INTERVIEW: ‘Death Reign: Gehenna’ enters homestretch of Kickstarter campaign
Image courtesy of artist / Provided with permission.
Death Reign: Gehenna, a new comic book, has successfully been funded via Kickstarter, and there are still a few days left in the digital campaign. As of press time, more than $4,300 had been raised to bring John Holland’s vision to life. Fans can expect a 48-page first issue, with a main arc for the first 24 pages, followed by three mini-stories to finish the inaugural edition.
Here’s how the comic book is being billed: The cities of earth are disappearing and reappearing in a world called Gehenna. No one knows why, but the reality is that the Demons are enslaving the humans on this sister planet. It’s up to the Four to stop the evil plans of the bad guys and save the day, but the Four may be as scary as the Demons.
Holland is the writer and co-creator of the book. Joining him on the project are JTravis Smith, co-creator and artist; Javi Laparra, colorist; Leo McGovern, letterer; and Bradley Golden, the editor best known for Shook! A Black Horror Anthology. Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Holland about the new project, which is billed as having that quintessential 1990s-era comic action. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can fans expect from Death Reign: Gehenna?
Our main goal is to create a comic that fans can have fun reading and brings them on an adventure. We know in today’s world money is tight and comics are expensive, so we want to earn your trust that when you pick up our comic you’re getting your money’s worth.
Do you envision more stories in this universe beyond the first 48 pages?
Definitely! This story is created to be an ongoing series. Our world we created, Gehenna, lets us tell just about any type story we want to. I look at Gehenna as something along the lines of Jack Chalker’s Well World series, which many people nowadays may not remember, but was a huge planet that was full of thousands of “other worlds” on the Well World. On our Gehenna, you can walk from a country of demons to one of vampires while crossing a line where time doesn’t work like we think of it. There is no end to the stories we can tell.
Why did you go the Kickstarter route for funding?
Kickstarter is becoming the place to go to fund your comic. We were talking about this, and we look at Kickstarter as this huge mall and all the projects as their own store within that mall. And customers can come to the mall and then look through all the stores for what they want to buy. Kickstarter gives us more control of our creation and a better chance at continuing the story beyond the first issue.
Is the book done, or will you complete it if the Kickstarter is successful?
We’re in the process of working on the book as the Kickstarter goes live. Our goal is to continue this book on a bimonthly basis, though since this is our first one, and we’re learning as we go along, we’ve built in a little lead time to make sure we get it done on time. We both have been around the comic industry for awhile now and are good at making our deadlines, so we feel confident that everyone will get their comics on time.
How would you define ’90s style action? What are some of your influences?
The ’90s were a time when a group of successful creators broke away from Marvel and created their own publishing company that would help define the decade and beyond. But beyond just what Image was doing, you had comics like Sandman, Preacher, Frank Miller was back on Daredevil with John Romita Jr., Sin City, Hell Boy. There was so many cool comics, and we are looking at all of them for inspiration.
How did you create the Demon characters? What influenced your vision for how they look?
This one I’m throwing to the artist and co-creator JTravis Smith: I’ve always been heavily influenced by horror and fantasy, B horror movies from the ’80s and ’90s like Full Moon pictures. So my main influences for the look came from Lovecraftian horror, fantasy painters like Alex Horely and Frank Frazetta. And finally I added in some heavily inspired Dale Keown Pitt style anatomy.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Death Reign: Gehenna #1 is currently being funded via Kickstarter. Click here for more information.
