Interview with Mark Kidwell, Nat Jones and Jay Fotos, creators of the upcoming comic '68.

By Geoff Bough

The triple threat of the writing talents of Mark Kidwell (Barbara's Zombie Chronicles, Rising of Bub), the amazing artistry of Nat Jones (The Nail, Death Dealer), and the incredible colors of Jay Fotos (The Nail, Death Dealer) have combined to bring you another tale of terror in Image Comics upcoming zombie title '68. I talked to the 3 guys behind the book and here is what transpired...

Rev: From what I know, '68 has been likened to Night of the Living Dead set in Vietnam. Can you tell us a little more about 68’?

Mark: “68” was originally planned as a “bridge” one-shot book, set to fall between 3-issue story arcs of the “NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles” series. Basically, I started thinking of the year in which the original Romero film was shot (1968) and started wondering what was going on in the rest of the world at the time. Were the dead rising all over the world? If so, what were the ramifications? It suddenly dawned on me…1968…Vietnam…hoo boy, what would that be like? Battle casualties everywhere with more dead every hour of every day. What if those casualties started rising, hungry for blood, with no affiliation towards either warring faction? Thus…”68” was born. I pitched it to Chazz at Dead Dog on the streets of Toronto, Canada, at a Rue Morgue party after their show. (We were on the streets drinkin’ beer ‘cause ya can’t smoke inside in that damn city.) He green lit it and I wrote the script. A couple of months later, he told me he’d given the script to Nat Jones and that Nat really dug it and agreed to draw it. When Jay hopped on as colorist, I knew we had an unreal team together and knew the book was gonna be something special.

Rev: Mark, as represented in some of your prior works, you’ve got quite the appetite for the undead and an active imagination which makes for some very entertaining and gory reading. If you could tell the fans about 68’, what would you say to them?

Mark: Hmmm, I’d say the story focuses on a key issue in any war. The brotherhood felt among the troops and the willingness of fellow soldiers to walk through fire to save their brothers in arms. The story centers on a 5 man, deep recon fire team dropped into enemy territory (Indian Country) to find out why a remote jungle “listening post” has fallen silent. These guys are hardened veterans, have survived the horrors of the recent “Tet” offensive and assume they’ve seen it all. When the dead start to rise, wearing black silk pajamas and olive drab alike, they’ll find out how wrong they are. Oh yeah, it’s gory as hell too.

Rev: Who came up with the idea for 68’ and how did the idea come about?

Mark: I think I answered that one accidentally in the first reply above. Basically, the idea and script were mine from the start, designed to tie in with the “Barb” stuff. Upon later reflection the property was judged strong enough to stand on it’s own and is no longer part of the NOTLD series. It stands on it’s own as an original property.
If pressed for the exact origin of the idea, I’d have to say it sprouted from my fascination with military history (especially Vietnam and World War 2) and lifelong obsession with extreme horror. Marrying the two concepts just seems natural. What’s more horrifying than war? (War with cannibalistic zombies, that’s what…)

Rev: How many issues will 68’ be?

Mark “68” is planned as a single issue, 25 page one-shot. Of course, if the readers want more, I’ve got more. I’ve already got a sequel in mind…

Rev: Originally, 68’ was to be released under Dead Dog Ent. It has since been picked up by Image Comics for release in early 2007. Was there a mix-up with the book at Dead Dog?

Mark: Hmmm, I’m probably not the best guy to answer that one. As I understand it, the book had quite a long gestation period due to the fact that everyone involved was busy as hell on tons of other stuff while producing the book. Once the project was done, DD had launched into publication of “Cryptic” magazine and was swamped with work on that front, so it seemed prudent to get another publisher involved to help expedite things. Jay can probably fill ya in more on this…

Jay: ‘68 was supposed to be released through Dead Dog Comics, as a comic. Chazz DeMoss closed the doors on DD Comics and focused on his other publishing venture, Cryptic Magazine, which has been doing very well for him. It’s not he shut the door to comics, if you’ve seen Cryptic Magazine it’s like a comic (stories and art) mixed in with other horror related goodies, it’s cool, check it out if you have not seen it.

