Matt Kindt has a history of making things into something they’re not (and often all the more foreboding/tense). He turned boy scouts into super soldiers. He made a story about underwater welders into a murder mystery. He even used super spies as a heady exploration of existentialism. For his latest project, Kindt’s reunited with Tyler Jenkins (the pair previously collaborated on Fear Case and Apache Delivery Service) alongside colorist Hilary Jenkins to tackle a terrifying new subject: cats.
The aptly-named Hairball is described as “Junji Ito meets Hayao Miyazaki.” As a young girl deals with family woes, a black cat emerges, bringing with it “numerable supernatural horrors.” While said girl tries to manage both life and this cat, she begins to discover the true source of the horrors plaguing her little family. With the tone of a YA-centric The Omen, the story’s as much about the frights as it is a compelling exploration of family, facing the world for the first time, and working through grief and trauma.
With issue #1 out this week (April 5) from Dark Horse and his own Flux House imprint, Kindt spoke to us all about Hairball a little earlier this year. There, we discussed cats as a horror icons, the story’s exploration of family dynamics, working with Jenkins once more, and building a proper horror story, among other topics.
Main cover (L) by Matt Kindt. Variant cover (R) by Martin Simmonds. Courtesy of Dark Horse.
AIPT: Where did this idea for Hairball come from? What do you think you’re trying to work out here?
Matt Kindt: Ha! Well…have you ever owned a cat? (laughs) – just kidding (mostly). I had a few cats growing up and into adulthood but then I had adult-onset cat allergies. So the cats became kind of a health concern for me. I loved ‘em so giving them away wasn’t an option so I kind of suffered those last few years with allergies and sinus infections. And cats that wanted to sleep on the pillow next to my face… and if they did – it’d kill me…so maybe that’s where it came from? A little bit of love-hate.
Also…I swear cats can sense an inked page of a comic from the other room and will walk across or sit on it before the ink can dry. That has to be some kind of demonic superpower… that’s where I’m coming from…and I was talking to Tyler about what our next few book should be and we kicked around a few ideas…creepy romance, horror, family drama…and sort of landed on this one. We’re going to hit all of those ideas but this one falls under family drama I think.
Courtesy of Dark Horse.
AIPT: What’s it like to work with the Jenkins’ again? What do they bring to the table this time?
MK: They work so well together. Art and color – so important that they work together to tell the story and I really just let them do their thing. I’ve done more pages with them then any other artists I think so you can’t help but develop a kind of shorthand and ease of working together that is irreplaceable.
AIPT: Is this book clearly anti-cat or somehow pro-cat?
MK: It’s definitely pro-cat with some caveats…(laughs). But really it’s about just trying to show some understanding for another beings motivations – what you think it is – isn’t necessarily correct. We tend to project ourselves onto other people and animals as well…and poor Bestie. You may be scared of her early on – but give her a chance…wait and see!
Courtesy of Dark Horse.
AIPT: Would you admit you’re perhaps subtly playing with the ideas of what’s real and what’s only the imagination of a child in a tense situation?
MK: That’s an element for sure. I remember when I was maybe ten years old…I would play a lot in the basement of our ranch-style house. And for a summer I kept thinking I saw a shadow of a cat running around the basement – just out of the corner of my eye. It was a weird experience. We didn’t own cats at that time. I’d never had one. But I kept thinking I’d see one skitter by…and then I liked to think that maybe we had a secret cat in the basement. Maybe that’s where part of the idea came from…
AIPT: What about horror feels like the best vehicle for exploring family drama like this?
MK: Tyler wanted to do a horror book. It’s interesting to take a story idea and then apply a genre to it – which is really what this kind of ended up being. I don’t write a lot of horror. I’m not the biggest fan of the genre. I don’t like gross-out stuff. I don’t like bloody and gore. And I hate being jump-scared by anything at any time. So luckily – comics is incapable of that. But it can do the other stuff. So I was trying to figure out a way to do that in a way that would still be something that would appeal to me.
Courtesy of Dark Horse.
I think David Lynch does this in an amazing way. Taking mundane things and making them ominous. Horror as a state of mind. So I channeled a bit of that. And also just some of the naturally disgusting things that cats do. I had no idea what a hairball was until our first cat. And when I saw that get spit up…wow. Really. That is a horrific site. So it was easy to just branch off from that. There were some parts of this series that grossed me out while I was writing them. Super disgusting. But Tyler and Hilary’s art had a way of softening it a bit…my imagination is way worse…so the final comic is much easier to read than what I had in my head…and for that I’m thankful.
AIPT: And, perhaps in line with my last question, is there something therapeutic about using horror as the lens? Can horror be a way to heal?
MK: There’s something to that. I think facing your fears. Facing your problems head on. Probably a good thing. And I don’t really think horror is about fear really. It’s really about hate. What we hate and why. Hatred can come from fear…so they’re intertwined in an interesting way. But I think understanding can cure a lot of that.
AIPT: How much of your own relationships and experiences might inform or shape this story?
MK: There is a very personal scene or two in this that are pulled directly from real life. But I’d rather not say, you know? It’s ultimately a fictionalized version of events as perceived by me so I’m not sure how true any of that is at the end of the day.
Courtesy of Dark Horse.
AIPT: Why are cats so compelling as both bully/friend and protagonist/villain?
MK: They’re engimas! Who knows what they’re really thinking? Affectionate one moment and then a bite on the hand the next. Mercurial for sure. I think that’s what makes them interesting. I love dogs too – but a dog…you can practically voice-over narrate their entire thought process all the time. It’s sweet and loving and simple most of the time…but not much mystery there (laughs.)
AIPT: Are there any specific stories/movies you drew from? I get some distinct ‘70s vibes here.
MK: There was a strange thumbnail photo on some clickbait style news articles that kept showing up on web pages a couple years ago. The image was of someone’s hand with holes in it…and the holes looked deep and there were some weird worms crawling out of them. I never clicked on the link – but that image kept showing up over and over again under news articles for maybe two weeks straight. It was so horrific to me. I’m sure it was Photoshopped to look like some weird worm medical condition (please let it be just Photoshop).
Courtesy of Dark Horse.
But it was so horrific to me – made my skin crawl. So I really tried to draw on that feeling for issue one for sure…when the cat bites her hand…leaving those holes…uhg. Even now, I’m getting the heebie jeebies. As for movies/stories – I love the Shining and Alien…I watched House for the first time…some of that crazy vibe definitely snuck its way into this one. But also history. Issue four really pulls the veil away. There’s a reason for everything…and a way forward after this first book…
AIPT: Are you more of a cat or dog person? And what about after this book?
MK: I love ‘em both. But allergic to everything so it’s complicated. I travel too much to have a dog so I lean cat person. If I could, I’d have one of each to be honest – and they’d be friends. Homeward Bound-style….
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