Christian Ward Interview - Event Horizon: Dark Descent and Two-Face

[00:00:00] Let's get on to the interview.

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[00:01:24] Or download the 2000AD app and why wait? Start reading today. I'll put links in the show notes for you. Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner Podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparro, and I am very excited because I have a returning guest to the podcast. And we have a lot to talk about. And I was just going through previews or some website that was talking about upcoming solicits.

[00:01:49] And when I saw this, I knew I had to try and get him back on because there is an Event Horizon comic that is coming out from IDW. I was a huge fan of the movie when it came out. And I'm just, I can't wait to hear more about it. But please, welcome to the podcast, Christian Ward. Christian, thank you so much for coming back. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, thank you for having me. It's absolutely wonderful to be back.

[00:02:20] And I can't wait to get into our new Event comic. Yeah. Um, very, I'm, I had, hadn't heard anything about it before until like right before I reached out to you. I was just, um, I don't know if I was on previews or there's like a couple of websites that kind of aggregate the solicits as they come out. And they're helpful for me to figure out like podcast guests to go through and say, oh, who's got stuff coming out that I hadn't heard about yet.

[00:02:48] And yeah, when I saw that Event Horizon, I think that Dark Descent. Um, and when I saw that, I was like, what? Cause I, uh, every once in a while, somebody will put something out on social media. Like what property do you think, you know, if you had a chance to do a comic book for, and, um, that's one of the ones I always think of like Event Horizon.

[00:03:11] Like, I can't believe that nobody has, hasn't like touched that world or, or done something with it. Um, and so when I saw that, and then when I saw that you were involved, I was like, oh, oh, this, I got to try and get Christian back. Um, but so, so listeners, we're going to talk about that. Uh, the final order cutoff is July 14th. Issue one is August 20th.

[00:03:38] Um, but before we do that, cause last time you were on, we were talking about your two face. And I just want to say, man, I, I just loved it. I thought I really enjoyed it. I collected it, uh, as it came out. I, I think I, of course, I mean, I know this is not a visual medium, but we do sometimes Brock Byron does sometimes put them on, um, on YouTube. But, uh, I will say I had to make sure I got the issue one. Nice.

[00:04:07] Uh, that's your cover, right? It is. Yeah. This one. I got all the, the other issues here. And yeah, I, I really enjoyed it. I, I really thought it was fun seeing Harvey this way. And I always think it's neat when you have a, like a, uh, uh, like DC has such like a rich history and, but you don't forget like, or not, you don't forget.

[00:04:31] You do forget with so many years when, you know, you had writers and artists pitching stuff and they just, I mean, they were mainly making them for like kids, teen boys. They were just like pitching different ideas for different villains. And there's such like a rich history of villains out there. And also ones you can kind of come up, you know, on your own. And, uh, you know, it was, I just thought to be able to use, you know, to use Zazz and like baby dolls in it.

[00:04:59] And so, um, it's, I just, I really liked it. And I love the, the kind of in head element, you know, Harvey against Harvey, but you also see Harvey in the courtroom with this white shirt. I just really, uh, I really liked it. I thought you did such a nice job. Um, yeah, the ventriloquist and baby doll and the character of doubt that issue three, I think was my favorite. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, do you know what? That was the coolest thing about it.

[00:05:27] You know, uh, like, you know, I mean, we talked about this the last time I was on, but you know, when I kind of came up with the idea and, and I kind of cold pitched my editor DC and they loved it. Um, which by the way, you know, as I said before, like cold pitch me, it's not a thing. Do you know what I mean? That that's it's, I was so lucky to like land there. And I think it was just because everyone was so excited, but just to go back to your point about the villains in it.

[00:05:53] And I think that was my favorite joy around writing the book was that I could basically, you know, by and large decide who was going to be like the kind of the monsters of the week each week. And it was, it was just like, okay, well, who do I want? Who are the villains and the characters that I, you know, that, that my kind of years of reading Batman have always stayed with me.

[00:06:19] You know, Reep was in there from, from, uh, year two and then my personal favorite full circle. Um, and then you've got, you know, as you, you mentioned, you've got baby doll, you know, and it was such a thrill to give baby doll her first, you know, non cameo appearance. It's the first time she's been in like a DC comic proper. That was incredible.

[00:06:40] And then just, you know, Zaz has always been a big favorite of mine and be able to sort of like, you know, put my own spin on each character and have them kind of coexist. And then of course, you know, we, we, uh, I'd be remiss if I didn't kind of tip my hat to, you know, Fabio and even, uh, and Hass who just like, you know, brought their A game. I mean, I think Fabio draws some of these characters like every time it was just an absolute joy. Like, how is he going to draw, you know, baby doll?

[00:07:10] How, what, what's doubt? You know, doubt was a character I've created with, uh, with Patrick Reynolds. Who's got this very realistic title and then seeing, it was so cool seeing, um, uh, Fabio kind of, who's got a very kind of pulpy, almost cartoon style, a little like, you know, darling cookies esque him doing doubt and just nailing it. And it just like seeing a different side of that character.

