Interview with Mike Raicht - Writer of the upcoming comic 'Zombies' from Marvel Max.

By Geoff Bough

It's a good thing for us zombie fans that zombie comics are currently all the rage. Marvel comics has even joined the surge with recent titles like ''Marvel Zombies.' Now Marvel is set to revive an old character with the recreation of the character Simon Garth in the upcoming title 'Zombies' written by Mike Raicht, artwork by Kyle Hotz and colors from Dan Brown. We got the chance to pick the brains of writer Mike Raicht about the book. Enjoy.

REV: Thanks for joining us Mike, can you tell us a little about the character Simon Garth? From what I know, he is a character that originated in the Golden Age of comics.

Mike: The original Simon Garth? He was apparently quite a bastard who treated his employees pretty harshly. He was eventually stabbed to death by his gardener, Gyps, and then brought back to life by a voodoo queen named Layla because Gyps wanted to keep tormenting him. Nice, right? After he was brought back he was voodoo controlled by an amulet which he was able to resist from time to time in order to do some good. One good thing he did was kill Gyps, who was trying to kidnap Simon's daughter. Gyps apparently had quite the hard on for Simon and his family.
Not sure when he originated exactly.

The Simon Garth in the modern MAX Universe is a bit different. He's an assistant bank manager at Crossroads National Bank who isn't as much of a bastard as the original. Just a normal schmoe when we start our tale. Unfortunately for him he ends up a hostage in a tense bank robbery situation which can change your outlook and demeanor a bit. Especially when Zombies get tossed in.

REV: He sounds like just an ordinary guy that must come to terms with his situation and make some valiant choices.

Mike: Simon is definitely a bit of an every-man. He is a bit crafty but only when pushed. His choices border on heroic but also lean towards self preservation. He wants to help a teller in the bank named Layla and ends up in the middle of the robbery. Eventually he attempts to be heroic but sometimes that can get you into even more trouble. I like to look at him as someone people will be able to relate to. He wants to help people but he also is looking out for himself. He has to balance that. Especially when Zombies and shotgun toting bank robbers are running around.

REV: I am definitely digging that the book is delving into the dark areas of the human psyche. I think given the situation, one would certainly have to do some self exploration. Did you find yourself mentally role-playing some of the characters at times?

Mike: I think you always wonder to yourself "what would I do in this situation" when you're writing anything. I think it's tougher to figure out what people without my highly advanced moral compass would do in a situation... What do you do with a character willing to rob a bank and kill people for money? What would they be willing to do in a situation where their only worry is survival and the cash they just stole? At the end of the day does it become humanity versus the zombies or every man for himself? I'd like to think most people would do the right thing, but I don't have dead corpses gnawing on my arms and legs and banging at my front door. That may change everyone's point of view a bit.

REV: I've read that the zombies in your book are of the fast moving variety. What's your take on the traditional Romero shamblers VS. the Dawn of The Dead 2004 sprinting zombies? This is kind of a soft spot for zombie purists but I think there have been some creative explanations for the fast moving zombies.

Mike: I love the shamblers. I love the runners. I'm a pretty big fan of all zombies. I'm not sure if I like the speaking Zombies or the ones who can communicate with each other. I love Day and Land but something about them organizing makes it less horrorish to me. I like to think of them as animalistic with only one thing driving them -- food. And we're what's for dinner. It makes it more desperate to me.

Zombie um... Zombies are pretty freshly dead corpses. They don't come from graves or anything like that. I think eventually, after their bodies continue to break down some more, they would become the shamblers. Right now they have that extra coordination and energy going for them. They're dead but lively, right? Hopefully I can explore that in a follow up series if the fans dig this one.
Here is how I see it, these things need to eat to survive. It's why these nasty things are always chasing us. If they don't they continue to break down and begin to fall apart. Muscle coordination would go. Instinct would slow down. They would dry up. At least that's how I like to play it. I'm sure we've all thought of these things, right?

REV: What was it like working with the very talented Kyle Hotz and Dan Brown? Which of you is the bigger zombie nut?

Mike: Everyone I've worked with on this has been great. From Kyle and Dan to Axel Alonso and Warren Simons my editors. Kyle brings some awesome visuals to the project and I think Dan is bringing a very cool sensibility to the colors. Lots of moodiness and intensity. I can't wait for people to see the interiors.

Kyle is beyond Zombie nut. He has me beat and I think I'm pretty intense. Kyle was naming off zombie movies I haven't ever heard of and I actively spend my time searching these things out. I'm still looking for some of the titles he named. A part of me wonders if he wasn't just having some fun with me and making them up. Kyle?

REV: You come from an editing background, how has the transition been to writing and delivering your own stories? Do you prefer one over the other?