When ‘68 was completed Chazz told me he was just going to put the story in the magazine in 8 page installments and I suggested that we maybe bring it to another publisher to get it on the “comic shelves” and get ‘68 covered in both magazine and comic markets, it was a no brainer. From that point I contacted Image Comics and they loved it, badda-bing, badda- bang on the stands on January 4th!

Rev: Nat and Jay, you guys have had a long-working partnership together. I can see why you two work together so often, because it really doesn’t get much better than your work. How has it been working on this title and what was the most fun aspect of working on this book?

Nat: '68 was a load of fun, you can't argue with drawing zombies all day. The best part for me was the script, Mark really delivered a great story and that makes all the difference when you're sitting down at the drawing board.

Jay: Like Nat said, Mark is pretty damn good and we are all on the same page on what we like, so things flow much better that way.

Rev: Nat and Jay, it’s quite apparent that you guys are horror fans. Who are some of your favorite artists and influences?

Nat: If we're talking about comic book artists I definately have to start with Bernie Wrightson, they call him the Master of the Macabre for a reason. Gene Colan is also very high on my list. Truthfully most of my influences come from outside comics though, artists like Frank Frazetta and Geiger. Clive Barker's books made a big impact on me early on but probably my biggest influence comes from film. Hithcock, Romero, Argento, Raimi, the list goes on and on, that's where I learned storytelling. I think that's something that sets me apart from alot of other comic book artists, I was never really heavy into reading comics.

Jay: Nat pretty much nailed it on that one.

Rev: Can you tell us how long it takes to create an issue of 68’ and what that process involves? i.e. from script to storyboards to sketches… etc. etc.

Mark: I can tell ya how long it took to write the script. I did some research online the night before I actually sat down to write the book. I refreshed myself on some wartime slang and some uniform, equipment data for about 2 hours. Next night, I sat down at the computer and banged the book out in about 5 hours. I usually write these things in my head for a couple of months before I actually sit down and commit ‘em to paper, so the physical typing process has to go fast. I have a low patience threshold and hate to re-visit a script too many times.

Nat: For me it can really vary tremendously, I'm usually pretty fast though. I'd say with '68 I was doing about two pages a day, pencils and inks.

Jay: People crap their pants on how fast I can be, a book, a week. ‘68 was a project that spanded over a year I think, being we had other projects in the mix.

Rev: Zombie films and the subgenre itself are known to have some sort of socio-political statement intertwined within the story. Given the setting of the book and currently being in a war time society, is there a statement being made in '68?

Mark: I gotta tell ya, I’m not a fan of mixing political commentary with horror. I know, I know…alotta folks will grind on and on about the “consumerism” subtext of Romero’s “Dawn” and the underlying “Dangers of Nuclear Testing” themes of films like “The Hills Have Eyes”. I’m here to assure you that more people (like me) came out of “Dawn of the Dead” after their initial viewing saying “Man, did you see that fuckin’ guy’s head explode?” or “I lost it when that dude bit a chunk outta that lady’s arm!”

As far as my intent goes, the only statement being made with “68” is about sticking by the people you care about, until the end (or after) in the face of something horrible.

Nat: It's all about the headshots! (laughs)

Jay: Big statement...we want MORE ZOMBIES!

Rev: How do you guys feel about the resurgence of horror comics? and the popularity of the horror genre in general? Do you think people like the thrill of being scared and exploring the darker aspects of life?