[00:07:35] And I remember when I got those inks in, I, uh, I sent a sneaky look to, uh, Patrick. Cause I knew he'd get a kick out of it. And he was just like, Oh my God. I was like, our boy is like existing beyond us. You know, you know, uh, it was so cool. Yeah. It was, uh, you know, I, uh, you know, I knew I had those six issues, you know, at least those six issues. And I just like, everyone was just like, okay, who do I want? You know?

[00:08:03] And, and, and you want to kind of create characters and kind of like, you want to kind of populate the world with kind of like more characters. So that with the hope that, you know, whenever I write to be like, Oh, I really liked Lake or I really liked doubt. So I really liked die. I think I could do something with them. And that's, you know, that would be a dream to see those characters kind of go on and have a life without me. Um, or, or even, you know, hopefully one day return to them.

[00:08:28] Um, but yeah, it was, uh, it was such a joy and it's, and it's a joy hearing how much, you know, not just yourself, but how much other readers have kind of resonated with it. Um, you know, that's, that's, you know, that's a big part of why I love what I do. It's kind of connecting with readers. Um, and just, you know, I don't do this. I don't do this just because, you know, you know, it's not just a living.

[00:08:53] I really enjoy wanting to kind of entertain people and take people on a journey and to know that that journey has been pleasurable. I mean, that's just, that's, that's just soul food right there. Awesome. Well, yeah, I'm glad that the, you know, the response to it has been good. Uh, you know, hopefully you, yeah. Um, I also like, there's, you know, a couple of things in it where, you know, cause you're dealing with kind of like Harvey is locked away the bad side of himself.

[00:09:19] And, um, you know, I've, we've seen that kind of done before in like TV or movies or, or, or certain things, but I, I, there's great, you know, not to spoil too much, but there's a great couple of scenes. Where, like, well, I'll say bad Harvey is like kind of having a conversation with, uh, the, the in head version of Maroney.

[00:09:43] And like, they're, they're having a conversation and like, but I love how Maroney's just like, yeah, man, I, I don't, I'm just, I'm just in, I'm just in Harvey's head. Like he doesn't know anything. He's just trying to make me more interesting. And it's like, oh, there's, there's, there's always like an awareness kind of like this, this mental head, uh, prison thing that bad Harvey is kind of trapped in. And, um, I kind of loved all of those, uh, elements to it.

[00:10:09] I just thought it, the, you know, the idea in this, that that side of Harvey was kind of always there, created, locked away. Uh, and not, and it wasn't just that like Maroney with the acid created two face. It was just, it was always there.

[00:10:29] And that just was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back that really let out like that side of, um, that side of Harvey. And, uh, yeah, I just thought all of those elements were, were great. I love the character of Lake. I just thought, yeah, what a, what a wonderful, uh, addition. Um, and yeah, I had, I know, I know when we had first talked about it and talked about the creation.

[00:10:57] And then I, you know, was reading them as they were coming out. And then I got a little bit behind, but I wanted to go back and look at them before we talked today. And as I, I picked up, I don't know, maybe like issue, issue two, it's the issue. Yeah. It's gotta be issue two. It's when Lake is in the club. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's when Lake's in the nightclub and I'm like, damn, this lettering is good. Who, who lettered this? And I'm like, oh, pass, of course. And I, I've got to like, I, I, you know, and I, I've said this before, but I've got to

[00:11:26] give him props here, you know, because it's all about, I'm a big believer in making sure everybody gets their flowers. Um, um, so in the script, I, I, you know, I had like Lake moving around in the nightclub and I kind of said to Fabio that, that, you know, we didn't have to keep to a kind of traditional panel structure for this, but the main, the main kind of narrative thrust of this page is she's going to move through the, the, uh, the nightclub.

[00:11:52] And as she moves through, she's going to lip read and all, you know, she's scanning people and she's lip reading. And then, and then in the lettering, I literally just had each panel or each suggested panel was going to be like one word. And it was her putting that. And, you know, as you, as you read it, you put a sentence together. So anyway, Hass went away and he spoke to some, uh, some deaf friends of his and, uh, basically

[00:12:20] they, they, he was, how does lip reading work? And he, they basically sort of explained to him that it's this strange game of kind of like half guessing and, and using context to kind of like you, okay, that, so it could be that or that, but the context means it can only be that. And it's this like kind of almost like Sudoku-esque puzzle of them kind of like putting it all together. I mean, it's just remarkable really.

[00:12:49] Uh, and what's even more remarkable was that Hass came and he kind of sent us this page with this idea that he wanted to kind of like visualize through his lettering. I mean, he's the master in, in, in the game. He wanted to visualize how that process works. I mean, I, I can't tell you how, how many people like reached out to me on Instagram or, or league of comic book geeks or on blue sky.

[00:13:19] And we're just like, this is amazing. You know? And every time I was just like, it is, but like direct your, you know, direct your praise to Hass because like, you know, I mean, it's why, like, I mean, I'm not working with him on, on Eventful Horizon, unfortunately, but, um, you know, every comic where I have a say on like who the letter is, like, like, like, like I always feel really bad because like I'm lost. Like, I just presume he'll do it. And a number of times it's like, oh, you're doing this book next week with me.