Mike: I've always been a writer and I've always loved comics so when I had a chance to work for Marvel I jumped at it. I had an internship for a year at Marvel in editorial while I was working on my Masters degree in Creative Writing. Yes, they actually have those! Mike Marts offered me an assistant position and I grabbed it.

Editing and writing really both have their perks creativelty. As an editor you get to shape the plan and bring together the team. And you get to work with supertalented people in order to get the books done.
Being able to write full time, though, is a dream come true. It's what I've always wanted to do, to shape and create my own worlds and the people living in them. Editing helped me learn the ins and outs of writing though. It lets me step back and try to look at my own stuff critically. Something I don't think I was as capable of before.

REV: There have been a lot of well received zombie themed comics lately. How do you feel about those books that have made such an impact already?

Mike: I pick most of them up and at least give them a try. I pick up Walking Dead religiously. Everyone wants an opportunity like that, don't they? To write an ongoing Zombie tale. So cool. Marvel Zombies was a lot of fun as well. Deadworld, Escape of the Living Dead. Zombie books are good ol' fashion fun.

REV: How do you feel about the future of horror comics? It sounds like Axel Alonso is looking to put more focus and attention into creating and possibly reviving new horror titles.

Mike: Horror comics are coming on strong right now. Axel and I used to talk about different horror movies all the time and he always had a hidden gem he wanted me to check out... Cannibal Holocaust, 28 Days Later (before it came to the states), Infection... a bunch of others. He's such a strong editor I'm sure he'll bring some awesome new horror books to the table. He always has a plan. He asked me to pitch a Zombie book so he has to be pretty on the ball, right?

REV: Is there any one title that you are itching to take a shot at writing?

Mike: Definitely Exiles at Marvel. I love the X-Men, have since I was about 8 years old. And with Exiles I was there from the beginning. (Mike Marts and I were the original editors on that one with Judd Winick writing and Mike McKone and Jim Calafiore on art). That book is probably one of the things I'm most proud of being a part of up at Marvel as far as regular comic stuff goes. I think it's a book that a writer can have a great time with because you can do anything. You can take those characters and really chew them up, destroy whole pieces of the Marvel Universe along the way, and then bring a whole new cast in and do it all over again.

REV: What are some of your favorite films in general?

Mike: 28 Days Later, the new and old Dawn of the Dead all rank pretty high on the list. I love war films. Saving Private Ryan is really cool. John Carpenter's The Thing. The Empire Strikes Back. Obviously, I'm not a big fan of the good guys winning, right? And I have to admit I have an unhealthy obsession with Urban Cowboy. I'll watch it whenever it's on. Disgusting.

REV: How about your favorite zombie films?

Mike: I love them all. Like I said though, I can watch 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead over and over and not get bored.I love Night and the original Dawn. (Geekily enough, my Halo 2 screen name is 'Foree' after Ken Foree of Dawn of the Dead. I'm a loser. I know.) Day and Land were ok. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of intelligent zombies but they were still fun.

The original Return of the Living Dead was the first Zombie flick I ever saw. HBO at 2 in the morning. Scared the shit out of me. I didn't get the humor at my young age. Undead was pretty creative and funny.

And some like Burial Ground and The Beyond are so over the top and fun it's great. If you've seen Burial Ground, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you should check it out. Anything I say could ruin it.
And in The Beyond, why doesn't the guy just keep shooting the things in the head. It's crazy!

REV: Do you have a favorite author/book?

Mike: I enjoy Stephen King books. Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Survivor) has some cool stuff out there. My favorite all time book is The Long Walk by Stephen King. I enjoyed Cell as well but wish King would have kept it more in the Zombie vein.

REV: Is there a type of music or ritual you do to get in the frame of mind to write a story like this?

Mike: At the time I was working on Zombie I listened to some Rage, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson. I wanted to keep the intensity up for the Zombie violence scenes. Seemed to get my creative juices going.

REV: Zombie is a 4 issue mini-series, after this run wraps, what can we expect too see next from you?

Mike: I've got a couple things coming up. A book called Prey: Origin of the Species from the Dabel Brothers which I adapted from a Michael Lent movie script. It's a sci-fi ocean adventure.
I have a few short stories on the horizon. A war story and a short super-hero tale in Negative Burn (Desperado Press at Image) and a story called Red Rain in a Sci Fi anthology called Space Doubles coming out soon from a new publisher called Th3rd World Studios.
There are a few other things coming, one horror book and two superhero titles, but I wanted to wait a bit longer until I'm sure of the production schedule before I name those projects.
And obviously, I hope Zombie does well enough for Marvel to warrant a follow up. I've got some cool ideas about what comes next. I think fans would dig it.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Mike and we will be awaiting the release of Zombie in September. If you would like to purchase the upcoming Zombie comic from Marvel Max, head to your local comic shop and tell them that you would like them to order the title for you. Zombies will be released by Marvel Max in September.