Admittedly, a lot of great comics are released each and every week. But every once in a while, that most special of titles hits the shelves, and it feels like you’re watching some memorable talent step up or some cultural moment coalesce. That’s very much the case with the latest from writer-artist Sean Peacock, an edgy, heartfelt little book called Blood Honey.
The stars of Blood Honey are Vanessa De La Mora and Edgar St. Claire, the most popular couple at the “Burton-esque” world of Manderlay Preparatory High School. But rather than being young and in love (and truly ascending the high school hierarchy as homecoming king and queen), Vanessa and Edgar are obsessed with resolving their romantic woes — by assassinating one other. In what’s basically Battle Royale meets Riverdale, Blood Honey is this sharp, bloody dissection of how we’ve all let relationships go sour, and what we really need to do to be lucky at love (i.e., be communicative human beings).
But don’t just take my word for it. In his 9/10 review for this site, our own Nathan Simmons had this to say: “The jokes are acerbic and clever, but the emotional scenes still feel genuine…Blood Honey is a fantastic one-and-done tale that leaves you wanting more, especially if you’re a fan of Heathers, Wednesday, or YA stories with a particularly mean edge.” Prepare to swoon!
Bloody Honey is out now via IDW. Shortly after its release, we caught up with Peacock to try and better understand this genuinely great one-shot of potent comics storytelling. Topics include the critical/reader responses, the book’s influences/inspirations, how music plays a role in Peacock’s creative process, the Vanessa-Edgar dynamic, and a possible future for the Blood Honey “universe.”
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: How has the reception for Blood Honey been so far? Were you surprised at all to any reactions of readers/fellow comic pros?
Sean Peacock: The reception has been fantastic! People have been responding to it in the way that I really hoped they would. From what I’ve seen, readers seem to enjoy the whimsy of the story and setting while connecting with the characters on a deeper level.
AIPT: Where did the idea for the book come from? I feel like I’ve seen a few people say there’s some real Heathers vibes here.
SP: Oh, for sure, there is definitely some Heathers DNA in this book. I’ve always had a soft spot for a high school rom-com or coming-of-age story, and I also love gothic film and literature – Wuthering Heights, Sunset Boulevard, Crimson Peak, stuff like that. I thought it would be really fun to tell a teenage love story, but crank up the drama and theatricality to the level of those gothic favorites. Like, when you’re a teenager, every feeling is so intense, so what if your little teen romance actually was as life-or-death as it felt?
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: What makes the relationship between Vanesa and Edgar so compelling? And is there one of them you associate with one more over the other?
SP: Vanessa and Edgar are two kids who drank each other’s Kool-Aid, so to speak. Manderlay Prep, as a boarding school with its own strange philosophy, is already kind of an echo chamber. They’re perhaps the most privileged among an already privileged student body, and in their hubris, they decided to ostracize themselves even further from their peers, to the point where they can really only relate to one another. As for which one I associate with, that’s tough. Edgar and I do have some shared experiences, although in this particular story, I think I have more sympathy for Vanessa.
AIPT: Do you think the story’s ultimately pessimistic (love always dies/fades) or hopeful (love can find a way) or somewhere in between? Is any of this back-and-forth based on your own romantic history/experiences?
SP: It’s somewhere in between. I think of Blood Honey not as a statement about the nature of all love, but more as a cautionary tale. Vanessa and Edgar had something good, but their fatal error was believing that they only needed each other, and nobody else. Romantic love means very little in isolation, and without a broader worldview, without love for anything or anyone else, it was always doomed to fail. That aspect of the story (isolation and mutual fear causing a relationship to go on past its expiration date) does draw on some personal experiences.
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: I love the way you lay out different moments/scenes — something like the Clarence “assassination” packs so much into just a couple of pages. Can you talk a little bit about your approach to moments like that?
SP: Aw shucks, thank you! I had so much story I wanted to tell, but only 48 pages to do it, so I tried to get creative with my panel economy. One of the blunter ways I did that was just packing more panels on a page. The average panel-per-page ratio of a comic is usually 6-7, and I think Blood Honey averages more like 8-9. If I had a shorter dialogue scene, like Vanessa scheming with Orville to steal the Homecoming Duel, I tried to do it in a single page. But there were also pacing dilemmas that required some more creative thinking.
I wanted to convey that Vanessa and Edgar were spending days or even weeks on their various schemes, and a sequence like that could have easily eaten up several pages. My solution was that double-page spread where Vanessa and Edgar cuddle on that chaise-longue while their various murder attempts are condensed into several strips above them. I think that approach helped to move the story along swiftly, while emphasizing comedy so that their more desperate actions in the back half of the book would feel more grave.
AIPT: Do you have a favorite moment or page or general occurrence? Something that speaks to the heart of this story?
SP: Jeez, there are so many, but I think that honor has to go to the double-page spread near the end of the book where Vanessa and Edgar have their sword fight atop the burning school. It’s such a striking visual, and it speaks to the absurd levels of gothic drama going on. When I first pitched the story, this was the big scene that I used to describe the strong visuals of the book. I also think it’s fun because Manderlay Prep is named after the huge estate in Rebecca (specifically the Alfred Hitchcock version), which also goes up in flames at the end of that story.
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: There’s also real layers and backstory despite this being a one-shot. How much world-building did you do for a story like this one?
SP: You know, a lot of the world-building came circumstantially, and some of it even came during the drawing process. At first I was really more concerned with storytelling and strong visuals. I knew that the school would be built into this huge gothic castle, and I knew that I wanted the big sport to be high-stakes sword dueling. From there, I asked myself the question, “What kind of environment would allow and approve of this?” I think a lot of that comes through in the details. The other students at this school, even just the ones in the background, feel mean and bitter. A lot of them have injuries, cuts, and bruises. It’s a real dog-eat-dog environment. There were a lot of cool ideas I had that I just couldn’t find space for.
AIPT: Could we get even more from Blood Honey or this “universe”? I’d love to see a book centered around even more students at Manderlay.
SP: I certainly hope so! I have some really exciting ideas about a potential semi-sequel where we’d meet some very interesting new students and see other sides of the school. If anyone reading this would like to see that, be sure to order a copy of Blood Honey with your local comic shop and tell them you want to see more! I’m still a very new creator, so every bit of support helps!
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: Here’s a fun, dumb question: If you could ask any of your favorite band/singers to record a theme for a (hypothetical) Blood Honey TV adaptation, who is that artist and what note(s) would you give them?
SP: Oh man, what a treat that would be. Music is a big part of my creative process, and a lot of the feelings that led to Blood Honey stemmed from the song “Honeysuckle” by Pom Pom Squad. I think Pom Pom Squad would be a great fit for a Blood Honey theme song. Maybe even a rendition of “Honeysuckle” or their more recent song “Messages,” perhaps with the addition of church bells and some strings/orchestral elements to get at that gothic vibe.
AIPT: What’s up next from Sean Peacock? Anything we should watch for on the horizon post-Blood Honey?
SP: I’m always hard at work! Myself and writer DJ Wooldridge just put out an indie book via Kickstarter called DANGER BOi & the ANTAGONiSTS. It’s an anti-fascist cyberpunk superhero thriller set in a really unique retro-futurist world. We’re gearing up to launch the campaign for issue #2 in the spring of 2026. I’m also working on something new for IDW, but I’m afraid I can’t talk about it just yet. You’ll have to stay tuned!
You must be logged in to post a comment.