See that? It’s my new book. I have a new book out! OH BOY!
This is the other thing I’ve been up to in the past couple of years besides making a goddamn movie. (That last one I’m still in the middle of doing, in case you haven’t heard.) ESCAPE FROM THE BEYOND is, in fact, something I’ve been up to for far longer than a couple of years. If you wanna know the totally-real unvarnished TRUTH, this has been a touchstone project in my world which has taken actual decades to finally pull off, and it’s just now coming out because…. well, you know, reasons. Here’s a few of them.
In 1999, I started writing THE SAGA OF THE 7 GATES. This was to be an epic series of graphic novels based on the Lucio Fulci films CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (THE GATES OF HELL), THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY and THE BEYOND, with the cool idea that they all happen in the same relentless cynical universe of horror (the “Fulciverse?)… and it was all to be capped by a fourth volume, a sequel to the whole damn thing called… well, ESCAPE FROM THE BEYOND. This was something I came up with because thought it would be cool. Nobody told me to do it. I wasn’t working under a publisher who handed me the assignment. It was a comic book series I wanted to read. And so I did it. I’m kinda like that, guys. You know, crazy.
I wrote the first draft of all this stuff way back at the end of the 90s. I even wrote part of the ESCAPE sequel back then. There was a first attempt of sorts to get the graphic novel based on THE BEYOND made. But the fates were not kind to that project and I was never happy with the results. It was all my fault, really. I wasn’t ready for something that ambitious just yet. I can say that it was my first officially published work as an author, but that’s about all it was. And so I chalked the whole darn misfire up to a life lesson and moved on to bigger and better things. But something strange happened. As time passed, a gentlemen named Derek Rook, who was my illustrator on the CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD portion of the saga, completed the artwork on his own time and his own dime. It took him ten years, on and off, to do that. But once it was finished, it was awesome, and we all took another look and said “gee, this really was a super neat idea!” I was co-owner of a tiny little publishing company by then and it just so happened that we specialized in kooky movie-tie in stuff. Soooooo… this happened:
With the amazing Vince Locke on board, we kicked out the second portion of the saga… and it was also awesome. (‘Also Awesome’? That sounds like a new wave band from 1983.) It’s one of the finest comic volumes I’ve ever been associated with, as a matter of fact. THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is a sort of gothic horror that feels real and lived-in somehow. It doesn’t talk down to anybody. It’s METAL, dude.
Then we moved on to THE BEYOND (AGAIN), which was part three of the saga, and my second chance at getting this one right.
Um… I think we got it right.
My collaboration experience with the incredible Pat Carbajal on the final version of this epic four-issue miniseries was second-to-none. We’d been working together for years by this point and we had our act down to a science. We finally made something great out of THE BEYOND… and, man, and I was having a blast.
You can tell, can’t you?
Seriously, the journey of making all of these was a truly special time my life, filled with real artistic expression, good collaboration, wild improvisation and Just Great Work. Because I was the editor, as well as the author, and even the graphic designer and lettering artist… well, I had a LOT of hands-on control over how these books came out, but my artists and colorists couldn’t have been finer people in the mix. There was never a time when we weren’t feeling it, loving it and cuing off each other. When a scene wasn’t working, we’d make new panels, new pages, additional sections where we’d play jazz until it was perfect. I did the work of my life as a comic book guy on THE SAGA OF THE 7 GATES. It honors what it’s based on, but does so on its own terms, and with a certain kind of confidence and artistic flair I hadn’t been capable of back in 1999. So this old “life lesson” I thought I’d put behind me had actually become a LIFE PROJECT… much to my fucking amazement. I mean, I’d been a lot of places since I was that weird kid back in the 90s with a thing for making Fulci into comics. I thought I’d gotten (ahem) beyond it. I’m still wondering how the Saga managed to stay with me through so many years, and even more dumfounded that it all came out as good as it did. (And don’t even get me started on our adventure with ZOMBI 2 around the same time; that’s a whole other blog. Go read it. I dare you.)
And then it was time to ESCAPE.
The sequel to Fulci’s celebrated “Gates of Hell” trilogy of films was not something taken lightly by any of us. It had to go beyond THE BEYOND (yeah I know, shut up) and then blast off into wild, uncharted terror-tory. (Okay you can shoot me now.) It had to have new characters, new revelations, and an epic sense of apocalypse, while remaining true to the original mythos and the characters who had made it all work. My Saga is built around the idea that there are seven magic siblings who protect the outer reaches of darkness–The Sisters of The Beyond–and they all had to come together in the end to save the universe from darkness somehow. The films are very nihilistic in the classic shock-horror sense. They all end badly for everyone. But there’s also an inkling of glimmering hope, like diamonds deep in darkness. A sense that some other force is waiting to deliver us all. This was particularly evident in THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY.
BUT.
It also had to be gory and shocking as fuck.
Enter: Jeff Zornow.
Jeff was a guy I’d been trying to work with for years, and we finally got our shot on ESCAPE FROM THE BEYOND. He took my scripts and layouts and ran straight into hell with them, with all the insane abandon of a beer-huffing miscreant from The Heavy Metal Parking Lot. If you’ve ever met Zornow, you know what I’m talking about. He’s a madman and we caught fire together. It was an insane collaboration that lasted over a year, as we carved out the final chapter of the saga.
So many strange and even tragic things happened on our way to the finish line. I’ll not go into them here. But the short version is that we DID finish it and it’s finally out in the world and, yes, you can buy a copy now at an all-too-reasonable price point right HERE. The book is part of a long line of graphic novels I’ve been putting out this year, some of which are collections of old work, like much of the Saga is. Other things are brand new to the world, like ESCAPE, though we’ve been slaving away at this stuff for years. These are the kinds of movie tie-in books you WANT to read, folks, Stuff made by dedicated professional fans who were totally warped by lunatic fringe horror movies in the 1980s. Yeah, we’re all older than dirt around here. And we kinda love it.
I love this book too.
It’s one of my proudest moments as a creator of anything.
The damn whole Saga is.
It only took half my life.
Those among you who make art for a living may know what it’s like to be at a place like this. But just in case you don’t, and for everyone else out there who care about such things, I’ll tell you something very true: When you wash up on such shores, it’s never an accident, but it’s always a privilege. I am gifted to be able to do these things, realize these dreams, and look back on the path behind me with a certain amount of pride. I came down through the years to be here and I fought for it with every last breath I had left in me to be an artist. I made sacrifices. I threw myself deep in there. But I also made some great friends and had amazing experiences with them, down in the trenches. From Derek to Vince to Pat and Jeff… and Bruna, our amazing head colorist… well it was a big damn party and we all had a lot of fun drinking the punchbowl dry. And while it may be true that a lot of great art has been made by people who despise each other when its all over, I tend to lean more towards the school of soulful resonance, when you get a lot of creative people in a room, and they all respect each other and step up to worthy leadership. That’s the game I was born to play. I think I’ve played it well for at least the last fifteen-odd years of my besotted career.
And what was it worth? What did I bring the world? What was the message I wanted to leave behind me with The Saga of the 7 Gates? The answer may surprise you.
I wanted to ask each and every reader what they truly believe in.
And I wanted to tell them that if they hold true to that belief, there is no way they can fail.
Even if the monsters win.
Because out there in the darkness, diamonds still shine for us.
That’s really what it’s all about.
So buy a copy. In fact, buy two copies. Buy the whole Saga. There’s a lot to love there. Oh and also….
I hope it scares the living shit out of you too.
S