You've only recently announced the release of your comic book Satan's
Whores: An Axeman At Cutter's Creek Story - so in a nutshell, what's
this one about? And how does it tie in with the Axeman
trilogy of films?
Satan's Whores picks up only moments after Axeman
2: Overkill ends. Kesha has survived her run-in with Deputy Darlene and
Sunshine has survived her encounter with the titular character. We
then get thrust into a subplot that reveals a previously undisclosed
relationship between Kesha and Sunshine that was hinted at in Axeman
2: Overkill. And it's a relationship that also has a
connection to Denise, played by Tiffany Shepis [Tiffany
Shepis interview - click here] in the original Axeman. What were your sources of
inspiration when writing Satan's Whores: An Axeman At Cutter's Creek
Story? Funny enough, I drew from Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir
Dogs. It has a bit of that feel - if all the
major players were ruthless, cut-throat women and thrown in the middle of
a graphic slasher film. I wanted to give their story a style of its
own while keeping it in the vein of the Axeman
canon, i.e. funny when it's
supposed to be funny and scary when it's supposed to be scary, and chock
full of 80's awesomeness. Why a comic book in the first place, and
would you describe yourelf a comic book guy? I would've
never described myself as a comic book guy. But my best friend is
and he's always told me that I should give the medium a chance. I
just never had the right story. I was actually planning on making
this story a short companion film for Axeman 3: Absolution when I struck
up a conversation with my graphic artist about his thoughts on the story.
He read it and said, "Dude, this would make a great comic book."
So we sat down and went to work. It wasn't until I saw the first
page that I realized just how incredible this was going to be. And I
started to see that Axeman
and its sequels could have all worked as
comics and probably more so. With film, your vision can be hampered
by shooting conditions, budgets, equipment, time... But with this
medium, your only limitation is your creativity.
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What can
you tell us about the artist you're working with on Satan's Whores: An
Axeman At Cutter's Creek Story, and what's your collaboration like?
And how much say do you have when it comes to the look and style of the
comic? The artist is Carlos Montenegro. And the guy
has an incredible eye and the skill to pull off the look, style and tone I
was going for. With it being my first comic, I truly have no idea
what is "normal" for him, haha, but he has been awesome in doing
whatever is necessary to help me achieve my vision. I started with
writing the script and determining a page count. Then we sat down
and came up with the visual style and how each page would be laid out.
It was a blast getting so much detail into each frame. Just an
incredible experience to watch a story come to life the way it was
intended without have to constantly sacrifice or compromise. It's
was true artistic freedom. How does conceiving a comic book actually compare
to making a movie? It starts off roughly the same but takes
a sharp turn. Both start with the story. Without a compelling
story and strong characters, you've got nothing. After that, you
spend a fair amount of time discovering its tone, developing its style
and how you want the audience to experience it. And there's
storyboarding in both mediums but I think that's where the similarities
end for the most part. Yes, both focus on what you can see and hear
but films require collaborations from so many different departments who
all have their interpretation of your interpretation of the screenplay.
With this comic, it's just me and my artist, and it's him getting on paper
what I see in my mind. That's it. There's no other
collaborators. He always puts his special sauce on it, but for the
most part it's what I've written and expressed. The $64 question of course, when and
where will Satan's Whores: An Axeman At Cutter's Creek Story be
released?
We don't have an exact date yet but special
edition physical copies will be available for pre-order in late September.
Full release will follow some time in October closer to Halloween. Based on your work on Satan's Whores: An
Axeman At Cutter's Creek Story, can you ever again be tempted to make
another comic book, within the Axeman
universe or without? Most definitely. Depending on
how well received this entry is, we've already discussed doing a spin-off
series of comics that parallel the films. Possibly even retelling
the films the way they were originally intended through the comics.
Though I'm very appreciative of the love the films have received, there's
so much of the story that's been compromised or left on the cutting room
floor all-together that I feel the comics could better explore, and that
fans would really love. So, yes, a million times over - I am more
than tempted to make another comic book! (Other) future projects you'd like
to talk about? Currently knee-deep in the first novel in
the same Axeman
canon. It takes audiences back to 1983 and explores
the origins of the tri-city area of Cutter's Creek, Hunter's Ridge and
Cordova Peak, and the murder that tore the towns apart. It's all
told from the perspective of then-Sheriff Marion Whitfield, who is
actually the protagonist this time around. The novel is currently
titled Break the World: An Axeman At Cutter's Creek Story.
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Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
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Your/your comic's website, Facebook,
whatever else?
facebook.com/AxemanAtCuttersCreek
twitter.com/AxemanTheMovie
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask? Just that I am very
grateful for your continued support of my work. And very
appreciative of all the love I receive from Axeman
fans and family.
It's why I get to do what I do. Thanks for the
interview!
Thank YOU!
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