Ok, I know it’s not normal to post here on a weekend, but this isn’t any normal old Saturday. What better way to prep for trick or treating than flipping through Trick ‘r Treat (which I borrowed the fun Fiona Staples art from) or one of WildStorm’s other gruesome offerings?

Have a nice weekend, and please, try not to eat all your candy at once.

The long-running horror magazine Fangoria (I read my first issue in 1994 - wow) has published a glowing review of the first four issues of North 40. There’s an overabundance of blurbable quotes in this review alone - check it:

“NORTH 40 is one of the top horror books of 2009.”

“NORTH 40 brings together an intriguing cast of characters one might find in a TWIN PEAKS episode.”

“Williams writes with an unbound passion, dipping into so many tasty sauces at once that it doesn’t bother the reader so much that the overall story itself is crawling along. It’s kind of like watching an episode of LOST”

“It’s real. It’s raw. And it’s intriguing to read.”

“Aaron Williams and Fiona Staples have a hit on their hands”

How’s THAT for praise?

I could say nice things on here about North 40 all day - but, thanks to the great love it’s been receiving all over the web, I don’t have to do it all myself. Ready for more? USA Today has a great interview up with Aaron and Fiona over on their website. Wanna know which characters resemble their creators? This story has the scoop.

And, did I mention they’ve got an exclusive preview of issue #5? Now hurry on over there.

“Hey, you like horror, right?”

“Well, I—”

“Awesome. Here you go. New book, TRICK ’r TREAT, based on the film written and directed by Michael Dougherty. Have fun!”

And that’s how I started working on the TRICK ’r TREAT original graphic novel.

Not exactly like escaping an exploding planet as a baby, or getting bitten by a radioactive spider, but hey: we can’t all be aliens or mutants. (I know, I know: he’s a mutate, not a mutant.)

I picked up the screenplay and the next thing I knew, two hours had gone by and I felt like I’d been stuffed into a burlap sack and tossed into the river, only to be pulled out at the last moment and dragged to shore…but when my rescuer ripped opened the bag, he turned out to be a homicidal clown laughing manically.

I was, to put it mildly, enthused about this project. Big time. This was gonna be fun.

Most of the team was already in place when I came on board. It can be a tricky thing to have a creative team assembled for you—different people have different tastes and views and philosophies and they don’t always click, through no fault of their own. (Not that it’s ever my fault, of course. Okay, it’s pretty much always my fault.)

But there was no such problem here. Marc Andreyko was writing the critically-acclaimed MANHUNTER at the time, so I knew the script was in good hands; Marc did a wonderful job of pulling apart the film’s interlocking vignettes and separating them into their own strands, yet keeping them delicately entwined.

MAN-BAT’s Mike Huddleston was doing the first of the film’s vignettes, aided by the super Jim Charalampidis on colors. I’d loved Mike’s stuff since MNEMOVORE, and knew Jim would be a perfect fit.

I hadn’t seen Grant Bond’s art before, but as soon as his first pages came in, I was a fan for life. Grant’s characters are tremendously believable—no small task when you’re illustrating a large number of terrified children, each of whom has their own motivations and agendas and personalities.

The third chapter didn’t have an artist yet. I immediately thought of Christopher Gugliotti, an artist whose work I’d known for years and who, I thought, had the sort of imagination for this project. Chris’s exaggerated, cartoony-meets-impressionistic style was just right for conveying the sense of his characters as classic animation heroines turned to the dark side: adorable yet deadly. (Which also describes Chris, actually.)

The final chapter was illustrated by Fiona Staples. She had worked on Done to Death with Andrew Foley, and while all the artists had stories that interlocked with the others, hers had more, but she did an amazing job of pulling them all together with beautiful pacing and mood. By the end of her chapter I was very nearly tempted to nail her feet to the floor in an effort to get her to do more WildStorm work. I didn’t actually do that, of course. But only because I wasn’t able to get a visa to go to Canada.

Add some beautiful art by Breehn Burns and Ragnar and Michael Dougherty himself, and it turned out to be a remarkably attractive package.

Which brings us to the secret weapon of the book: Michael Dougherty. Given that he’d written and directed the film, and designed the main character, it’d be natural for him to want to be more involved with the project than usual. And he was—but in all the best ways, raving about the art, giving incisive but never overbearing feedback, and generally acting as the book’s biggest fan.

He’s not, of course. That’d be me. (Or maybe Marc Andreyko.) But I’m quite confident we can all agree that it’s mighty nice to finally have it on the shelves, where everyone can see what we’ve been so passionate about for quite a while now.

Oh, and in response to the question about whether or not I like horror. There really isn’t any one genre I do or don’t care for more than others. What I like is a good story, regardless of genre. And what TRICK ’r TREAT is, above all else, is a damn good story.

There’s a reason why I waited until after lunch to post this North 40 sneak peek. Nothing really does a number to your appetite more than a mouth full of maggots, y’know what I mean?

Few artists make the disgusting look so good like Fiona Staples does. North 40 #4 hits stands next week.

North 40 continues to see a lot of love, especially from our friends in the horror blogosphere. I know I’ve been raving on here about it a ton, but if you can’t trust my word on it…

“So horror fans, if you have been looking for some new comics to check out, keep your eyes out on this one. It’s Heroes meets Evil Dead II, My Name is Earl written by H.P. Lovecraft. Either way, for me, it’s looks like some damn good horror.” - The Dreamin’ Demon

“It’s a really amazing thing when a comic comes along that is the perfect fusion of storytelling and originality. In those cases, you get classic books like The Walking Dead or 30 Days of Night, and joining those series now, North 40.” - Brutal as Hell

“North 40 flips the black flavors of American Gothic’s relationships and characters, salt’s them with the simplicity of The Walking Dead’s direness, and then runs amok with monsters, mayhem, and a Stephen King’s worth of darkness stretching across the landscape. And with all of this powered by Lovecraft’s leviathan from the stars, the reading experience is exhilarating.” - Zombo’s Closet of Horror

“Finally, a REAL Horror Comic” - Vault of Horror

“I suggest you jump on board now before it’s too late.” - Cinema Suicide

“You can’t not like a comic that opens with a giant stepping on a bug-man.” - Blood Lines

“A creepy, funny thrill ride!” - Comic Attack

“Cthulu in the midwest – what’s not to like?” - Mad Gadabout

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Dukes of Hazzard.” - High Five Comics

Zombies. Vampires. Witches. Mutant high school students. Telekinetic teenagers. Eyeball-monster-guys. Cthulu. (Freakin’ CTHULU!)

After the first two issues, I thought I’d seen it all. That is, until I opened up my copy of North 40 #3 and saw this:

Yes, that’s a giant robot. What more could I ask for from a comic, really?

Thank you, Aaron and Fiona, for never failing to surprise me.

The film crew over at Pop Culture Shock caught up with Aaron Williams and Fiona Staples at Comic-Con to discuss their series, North 40. Check their piece here!

If you’re following The Bleed, you’ll know I’ve been talking up Aaron Williams and Fiona Staples’ new North 40 miniseries quite a bit here. I love it - I really do. But, if you don’t want to take my word for it, how about Steve Niles’, of 30 Days of Night fame? Here’s what he had to say:

“I love this book. Great story, cool art and monsters. What more can you ask for in a comic?” - Steve Niles

No faint praise at all. (And here’s a preview of issue #2, on sale today - it’s not too late to jump in to this one!) Read the rest of this entry »