This week, there’s been a shakeup of sorts over at IDW. As Comics Beat reported, the publisher recently told several creators that they wouldn’t be moving forward with their books as part of their IDW Originals line. (IDW seemingly hasn’t dropped every new book, and several titles, including the newly-announced Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, still seem slated for release.) That left the bulk of these artists and writers scrambling for new homes for their genre-spanning projects, with some opting for the realm of crowdfunding.
That includes artist-writer Will Robson, who in the coming weeks will head to Zoop to raise funds for his five-issues miniseries Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea. The book focuses on a near-future Earth in which a clean-up crew find themselves trapped miles under the ocean when “their recycling facility loses power and the replacement crew crashes into them.” Then it becomes a race against time, and whether the crew will be torn apart by their own paranoia or the gnarly deep sea monstrosities waiting outside. If you like horror and love and/or hate the great wide ocean, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea could be a book worth hooking on your line.
If you’re interested in supporting Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, then you can sign-up for the pre-launch page. And in the meantime, Robson was kind enough to answer a few of our burning questions. That includes his thoughts on IDW’s “restructuring,” why he chose the ocean for a horror story, and the book’s more timely connections to global news/events.
For more info on Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, head here.
AIPT: I have to start with the obvious: how does it feel that this was axed by IDW Originals? It seems like, and I’m speaking as an outsider, that as depressing as all of this is, the process was seemingly handled gently enough?
Will Robson: Well, it doesn’t feel good! I was pretty blindsided by it, and to be honest I didn’t even realise that it could just be cancelled mid production. I had just checked my email before going to bed last Monday at around 11 p.m. UK time (after spending the entire day writing half of issue #3) to find an email from the higher-ups telling me it’s cancelled and I have retained the rights. They apologised and stated it had nothing to do with my work but was due to an internal restructure.
Regardless, it’s definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. I have no animosity towards the fantastic editors I was working with though and I’m going to miss them because they constantly helped get the best work out of me and challenged me to truly explore the depths of what my story could be.
AIPT: Similar to that last question, how do you feel about the move to Zoop? Do you have heaps of experience with crowdfunding?
WR: So I’ve only ever crowdfunded one project before and that was my self published zombie comic, Outbreaks. I launched that back in March and successfully got the project overfunded! I’m in the middle of launching issue 2 on Kickstarter which will be live on September 1st and I’m hoping to raise even more this time around.
I chose Zoop (and I met with a few companies/publishers) because I can honestly say that producing Outbreaks on my terms was one of the most creatively satisfying experiences of my professional career. When you pitch stories for publishers, you cater them to your editor’s interests (as they’re the ones that will hire you!). If you’re lucky enough to get interest from an editor in one of your stories then you write up the pitch package for it then to be approved.
Once they approve it, they take it to the higher-ups who give their feedback on the pitch. The process continues like that until everyone is finally happy but it doesn’t end there. You then have to break down the entire story more in depth and once that’s approved you then breakdown thatstory into each issue. Only once all of that is approved and your title fits within a release schedule will you then be officially starting production on your book. It’s a lot of work to even get to the point of creating an actual comic (and finally getting paid to do so too) when you’re trying to have your story published at a major publisher. I spent a few years pitching over at IDW with a couple of IPs of mine, and Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea went through some major changes due to things going on in pop culture or in other comics on the stands. The great thing about crowdfunding is there’s zero publisher red tape.
Courtesy of Will Robson.
You’ve got a story that you beloved in and a passionate about? Make it! You have the freedom to tell your comic exactly how you envisioned it without having to get approval from multiple sources. The great thing about Zoop is that they have full control over the campaign management. It’s catered for comics and with the success of my last campaign I’m thinking of trying to steer my career towards crowdfunding all my future projects.
AIPT: Onto the book proper: what’s your elevator pitch for Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea?
WR: In the near future, a crew trying to clean up the man-made waste that plagues the ocean’s depths becomes trapped deep underwater after their recycling facility loses power and the replacement crew crashes into them. Whilst stranded in the deepest part of the ocean awaiting rescue, the team grows paranoid as they begin to believe they are being slowly hunted by creatures and ghosts that lurk in the dark.
Anyone who enjoys The Thing, Resident Evil, Alien, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Exorcist will love this book!
