least as important is the willing surrender to the mood of a horror story."  Atmosphere is everything, and that's what many of these new comics are aiming at.  Things started really heating up this week, with the premiere of new miniseries from Mike Mignola, Eric Powell and Tim Seeley... 

Believe it or not, Mignola's Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense has been around for almost twenty years now.  In fact, the creative team behind B.P.R.D. is gearing up for their 100th issue -- to be released on Halloween.  What this proves is that Mignola has created his own successful mythos... one as intricate and compelling as that of any superhero comic.  Perhaps more to the point: He has created a horror mythos as intricate an compelling as that of his idol H.P. Lovecraft, who inspired Mignola's love for period horror.  In a recent interview with Wired magazine, he says, "I really think H.P. Lovecraft changed horror literature radically, and it kind of put the final stake in the traditional vampire, and suddenly all werewolves and things got kind of quaint, and it became much more abstract, and I like some of that stuff a lot, but I also like a simpler world. You get much past the ’20s, ’30s, you know, I just don’t have that much interest in the modern world. I like fog and wagon wheels and guys on horseback."

B.P.R.D.: 1948, which hit the shelves yesterday, is period horror.  It takes place in the aftermath of World War II, and gets right to the core of the B.P.R.D. brand, as Mignola explains in another recent interview with Comic Book Resources: "That idea of people not being in control -- that's the constant theme of B.P.R.D. People are trying to gain control, and you just can't control what's going on so efforts to gain control only make things worse."  What's scarier than the real-world threat of world leaders with their fingers hovering over the nuclear war button?  It's into that milieu that Mignola once again drops his team of heroic outsiders.  Series writer John Arcudi and artist Max Fiumara ably support him here.  Issue #1 has two visual segueways that left me in awe of the storytellers, plus a genuinely poignant cameo with "cute and funny" Hellboy, and a showstopping Lovecraftian monster.... all good evidence that this is still a vital mythos.  (And editor Scott Allie promises that things are going to get even better after the centennial.)

The first issue of Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz's new series, Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities and the Orm of Loch Ness, has a completely different tone... but that shouldn't come as any surprise from the man who gave us The Goon.  Hotz's artwork has dark brooding atmosphere to spare, but what really amazes me is how the storytellers balance that with such smart, nuanced humor.  What Powell and co-writer Tracy Marsh are able to do with the implied space between two panels is a testament to the unique storytelling opportunities of the medium.  (Just check out the first two pages, below...)  Their comic asides ("I'm gonna eat me a horse someday!") and Hotz's visual characterizations ("It has two heads!") are brilliant.  That's a big word, but I'm using it anyway.  The Goon (next issue: November 14) is easily one of the best ongoing series around today, and Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities prove that Powell still has plenty of ideas left.

Incidentally, if you're interested in seeing The Goon on the big screen, you should pledge your support to David Fincher's Kickstarter project, which aims to combine the talents of Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti in a CGI adaptation.  Still need convincing?  Check out their "proof of concept" trailer...

 
"The Goon" Movie Proof of Concept Trailer from Goon Kickstarter on Vimeo.
 
The third Dark Horse comic that I picked up this week was the inaugural issue of Ex Sanguine, a new series from writer/artist Tim Seeley and his co-writer Joshua Scott Emmons.  Seeley is probably best known as the creator of the Image horror comic Hack/Slash.  I was especially excited about this one because I love that Dark Horse is taking chances on original horror.  Horror movie fans are always griping that all filmmakers do anymore is churn out sequels and remakes to old franchises.  From a business perspective, it's easy to understand why... A sequel / remake / reboot / reimagination is easier to market.  At the end of the day, it's simply a safer investment.  But the flip side of that coin is that viewers aren't as easily scared by monsters and madmen that we are already familiar with... so a lot of us go home feeling a bit disappointed. 

In a recent interview with Comic Book Resources, Tim Seeley described Ex Sanguine as "Dexter meets True Blood" (but implored readers not to be dissuaded by the "Hollywood pitch").  The truth is that there's some impressionistic storytelling going on here that works as well as the most memorable moments from those series.  Memories and fantasies float in and out of the minds of the characters, giving the whole story a seductive, dreamlike quality.  Based on the last two pages, I have a feeling that this quality will be gradually heightened over the course of the miniseries, so I'm very excited to see where things go from here.  

