In recent months, the folks at Rebellion/2000 AD have delivered a heap of special releases in addition to the famed magazine (and other various titles). That includes an all-new Misty collection, which they resurrected after last year’s 45th anniversary. Now, they’re digging into the archives once more, as it were, with a 40th anniversary special for Scream.
The 64-page Scream special comes after this past May’s 40 Years of Scream, which collected all 15 issues of this title that’s been described as “more tongue-in-cheek than horrific.” And the Scream special will very much continue that tradition with four new offerings, including all-new strips for “Dracula File” and “The Thirteenth Floor.” The Scream issue breaks down as such:
- Alex Paknadel and Alejandro Aragon team up for the aforementioned new “Dracula File,” which is, surprise surprise, a vampire tale.
- Meanwhile, Torunn Grønbekk and Emily Schnall unite for “Thirteenth Floor,” which follows the rogue AI Max as he offers a special kind of “protection” for tenants of his tower block.
- From Anna Readman and George Pooley, “And His Skin Is Cold” is a “peek at the dark history of a legendary ’70s rock band.”
- And, finally, V.V. Glass takes us on a “claustrophobic descent into the Paris catacombs” with “Inverted Burial.”
The Scream special will be available stateside on December 11. In the meantime, we were able to speak with Grønbekk, Glass, Paknadel, and Readman and Pooley all about the project. That includes their respective stories/contributions, the importance of Scream, and the difference between U.S. and UK comics, among other topics and tidbits.
Courtesy of Rebellion.
AIPT: What’s your previous experience with Scream as a comic? Did you read the classic stories?
Torunn Grønbekk: As with many of the British anthology comics, my introduction to Scream! was at my town’s used books store, where I, from time to time, would find treasure troves of British comics left by some local hero. So, I read the classic stories, but this would have been well over a decade after their initial publication, and I never got them in order. I think my first introduction to “The Thirteenth Floor” was in Eagle, but I soon found the original strip in Scream!, and since then, I’ve managed to get my hands on most of them through (mostly) legal means.
V.V. Glass: I wasn’t that familiar with Scream actually – I did a bit of work on “The Thirteenth Floor” before, and a couple of stories for Scream‘s ‘sister’ series, Misty and Tammy & Jinty, but that’s about it in terms of the genre pool. I did read some of the old stories that were reissued alongside some new ones, it was nice seeing how well they mesh together tonally.
Alex Paknadel: Candidly, my previous experience was zero. Friends and peers worked on it and spoke of it with huge reverence, but my first exposure to it was when I was asked to contribute a strip. I loved it of course.
Anna Readman: I never read Scream but have an appreciation for classic horror comics such as EC Comics and Creepy. My favourites are those from Wally Wood and Alex Toth.
George Pooley: I’m in the same position. I’ve never come across Scream! but in terms of British horror comics, I’m a massive fan of the current 2000 AD titles Thistlebone and The Fall of Deadworld. Two very different approaches to horror but both are excellent, and I try and recommend them as much as possible to people I randomly bump into on the street. I’m not sure how many have taken up my reading recommendation.
Art from “And His Skin Is Cold”. Courtesy of Rebellion.
AIPT: Tell me a little bit about your contribution to this issue – what can readers expect from your story in this special?
AP: Together with my friends Alejandro Aragon and Jason Wordie, I’m contributing a full length “Dracula File” story. We haven’t retconned anything, so the classics still stand, but we’re attacking it from more of a post-Cold War perspective. The original stories offered such a strong, fascinating conceit – Dracula crossing the Iron Curtain to reach Britain during the Cold War – and we wanted to look at it again from a contemporary vantage point. What does Dracula mean in a world of rising authoritarian nationalism and the ongoing persecution of refugees? What relationship would an institutionally corrupt British establishment have with an aristocratic predator?
TG: What stood out for me was Max’s [the building’s AI computer] pride and joy in caring for his tenants. There is an odd sweetness to all his brutality, like a psychopathic father who just wants to shield his children from the evils of the world and take care of their “problems” in the most horrific manner possible. I’ve given Max a new challenge with new charges, and despite being out of date, he handles what’s coming with ruthless aplomb. I love Max.
AR: Our story is about a British 1970s rock ‘n roll band on their breakout American tour, and the chaos and tragedy that ensues when the cruel descent of addiction and brutal consequences of unbridled indulgence comes to a violent end one fateful evening. It is a tale of an icon’s fall into darkness and dragging his nearest, dearest, and closest admirers with him.
With a hint of tongue ‘n cheek, our story fits into the iconography of Scream! with a rock ‘n roll twist that only the backdrop of the turbulent ‘70s can provide. Talent and a good voice can bring you fame, fortune and immortality but that isn’t the only way to live forever.
VG: My story’s a bit of a twist on the oldest type of horror story (can’t say which without giving the whole thing away!) It’s set in the Paris catacombs, which are a lot older and go a lot deeper than you’d think. There’s a bit of DNA from Robert MacFarlane’s Underland and a bit from the OG internet horror “Ted the Caver,” which probably does give the whole thing away, but there you go.
Art from “Dracula File”. Courtesy of Rebellion.
AIPT: Do you see something different or novel about comics made for a British audience? It seems with so many hugely important books that it’s a different scene than in the U.S
AR: I think with globalization and the internet, especially with easy access to U.S. and Japanese media, the modern comics audience is incredibly mixed and diverse. British comics have their own history and legacy, and its cultural importance should never be ignored or diminished, but modern comics, British or otherwise, can have an international audience with ease, which should always be taken into consideration. I think our story appeals to both British and U.S. audiences, with a good ‘ol injection of horror that everyone can appreciate.
