Interview with B. Alex Thompson of Chaos Campus and Approbation Comics!

By Geoff Bough

I currently read quite a few comics and growing up I read even more. I was never much a fan for superhero comics and favored more the vigilante, anti-hero or just plain twisted tales ala Garth Ennis.

Over the past 10-15 years, I’ve been reading a ton of horror and zombie comics… some good and some bad. I’ve also kept a lot of attention on the indie comic market where I have really found some kickass writing, amazing creativity and stunning artistry. I was recently introduced to the upcoming title ‘Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls Vs. Zombies’ from Approbation Comics which is a titillating tale of, well...hot chicks kicking some undead ass!

I had the chance to throw a few questions to writer B. Alex Thompson of Approbation Comics about the upcoming title and here’s how it went down…

Revenant: Can you tell us a little more about the story behind Chaos Campus? I understand our salvation lies in the hands of some badass, hot sorority chicks?

BAT: Sure! On the night of the “Chaos Campus” volleyball tournament between the partnered sororities Epsilon Alpha Zeta Upsilon (EAZY) and Alpha Zeta Zeta (AZZ), zombies descend upon the festivities. We happen to follow three of the sorority girls who band together to survive the zombie apocalypse- Jamie Schaffer, Paige Patton, and Brittany Miller.

Revenant: Do we know why the dead have risen?

BAT: Not yet, but the girls will go looking for the source of infection and most of the series will be about the crazy situations they find themselves in on the way.

Revenant: Zombie films (more so Romero) are traditionally known to feature empowered female figures. Are you guys giving a nod to that notion or was it more that you just wanted to have some hot chicks kicking zombie ass?

BAT: A lot from column A and column B! Aliens is my favorite movie of all time and I was raised by a single mother, so I was wired early on to look towards strong women in real life and in fiction. In my own writing I gravitate towards hot women and monsters in various degrees and I wanted to see three of the personality types of girls I’m attracted to fighting the undead.

Revenant: Can you tell us a little more about the main characters?

BAT: I sure can! We start with Jamie Schaffer who everyone always looks towards first because of her pink hair and super huge pipe wrench. She’s the short and scrappy one of the trio. She’s probably the closest to our readers- she’s watched all the horror movies, read all the horror comics, and played all the horror games. She was also raised by an ex-military single father, so she’s a weapons expert and survivalist. She’s been waiting her whole life for this to go down and she has the knowledge and physicality to actually make it.

Brittany Miller is our stereotypical sorority girl. She’s the tallest of the trio and she’s also bi-sexual. One of the main points of the series is her feelings for Paige and how she deals with those. She’s the complete opposite of Jamie in pretty much every category- she’s more of a victim or target and usually the reason the girls end up in tight situations. Early on in the series, Jamie and Brittany will not like each other too much, but it’ll lead to a lot of fun banter and barbs back and forth between them.

Paige Patton is the middle of the line character of the trio. She’s the voice of reason, the most mature, and she soon discovers that he comes from a lineage of witches giving her magical powers. Being the rational thinker she is, magic is something foreign and frightening to her so a lot of the series will be Paige trying to avoid her abilities, but that always ends up causing more problems.

Revenant: How did you all come together to work on this title and how did the story come about?

BAT: My friends and I were joking about all the “blank versus blank” movies that were starting to become popular and how Hollywood will take a decent selling idea and run it into the ground (remember natural disaster movies, buddy comedies, and now comic movies and 70's/80's TV). So we were messing around with what they could come up with next and one of mine was “Zombies vs. Cheerleaders.” Then with another set of friends we had a game of how adding "zombies" to any known property would make it even better. Like "Married with Children" could be "Married with Zombies" or "Zombies with Children"... and so on. So all that stuck with me and I was like, "This is a great idea! Too bad I can't write comedy." But for like a year it kept hammering at my subconscious and finally I discovered a way I could write a one shot... that grew into a two issue miniseries... that became a six issue first storyline arch... and so on.

Revenant: From what I have seen, the artwork on the title is exceptional. Can you take us through the creation of a panel? How long does that take?

BAT: Thank you! Hmm, explaining a panel alone might be hard, but I can take you through the whole process. It starts off with a plot idea for the issue that I write out in prose then type up into a full script. I send that script to the artist who draws each page in pencil (all the panels on the page) and then inks it. Those pages are then passed on to the colorist and then back to me for lettering and formatting.

Revenant: Will Chaos Campus be an ongoing title?

BAT: If sales are good, yes. I intend it to be an ongoing series and I have most of the first eighteen issues already typed up. I have outlines for the series up to the first thirty issues. I know how the series will end. So though this is fun romp, there are a lot of long term and short term plans in the works here.

To return to the current things, we’re starting off with three 48-page one-shots: “Dead Man on Campus,” “She Blinded Me With Magic,” and “Haunted Hell House.” For season two we’ll have three more 48-page one-shots: “Bites of Sin,” “Nihilism Cubed,” and “The Learning Curve.”

Revenant: If the girls from Chaos Campus could have a theme song, what song do you think would fit them best?

BAT: Hmmm, as a group it would be something from Kittie. For Jamie it would be something hardcore like Slipknot or some old school NWA. For Brittany it would be something fun and cute like Gwen Stefani. Paige would have something laid back and smooth like Alicia Keys or Lisa Loeb.

Revenant: Can you tell us a little about Approbation Comics?

BAT: Sure! I guess our main theme is to celebrate diversity and to provide more options than superheroes. Most of our titles are horror related, but we have other things in the works. We’re working hard for all of you and we’ve been getting a lot of great support and feedback. Thank you all!!!

Revenant: What are some of your favorite zombie films?

BAT: The top four that come to my mind are the Dawn of the Dead remake, Resident Evil (just the first one), Shaun of the Dead, and the original Night of the Living Dead. I like all the Romero Dead movies, except Land of the Dead (I liked the scenes with the zombies, but anytime they tried to focus on regular people, ugh). Do the Evil Dead movies count? If so, the first two of those (I didn’t care for Army of Darkness). 28 Days and Weeks later were awesome (the Alien and Aliens of the genre). A local film called Dead Moon Rising was pretty good. Does Pet Cemetery count? If so, both of those. Zombie Honeymoon was a lot better than I anticipated. Fido was good. What was that movie with Mindy Clarke in it...? Return of the Living Dead 3. I know a bunch are escaping me at the moment.

Revenant: Do you check out any of the other zombie comics on the market?

BAT: Oh, yeah... Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is top notch. Marvel Zombies is a funny series. Last Blood is really good. Warren Ellis’s Black Gas is creepy good.

Revenant: Is there anyone in the comics industry that you really admire or would like to work with?

BAT: Wow, God yes. Waaay too many to even try to name. But I’ve already been honored to have Dan Schaffer and Dogwitch, Tim Seeley and Hack/Slash, and Kirk Lindo and Vampirotica all involved with upcoming issues of Chaos Campus. It’s been a treat having Mike Lilly on the covers of volume 1 of Chaos Campus (and hopefully he’ll return for volume 2 and beyond). If all goes well Greg Horn will be doing the covers for the collected volumes.

Revenant: How can we get our hands on Chaos Campus?

BAT: Give your local comic shop retailer this information and they will have a copy waiting for you this October:

Title: Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies
Company: Approbation Comics
Diamond Order Code: AUG08 3739

To find a comic shop near you, simply call toll free: 1-888-266-4226 or visit the online locator: http://csls.diamondcomics.com/default.asp

To check out more of Chaos Campus and other titles from Approbation Comics, click the banner below!