[00:13:49] That's fine. I presume that's fine. Right. And every time it's sort of, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, I'm sure he's just like, I'll come around. Well, I haven't got time. And really we've worked enough, like let me work with other people. But I'm just like, he's just, he's a genius. Yeah. Absolute genius. That, that, that section in particular. I mean, all of it is great, but that section in particular. Um, so yeah, I, I really loved it. I loved kind of seeing the courtroom stuff, the white shirt stuff. I, I love it. Yeah. I mean, very much so.

[00:14:18] I kind of, I, and it, it, it is funny because, you know, going from the district attorney to what he's doing now and there, there is also kind of a comic element to it of Harvey trying to convince himself that what he is doing is going to get, you know, early on, he's going to get himself in like back in the good graces. Like he's still murdering. He's still murdering people. I mean, like, it's so funny.

[00:14:43] Like a lot of people, there was a few people that were really, they were a bit upset with me at the end. No spoilers, but they were a bit upset with me at the end. And, uh, and I was like, I get it. Cause like, you know, they love Harvey. They like, kind of love Harvey. Like he's a real person, right? You know, good Harvey. And I do, you know, but, um, like, but also like the, the big drive of the book. And like, you know, there was a reason why we start with Brad Harvey narrating, like it's always his story.

[00:15:12] It's always his story. Yeah. And, um, he's, uh, you know, even in our first issue, he's like, bad harvest is like, um, what are you talking about? You're like, bad harvest is like, you're crazy. This isn't going to happen. Like all the way through, this is not going to happen. I like, and I really love that, that kind of like, I think kind of, it's, it's kind of, you know, there's, there's absolutely nothing wrong with characters having self-delusion

[00:15:40] and having the same kind of flaws that everyday people have. You know, we, we delude ourselves all the time or pretend to, it's going to work out where we know it's not, you know, and I really wanted to kind of have Harvey feel like a real person. And he's really striving for something, even though subconsciously and he's subconsciously has got a name. Um, it says this isn't going to happen. Um, you know, so that was, that was really important to me.

[00:16:07] Uh, that, that, that was, you know, it's, it's, I always knew I was writing, and again, all this people haven't read it, but I, I always knew I was kind of writing the track. Um, you know, um, and I, you know, there were plans, like I had to submit what arc two was because, you know, if we'd, we'd done really well and we've blown the doors off sales wise, you know, we would have, that arc two would have been greenlit and, um, you

[00:16:33] know, alas it wasn't to be, but you know, there was like, as far as, you know, that those six issues were exactly what I planned. And they were all what were in the pitch. And then, you know, we, uh, I kind of like, you know, there was, there is a kind of like, there is more there. And who knows, you know, if, if, if the trade does very well, you know, it's always, it's always, you never know in this game. You never know. Right. Yeah.

[00:17:02] Well, I'm going to be pointing people towards it when the trade comes out because I can't wait to see it, uh, collected. I thought it was great. Uh, I, not just, I love the story and yeah, there's just some fantastic visuals in it. Um, you know, especially the end of issue five. Um, you know, I just, I, I love that scene of Harvey looking up the, I'm listening and the, uh, you know, next closing arguments. I just thought that was that whole last page of issue five. It's such a nice touch.

[00:17:32] So cool. Uh, and I, when, uh, when Fabio sent that in, we were all like, like, so cool. And that's why I loved working with Fabio. It was just like, everything was kind of like, it was, it was always Gotham through a different lens. Like, like character, like croc for his lens. Wasn't quite the croc we've seen before. And Zaz wasn't quite the Zaz we've saw before. And I think kind of, you know, again, visual meeting, not visual meeting, but you know,

[00:18:00] I'm a big fan of like the, uh, animated series and you can see a lot. Yeah. I see that in the back. Yeah. And there's a lot of that in the book. And I think kind of the reason why we kind of selected Fabio was because it's kind of, he was almost like a halfway ground between, you know, what you would expect in a, in a kind of DC comic and kind of like animated, you know, Batman animated series.

[00:18:26] It's, he's like this halfway point in a really cool, really umami way. Um, yeah. I mean, I think it worked really well for the story and it looks really great. But, you know, and Ivan's, Ivan's colors were, were like, you know, like, it was funny. Cause when we started, um, I had such a, I mean, I think it's funny. Like I'm very off hands when it comes to artists, but you know, obviously for anyone who doesn't know, I I'm an artist initially.

[00:18:54] Uh, but I don't, I don't really get involved with kind of like people's art or kind of like micromanaging. And that's like, that's, that's for them to do. I don't do that, but I'm really particular with color. Um, and I find it really hard not to be particularly color. And I remember Ivan, like we had this really clear idea of how we would distinguish between the real Gotham and the mind prison.

[00:19:24] And I really wanted it and I wanted it. I didn't want to have to every time, you know, because I knew there was going to be like every now and again, we just have a panel. So I was just, I don't want to have, like, I don't want to have to do an establishing shot every time I go into the mind prison. We need to have a short visual shortcut so that when the readers are reading it, they know immediately where we are. And it took us a while, but like all my notes were like, just turn it up a bit more, just turn it up, turn it up.

