@’s by BLACK OF HEART writer Chris Charlton!!!
AMBUSH BUG (BUG): What is BLACK OF HEART all about? CHRIS CHARLTON (CC): BLACK OF HEART is the story of two men – a detective whose personal life is in shambles, and the killer he’s trying desperately to stop. I would describe it as a noir horror/thriller with some great twists and turns. “Sin City” meets “Silence of the Lambs” is a great elevator pitch for the story. One of my favorite aspects of the series that I like to highlight is the use of color, which starts in black and white with splashes of primaries and evolves into a larger palette as the story unfolds, building up to the big, full color finale. Subconsciously, the color itself is like a character in the book building tension and I think it’s a very unique feature when layered over David’s mixed media art style.
BUG: What is it about 1949 New York that made you want to set your story there?
CC: I’m a huge history nerd. A ton of research went into the book and there’s something romantic and gritty about that post-war time period. New York City was an obvious choice because it’s so iconic, but beyond that, I wanted to pull some actual history into the story and it was a great platform to do that. Specifically the explosion in the Holland Tunnel in May of 1949, which occurs in Issue #2. The killer in the story uses the first Polaroid camera, which was made available to the public toward the end of 1948, so that was another factor that I wanted for the narrative. When you consider the difficulty a detective would have trying to track a murderer who picks his victims at random during a time before CSI and forensics were an option, I think it gives the entire story an edge and it allowed me to approach it differently than I would a more modern crime story. On top of all of this, I’m just a big fan of the noir genre and it had been a dream of mine for some time to write this type of story with a big city backdrop.BUG: What influenced you while writing this detective noir tale?
CC: Films like “In a Lonely Place”, “The Killing” and “Double Indemnity” were probably the jumping off point. As I mentioned before, there’s just something that I romanticize about that era and the noir genre. The way people talked and dressed, the play with light and shadows… it’s all very enticing to me. Music is another big aspect. I typically don’t write to music, but I do build a soundtrack and I listen to it when I’m away from the keyboard. I’m a fan of John Ottman and “The Ususal Suspects” soundtrack was right at the top of the list for BLACK OF HEART. Story wise – beyond the detective/killer aspect, you have a story about a man who is living in the shadow of his father and how he’s struggling with that. It’s certainly something I’ve dealt with and I think most people do at one point or another. It’s the anchor and a steady beat throughout the series.
BUG: How did you and artist David Hollenbach meet and how would you describe the way the two of you guys work creatively together? CC: I met David through a mutual friend, Matt Dicke, who had done an anthology comic called “Fragment” and they each had a story in it. When I saw David’s artwork, I was immediately pulled in and contacted him about working together. At the time, I was publishing an offbeat superhero series called “Binary Gray” and David jumped on and did the covers for all 12 issues and both trades. From there, we worked together on a five page short for a book called “Sleepless”, (which Matt did the cover for), and when I saw his sequential work, it really blew me away. I mean, it’s just very different from your typical art style. More along the lines of Dave McKean. As I was writing BLACK OF HEART, I asked David if he was interested and we discussed the story he was really into it. I knew his style would be perfect to capture the creepy factor and it gives the whole project a very surreal, cinematic quality. In terms of working together, it was pretty easy. Since David was, at the time, living in Philadelphia and I’m in Cincinnati, it was all via email and dropbox, but I gave David a lot of freedom and he really took the reins when it came to the color palette and a lot of the layout work and just did an excellent job. Getting a new page was always something to be excited about.
BUG: How did you come up with the distinctive way the killer looks and his dark M.O. in BLACK OF HEART?
CC: The actual genesis of the killer was based on a cab ride I took to the Denver airport. It was one of those situations where, I didn’t really think anything of it until I was in the car and it dawned on me that it wasn’t a cab at all – just this guys car with a meter barely fixed to the dashboard. There was something off about the driver and he had a very odd tick. Trembling hands. I was waiting for him to announce some excuse to pull over so he could murder me and it really instilled this fear inside of me that I hadn’t experienced before. To an extent, I was at this guy’s mercy. Obviously nothing happened and I survived, but it started me down a path to what would ultimately become the killer in BLACK OF HEART – a man who drives a cab around the city late at night, looking for women who are alone and possibly drunk, stumbling out of a bar. People put their trust in taxis every day and it sort of bothered me to consider how easy it may be for some twisted person to use that to their advantage. In the story, the killer takes an eye from each victim and is making a mask of their eyes, which is a bit of a play on the story of Argus in Greek mythology. Argus was a giant with 100 eyes and when he was killed, Hera commemorated him by placing eyes on the peacock’s tail. Very cool story, and there are elements of that scattered and hidden throughout the book. Writing the character was a real test for me, though. I pushed myself to some dark places in search of scenarios that would terrify me if I were in them. Discovering things like that isn’t necessarily a comfortable place to be and I had to draw it back at times.BUG: Why did you decide to go the Kickstarter route with this comic?