VG: I think with UK comics there are more publications, more variety, and more willingness to maintain a back catalogue of older comics that are available for new readers. It’s hard to be definite without knowing much about the indie scene in the US (and elsewhere) but but it seems like there’s less of a gap between indie creators and publishers in the UK, too. There’s more midpoint between What Happens Next and Superman, and more mobility between the two in terms of the work people do. And maybe because of the comparatively high Euro influence in the UK scene, there’s more view of comics as art-literature than purely disposable entertainment.
AP: It’s a hugely different scene, but there’s obviously a lot of cross-fertilization. Much of what we may loosely term “the Vertigo style” has its origins in the British comics scene of the 1970s. A lot of very passionate, very clever working class kids from the punk and hippy scenes started making comics for a nation rocked by recession and racism – bleak, cynical and full of mistrust for authority – and I suppose the consummation of that was Judge Dredd. There was and is a cackling nihilism there that I think was conspicuously absent from American comics of the same period.
TG: I’m Norwegian, and I noticed the difference between British and American storytelling long before I understood the geography. From what emotional beats to expect to the layers of irony and satire, there is an almost tangible difference between the two. I mainly write for the American market, and it took me a while to get used to and appreciate the bombastic, naked, emotional moments you can get away with in the US. In many ways, British storytelling comes more naturally to me, but I try to go for something in between the two.
Art from “Dracula File”. Courtesy of Rebellion.
AIPT: I feel like we’re seeing more and more anthologies as of late. Are projects like this good for creators, and do we need more forms of accessible storytelling like this?
VG: I mean, I like them! Short-form stories in anthologies are better for me because the fully-painted art I do is so time-and-labour intensive. To be able to focus for a short time on multiple 10 page stories is better for my schedule (and health) than one 50-page story. Publishers get more material by doing anthologies with multiple participants, and creators can get more satisfying work done by doing multiple anthologies, in my opinion. It’s also a more accessible format for people who can’t – because of time, health, or finances – be full-time artists or writers, which also makes it a good entry point for the industry.
AP: I love anthologies, and horror anthologies in particular. I think we’ve seen a fetishization of long form storytelling in comics for a long time, but anthologies really are places where you can just play and try new things.
There’s a reason why most British creators who make it in the American market usually come up through 2000 AD’s “Future Shocks“; you have to tell a self-contained short story with a killer twist in under eight pages. It’s like open mic standup for comics, and everyone who cuts their teeth on them tends to be shockingly elastic and creative in their thinking. Suffice it to say I did not come up through that system, haha.
AR: I think projects like this are fantastic for creators and give opportunities to evolve and improve as a practitioner. Having a limited number of pages to really push and experiment with your storytelling skills is a great challenge for your craft and comic-making abilities. I’m very grateful that I was asked to do this project and to have support in not just my drawing abilities, but my writing abilities for the first time as well.
GP: I agree, the anthology format, especially in anniversary or special issues leans towards a ‘one and done’ approach. From a creative perspective that’s certainly a challenge since you have to create a satisfying narrative that is complete after a limited number of pages. You can’t simply let the story run on like a lot of other comics are guilty of.
GT: I can only speak for myself, but anthologies are a nice break from some of the longer and larger storytelling arcs, and I greatly enjoy them. For up-and-coming creators, anthologies can often be their first foot in the door, which I’m all for. Short stories are deceptively simple, and if you can craft a brilliant short story, there’s a good chance people will take note.
Art from “Inverted Burial”. Courtesy of Rebellion.
AIPT: Do you approach a story differently, or tell a different kind of story, for a publication like this?
GT: I approach every story differently. That’s the fun thing about writing; whenever you think you know how to do it, it slips out of your fingers and forces you to figure it out all over again. So fun!! But there is something freeing about not writing in a set continuity and writing stories people can enjoy without having to read all the preceding issues. It’s also a great opportunity to play with a concept that wouldn’t necessarily work in a longer form.
AR: George and I both wanted to take a crack at this project together: with my interest in 1970s counterculture and music in conjunction with George’s passion and knowledge of the horror genre to craft this story, and I think it turned out pretty good.
VG: There’s more reworking than if I’m making something with a malleable pagecount, which is more what I’m used to. Page count is the killer. The last time I was (co)creating a story from scratch it was a longer piece for Misty, which had a lot of wiggle room in terms of length, so we had almost no limitations on pacing. For Scream, it took a lot of work to cut back everything I originally had so it’d both fit in the page limit and work as a self-enclosed story.
AP: Fortunately, I was given a full 20 pages to tell my story, so it felt like a standard American one shot. I’m used to writing to that length, and the larger pages freed me up even more. I usually write quite densely, but I had the room to really let the characters breathe here. I’m immensely proud of it. As to the content of the story itself, I haven’t written a great deal for the British market recently, so I wanted to really dig into very British concerns.
Strangely enough, I always feel more exposed writing in a British idiom because I have less of an authorial mask to hide behind. I can pretend I’m someone else when I’m writing for the U.S. market, but this is much closer to the kind of stuff I rant about over the dinner table. It’s a much rawer piece.
Art from “Inverted Burial”. Courtesy of Rebellion.
AIPT: Is there anything else you’d like to say about Scream, your story, comics in general, the wonders/horrors of existence, etc.?
AP: It’s obviously a huge honor to be part of such a storied legacy, but overall I’m just so impressed by how open Rebellion, and my editor Chiara Mestieri, were to letting me tell a story that holds a mirror up to modern Britain. Then again, that seems to be in the very finest tradition of British comics anyway.
AR: Just remember to always stay weird!
GP: Just some general advice, keep watching the sky — and if the strange gentlemen at the petrol station tells you not to go to that cabin in the woods, I’d listen to him.
VG: If you sit in a chair all day every day to work you should stretch every day, otherwise you’ll start suffocating on your own bad posture at 30.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login