Honestly, I only have one quibble with Ex Sanguine... and it's based entirely on the too casual use of a famous T.S. Eliot quote.  But Seeley and Emmons are certainly not the first to go there, and we can chalk it up to a personal pet peeve.  I should probably note, however, that the Eliot reference made me realize that good comics work for me the same way that good poetry does.  I usually start by reading quickly, essentially daring the writer/artist to make me stop in my tracks and examine a line or panel more closely.  Once that happens, I have to go back and start from the beginning, and then I experience the whole story in a slightly different light.  That's what happened while I was reading Ex Sanguine, so I have to declare this first issue a success.

Dark Horse has a lot more nightmares on the way.  Another new series that I'm really looking forward to is Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra's Colder, due on November 7.  The first cover by Ferreyra (who also recently created a promotional "jam piece" for the fall horror line) is so deliciously twisted that I've been staring at it for weeks and it still gives me the creeps.  A little further out, Mike Mignola returns to the series that made him famous, with Hellboy in Hell (12/5/12), and Steve Niles brings his two biggest franchises, Criminal Macabre and 30 Days of Night, together in Final Night (12/12/12).  The crossover is going to be truly epic, as Niles promises that it will represent the no-catch, no-bullshit ending of one of the two series.  (I already know which side I'm betting on.)  Dark Horse will also be releasing To Hell You Ride (12/12/12), the original miniseries that I co-created with Lance Henriksen and Tom Mandrake.  There's a preview of our first issue in B.P.R.D.: 1948 #1, and Scott Allie gives us a nod in the letter column, saying, "This one is weird, guys.  Perfect for Hellboy fans..."

I know I'm biased, but from what I've seen and heard, I can assure you that ALL of these series are worth pre-ordering.  If you are so inclined, here are the relevant links:

Colder #1

Colder #2

Hellboy in Hell #1

Criminal Macabre: They Fight by Night (prologue)
Final Night #1

To Hell You Ride #1

Horror & Comics

The limited edition of Lance Henriksen's biography came about because of a conversation I had with horror writer Steve Niles. I knew Steve as the creator of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, CRIMINAL MACABRE and EDGE OF DOOM. What I didn't know at the time was that Steve had recently become a very vocal advocate for creator-owned comics and do-it-yourself publishing. When I mentioned Lance's biography to him, he not only offered to publish it, but he also began to rally some of his favorite artists to illustrate it.

In a blog post announcing the project, Steve said, "Our hope is that by combining Lance's book with some of comics top talent, then maybe we can each find new fans." A few weeks later, with his campaign in full swing, he added, "I'm now going to make an effort to reach out to possible fans OUTSIDE the [comics] bubble. I know a lot of Horror Fans and Science Fiction fans who don't read comics." (He further explained his agenda in a recent interview with Meltdown Comics.) In the past few years I've become one of those people, but this project has re-introduced me to the world of comics. As I began to explore the works of the artists who have contributed to Henriksen's bio, I began to realize just how close the worlds of comics and genre film really are. Here's a visual crash course:

BILL SIENKIEWICZ

Sienkiewicz's contribution to the book is already well-known. His depiction of Frank Black has been floating around the web for a couple of months now, and it appears on the cover of the final book. Sienkiewicz was so inspired by the project and by a short conversation with Henriksen (who he referred to on his facebook page as "a true artist really committed to his passion for acting") that he produced his drawing overnight! Anyone who doubts his enthusiasm for genre films need only look at some of his work from the past:

In much the way that Henriksen has been able to cross paths with so many iconic characters over the course of his career, Sienkiewicz is no stranger to modern-day myths. He has professionally illustrated Batman, Superman, Spiderman, The X-Men, The Hulk, Thor, Elektra (for the astoundingly beautiful Elektra: Assassin, written by Frank Miller) and even Yoda. And NOT BAD FOR A HUMAN is not his first biography cover - he also provided the art for Martin I. Green's VOODOO CHILD: THE ILLUSTRATED LEGEND OF JIMI HENDRIX and SANTA: MY LIFE AND TIMES. Upcoming projects include LionsGate's supernatural western film THE MAN WITH NO NAME, Dreamworks' film ALCATRAZ VS. THE EVIL LIBRARIANS, and an adaptation of his own graphic novel STRAY TOASTERS.

