Vince Locke has been illustrating comic books for over twenty years now. Some of his work has included the zombie epic Dead World, A History of Violence (which was made into a film in 2005 by director David Cronenberg), American Geek, The Sandman, and Judge Dread/ 2000AD. He has also done illustrations for dark-fantasy author Caitlin R. Kiernan, record covers for the death metal bands Cannibal Corpse and Rademassaker and numerous pieces for the role-playing game company White Wolf. His newest book, Junction True, will be coming out from Top Shelf next year. I had a chance to catch up with him this month to ask him a few questions about his work…and zombies.

ZRC: A lot of your work is geared towards horror and gore. What draws you to these?
Vince: Even as a kid I was interested in “strange things”. I would copy the dragons, skulls and monsters my dad was drawing as tattoo designs. But I think most kids like that sort of stuff. Now I just want to create art that is intense. Something that catches your attention and holds it. And monsters are just fun to draw and paint!

ZRC: What projects are you working on at the moment?
Vince:I’m working on a 5 page sci-fi/zombie story for Judge Dredd Megazine. Some more illo’s for White Wolf. Once a month I do an illustration for Caitlin Kiernan’s Sirenia’s Digest. Those are really fun. I’m working on Junction True, a painted graphic novel for Top Shelf and written by Ray Fawkes. I did some artwork for a zombie card game, and I have been taking on quite a bit of commissions lately.

ZRC: You have had an almost twenty year gig doing record covers for the death metal band Cannibal Corpse. What’s it been like working with them over the years and how did you feel about your latest cover for them, 2005’s Kill, not being on the actual cover of the record?
Vince: It’s been great working with the band. One day I hope to meet them! I was very disappointed that they didn’t use the cover for KILL. It’s one of my favorite paintings. I think it’s really disturbing without being gory. They called me up to let me know that it wasn’t going to be used. The liked the cover, but the band and record label thought that retailers would have problems with it. They wanted to be able to have the CD in as many outlets as possible.

ZRC: You illustrated, and even for a short time wrote, the comic Dead World, most recently for Image in 2006. Do you have any plans for doing any more Dead World stories in the future?
Vince: Nope. I’ve talked to Gary Reed (the writer -ed.) about a few things, but I don’t know if they will ever pan out.
ZRC: What other zombie/horror artists/writers inspire you?
Vince: I love the old horror movies, Bride of Frankenstein, Vincent Price, etc. If you lived in the Detroit area, you might remember Sir Graves Ghastly. He hosted a Saturday afternoon TV show that showed all those old horror movies, with skits in-between. I watched it religiously as a kid. I even sent in a picture for the art gallery they showed every week.

ZRC: What’s your all-time favorite zombie film?
Vince: For a long time it was Dawn of the Dead. I think now it’s 28 Days Later. I hadn’t heard anything about it before I saw it. It took me by surprise; I thought it was great! It was really intense and even made me jump in my seat a few times.

ZRC: What’s 2008 have in store for you?
Vince: Junction True will hopefully be coming out next summer. Other than that, who knows?

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