Sneak Peek at Plague Doktor + Chat With Creators
Interview by: Ari Carr
As I’ve already mentioned in the previous blog, we here at Fifth Dimensions have a lot of awesome stuff coming your way this year. With more web comics, new features and more titles than last year on the way, I chatted to head honcho David M Brown, writer of new comic Plague Doktor (set to hit later this year) and artist Dennis Coyle III about their new project…
AC: What can you tell us about Plague Doktor? What’s it about?
DB: Without giving too much away…Plague Doktor takes place in the 13th century during the ‘Black Death’ plague. It’s essentially the story of a young man named Nils and his struggle to understand his lot in life. He’s a traveling plague doktor who moves from town to town attempting to ease the pain of the infected. He continuously encounters a very strange, hideously thin figure that always seems to be one step ahead of him. This is where the story starts.
AC: What sort of story do you hope to tell with Plague Doktor?
DB: Well, when writing Plague Doktor, I was feeling very inspired by an odd mixture of personal experience, mythology, history and the work of David Lynch…ha! I wanted to basically tell a very personal story about moving through life always feeling like the odd man out…always feeling like you were meant to do more with yourself. Going into the writing process with those things in mind, Plague Doktor came out!
AC: David, you say this is your strongest script so far. What makes you say this?
DB: I hope that doesn’t sound too arrogant! It’s true though. Everything I tried seemed to work with this script…from symbolism to foreshadowing, everything just seemed to click. Usually when I reread a script I’ve written after it’s finished, I’ll endlessly pick it apart and hate myself for making this bad decision or that bad decision. That doesn’t happen with Plague Doktor! Every time I read it, I just get more and more excited to release it.
AC: Your stories often contain very dark humor and dark storytelling. Are you using this type of storytelling in Plague Doktor?
DB: Plague Doktor is the epitome of dark and gritty. It’s sort of funny that everything I write is dripping with darkness and death…I’m a nice, happy guy! In short, yes, if you like my past work, you’ll find a lot to love in Plague Doktor. I wouldn’t say there is much in the way of humor in the book…once you read it, you’ll see why humor has no place in the story.
DC: After having read the script numerous times I really can’t pick out much humor in it. That’s not a bad thing at all. I’m fine with just drawing the dark.
AC: What was the experience of creating Plague Doktor like?
DB: Frightening! Like I said, this story is very personal to me in a lot of ways so seeing myself in the characters was a bit scary at times. But you know, at the end of the day, we are making comics and the creative process is always fun. My writing process for Plague Doktor was largely the same as always…lots of research and historical data went into the script. In addition to that, pouring over layouts and thumbnails with Dennis has been a fuck-ton of fun. He’s a great guy to work with…he really gets the material and is the consummate worker.
AC: What do you hope to bring to Fifth Dimensions with this story?
DB: I hope to add some more depth and diversity to the Fifth Dimension Comics line up with Plague Doktor. It’s my pipe dream to have it be the ‘prequel’ to a series of stories that are coming down the line.
AC: Dennis, what has it been like doing the art for this story? The teaser image looks amazing!
DC: It’s been great so far! David has done an amazing job with the writing and our joint interest in the subject matter makes it all the better. I love the script and I feel the direction I’m pushing it artistically really compliments it. The entire story is thumbnailed and I’m moving into final pages soon.
AC: What sort of style did you have in mind for the creation of Plague Doktor?
DC: I’m taking a heavy cue from noir comics for the bulk of it. I’m borrowing grunge elements and trying to keep the entire thing sort of… warped, just like the contents.
AC: Do you have any plans for a physical copy?
DB: The plan is to hit Kickstarter with it! Readers can expect the same level of quality as we achieved with ‘The Wisdom of Fools’ and if we reach enough funding, hopefully a hardcover!
DC: I think we are looking into options for a physical release sometime around summer.
AC: Lastly, do you have any more teasers for us? What can the readers expect from Plague Doktor?
DB: 5d fans will find a lot to love about Plague Doktor. If you like dark, gritty story telling with incredible art, look no further. Beware the mark of the plague!
DC: I have nothing more to tease just yet, but I will soon. I think readers can expect a dark and morbid tale rife with twisted intentions. Anyone that has enjoyed 5d’s previous work and fans of horror in general should definitely enjoy this.
So there you have it, boys and girls. The new tale from 5D will hit soon, and it’ll be a twisted historical game of cat and mouse, and will feature some jaw-droppingly awesome art by Dennis Coyle. Watch this space for more information…
As always, please check out what Ari is up to on her excellent blog! http://comicsandcookies.com and follow her on Twitter: @Ariellalphabet
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