TIM BRADSTREET

Recently on his website, Bradstreet posted, "I'm a long time ridiculously huge fan of Lance Henriksen, so I about lost my mind when I got a call from my pal Steve Niles informing me that Lance was publishing an autobiography, that it would be illustrated, and they wanted ME to join in the fun." Bradstreet's love of NEAR DARK (which features Henriksen as a ruthless redneck vampire) probably doesn't come as a surprise to his readers who are familiar with his work on VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE. Bradstreet is also well-known as a cover artist for DC's HELLBLAZER, Marvel's THE PUNISHER, BLADE and BLADE 2, Spectra's ALIENS: MUSIC OF THE SPEARS, Fox Atomic's 28 DAYS LATER: THE AFTERMATH, Wildstorm's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and FRIDAY THE 13TH, IDW'S MOTEL HELL, and the new CLIVE BARKER'S HELLRAISER from Boom! Studios. Bradstreet also co-created Image's BAD PLANET with Thomas Jane and Steve Niles.

MIKE MIGNOLA

Mike Mignola has become a household name, based on his creations B.P.R.D. and HELLBOY, a comic series published by Dark Horse Entertainment and adapted into a pair of excellent feature films directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Ron Perlman. This was not Mignola's first foray into the world of horror. He's done cover art for the Topps comic adaptation of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, Image's SPAWN, Dark Horse's ALIENS: SALVATION and DC's ALIENS VS. PREDATOR. He also created B.P.R.D. and BALTIMORE: THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER AND THE VAMPIRE. In 2011 he's returning to his most famous creation, working with Richard Corben on HELLBOY: BEING HUMAN (due May 11 from Dark Horse) and the graphic novel HELLBOY: HOUSE OF THE LIVING DEAD. In June, Dark Horse will also release a hardcover collection of his series BALTIMORE: THE PLAGUE SHIPS.

ERIC POWELL

Eric Powell is best known as the creator of Dark Horse Entertainment's THE GOON, which is currently being adapted into an animated feature directed by David Fincher and starring Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown. Powell may also be familiar to horror fans as the cover artist for Dark Horse's UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: CAVALCADE OF HORROR and DC's monster mash FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH. His current project is IDW's GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS. Also, keep an eye out for THE GOON / CRIMINAL MACABRE crossover, due on July 20.

TOM MANDRAKE

In addition to his superheroes work for Marvel (CALL OF DUTY: THE PRECINCT) and DC (JLA DESTINY and THE SPECTRE), Tom Mandrake is well-known for his horror comics, including the creator-owned CREEPS. Often he combines superheroes and horror, as in DC's SUPERMAN AND BATMAN VS. VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES and THE X-FILES / 30 DAYS OF NIGHT crossover. He's also done artwork for books based on John Carpenter's film HALLOWEEN and the recent TV series FRINGE.

Hell, this guy's illustrated everything from HAMLET to ALICE IN WONDERLAND... which reminds me of another pro-comic movement that's worth mentioning here. 5280 Comic Book Classroom is a nonprofit organization that uses comic books to teach underprivileged kids how to read. If that isn't a sound argument for the value of comics today, I don't know what is.

ASHLEY WOOD

Ashley Wood is an Australian multi-media artist known for his wide-ranging work on comics, video games, toys and art books. In the comics world he is perhaps best known for IDW's METAL GEAR SOLID as well as the original covers for 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and Image's HELLSPAWN and SPAWN: BOOK OF THE DEAD. You'll have to check out his website to get a sense of his full empire.

KELLEY JONES

Kelley Jones, who has created an additional piece of art for the softcover edition of Lance Henriksen's biography, is a well-established creator of horror comics, including DC's BATMAN-as-vampire series (with writer Doug Moench), DC's DEADMAN, and Dark Horse's ALIENS: HIVE. He also worked with Neil Gaiman on SANDMAN and with Steve Niles on the current EDGE OF DOOM series and the first Bloody Pulp book CAL MCDONALD: DETECTIVE TALES.

It's worth pointing out that all of these artists chose their own image ideas for the NOT BAD FOR A HUMAN book - based on their own interests and their own perceptions of Lance Henriksen. The results are distinct artistic interpretations, and the subject of these visual musings could not be more pleased with the results! Check out the book and definitely check out the work of these amazing illustrators.