ZRC: Last year you celebrated your 20th year as a professional comic book artist. How has the business differed for you between then and now?
Guy: Well, being freelance it’s always been feast or famine over the years with trying to get work for hire or make a living from your artwork~ I just try to stick with it through the good and bad and make it a point to constantly keep working.

Right now I’m at a really comfortable point in my career where I’m doing the projects that I’m really inspired by and enjoy as opposed to taking on any jobs I can find to pay the bills. So life and work is good~ no complaints here.

ZRC: You’re currently illustrating a lengthy run on the Hellboy spin-off B.P.R.D. with writers Mike Mignola and John Arcudi. What is it like working on a book that mixes so many elements of horror, folklore, mystery, action and…weirdness?
Guy: It’s great fun! Really, working on BPRD with Mike and John has been one of my favorite projects in my career. And that mix of different elements and weirdness is what makes it the most fun~ each storyline I’ve had on BPRD so far has been different in tone and feel from the last for me. It keeps it all inspirinig to work on and there’s lots more weirdness coming up that I can’t wait to draw!

ZRC: You’ve also been illustrating The Zombies That Ate the World, which was originally published in the U.S. as part of the anthology Metal Hurlant, for around five years now. Being that it’s only published in Europe now, what’s it like working on a title that no longer sees print in your own language?
Guy: I really need to try and learn French~ luckily the scripts I get from Gerry Frissen are in english (and hilarious), so at least I know what the characters are saying when I draw it. It’s odd to get the printed books back and only have a vague memory of what they’re talking about~ but it’s great to have the stories printed in different languages and finding new audiences. Not only with Zombies but with BPRD, Sandman Mystery Theatre and the Marquis too!

ZRC: Are there any plans for that book to be published here, and in English, again? 
Guy: Well, there’s definitely some plans for an english edition~ but nothing definite yet. Hopefully we’ll have some news in 2008 though.

ZRC: For Volume 3 of The Zombies That Ate the World, you received a quote from one of the ZRC’s favorite directors, George A. Romero.Who else would you really like to get a quote from for one of your books… be it living , dead or undead?
Guy: You know…I don’t know, I’m going to cop out of naming anyone~ I guess for fear of jinxing it.

ZRC: Your creator-owned books, The Marquis and Baker Street, that you both write and illustrate, are darker in nature than much of your for-hire work and deal with issues that are very horrific; both psychically, including murder and torture, and mentally, including religious persecution and abuse from authority. What draws you to this subject matter for your more personal work?
Guy: I don’t know, I think I’m a pretty happy guy. You know me (Guy’s a good friend of the ZRC -ed.), I’m always fucking laughing~ but we all have those dark thoughts inside, I guess I like to embrace that part or at least the ideas and make entertainment out of it.

I think it’s also really hard to make something scary these days, people are too jaded. So I try to get across the disturbing and unsettle the reader with ideas that are horrific as opposed to intentionally scary.

ZRC: You’ve worked on a eclecitc mix of titles/ genres over the years. What have been some of your personal favorites?
Guy: Personal projects like The Marquis are always a favorite to work on. BPRD is constantly a favorite to work on and something I’m very proud of. I did a short story for a Metal Hurlant called The Phototaker~ that was based on a Jacques Tardi cover he did for them. I’m a huge Tardi fan, so that was great fun to get to do.

ZRC: What’s your all-time favorite zombie film?
Guy: I would still pick Return of the Living Dead~ I still laugh alot when I see that. After that I’d pick I Walked with a Zombie, the old Val Lewton films are great!

ZRC: And lastly…what projects can we look forward to in 2008?
Guy: More BPRD with Mike and John~ I’m also working on some side projects with Mike and Dark Horse Presents. Hopefully we will see some Zombies that Ate the World in english and the new Marquis book finally!

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Awaken the Dead is an independent feature film set to be released this November. The ZRC staff recently got the opportunity to watch the film before its release and chat with writer and director Jeff Brookshire. Read our review of Awaken the Dead.

ZRC: How did you get involved in filmmaking? Is the Awaken the Dead your first film?

Jeff Brookshire: I have been writing and watching movies for most of my life. On a grand scale, that’s how I started down the path that led me here. But, on a smaller scale, I moved to LA about six years ago to get into the movies as a writer. A few years back I wrote a screenplay for Taylor Made Productions called Looking for Prince Charming. It was a dark thriller/comedy about internet dating and murder. It was an independent film and I enjoyed working on it. Prior to that, I’d written spec scripts aimed at the big studios. After that, I decided to write one for myself. That was Awaken the Dead.

