This October, refuge will release godfather of hell, It’s a neo-noir/supernatural hybrid story about a mob enforcer trying to control Hell itself. New York Times bestselling author Calvin Scott (“Star Wars: The High Republic”, “Shadow Service”) Illustrated by Bram Stoker Award-winning artist Pius Barker (eat the rich, magician), The series will also showcase products from Nathan Gooden (brutal), Joshua Hixon (abnormal), Chris Sheehan (Slaughterhouse), Jack Phillips (Destroy all monsters), Colin Howell (Lilith), and Connor Boyle (Judge Dredd).
The Beat spoke with Scott about the new comic.
Deanna Destito: Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
Calvin Scott: I’ve been chatting with the editor-in-chief of Vault Adrian Vassell About the possibility of writing a property book in Vault, but every idea feels like a concept we’ve seen a hundred times before. Then I started thinking: What would it be like to tell a story of possession from the demonic perspective? This is the starting point because I want to know who that demon might be and why it’s returning to Earth. To escape hell? arrive Work For hell? Suddenly, everything fell into place. This “demon” is Dario, a former gang enforcer who finds himself in hell after making… questionable choices. But for Dario, hell will be a job opportunity. After all, with so many people selling their souls to Satan, the devil needs a debt collector, right?
Destito: This story is a bit of a genre hybrid. Do you like to play with this when you write?
Scott: I think every genre is always improved by adding monsters, ghosts, vampires or demons. Much of my past work has been based on this principle. shadow service (Co-created with Colin Howell Also published by Vault) is a spy thriller about witches and ghouls, Ward (co-creator Andres Ponce And by dark horse) is an emergency room-style medical drama set in a modern mythical creature hospital, dead sea (Co-created with Nick Brokenshire And by inverse distance weighting method) is a disaster movie that takes place on a sinking ship…with ghosts. I like to take genre-specific tropes and see what happens if you put something supernatural into it. Godfather of Hell yes drive meet ConstantineWhat good guy It might seem like the mob boss is the prince of hell.
Destito: How do you approach a story like this with your artists?
Scott: As with all comics, the script is just a springboard. You lay out the characters, how they feel and why they’re doing what they’re doing, and then you give that vision to the artist and see what they come up with. I’m very lucky to have Pius Bak on this project. he just get Godfather of Hell From the moment I talked to him about my mood and feelings about this project. Oh my gosh, does Pius know the character? Like all great collaborators, he immediately went back to “How about this, this, this…”
Destito: What was it like working with this creative team?
Scott: An absolute joy. One thing I knew from the beginning was that the mortal world was going to be muted and black, but Hell was going to be filled with neon, and colorist Raúl Angulo was absolutely going to embrace it. These questions are shocking to watch and allow Pius’s truly disturbing demons to appear on the page.
Destito: For readers who might not be sure if a genre story like this is right for them, what can you say to get them to read it?
Scott: Well, there is gang crime. Have a sense of humor. There’s great dialogue and a lot of betrayal. But at the heart of the film there is also a romance between star-crossed lovers Dario and Elena, the daughter of Dario’s former gang boss who risks everything to escape from her father. Once they were separated by the machinations of Elena’s criminal father, now they are separated by Dario’s death… but when you’re willing to move hell and earth to be together, anything is possible.
Destito: Do you have any trailers you can share?
Scott: You don’t want to miss Jacoba, a mischievous little devil who becomes Dario’s right-hand man while working for Hell. Jaako has Tex Avery energy about him. He’s a chaotic, smart, cynical Bat-Mite type who would grab popcorn and soda every time someone was tortured in the fiery pits of Hell. He was so cute…until he smiled.
Check out the preview of “The Godfather of Hell” below!
