Dennis Camp has always been drawn to big ideas, but posting a crisis event from his latest project, Image Comics, may be his most ambitious. In an anthology that explores a world where time is unleashed, the series blends existential chaos with deep personal storytelling. For camp, this concept emerged from serious observations of the modern world.
“I was really looking for ways to talk about the world I saw around me,” explains Camp. “A world like a world in crisis. Not just one, but an endless series of disasters. One day, it’s a political crisis, the next one, a health crisis, and a drug epidemic. Everything seems to be happening at once, dragging us into hell.”
This overwhelming sense of confusion and uncertainty crystallized for him during the pandemic, but he notes that the feeling had grown long before. To translate this destroyed reality into a cartoon, he chose to explore the concept of time vulnerability.
“Time is very bound by the way the comic story tells,” he says. “The way the panels are placed, the way thousands of years go between them, or just a second. I wanted to use it to reflect our broken reality.”
Editor’s Note: The unedited interview will air on the AIPT Comics Podcast on Sunday, March 16th.
Anthology of Chaos
Each issue of the various crisis events introduces a new protagonist who is struggling with the different manifestations of time crises. For example, the first problem follows Ashley, a woman whose past and future begin to blur together, making it impossible to determine reality. The problems that follow take a variety of approaches, Camp explains.
“Problem #2 follows slaughterhouse workers told in a nonlinear way that reflects the cutting of meat. Problem #3 is the story of a multiverse refugee, in which the inhabitants of one universe are forced into another universe, and the people there must deal with it. All problems explore different aspects of crisis and human resilience.”
Despite these standalone stories, larger stories thread the series and tie them together.
“There’s an ongoing story that explores the nature of the crisis: how it started, whether it can be stopped,” Camp says. “One character, the Broken Man, appears in every issue. He’s like Adam Strange or Flash Gordon becoming a homeless person. His story unfolds slowly, but he has the key to understanding everything.”
Courtesy Image Comic
Reflecting reality through fiction
The themes of various crisis events (change, disconnection, survival) are deeply connected to today’s world. Camp admits that while it is speculative, it feels surprisingly modern.
“It feels like the right time for immigration stories because of the stories about people trying to survive the overwhelming events,” he says. “I want you to look into how this book handles post-crisis crisis.”
To ground his storytelling in reality, Camp draws badly from the world around him. “I steal a lot from conversations with friends, books, television, anything that resonates,” he admits. “The first issue features streets that are constantly used to film apocalyptic films. This was filmed with John Wilson. That’s true.”
The visual power of cartoon
To make the events of various crises come to fruition, Camp worked with artist Eric Zawadzki. Its complex storytelling approach is perfectly in line with the book’s ambitious structure.
“Eric is like a scientist or an engineer,” Camp says. “He thinks deeply about storytelling. The way panel arrangements play a great role in the story. Every problem reinvents the storytelling approach. He wants nothing boring. We push ourselves to do something innovative with each installment.”
Courtesy image comic
Balancing multiple projects
The camp’s creative workloads, alongside the absolute Mars Manhunter and Ultimate, are the best, balanced and diverse crisis events of all time.
“This is most of the projects I’ve juggled before,” he admits. “But the secret is that I have worked on many of these over the years. Various crisis events have evolved from men in the 20th century. I work seven days a week, and I try to balance work and life.”
Along with Ultimates, Camp enjoys the freedom that comes with setting up an alternative universe.
“There’s no need to worry about breaking continuity or seeing it in decades of stories,” he says. “You can take risks. This book is played in a twisted way that superheroes and symbols are adopted over time.”
Ultimates Vol. 1 is currently at a comic bookstore.
Courtesy Marvel Comics
Absolute vs. Ultimate: The Story of Two Universes
Camp has a unique perspective on both the absolute and ultimate universes, and works widely in both. Although it may seem similar at first glance, the way you approach storytelling is fundamentally different.
“I think the absolute universe is very similar to the original ultimate universe. The goal is to update the classic characters of the modern world from scratch,” explains Camp. “You start from scratch and reconstruct them in ways that make sense today. But at Ultimates, we think you already know the broad strokes of these characters from films, TV shows and previous comics. Instead of redoing their origins, we can twist and reinterpret them in a way that makes them feel fresh.”
For example, Ultimate Spider-Man works in part because the audience is very familiar with the traditional Peter Parker Origin story. A new take, focusing on older Peter Parker with his family, will be exciting to overturn expectations.
“On the other hand, in the absolute Mars Manhunter, we approached him as if no one knew who the character was. It was a complete reinvention, and the underlying psychological horror takes him on, making him an alien in a way we’ve never seen before.”
This approach gives him freedom in many ways. The ultimate allows for bold social commentary and a reexamination of superhero myths, but the absolute Mars Manhunter gives him the opportunity to create a completely immersive, self-contained vision.
Reinventing the Mars Manhunter
In DC, the camp leads the absolute Mars manhunter. This is a bold reinvention of characters in the absolute universe.
“In the ultimate case, we assume a level of familiarity with the character and twist them in new ways. With the Manhunter on Mars, we didn’t know, as if no one knew who he was,” he explains. “It’s a deep, psychological and complex story that challenges traditional superhero stories.”
Much of its reinvention is shaped by a collaboration between camp and artist Javier Rodriguez.
“Habi is very intentional and accurate in his work,” Camp says. “Every problem is based on the visual language we’re creating. It’s challenging, but incredibly rewarding.”
Cover for the absolute Mars Manhunter #3.
Credit: DC Comics
Looking ahead
With multiple well-known projects released in 2025, Camp today solidifies himself as one of the most thought-provoking authors in the comics. In fact, he teased many times that an unreleased, yet unreleased, ongoing series will be announced later this year. Despite the harsh themes of his work, he continues to focus on moving the medium forward.
“Every time I approach a book, I think about ways to do something new, fresh,” he says. “We don’t just want to create a story that reflects the world around us, we also want to move forward with the form.”
Assorted Crisis Events #1 will be released on March 12th.