ZRC: Awaken the Dead has a very unique plot that seems to draw from everything from 50’s horror films to modern blockbuster action films to Japanese anime. Where do come up with your ideas? What was the writing process like?

JB: Writers draw on their experiences, the movies they like, the music they listen to and the books they read. While I don’t consciously draw on these when I write, everything you’ve ever seen lurks beneath the surface of your consciousness and applies some influence. I have always enjoyed spy stories. Robert Ludlum books were a huge influence on me. I always liked how he took the extraordinary world of espionage and boiled it down to how one person thought and felt and reacted. Any great book or movie pulls you out of your world and pulls you into another. So that’s where I started. I was playing the video game Hitman during the idea phase and that influenced me to make my main character an assassin. Then I needed a way to make him different and add a deeper layer of character. I needed something to drive him.

I decided on guilt. From there it was really free association. Where did the guilt comes from? Guilt = the Catholic Church = a priest. A priest who used to be an assassin. He becomes a priest because of the guilt. Guilt over innocent lives taken. Was I subconsciously channeling that powerful scene in Scarface where Tony won’t blow up the car for the Colombians because there are kids involved and thus trigger his own demise? Maybe, I don’t know. I start with ideas, characters and situations and then, at some point, they take over. The characters start to make their own decisions and speak their own words and the story takes a life of its own. That’s when I get surprised by what happens and see the scenes like movies in my own head.

Now, much of that was below the surface. On the surface, I did want the movie to have a spaghetti western feel to it. I also wanted to channel the dark alternative music world of The Crow. And, oddly enough, I wanted some of the majesty of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator to flavor the film. I write the way I cook. I throw enough ingredients that I like separately together and assume they will be enjoyable as a whole.

ZRC: There seems to be a lot of emphasis on faith and religion in Awaken the Dead. Obviously the main character is a priest, and there’s a Jehovah’s witness in it, and the ending at the church… Talk to me a little bit about that.

JB: My father is a minister. (Insert obvious observations here.) Aside from that, I wanted there to be a central theme running through the film. The theme was redemption. So you will find crosses everywhere, on Christopher’s back, on the wall, on the cabinets, the angel in the stained glass, the dove, etc. It’s subtle at times but serves to tie it together. But it’s not intended to be preachy. I think that the catholic church would be pretty upset at the thought of a priest sleeping with women, drinking heavily, cursing, shooting people and such. But it’s edgy. And it’s cool and it serves to highlight the dichotomy of the main character. Good and Evil in the same person. Yin and Yang. Chaos vs. Control.

The Jehovah’s Witness is there because it ties into the theme but also because it’s funny. This innocent guy is out trying to convert people but picks the wrong door to knock on in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time. All of the characters have something to cling to but their lives are pretty empty until this virus strikes.

ZRC: Awaken the Dead is a very stylistic movie… What movies influenced your shooting style?

JB: The Crow, Fistful of Dollars, Gladiator, Desperado. I drew all of the story boards comic book style which is why many shots look anime influenced. I also was influenced by directors Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Sergio Leone, Francis Ford Coppolla, John Woo, Robert Rodriguez and Quintin Tarantino.

ZRC: How exactly does one get to film a gory zombie movie in an old church like that? It seems to me that typical church-goers might not go in for that sort of thing…

JB: No. It was a battle. We contacted over a hundred churches and were shot down again and again before we got one to say yes. I wanted to shot in one of the old missions but, once they read the screenplay and realized that it involved zombies, they said that the Catholic Church has a different view of life after death. You will notice that there is profanity throughout the film but
NONE during the scenes inside the church. That was part of the deal when we did get the church lined up. The church we found was pretty cool. They were fairly relaxed about it.

ZRC: Many of the shots in the interior scenes in the house are shot close up and made me feel as though the camera was another character in the film. Was this intentional? What else did you do to draw viewers into the movie?

JB: Sergio Leone was a conscious influence, so close ups were part of the plan. But, really, it is a story about the characters. I did whatever I could think of to get the viewer inside their head. I watched what worked in other films and studied techniques. I watch everything, including anime and foreign films and try to study them as much as I try to enjoy them. The music also helped. Music makes you feel as well as images.

ZRC: The end of the movie leaves things a little unresolved. Will we be seeing a sequel in the future?

JB: Definitely. I’m writing it now. What I can tell you is that it is bigger, badder and better. Mad Max was cool but Road Warrior took it to another level. That’s what I’m shooting for. But, no matter what, we won’t lose sight of what the movies are really about. They’re about people. Real people with real issues in extraordinary circumstances.

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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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