VITRIOL THE HUNTER
Billy Martin and Brent Allen
CRIMINAL MACABRE:
THEY FIGHT BY NIGHT Steve Niles and
Christopher Mitten
BEDLAM #1
Nick Spencer and Riley Rossmo
THE ADVENTURES OF AUGUSTA WIND #1 J.M. DeMatteis and Vassilis Gogtzilas
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S THE CONQUEROR WORM Richard Corben
MARS ATTACKS THE HOLIDAYS Fred Hembeck, Bill Morrison, Tone Rodriguez, et al.
lured by the siren call of the comics industry. Billy Martin, guitarist for the band Good Char- lotte is the latest member of this growing club; he co-wrote and drew Vitriol the Hunter, a new six-issue series from IDW. Set in the fictional city of Basilika in 2127,
T
Vitriol is a vigilante desperately trying to defend his hometown from a vampire uprising led by Lord Barthus. While he struggles with hordes of bloodsuckers, Vitriol also clashes with local au- thorities known as the Defense Initiative, as well as his own inner demons, which include pill addiction and some serious father issues. Vitriol, co-written with Brent Allen, is Martin’s
first professional comics project. Although his career path has been dominated by music, Martin always had a desire to work in anima- tion or comics and has had plenty of opportu- nities to flex his drawing muscles as a graphic artist and clothing designer. He finally decided to make his comic book dream come true and combine it with his lifelong love of horror and monsters. “I knew it would in-
volve supernatural crea- tures and unique weapons,” says Martin. “The most appealing part of working on a hor- ror book, for me, is cre- ating a world that feels dark, menacing and hopeless and trying to transport the reader there. I love creating worlds, characters and scenarios but as far as putting the pieces to- gether and creating dia- logue goes, I’m too scatterbrained for that. So I brought my mess of ideas to Brent Allen – who happens to be great at that stuff – along with some art, and he literally sent me a script the next day.”
RM46
he last few years have seen comics in- vaded by a number of creators crossing over from other media. Novelists, direc- tors, actors and musicians have all been
Another self-professed horror
fan, Allen also has limited experi- ence in the comics field, but has been writing for most of his life. He’s also no stranger to collabo- rating with Martin, having worked with the musician on scripts in the past, including a cartoon and a fantasy storyline. For Vitriol, the duo wanted to
craft a tale that not only had plenty of monster hunting but also dealt with the horrors that emerge when people are forced to confront their own darkness. “We aren’t solely focusing on how badass Vitriol is and how he can do things most people can’t,” says Allen. “We focus on the thought process of a person that is basically the only hope for hu- mankind and how he hates the attention, is scared to get close to anybody and is completely ad- dicted to pain pills. Throw all of this into a sci-fi/horror setting with some beautiful art that is going to completely shock people, and I think you’ll see some- thing that is fresh and com- pelling.” As it turns out, Martin’s draw-
ing style at first may not look suited to a horror project – at least, not a serious one. Martin admits to being heavily influ- enced by Disney, and does realize that people may mistake the book for a horror comedy, but as- sures fans that is definitely not the case. “I love horror, so to combat the ‘cartoony-ness’ of my
drawing style we went over the top with the gore. Lots of beheadings, hearts torn out, blood and guts! The vibe of the book is definitely se- rious.”
Vitriol The Hunter: Sets its vampire tale in a brutal, dystopian future. And just to make sure readers get the book’s
tone, Martin has crafted Vitriol’s very own soundtrack, available as a free download inside the comic. “I’ve been doing remixes and pro- ducing music for other artists under the name Villain, which coincidentally is a shout-out to my love of the dark side. One day it hit me that put- ting out a soundtrack to the book would be a perfect way to tie my music and art together. I think it will definitely enhance the experience of reading the book and bring an extra dimension to the moodiness and horror. It goes along nicely with my love of creating dark worlds and feel- ings; adding a soundtrack just solidifies the whole thing.” Vitriol the Hunter hits stands in February.
FOLLOW PEDRO ON TWITTER @PCABEZUELO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68