[00:19:53] And then I, and once he got it, once he kind of like understood what I was, what I wanted and what I was seeing in my head, like, my God, he was like flying. I mean, like, like my God. And when he was sending in like, particularly issue four, which was the, you know, our kind of trial of Harvey Dent, right. And some of those colors, like I'm really open. I mean, obviously we've just had the eyes and the nominations for this year, but it would

[00:20:21] be, I think it would be, he's so deserving of a, of a nod and yeah. And has, you know, and Fabio, maybe me as well, you know, I think so. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's, I've been, I've been very blessed with working with very talented people in this industry and what is so wonderful and so, um, just so lovely is that, that, that

[00:20:50] people bring their anger, a game to like the books that I'm writing. And that's just, you couldn't ask for a better, you know, vindication of like kind of what you're trying to do. Right. Yeah. I, I, uh, I, uh, am definitely going to, like I said, point people to the, um, to the trade because I, I really love the story. All right, everybody. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[00:23:41] So now let's turn for the main event for this podcast. Event Horizon Descent. So this is IDW. And I mean, I'll just say, like, you know, I said it at the beginning, a little bit in the opening, but I was so excited when I saw this. I haven't seen, I haven't watched Event Horizon in quite some time, but I saw it in the theater when it came out in 1997.

[00:24:10] I think I was a, I would have been a senior in high school. And I remember going and I, as a kid growing up, I hated horror movies. I think I've told this story on the podcast before, but I went to, and like when I was in grade school, like maybe like fifth or sixth grade to like 11, 10, 11, 12 years old, I

[00:24:34] went to some of these, they had horses at a local like college for like grade school kids you could go. And they had all kinds of different things you could go for the day. There were a bunch about the, you know, those were the nineties. So there was a ton about the environment, things along those lines. But everyone else that I was with was going to one about monsters. And I hated any type of horror movie, but I didn't want to be the only person going to like an environmental one.

[00:24:59] So I went to the monster one and it was all about like how we create monsters and then like from books and literature and then into movie monsters. So that, you know, they were talking about Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. And it kind of like demystified like the scariness of the horror genre as a kid. And I started watching everything I could get my hands on.

[00:25:25] I just like, I went through all the Halloween, all the Nightmare on Elm Street, all the Friday New York City, like older horror films. And I just really got into them like ones from the seventies, eighties, and then into the nineties. So when something like Event Horizon came out and it was kind of like a cosmic horror, which, you know, I mean, other than there was Alien and, but, but this seemed different, at least

[00:25:53] in terms of what I had seen, like, cause it was kind of science fiction. This idea of this like ship that had been missing for seven years and it had this special gravity drive. And, um, I just, I was totally enthralled by it. Love the cast. I love Sam Neill. I love, uh, Lawrence Fishburne. I think Jason Isaacs is also, also in it.

[00:26:18] Um, and I think for years afterwards, because like we didn't have the internet for a while. I always wondered if that scene where, uh, the Lawrence Fishburne kind of saves the one guy as he floats out of the air. That was, that was possible. Um, but I just, I loved it. Loved, loved the movie. And so to think that there is now going to be an IDW, you know, comic book that you're involved in.

[00:26:48] I was just like, I want to know, I want to know everything about it. I want to talk to you about it. I want to know how it came about. I wanted to know if this was something that you were a fan of or just kind of like a job that came along. And yeah, so event horizon, dark descent. Tell me all about it. Here we go. Well, no, well, no pressure. Right. I mean, this is the thing. This is the thing with this, but like, so like my God, like, so going from two phase, like, you know, like, you know, there was a lot of pressure on two phase, you know, he's

[00:27:18] a beloved character and you know, you know, I knew how to do it. Right. Like I was really confident with two phase. I just knew, I always like, I knew, I know that character like so well. I was so, you know, I was not cocky, but confident. But this man, well, like, like the pressure is on, like, I am very aware of the fan base, very aware how beloved it is. And, and just, and here's the thing, like, so I've, obviously I've watched it quite a

[00:27:48] lot recently. You know, I watch it, you know, I'm not, or I did the kind of like pitch. I watched it properly and kind of like, you know, with my kind of really intense kind of like, okay, I'm studying this now. And as I've been writing the scripts, I've kind of been watching scenes here and there and just kind of like, you know, reminding myself of the tone and the flavor and everything. And, um, what's really interesting about Event Horizon is that you can't quite put your finger

[00:28:17] on what makes it good. It's this weird, ethereal kind of like this strange combination of things and just this alchemy of just like, it just worked. And, and there were things that were being put together that hadn't really been put together before. I mean, like you, I saw it, you know, I saw it at the cinema. I was, I was, um, I was in my, it was 97, I believe it came out. 1997. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:47] So I would have been, uh, I would have been either, I thought I was 19, but I'm, I'm not, I'm not, I was older, but I was either 20 or 21 when I saw it. So, you know, young adult. And, um, and the funny thing was that the reason why I went to see the film wasn't because, I mean, I was a big film guy, still am, and me and my mates, we were, we went to the cinema

[00:29:12] every Friday without fail, see the film of the week, whatever we chose would be the film. But, and that was the film for this week. But one of the big choices wasn't just because it was like a sci-fi horror. It was because, um, I was a big Orbital fan who, uh, who kind of contributed to the soundtrack. It was really about wanting to kind of like hear like a, a favorite musician group of mine, like what they would do, uh, with a school.

