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Radiation Interrogation: Ben Templesmith
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Location: Blogs Atomic FalloutRadiation Interrogation |
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| Posted by: Atomic Online |
Thursday, July 24, 2008 9:57 PM |
What inspired Welcome to Hoxford?
 Well initially my publisher wanted me to work on adapting a screenplay to comic form, that dealt with werewolves. Now, I hate werewolves at the best of times. I think they’re hokey, hackneyed stereotyped up the arse things. I really had little interest in them as “monsters” as they’re just not scary or cool to me at all. At least Vampires get to wear some decent clothes at times, you know?
But then…
I had one of my books banned in the Colorado State Corrections Department ( or whatever it’s called over there, ) They basically sent a letter to the publisher ( which apparently happens a lot ) when a book is deemed unworthy or dangerous if an inmate is allowed to have it in their uh, fine establishments. Basically some guy requested he could get a copy of DAYS OF NIGHT: RED SNOW and surprise surprise, after reviewing it they deemed it “promoting of hatred between ethnicities and nationalities.” This was for a book dealing with Nazis and the most savage war in recorded history, the Great Patriotic War ( Eastern front of WW2 to the rest of us ) so I guess I did my job ok on that one!
So I guess the prison angle started to percolate with me and I thought up an actual situation I thought I could actually have some fun with beasties, [so I] suggested I actually had a werewolf story of my own I could do to Ted Adams ( president and general creative overseer of all at IDW Publishing ) and away it went. Now all I have to do is fulfill the promise, or fall flat on my arse. That’s up to the readers to decide.
At first glance it could be described as a reverse Arkham Asylum as no one has ever come out of Hoxford once going in. Did that thought ever cross your mind when developing the book?
Well for me, Arkham is my all time favourite book. Reading it opened me up to the possibilities that comics didn’t just have to be about guys in spandex and big muscles ( but small genitals, or haven’t you noticed? ) hitting each other in furious homoerotic poses. McKean+ Morrison opened my mind with that book.
In saying that though, haven’t glanced at that book in years and the thought never crossed my mind that there’d be any similarities beyond it being set in a sort of ficticious mental penitentiary.
Quite a few creators seem to enjoy developing a full universe around their creations: Robert Kirkman with Brit/Invincible/Astounding Wolfman comes to mind first and foremost. With that in mind have you ever think about if your creations could co-exist in the same universe or if they’ll ever meet?
No. Not that they couldn’t, but I try to approach each thing as a separate entity. Apart from Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, I’m really not one to bother with trying to create constant recurring characters that you can “team up” or some such. I prefer to create them in their own little worlds, have some fun ( and fun for the reader too if I try hard enough ) and then take great glee in killing them off or letting them rest when the story is over. Such can be the nature of self enclosed miniseries. Not that follow ups etc would ever be out of the question if I thought I could do something with one.
I know you’ve stated you’re taking a break from Wormwood Gentlemen Corpse, but how long of a break? Do you still have plenty of ideas in your head concerning that character?
Wormwood will keep sporadically coming out til I die or I run out of ideas. I have plans for at least 2 more TPB volumes and a bunch of shorts. I’m just wanting to do something a bit different in tone for awhile. Tentacle overload you could call it. No more tentacles for awhile.
I did just finish the final Wormwood short story for a little while, which will be featured in the “Art of Wormwood” as a little bonus amongst the covers and unpublished art.
I’m super lucky in that, apart from the obvious “30 Days of Night” stuff and “Fell” ( which is a Warren Ellis book so has a life all it’s own! ) Wormwood has been the most successful thing I’ve ever wholly done. Writing and art I mean. The first TPB just keeps going and going, onto a 4th printing now I think and getting a bunch of translations done. Just signed a deal for an Italian version and going to Paris to launch their version “ Gentleman Zombie” in September. It’s really a privilege to have something insanely stupid and juvenile that I do purely for fun be so appreciated by people with apparently similarly strange tastes. It’s a niche book for sure, but it’s good to be niche!
 What’s with this Malve guy anyways?
He assaults me in my dreams. For some reason it’s always the same dream where he pulls me out of bed at gun point, telling me he’ll cut off my balls with a hacksaw if I don’t first lick his toes then sign at his Mesa comic store. He’s very convincing. One might say he’s probably done it before perhaps? Either way, it’s hard to say no to such an offer, what can I say.
How does it feel to have a book that you co-created end up becoming a movie? Did the movie successfully recreate your artistic style in a real life setting?
Very nice. Very flattering and very unexpected. David Slade did a great job in bringing what he could of my visual style to the movie.
Speaking of movies though, any plans to try and shop Wormwood around for a Movie or even an HBO series or something similar? What about Fell?
Oh, I certainly have plans for Wormwood, it just depends on what the agent types/gate keepers/Hollywood types want to do with it. I never expected it to be more than a comic myself. It’d obviously be a very strange book to turn to film, but they said the same for Hellboy at one time. I reckon it’d be useful as something from Adultswim or something like that perhaps. Otherwise it’d really cost a helluva lot of money!
My old work, Sungularity 7 actually has some interesting goings on right now that made me fall out of my chair the other day, but nothing remotely newsworthy to anyone else as yet.
Fell is always in the mix, but these things take time and it’s not for me to say what’s going on with it. Suffice to say I think it’s made for a tv series if done right…and if Warren is involved in a major, major way.
Moving on to another project, what brought you to work on the video game prequel Dead Space? Do you plan on playing the game when it’s released?
They asked me, back in April last year I think, if I’d do the art for a prequel story to their game, with Antony Johnston attached to write. It was sci-fi horror, which I love, plus I got to work with Antony, one of my oldest ever collaborators ( no I don’t mean he’s an old man, far from it. We did a web based thing called “After Days of Passion” yeeears ago before I was ever published )
Essentially it’s a work for hire job, and I think they’re using the comic as a marketing tool for the game. I’ve been giving out many a free comic at signings for Deadspace lately, and if that get’s a few more people into comics or at least aware of it out there, then that’s something I can get behind. It should make a great TPB when collected and I’d imagine it’ll come out around game release time, which is late October.
Deadspace was the sort of game I’d play regardless of my involvement. Lots and lots of dark horror elements. And sci-fi too. My sort of thing.
As for Fright Night, will this be your first time visiting Arizona? What are you looking forward to the most about Fright Night?
I’ve been to Arizona a bunch of times before actually. Been out to see Todd McFarlane in the past, as well as a signing at [a comic shop] years earlier.
Not sure what to expect on Fright Night, suffice to say I hope Mike keeps that hacksaw away from my genitals and that I get to meet and chat with a bunch of readers/supporters of my work, and maybe create some new ones.
What comics do you currently dig that your fans may be unaware of?
Just finished the first two books of “Fear Agent” and the critically acclaimed “The Boys”. I don’t read many comics these days, so from me, they come highly recommended. Now if only there was some “Shaolin Cowboy” from Geoff Darrow coming out at least once a year!
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