CC: Kickstarter is a great tool for small press publishers, essentially allowing anyone to pre-order something (a book in this case) that they’re interested in, learn the history of it, etc. It may not be the future, but it is certainly the best option in the present for creators like myself to have a platform to launch a project and get some great promotion at the same time. When I partnered with Narrier to publish the series, we both agreed it was the right decision.
BUG: I know putting together a Kickstarter is almost as stressful as putting a comic together. What advice do you have for folks who might want to go this route in order to make their dreams come true? CC: Clear your calendar, because it’s all-encompassing. The level of promotion and updates and tapping people on the shoulder is staggering, but it’s also very gratifying to see it through to completion. I think when you’re doing a collected book like we are with BLACK OF HEART, it’s to your benefit to get as much of the work done upfront as possible. The goal for us is to send the book to the printer as soon as the project ends and get the book in people’s hands as quickly as possible. One more note… It’s always good to triple check your shipping costs, specifically for overseas. Your worst nightmare is a scenario where you’ve successfully met your goal only to realize it wasn’t enough to cover your fulfillment.
BUG: Is BLACK OF HEART set up to continue after this series?
CC: One of my favorite pieces in this hardback edition of BLACK OF HEART is the 7 page epilogue that was not included in the original series. While it does wrap up main series, it could also very well serve as a prologue to the next series. I can’t guarantee that it will happen, but I have plans to write it, yes. Beyond that it will depend on David’s schedule, but I’m hopeful that we can make it happen! When it’s all said and done, this is the complete story and as much as I love cliffhangers you won’t find one at the end this time.BUG: If you were to cast a BLACK OF HEART film, who would your dream star be?
CC: That’s a tough one! The detective, Drake Harper, is a complex character, so it would have to be someone who could carry that internal weight. Someone brooding, that you feel could boil over at any minute. Maybe someone like Tom Hardy? I’d say Jon Hamm, but he’s so damn funny, I laugh now when I think of him.
BUG: What kind of incentives do you have for those who support this campaign? CC: Beyond the obligatory t-shirt, we went with some really unique rewards. BLACK OF HEART is a unique book and I thought we should try to match that in some capacity. First and foremost, the ability to get any page or panel or piece of artwork from the book printed on an 18x24 canvas. I have three of them, all pages from the first issue of BLACK OF HEART and they’re incredible. David’s artwork was just made to be on display like that and it’s a great memento for fans of the series. Our “Drunk of Heart” reward features a black anatomical heart wine stopper, which is very sleek and cool. It’s designed by Dellamorto & Co, as are the large vases – also a black anatomical heart. That thing is gorgeous. 10.5 inches, hand crafted and painted. Really stunning. For comic collectors, we have the original comic books released by Assailant Comics and a slew of gorgeous art prints from some of the best artists working in comics today. All of these come with the 180 page hardback edition of BLACK OF HEART. It’s all very exciting! You just have to find what works best for you and even though we’re nearing our last week, we still have some surprises up our sleeves, so keep an eye out.
BUG: What's coming up for you after BLACK OF HEART? CC: I’m working with artists on multiple series right now and writing a new mini-series as we speak. Unfortunately, nothing I can talk specifics about, but hopefully soon! This fall I’m anticipating a short I did with artist Gavin Smith in the 10th Anniversary Special of “’68”, from Image. That’s Mark Kidwell’s series, who actually wrote the foreword for the BLACK OF HEART hardback. Really excited for that one. We did some very cool stuff with it structurally and I’m anxious to see the response. I’m also working with Ali Cantarella on a short about the attempted assassination of Andrew Jackson, which is going to be very cool. I told you I was a history nerd!
BUG: What cons are you planning on attending this year?
CC: I’ve been focusing on writing the majority of this year, so I did the bulk of my shows through the spring. The nice thing about partnering with Narrier on BLACK OF HEART is that they have reach that I don’t and they’ll be attending shows and helping to get my work out there while I focus on the creative end. I wish I had a better business sense, but writing is where my heart is (black as it may be) and that’s where I prefer to keep my focus, turning out more books and scratching that itch. I believe my next show for 2016 will be a hometown show – the Cincinnati Comic Expo this fall.
BUG: Last chance, why should folks support BLACK OF HEART with their hard earned money?CC: BLACK OF HEART is a passion project. Pure and simple. David and I poured our blood, sweat and tears into this book and I think that comes through in the finished product. A quick look at some of the praise we’ve received for the book from industry pros and through five star reviews hopefully speaks to that. Fans of noir, murder mysteries, serial killers, and creepy thrillers will not be disappointed. The 180 page hardback book collects all five of the original issues with a 7 page epilogue, never-before-seen artwork from David Hollenbach, alternate covers, pinups from some of the best artists out there and a couple surprises too! It’s a great story with incredible artwork – what’s not to like?!
BUG: Thanks and best of luck, Chris! If you’re interested in supporting BLACK OF HEART click on this link and help make this comic happen!
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