[00:29:40] Um, and, uh, and I still remember sitting there and watching the kind of like, you know, as you zoom down the black hole and the, and the kind of the techno stumping and just thinking, I've never seen anything like this. Do you know what I mean? I've never seen this energy and this kind of like this clash between some really contemporary. Uh, and then, you know, cause cosmic car always feels really old to me and really ancient and really beyond any kind of comprehension.

[00:30:11] And I think, you know, I think that's the, that's the thing that, that I'm working very hard and thinking very carefully about trying to not necessarily emulate it because I don't want our book to be a copy, but it has to feel right. It has to feel in keeping so that, you know, when people read it, even though it's in a different medium, they are going to feel satisfied. They're not going to feel cheated.

[00:30:41] You know, I I'm, I'm treating it with a lot of respect. Uh, I'm not, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to kind of undo anything. I'm not trying to kind of like my goal really, um, is to kind of add, you know, I want someone to read this book. We're doing a prequel, but this is set before the film. This is a story about what happened to the original crew. And, um, I want people to read it and then go back and watch the film.

[00:31:11] And the film's even better. You know, it, the, the, the, it will, it will work as a companion film. Um, right. But in regards to kind of like how it came about, um, I, uh, I was at New York comic con last year and I'm good friends with Heather Antos who, who edited, uh, Burstain Tief and we went out for lunch one day and she's obviously a senior to IDW and she was just like, we were just talking and kind of like kind of shop talk that wasn't like kind of public knowledge at that point.

[00:31:40] And she was just go, yeah, IDW have just kind of, we've just got a lot of new licenses. And we were talking and I was just, well, what have you got? And she kind of listed a few and you know, some of these have been, you know, announced already. And then she, she was just quite out. Oh, and I think it was the last one she said it. She went, oh, and, um, event horizon. And I was vigilant. I was like, for, for our podcast listeners, Christian just did a, a very, a very perfect.

[00:32:10] I'm about to take a bite of a sandwich. Double take. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, I was like, I got to like, if you're after a writer, you, you've, I, I have to write that. Like, it was just, it was so like, I do that. That what are you joking? And then, um, and then basically cut to, I think it was, uh, late February or, or March.

[00:32:37] Um, um, um, an editor called Nick Nino, uh, from IDW sent me an email and was just like, Oh, have you, um, have you got any interest in, in writing an event horizon comic? And I don't think I've ever replied, you know, you want to be a bit cool, right? You want to be like, yeah, well, chip was good. You know, but I was like, yes, yes. Capitals like exclamation mark. Yeah, absolutely. And then it was, and then we were off to the races and he was just like, you know, with,

[00:33:04] um, you know, basically the way it worked is once I was on board, what I had to do then, like, it wasn't like, um, I suppose, I suppose I would say it was my job to lose. So I had the job and then I had to basically, I had to kind of like pitch because it was all about then going to power mount and, and the original screenwriter of the film and

[00:33:35] convincing them that whatever my take was, was the right take, you know, and it was something that they were really excited about and wanted to be like, yeah, this is cool. So basically I had a weekend where I had to pitch and do a proper pitch and story breakdown and, and kind of like full issue by issue breakdown, what exactly is going to happen, who are the characters, what's going to go on. And, um, yeah, so I, I sit like Friday night.

[00:34:02] Um, I kind of booted at the film, watched the film for the first time. And I mean, I mean, I think I've seen it like kind of when it's been streaming, I'll have watched a little bit or if I've caught half of it on TV, but I'd never sat down and like rewatched it, like actively watched it rather than just passively watching it. And, um, and, uh, yeah, so I watched it and it was so beautiful. Like within, it was quick. The idea was quick as okay.

[00:34:33] I know exactly what, I know exactly what I want to do with it. I know exactly what, what, you know, what sort of things I want to discuss. I know exactly how I'm going to kind of like, you know, link it to the film and, and, and, and more importantly, I know exactly how to make this surprising in the best possible way. And so I wrote up the pitch. Um, I sent it to Nick. Uh, he freaking loved it.

[00:35:02] Um, IDW loved it. They sent it to PowerMare and I, for people out of the industry, kind of like what normally works with licensee projects. And it's always different depends on the license. Some licensees are more strict than others. Um, you'll very often, you'll get notes and, and the notes you'll get won't really be about it as a comic. It's more about how, whatever the license is, is perceived or whether you can't really do that with this license.

[00:35:32] It doesn't, not that flexible or whatever. Um, and so we will fully exit because the, the, and I'm not going to spoil anything, but the, the pitch comic really takes some swings. And one of the swings that it takes is, is, is now known, which I can talk about shortly. Uh, but we were expecting, we were kind of expecting to have some pushback and be like, you know, well, you know, this is, you know, you can't do this. You can't do that.

