 |
| "Pigeons From Hell" #1 on sale April 16 |
“‘Pigeons From Hell’ is a Southern Gothic with a bit of tough Western tone thrown in,” Lansdale told CBR News. The story centers on a Louisiana house that’s been abandoned since Antebellum times. At dusk, the house releases scores of pigeons into the night air -- pigeons that, they say, are the souls of the damned escaping from the depths of Hell itself. In the Dark Horse comic, two young women find themselves heiresses to the mysterious estate and quickly discover the horrors within, which include shadow monsters and zombies. While trying to stay alive, the pair slowly unravels the evil history of the damned mansion.
Artist Nathan Fox praised both the original story and Lansdale’s modern retelling. “Pigeons from Hell,” he said, is “a beautifully written Southern-rooted horror story of voodoo, folklore and history at its unapologetically goriest... and an amazing adaptation of one of the freakiest imaginative writers and short stories I have ever read.”
As “Pigeons From Hell” is largely the story of a house, Lansdale believes a sense of place is vital to telling the story in comics, and his Texas background was a great resource. “Howard was from Texas, and East Texas is very much like Louisana,” he said. “There are trees and water and snakes and alligators. It is so far removed from Cormac McCarthy territory, and is much more like Flannery O'Conner territory. Howard, no matter where or when he was writing about, was always writing about Texas, which is bigger than life, and is more a place of the mind than a place of the earth.”
|
| Pages from "Pigeons From Hell" #1 |
“Traveling and growing up in Texas had a lot to do with my referencing and mood,” Fox continued. “Both Howard and Lansdale's work sets the scene and brings everything to eerie/lucid life so well that I wanted to make sure, visually that that vitality was built into the characters and my part in it all. Cinematically, if I could. Hitchcock, Kubrick and other directors’ works were a big influence. As far as the characters and the house go, talking with Joe when we started he mentioned the ‘Thriller’ TV series that Karlof hosted so I hunted down the episode of ‘Pigeons from Hell’ that he saw on the series, and tried to pay homage to that episode and the set involved since it was such a big influence for him.
“And in terms of the characters I just kept at them till what I got on paper felt like what I had filmed in my head as I worked the story out. Borrowing from kids I knew from Louisiana and back home, adapting characters and celebrities that fit the descriptions. Just about anything I had at hand or could get a hold of that applied I researched and developed from. Alcebee, the lawman, and the shadow in the corn turned out to be the most difficult to nail down. They don't show up in the story till a good half way into the series but they needed to be just as important as the main characters if not more so - as mysterious and elusive as they are. Hopefully all the research and such comes through in the end and it all fits.”
|
| Pages from "Pigeons From Hell" #1 |
Having also contributed to the comic book universe of Conan the Barbarian, which R.E. Howard also created, Lansdale indicated a close appreciation for Howard as a storyteller. “I relate to Howard as a writer. I grew up in small town and few people understood my passion for books and writing,” he said. “Howard's death [from suicide], a very unromantic death in my view, and his problems with depression, were not like me, but I could relate to his day to day concerns, and worries about making a living, because like Howard, I didn't have an official degree. I'm self taught for better or worse.”
Coming from the world of design and illustration, “Pigeons from Hell” is Fox’s first comics series, though he has provided art for occasional issues of “DMZ” and other titles. “I have been fortunate enough to freelance as an illustrator full time for the last eight years for editorial/magazine work and advertising,” he explained, doing “one image or a series of images spread across multiple pages at a time. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy illustrating a great deal. But going beyond the single image and developing the story has been mind-blowing as well. It has really challenged how I see illustration work and I'm sure the illustration work has influenced the comic work. And I’ve been able to put more work on a single page than I ever thought was possible.
|
| Pages from "Pigeons From Hell" #1 |
Fox, whose upcoming work includes “Fluorescent Black,” written by M.F. Wilson, which will run in “Heavy Metal Magazine,” and an animated short for the new Tommy Hilfiger web site, admits he was unfamiliar with his collaborators, both contemporary and historical, before taking on “Pigeons.” “I didn't really know of Howard’s or Lansdale's work up until I was offered the gig,” he said. “I knew of the Barbarian, but that was about it. Once I got a hold of both of their works, though, I was in. I was blown away and honored to be handed such an amazing script my first solo shot out. I've worked with some amazing writers so far comics-wise. Hopefully I do Joe's work justice.”
Now discuss this story in CBR’s Indie Comics forum.
|
|
Follow @cbr | Tweet |
