By: Nicole D’Andria
This week
we’re showcasing Nix Comics Quarterly #9,
which collects horror stories inspired by Punk rock, 60s Garage, old R&B
and Soul, as well as other forms of music. I spoke with writer Ken Eppstein.
Nix Comics Quarterly is a comic book
anthology inspired by old comics such as Tales
from the Crypt and Creepy Magazine.
The cover of this issue is by Stephen Blickenstaff, an artist/musician who is
also responsible for The Cramps: Bad
Music for Bad People album cover.
There are
six separate stories in the comic:
The first
story is “The Vicar: Whispers From The Alley,” written by Ken Eppstein and illustrated
by Michael Neno. It’s part of a series of stories about a monster hunter garage
rocking preacher who fights off a werewolf.
The
second story is “Verna's Somnabulant Adventure,” written by Ken Eppstein and illustrated
by Gideon Kendall. Verna worries when her roommate Sally gets creepy new additions
to her Beatles collection.
The third
story is “Hellhounds On My Trail,” written by Ken Eppstein and illustrated Pat
Redding Scanlon. The story stars Ana Satura, a character introduced in a Vicar
story from Nix Comics Quarterly #7.
The story is all about guitars, hot rod cars and karate chops.
The
fourth story is “The Shoplift Horror,” written by Christian Hoffer and illustrated
by Andy Bennett. This post-apocalyptic story is about the owner of the last
record store dealing with Lovecraftian horrors on a daily basis.
 |
The fifth
story is “Did It Really happen? Thor Meets Stan Lee,” written by Ken Eppstein and illustrated by Mark Rudolph. Jon Mikl
Thor, a Canadian rocker and body builder, meets Marvel's Stan Lee.
The last
two stories feature everybody’s (least) favorite commuter. “Bus Stop Ned has a
good day” is written by Ken Eppstein and illustrated by Matt Wyatt; “Bus Stop
Ned has a recipe” is written by Matt Miner, illustrated by Jude Vigants and lettered
by Taylor Esposito. The dialogue is from real bus stop “horror stories.”
The funds
made on the Kickstarter are going
towards paying artists and vendors to ensure the release of Nix Comics Quarterly #9 at the Cartoon
Crossroads Columbus festival in Columbus. Eppstein will be tabling there on
October 15th and 16th. Rewards include a physical copy of the issue
($4) as well as Mark Rudolph’s Nix Comics
poster ($16), and a glow in the dark t-shirt ($25), among many other perks. The project will be
funded if at least $2,000 is pledged by September 19th, 2016 at 7:26
AM EDT. See their official Kickstarter page here.
I
interviewed writer Ken Eppstein about the project.
 |
Me: Who are some of the
recurring characters that show up in Nix Comics Quarterly?
Ken Eppstein: The
two characters that have had stories in every issue to date have been The Vicar
and Bus Stop Ned.
The Vicar is a garage
band front man who dresses as a priest and tours the country slaying the
vampires, werewolves and assorted ghouls hiding in the audience at the sleazy
bars he plays. The Vicar is the closest thing that I have to an action hero in
the comics and is inspired in part by the recurring characters in the 70s and
80s horror comic magazines that I loved like Vampirella, The Rook, Bloodstone,
et al. I suppose there is some aspect of Baron Winters from Night Force as
well.
Bus Stop Ned’s presence
in every issue probably owes more to my background reading old punk zines and
cartoons in alt weekly newspapers than anything else. Every Ned Story is a one pager and all of his
dialog is lifted from actual overheard conversations. Maybe a little out of place in a garage punk
rock horror comic, except I can’t think of anything more horrific in the punk
lifestyle than daily use of public transit! I try to use a different artist for
every Ned strip to give him that “everyone has sat next to this guy on the bus”
feel. Most of the stories are direct from my own experience, but recently Matt
Miner (Black Mask Studio’s Liberator,
Toe Tag Riot) has shared some of his
transit stories through Ned as well.
A more recent addition
to the recurring cast has been The Last Record Store Guy on Earth, the main
character in a series by Christian Hoffer and illustrated this coming issue by
Andy Bennett. The basic premise of those stories is that the main character
strives to survive in a world where Lovecraftian horrors birthed by digital
music have destroyed civilization.
 |
| Bus Stop Ned - illustration by Jude Vigants |
Me: How did music inspire
this horror comic anthology?
Eppstein: I
would say that while I make many direct references to artists and specific
songs, the main reason I call it a garage punk themed anthology is that it is
informed by the culture centered around music… going to shows, starting bands,
hanging out in record stores, collecting weird memorabilia and band swag… the
sort of thing I was obsessed with in my 20s. And my 30s. And well… now.
Basically, I really want
Nix Comics Quarterly to be about
people as opposed to just plain outright idolatry of the music. As a horror comic, the anthology particularly
feeds off the foibles of the people in that music culture.
 |
| "The Shoplift Horror" - illustrated by Andy Bennett |
Me: For each of the short stories
in this collection, what song would you say describes each one the best and
why?