[00:36:02] And, uh, but in the meantime, I completely fallen in love with this story that, that I wanted to tell. And I was like, I can't, I can't change this. Like this, like I would be like really heartbroken if I can't tell this story. Um, and, and I felt like if they were to come back and be like, um, this isn't going to work and yeah, you can't do this, you can't do that.

[00:36:29] I was, and I was saying to Catherine, my wife has going, I don't know what to do. Like I'd already preempted that that was going to happen. And I was, I don't know what to do because like, I really want to do this, but now I feel like it will be a lesser version of what it could be. And anyway, we got, so we got like the feedback from, from power mountain, from the screenwriter and they love, they, that's awesome. And I was just like, and my, it was like, this is, this is incredible. And so, um, yeah, we've, we've been off to the races.

[00:36:58] Um, and it's been, no, go ahead. No, go ahead. So yeah, but we've just been, you know, the enthusiasm from power mountain, the enthusiasm from the, the screenwriting fact, Nick was at a screening of the film recently in LA and, uh, the, the screenwriter just happened to be there doing a Q and a and, and like even they're infused about what we were doing.

[00:37:24] Um, but yeah, it's, it's, uh, I'm, I'm still, no, still are still, you know, optimistic. The fans are going to like it, but you know, I, I'm, I will be, I will be like, you know, I hope they'll like it. And you know, I've, I've written it with a lot of love and a lot of passion. Um, and I hope they like the left turns that we take, uh, and see them for what they are. Um, uh, and I'm sure a lot, a lot of them will.

[00:37:53] Um, but yeah, so it's, um, yeah, it's, uh, it's really cool. I'm, I'm really having a blast. It's, it's really cool to kind of, it feels like a real left turn after Two-Face. Like it's a completely different book. Oh yeah. I mean, I, I only know a few details that I've read, um, you know, from some other, but I think, I think it was AI, uh, was it AI PT, uh, had, had some info on it.

[00:38:21] So I haven't even, you know, um, read too much, uh, about it other than that, that there was a prequel. Um, but, uh, yeah, was it, so was, was part of your story idea, the, the, like the prequel or was that part of the brief? Like we're, we're going to do a prequel. We don't want to. Yeah, it was, it was, it was, it wasn't set in stone, but it was that they were definitely

[00:38:46] like, this is kind of when they came to me, they were like, this is what we think that this kind of makes sense. And they were right, you know, it's, um, I mean, I can't say too much, but like, I, you know, we're, we're very excited about this. IDW are very excited. Paramount are excited. You know, you know, if retailers are excited for it, if readers are excited for it, there's going to be, there'll, there'll, there'll be more. Yeah.

[00:39:15] I mean, it's almost, and I don't, I can't think, you know, unless somebody did some type of like, uh, you know, tabletop, like role-playing game or something. I, I can't, I can't think of anything else. I, I mean, like, you know, if somebody is aware of it, they can correct me, but I can't think of anything else, you know, that has been done with this, like any other type of expansion of this world. And it's been, you know, what, 1997. So it's been almost 30 years.

[00:39:45] And yeah, Philip Eisner, I think is the, the screenwriter who did, who did the screenplay. And I think it was Paul WSI Anderson who, um, who had directed it, um, who hadn't really done too, too much before he had directed it. He did Mortal Kombat was his first film. Yeah. And, um, yeah, I just always liked, um, the, I mean, I always liked the design of the ship.

[00:40:11] I, I always like, you know, alien is known for the, like the, it looks like blue collar workers, like on a ship, like, you know, aliens, not the world of like Star Trek, you know, it's like, these are folks just kind of like doing a job. It just happens to be in space. But I felt like event horizon kind of had a very interesting mix of, you know, what we would see in terms of, uh, you know, people out in space trying to recover something, but

[00:40:41] also like once you get into the more fantastical, like horror elements of it, like there's, you know, this like strange Gothic architecture design to it as well. And, uh, yeah, I, I mean, I don't know what the rotten tomato score of, of the film is, but I just always, I just, I just always loved it.

[00:41:03] I always kind of love, um, just the idea that we kind of came, you know, the idea of we invented something and then it worked pretty much how it should, but what came after was, you know, absolute terror. And, um, you know, and just like that bit of like, well, what, where, what happened to it? Is this another dimension? Is it an actual hell?

[00:41:33] Like, you know, all those kinds of like questions that you now, I guess, get to explore with, uh, I think Tristan Jones is doing the art. Tristan Jones is doing the art. And he's worked on aliens before. Like he's done alien comics, right? Perfect choice. So we've got Tristan Jones who's been away from comics for a bit. He's making his big comeback. And then we've got, uh, Pip Martin, who's a kind of up and coming, coming colorist here in the UK.

[00:42:00] She works with, um, with Jacob Phillips quite a bit. And I think she flat for, um, Jacob Phillips and Sean Phillips, but she's, she's working on full colors for Jacob Phillips by Jacob Phillips stuff. And she's, um, she's incredible. And seeing, again, going back to me being very particular about colors, seeing her colors with, um, Tristan's art was like revolutionary. We were, everyone was just like, holy shit, this is so cool.