Mark: Dude, I’m like a kid at Christmas with all this horror stuff rollin’ around. I buy a ton of independent horror comics, DVDs, toys and novels. I’m a real junkie for the stuff. Sure, you’re gonna sit through some dreck, but c’mon, some of the bad stuff is as much fun as the good, right? I will say that most of the stuff doesn’t go far enough. Like PG-13 horror films…what’s the point? Little wet Japanese kids ain’t scary. Goofy one-liner spewin’ dream pedophiles and guys with chainsaws for hands fightin’ cartoon demons ain’t scary either. Gimme the hard stuff. I’m a splatterpunk lookin’ for plenty of suspense, character development and then buckets of the sticky red stuff.

As far as people enjoying the thrill of being scared…Hell yeah! What dude didn’t take his girlfriend to a horror flick so she’d stay close to him during (and after) the movie? If he got a little creeped out too, even better.

Nat: It's great to see the horror genre making a comeback, It's strange because I definately think the fanbase has always been there, it just seems the industry was ignoring horror for a long time. People will always love a good scare!

Jay: It’s great, I love it. I just wish Hollywood would get a little smarter with some stuff, it’s turning into the “gore factor”, witch is cool, but it’s like “horror for dummies”...let’s spend a little time on the story and development, ‘68 anyone?

Rev: Is there anyone in the industry currently that you guys think is doing some amazing work? Aside from yourselves of course.

Mark: Oh yeah man, writers like Garth Ennis, Bruce Jones, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison are always amazing. For the artwork, you’ve got Nat Jones (shameless plug), Rich Corben doin’ “Haunt of Horror” and “Bigfoot”, Kyle Hotz on “Zombies” and of course, the uber genius, Bernie Wrightson.

Nat: Eric Powell is doing some great stuff, Jason Alexander, Kyle Hotz, Justiniano, there are really a ton of amazing artists in the industry right now.

Jay: Believe it or not, I don’t really look outside on what else is going on other than what I’m doing, is that bad? I know if I see something I like I go “that’s cool” then I go back to work, I’m/it’s sad I know.

Rev: I know you guys are music fans, what bands/music have been the anthem for '68?

Mark: As for me, it’s still a lot of punk stuff. New stuff from “The Bouncing Souls”, “Wednesday 13” and classic
stuff from “Rancid”. There’s a good bit of “Iron Maiden” pounding in the background as well, especially “The
Wicker Man”.

Nat: I think '68 definately lends itself to classic war era tunes, maybe a little CCR.

Jay: The soundtrack to Apocalypse Now!...in 3D with Smellvision!

Rev: What upcoming projects can we expect to see from you guys? Individually, collaboratively, etc.

Mark: Projects…Good God the projects. I’m illustrating RD Hall’s “American Wasteland” along with Jay over at Arcana. I’ve signed on to write and illustrate a 4 issue series of my own creation and illustrate “Strangeland; 7 Sins” for Fangoria Comics. (The book is scripted by Jesse Snider, Dee’s son. He’s a damn fine writer.) I’ve still got a couple of 8 page shorts in the pipeline at Cryptic magazine and am currently transforming one of my comic series scripts into a screenplay for an upcoming indie horror film project set to get rolling in ’07. Another half completed screenplay and a partial novel manuscript are also waitin’ on this very hard drive. Whew…projects.

Nat: The big one for Jay and I is definately Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer coming through Image comics. Other than that I recently finished covers for 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease, I just wrapped up The Tripper for Image, which is an adaptation of Horror film directed by David Arquette. As we speak I'm jumping into a story based on the 28 Days Later film.

Jay: Death Dealer Baby! Taking over, coming March ‘07...sure to be a classic! I’m currently working on Clive Barker’s The great and Secret Show(12 issues, I’m on issue #8), 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease(5 issues, I’m on #2), American Wasteland with Kidwell and a slew of other stuff.

Rev: Well, on behalf of Revenant Magazine and myself, I’d like to thank you guys for taking the time to answer our questions and we wish you all the best.

Mark: Thanks for the Interview Op! Always cool to chat with Revenant!

Nat: Thanks man!

Jay: Rock On!

'68 will be available from Image Comics in January 2007 so get your comic retailer to order it for you now! For more on '68, check www.imagecomics.com