Eppstein: I’ve
actually put together a play list on spotify if anyone wants to check it out!
http://nixcomics.com/holy-snot/nix-comics-quarterly-9-playlist
http://nixcomics.com/holy-snot/nix-comics-quarterly-9-playlist
That list actually has a
couple songs per feature story, but I think I can narrow it down to answer your
question:
- “Hellhound On My Trail” by Robert Johnson for Hellhounds On My Trail. (For obvious reasons!)
- “Hoodlum AD” by Mick Collins for The Shoplift Horror. I pulled this song off of the gut punk laden Sore Losers Soundtrack, a movie created by 80s and 90s comics creator Mike McCarthy. I like this intro’s otherworldly and out-of-time quality, which I find kind of similar to John Zorn’s “Spillane.”
- “Ask me No Questions” by Johnny Thunders for The Vicar: Whispers From The Alley because the story deals a conversation with the devil wherein questions I’ve tacitly implied about the Vicar in past stories get posed in more direct fashion.
- “Naked Girl Falling Down the Stairs” by The Cramps for Verna’s Somnabulistic Adventure, mostly because Gideon Kimball did such a great job with a scene where Verna falls down the stairs (in her PJs, though) and now I can’t get that tune out of my head!
- For the Bus Stop Ned stories, let’s say The Replacement’s “On The Bus” and Weird Al’s “Another One Rides the Bus” because… you know… buses.
- As opposed to a specific song, I’d like readers to check out the recent “I Am Thor” documentary in regards to the “Did It Really happen?” story. It’s a great portrait of a guy who has worked hard touring for decades with little of what people would typically call success.
 |
| "The Vicar: Whispers From The Alley" - illustration by Michael Neno |
Me: What is the number one
reason you think people should back Nix Comics Quarterly #9?
Eppstein: I
think the main thing that Nix Comics
Quarterly has going for it is that it’s different. I don’t mean that in a
bullshit hyperbolic “THE WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!!” way, but more in a
“hey, that awkward greasy kid in the corner made a comic which is basically a
love letter to his favorite comics and music and it’s kind of cool” way.
Nix Comics Quarterly is basically a mixtape I made for my crush. It just so happens
that I crush on pre-code horror and humor comics, garage rock records/music and
the people who love them.
 |
| "Hellhounds On My Trail" - illustration by Pat Redding Scanlon |
Me: What are some of the
most memorable stories that you enjoyed from pre-code horror and humor comics,
and how do you think they've influenced your work today?
Eppstein: Oh Gosh… So many….
I think
maybe my favorite is “Hex” by Jack Davis from one of the early issues of Mad.
What I like about it is that Davis was finally free to lend his sense of
humor to the horror genre AND incorporate baseball, something he loved outside
of comics. While what I do isn’t as whacky as Mad, that’s the same kind of thing I try to do with music in my Nix titles!
I also
like the “Cutting Cards” story where the two gamblers chop each other to pieces
in a series of increasingly more gruesome bets and dares. (There was a good
adaptation of this one for the Tales from
the Crypt TV Show with Lance Henriksen.) The story takes a relatively
common crime story cliché and takes it to a thoroughly ridiculous extreme. I’d
like to think I up-end some of the common story telling standards the same way.
 |
| "Verna's Somnabulant Adventure" - illustration by Gideon Kendall |
Me: If you had to pick,
which story from any Nix Comics Quarterly was your favorite to
write and why?
Eppstein: You’re
going to make me pick a favorite child, huh? That’s actually pretty tough since,
as a self-publisher, I’m not doing anything that doesn’t please me. I like it
all. (I suppose if I were desperate to get a gig at Marvel or have things
distributed through Diamond or something, I might have to do work that I find
more onerous, making for a wider continuum of feelings.)
I guess I’ll go with the
Vicar story “That Dog Don’t Hunt” from issue #5. I wanted to challenge myself
by writing a werewolf story where the drama doesn’t come from the
transformation… Where the tension is the struggle against the seemingly
inevitable change into a creature that revels in the shameless gory
satisfaction of bestial desires.
 |
| "Did It Really happen? Thor Meets Stan Lee" - illustration by Mark Rudolph |
Me: What inspirational words
do you have for aspiring comic book writers?
Eppstein: Ooooooh
man. I feel like I’m bad at answering this sort of question because I’m pretty
cynical about it all.
I’m pretty sure that
I’ll never be in a situation where my comics work is paying my mortgage. While
I love the comics I make, I don’t think I’ll ever get critical acclaim for my
work. The bar for entry into comics is lower than it’s ever been, but the path
to long term success is flooded with talented veterans, dedicated journeymen
and enthusiastic wannabes.
But you know what? I
find that all pretty liberating. Frankly, since the odds are stacked against
me, I can just play the game however I want. I’m not writing to get approved by
Diamond for distribution or to pique the interest of Eisner judges. I just make
comics that I know my cronies will dig and don’t spend a lot of time worrying
about my “career” or whatever.
So, I guess my advice is
that careerism and ambition are the enemies of creativity, and if you want to
make comics, do it for love. Worry about success if it happens.
Me: Thanks for your time! If you’re interested in backing the
project, check out the official
Kickstarter.
Do you
have a Kickstarter? Want to be interviewed about it and have the project
featured on "Kickstart the Week?" Let me know in the comments below
or message me on comicmaven.com.
Other
“Kickstart the Week” features:
No comments:
Post a Comment