[00:42:29] Um, but yeah, it's, it's, you know, it's the, the, the kind of the, the Gothic, you know, we, we, we, we're kind of treating kind of the ship and Tristan's treating the ship. He's architecture, tense of architecture is superb, but we're treating it almost like this cathedral in space. You know, it's, it's this very Gothic, very kind of, um, you know, aliens feels very industrial, but there's an ornateness to the event horizon that doesn't make any sense.

[00:42:58] Really? Like, why is it so ornate? Like, why is it so like, I mean, the outside of it looks like a, literally looks like a haunted, it looks like the haunted mansion from, from, um, Disneyland. From Disneyland. You know what I mean? It's, it's great with the, with the lights around that. Like, why, why has he got the name of the lights around it? It's crazy. And I love it. Yeah. And, and, you know, and we're really, you know, and, and, you know, and to go back to your point about where do they go?

[00:43:27] You know, that's the fun of, of like what I'm getting to play with now. I mean, there's been this, you know, a lot of people talk about because of the infamous blood orgy, this sequence that was so terrifying and gory. It was, it was, you know, you know, practically destroyed. Um, well, am we going to have a little bit of that in the book? But because of, um, that it had this, it was kind of referred to as hell laser in space.

[00:43:57] And then being a big Clive Barker fan, like I, I couldn't help but lean into that as, okay, well, that's, I'm going to give you that, you know? And so we've already, we've already kind of revealed that because it's a comic book, you can kind of lean into comic book tropes a little bit more and you can be a little bit more comic booky and kind of embrace the, the, the, the form that you're, you're telling the story in, you know, I'm going to give you a villain.

[00:44:24] We're going to have an actual physical villain, you know, and he's not going to be a, you know, he's not the xenomorph. He's not going to be stalking through the corridors and picking people off one by one. You know, this is very much in keeping with the tone and what, and the cosmic horror qualities of, of, of the original film. So we have Pymont in the, um, in the comic, um, which many people might know from another power mountain film, um, hereditary.

[00:44:54] Um, it's not a crossover, uh, but, um, but we are, but I am, I am kind of mining the same classical literature and classical kind of text as, you know, as that film did. Um, so that's kind of, you know, we, we, which, um, I've done a lot of reading of kind of like the divine comedy and Dante's Inferno, nine circles of hell, you know, we're going

[00:45:22] for the kind of Renaissance and the kind of Gothic-ness that the ship suggests the story. Okay. Yeah. It's going to be awesome. Yeah. No, I mean, that's, those are all things that I, you know, very much, um, you know, enjoy in terms of like horror and the work of, uh, Clive Barker, which I got into, of course, you know, when the Hellraiser and the Cenobites, when I was going through my earlier, let's watch all the horror films I missed.

[00:45:52] Um, yeah, but also, you know, Dante's Inferno and is, uh, something that I always enjoyed. I think it was also because there's a part of me, oh, this is a little separate than horror stuff. Uh, I always kind of like the idea of something, you know, the idea of heaven or hell or anything really supernatural where we, we try and, you know, uh, we try and define it in terms of like human terms.

[00:46:21] And that can be played beautifully and philosophically in Dante's Inferno, or, you know, you can take something that like Terry Pratchett would make into a comedy, you know, where you add like where there's a bureaucracy to hell or heaven. So, um, yeah, I, I, I, I can't wait. I'm, I'm just so excited that there's going to be, you know, more of this. Um, I can't wait to see, I can't wait to see what the team does with it more so than anything.

[00:46:51] I just, I just want to, I think it's, there's just enough in terms of the breadcrumbs and what happened to the original crew. They, there's never like a, uh, an explicit answer, which I kind of think is part, part of the fun of Event Horizon, but to now, yeah. But to now kind of do that and to think you get to do whatever you want with it and explore that world. And, you know, I, I like that we can, we don't, we're not going to give you another Event Horizon.

[00:47:19] There was a, there was a kind of a, a certain magic to that movie, but we're going to give you something like adjacent and, you know, a little bit, you know, give you something kind of different and we're not trying to recapture something. We're going to expound on this world and put your, your stamp on it. So that's exciting to me. Oh, thank you. 100%. And like, and it's funny, you know, I sort of said that this was very different from

[00:47:45] Two-Face, but it, but in one way it's, it's not, I mean, like, you know, not that I'm the first writer to inject kind of psychology or kind of humanity into characters, of course not, but like, that's something that's really important to me. And, and, you know, and I'm approaching every character in Event Horizon with the same kind of tempt for integrity as I did with Two-Face. It's, you know, everyone's got their flaws. Everyone's got their, what do they want? What do they need? What are they going to get? Yeah.

[00:48:15] And really like kind of, and like some of those, some of the characters, obviously we're, Killpack is in the, one of the main characters of the comic and Killpack is the captain that we see with his eyes out. Right. Like, you know, in, in the famous, when he's, you and he's Latin in the kind of distress video and like, that was, I was like, well, who's that guy? Well, what's taking him to that? Um, and what is he experiencing?