AIPT: What remains so deeply terrifying about the deep ocean? I think, for me at least, it’s not just that it’s scary but despite our best efforts we’ve barely scratched its surface.
WR: Exactly! I have a speech in issue one from one of the the main characters who explains that everyone calls space the final frontier which is a ridiculous statement when we’ve only explored a measly 5% of our own oceans. There’s SO much mystery and mythology within our waters that there’s a million stories to tell there. But my goal for this book was to try and fit all of my childhood fears into one story. I’m terrified of the ocean because I saw Jaws one night when I was 5, and I’m terrified of demonic possession because that same night I also The Exorcist (it was quite the night). Ghosts and ghouls have always frightened me (things like The Thing and Resident Evil 1-3 on the ps1) and I managed to develop an idea that caters to all of those fears and fits them nicely into one solid story.
AIPT: The timing of this book comes just a few months after that Titan submersible implosion. How do you feel about the (unintended) connection, and is that a good thing or not?
WR: Funnily enough there’s some of what happened to them in issue one. It was a tragedy what happened to Titan (and, yes, with hindsight it could have been avoided). At the end of the day though, the only similarities are both my book and that tragedy have to do with deep sea exploration.
AIPT: The book also seems to touch on themes of recycling and waste. How important is some overt political messaging, or do you want to springboard off these topical themes into something larger?
Courtesy of Will Robson.
WR: There’s a reason for it being in the book and if I told you it would probably spoil the story! All I can say is that it’s following in the steps of all these mega corporations trying/claiming to go carbon neutral 50-80-odd years from now. We get to see what a mega oil company does to save their image after having the worst oil spill ever recorded in human history.
AIPT: The book claims quite a few references, from The Thing to The Haunting of Hill House. How do you blend or engage these references and still try to make something new/novel?
WR: As I said before the goal of this book is to blend all of my childhood fears into one story. The location, the characters, the monsters and the events that take place make it the perfect blend. When you look at something like IT, having multiple characters lets you play with a multitude of terrors but still have it come from the same source (pennywise). There will be a sort of “Pennywise” source in this book but instead of a demonic clown — it’s more of a deep sea threat.
AIPT: I’m continually perplexed by just how much horror has become the way for exploring big ideas when that was often just the realm of sci-fi. Why did a horror story resonate with you, and what’s the value of this approach in exploring a very real issue/calamity?
WR: The thing about horror is, if something can actually scare you it sticks with you forever. Whether it’s a fear of the ocean because of Jaws, or being terrified as a kid when first watching The Ring and fearing the phone when it rang. That to me is truly powerful and everything that scared me as a kid has turned me into an adult that’s fascinated by my childhood fears. Now I love all types of horror and anything to do with sea creatures, ghosts, and demons because it connects me to my past. And although I may not believe in any of it as an adult, I still go to back it time and time again for entertainment. In terms of real issues, sometimes reality can be the most frightening thing of all!
AIPT: What little teasers of action or suspense can you tease from the story? Any standout moments for you in general?
WR: This book has it all. If you’re afraid of ghosts watching you from the darkness, or you’re haunted by your past, afraid of what lurks in the deep, and mostly importantly afraid of what your own mind is capable of then you might want to read this one with the lights on! I’m promising spooky ghosts, grotesque monsters, and psychological thrills!
AIPT: Final question: why should anyone back Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea?
WR: Let’s not let this story end due to IDW’s restructure. Good content shouldn’t have to live or die by the management of companies but by the management of creators. With Zoop, it’s the people’s choice to decide whether or not a comic has an audience and is good enough to be on the stands. With Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, you’re already guaranteed to be getting a quality product (as it was greenlit by a major American comic publisher). I’m putting my all into the art and I’m really looking forward to people’s reaction to the story and their theories on what’s going on down at the bottom of the sea.
Please, if anything from this interview peaked your interest on the story of this book then sign up to our pre-launch page to be notified when we go live with the project! Besides just selling the book, I’ll be offering up other awesome content such as original inked pages from my long career drawing comics for Marvel and DC, issue #1 of Outbreaks (my first self-published horror comic), and a ton of other fun things like special variants and exclusive merchandise! Come join us and let’s make this happen together!
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