Next week will see Titan Comics release Anathema: The Evil That Men Do, a modern take on the horror classics of the past from Rachel Deering (Womanthology), Chris Mooneyham (Five Ghosts) and Wesley St. Claire.
Here’s the official blurb;
WRITER: Rachel Deering
ARTISTS: Chris Mooneyham, Wesley St. Clare
FORMAT: TPB
PUBLISHER: Titan Comics
PAGE-COUNT: 96
ON SALE DATE: May 13th, 2015
ISBN: 9781782762935
PRICE: $12.99/$14.99 CAN/£9.99Dark cults! Haunted souls! Forbidden love!
When the love between Sarah and Mercy falls foul of Sarah’s puritanical father, it sets Mercy on a blood-drenched path to redeem her lover’s soul. But to bring an end to the monstrous cult who would cast Sarah into Hell, Mercy must take on the power and fury of the Werewolf!
This is a witch’s broth of legendary Hammer horror films and pulp horror comics!
Ahead of its release, we were fortunate enough to be able to sit down with writer Rachel Deering and have a chat about both the series itself and her love of horror in general. Here’s how the conversation went;
Big Comic Page: Tell us about Anathema. It’s pretty unusual as comics go. A lesbian werewolf epic love story? Wonderful.
Rachel Deering: Anathema is my love letter to Hammer horror films and Solomon Kane. I wanted to push both horror and adventure equally in a book, and Anathema is what came of it. As far as the lesbian aspect goes, I am a lesbian myself, so I was simply writing what I know.
BCP: I love how Anathema presents a very strong female lead, who also happens to be gay. What was your thinking behind that?
RD: I don’t see her as strong at all. She’s terrified. She’s frantic. If she was strong, she would have stood up to Sarah’s father. She would have rushed in and tried to save the day when things turned grim. If anything, I would describe her as vulnerable and emotional. I wanted to create a real character, not some beefed up hero. And the gay thing, I explained that already.
BCP: As well as werewolves, we have Puritan witch hunters, plague doctors, devil worshippers and all manner of other horrors. It feels like a new spin on some very classic tropes?
RD: Sure. I love all of those things, so I wanted to use them in my story, but I also wanted to create my own monsters. The viper fish creature, the undead ram barbarian, etc. I wanted to fuse the familiar with something new. Draw readers in with something they can identify and then hit them with something a bit jarring.
BCP: You did a hefty amount of research to build the world of Anathema, can you tell us a bit about that?
RD: If by research you mean watching horror films and reading classic horror literature since I was a kid, then yes, I did lots of research. I also took a trip to New England to learn about the witch trials and get a feel for the geography there.
BCP: Anathema often feels like a classic Hammer film, albeit one with an unlimited budget. Was that an inspiration when you were writing it? What other influences went into the pot?
RD: Hammer, especially Twins of Evil, was a huge influence. I was also reading a lot of Solomon Kane at the time, so there’s a lot of that character in Mercy.
BCP: Both Christopher Mooneyham and Wesley St. Claire have very rich, vivid art styles. What do they bring to the project?
RD: I am an incredibly detailed script writer, so it’s up to them to give my words life. Every painstaking little detail. I bring the crazy ideas, and they bring the execution.
BCP: The whole story feels very filmic, if it was ever adapted, who would your dream director/actor combo be?
RD: Guillermo Del Toro directing. John Hurt as Henrich. Valerie Leon would be my first choice to play Mercy, but the age thing would be an issue. I have no clue about modern actors, so I’ll just say whoever is the best at realistically crying one second and then flying to a rage the next.
BCP: It’s planned for six issues, do you have them written or plotted out yet? And when can we expect to see them?
RD: They’re all written, yes. You can expect to see them whenever Titan expects to release them. I’m pretty hands off as far as the schedule goes.
BCP: It’s a very rich world you’ve created, do you have ideas or a desire for further stories?
RD: I have creative wanderlust. I don’t like to stay with one story or one set of characters too long. After Anathema is finished, it’s finished.
BCP: You’ve raised the funds to publish via Kickstarter initially, how did that work out?
RD: It was awful.
BCP: The first two issues have now been collected by Titan. What happened there and can we look forward to more from the same publisher?
RD: Steve White approached me at New York Comic Con a few years back and expressed interest in publishing the book. As far as me working more with Titan, that’s up to them.
BCP: What other projects are you working on at the moment?
RD: I am working on a novella, to be released in the winter of 2015. I letter and edit a lot of books, so most of my work is done behind the scenes. When I get into a more comfortable place, financially, I will pick up the pace with my writing and you’ll see a lot more comics work from me.
PREVIEW ARTWORK
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The Writer of this piece was: Jules Boyle
Jules tweets from @Captain_Howdy
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