[00:48:45] What is, what is he trying to do? Uh, you know, in Sam Neill's character, you know, the Dr. Weir, what's his deal? Um, you know, there's so much to play with. Uh, and, you know, just like with Two-Face, you know, I'm, I'm really living with these characters and they kind of feel very real to me and very like, I'm very protective of them. Uh, which is really bad because, you know, I don't need to tell you that it's not going to go well. You know, you've seen, you've seen the film. Yeah.

[00:49:15] And that's, but that's interesting, like to kind of write something. I think, how do you walk that line of kind of like, so dark, you know? And, but also I don't explain everything, you know, I don't want to kind of like completely reveal like all the secrets and, and the mysteries, you know, because as we've said before, art of event horizons law, uh, uh, law, I should say is the fact that it's so kind of like

[00:49:45] serial and you're not quite sure what's happened. So it's, it was, it's really important to me that, you know, I'm explaining, you know, I'm sort of saying this is kind of what's happening and, you know, but there's still this greatest sense of what the hell is happening, you know, in what I'm doing, but yeah, but it's, um, yeah, it's, it's proven quite the ride. I can't wait. And I mean, yeah, and the, the, the crew, you know, they, that gets there to investigate the event horizon.

[00:50:14] Like it's, it's, it's very, it's pretty clear early on something terrible has happened, but then see how whatever that thing is, whatever was done when that gravity drive was turned on and how it affected the crew that was not expecting it. Right. They, they were, they were, they, they were not expecting this result and to kind of tap into the psychology of those characters.

[00:50:40] And what is this thing that we have seen, you know, what it did with the event horizon, but, but how do we, how does it affect that, that first crew and maybe, maybe learn a little bit more about, you know, what it is or what its origin is, or, or maybe, you know, learn something new about this world. And, uh, I, I, I'm just very, very excited for it. I think this is a phenomenal idea.

[00:51:09] I'm shocked that like there was that there, there wasn't something like this already done in like 2003 or four, but good for you. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. They were waiting for me. What can I say? I wasn't available back then. Now I am. Well, I'm glad they waited. I cannot wait. Um, but Christian, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast. I'm, I'm just so excited. I love to face.

[00:51:35] I I'm, I'm just such a huge fan, uh, of your work. I mean, I love, I love your artwork. I love, I have a, I have plenty of Christian Ward covers, um, uh, that I, that, that I, I keep, uh, from, from different comics. Uh, you did one for, I just wanted to say, I don't know if I said this last time on the podcast. So just in case I didn't, you did one for homesick pilots. That is just like my absolute favorite. Um, but yeah, so I'm a big fan.

[00:52:05] I I'm just so excited for this. I think it's a perfect time to hit in, in August. This can be kind of like a slow time. And now August 20th, I have something to look forward to. So listeners event horizon. If you're listening and you have not seen event horizon, go watch event horizon. Get ready. July 14th is the final order cutoff. You know what that means. We got to make sure that there's your order is in, let your local shop know before July

[00:52:32] 14th, that you want event horizon dark descent in your pull box. And issue number one is going to be there on August 20th. Right. And I will say, actually, you've just said like, you know, go and watch the film. Uh, I was very careful when I was writing this, that if you haven't watched the film and you're completely new to this, you will still enjoy it. Like there, there will be a kind of like, there will be a pleasure to you coming into this.

[00:53:02] You know, I catch you up really quick. I let you know what's going on just enough. The new readers completely welcome. And then after you've read the full series, you can experience the film in a way that people like people like myself and yourself, Jimmy, that we would never have experienced it that way. You know, that's also quite a cool way to experience this whole ride. Comic first, then film. Yeah. I, you know what? I agree with that too. Like if you, if you're interested in film yet, go and see the film.

[00:53:31] I really do enjoy it. But that, that is a good point, Christian, because that is kind of like a fun way. Um, I, you know, I'm a star Wars fan and especially I like hearing from people who like never experienced star Wars growing up and then watch the film in chronological order rather than theatrical release. And like, see how their like experience was different than, than me who watched each one as, as they came out.

[00:53:55] So yeah, the idea of like reading dark descent, getting those issues and then kind of, uh, living with those characters, seeing what happens to them. And then at the end of it, picking up and say, all right, I just finished the comic. Uh, and now I'm starting a movie where it's seven years later and they've now, someone has it. The event horizon has reappeared and, and seeing, you know, what happens from there. I, that is also a very unique experience.

[00:54:24] That is another fun way to kind of experience this world. So, um, Christian, thank you so much. I am so excited that, uh, you came back on. I'm very excited for, um, event horizon. So listeners rate and review us say nice, you know, say nice things on social media about us. It is a big help. Uh, shout out to my brother, Bobby, the cryptic creator corners, number one, most dedicated fan, you know, Bobby listens to all my episodes and he, he buys a lots of comics too.

[00:54:53] So, um, shout out to Bobby and listeners. Thank you so much for listening. Um, and, uh, yeah, I will see you next time. Thanks for having me, Jimmy. Thank you. This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the cryptic creator corner brought to you by comic book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast. Please rate review, subscribe all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening.