Three very different comics debuted this summer, and the surprising Marvel Zombie series has just been revealed, with Ethan Parker and Griffin Sheridan officially celebrating the Berbenheimer moment.
The co-writers behind Kill Your Darlings miss out on Bring on the Bad Guys: Green Goblin (Ow Now) and Godzilla: Dead Zone and flashing (both August 6th). Plus, it falls in September, as the pair revealed Marvel Zombies: Red Band, which is the middle of the interview. Each book is clear, from superhero slashes to monster apocalypse to soft romances of time travel, but it all is undoubtedly a mysterious by-product of the Parker Ceridan duo.
“At this point, when I can talk to people about these books, I feel it’s really crazy to finally be hooked,” Parker said. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, hey, we’re making comic books.’ ”
Provided by Marvel Comics.
Goblins become full thrashers
In the Green Goblins, Parker and Sheridan, part of the Bring on the Bad Guys event, focusing on Marvel villains, were given a brief command. Norman Osborne must have a dagger. Their reaction? Turn the story into a horror film.
“As soon as we hear… Norman Osborne needs to swing around the dagger.
Oneshot leans deep into Osborne’s broken spirit and leaps towards the Silver Age goblin aesthetic filtered through the lens of a horror villain.
“He’s scarier than you’ve ever seen,” Parker said. “If you imagined seeing him out the window when it was raining at night…it’s pretty messed up.”
For a writer who grew up obsessed with Spider-Man, the opportunity to write Norman was surreal.
“Even if there was Spider-Man from afar… you said, ‘Oh, I told Spider-Man to do something,'” Parker said. “On a much larger scale, it’s like playing with toys as a child.”
Provided by Marvel Comics.
Enter the dead zone
Godzilla: Escape from the dead zone, the duo joins with a twist on IDW’s shared Kaiju continuity. Godzilla herself is not in the front and center. Instead, they focus on strange, mutated wastelands and human (and half-kaiju) survivors who survive many of their dangers.
“We started explaining that our book is being done in Godzilla’s footsteps,” Parker said. “Kaijus is running through Amoku…and as this Kaisei energy is changing the world around us, we are creating a wavelength filled with just the most gnar freaks you’ve ever seen.”
Thus, the book emphasizes suspense, action, horror, and, yes, even the sense of the mind.
“Sometimes there may even be a little heartwarming moment around the corner,” Sheridan said. “We’re trying to make a book that can only be done in comics. It’s weird for the film.”
In Pablo Tunica on Art, the pair brings originality to the wild.
“We thought of the moment as ‘I don’t know what to expect in this world’,” Sheridan said. “It’s not just Toho’s creatures.”
Provided by IDW.
A science fiction love story told inversely
On the other side of the spectrum, we miss a personal emotional time travel story told through a dreamy lens. The final version developed through several pivots with boom studios is “a book of very strangers,” and, as Parker states, added, “it’s difficult for the sleeves. It’s an f story. It’s very us.”
Meanwhile, Sheridan added: “It’s watching someone slip backwards and collapse, and they’re both desperately trying to keep holding each other.
The structure of the book (romance, heartbreak, surreal visuals) is intimate and vulnerable.
“There’s a high concept, but the mind has to move it forward,” Sheridan said. “So, the question is: What is the most devastating moment when you can bring a character back?”
Courtesy of the boom! studio.
Marvel Zombies are in a red band
Midway through the interview, Sheridan received a DM revealing the upcoming Marvel Gig, Marvel Zombie: Red Band. The book is scheduled to drop along with Javi Fernandez’s art in September, and is covered by some of Marvel’s top talents. It’s a scary, over the top, unlike what the duo did before.
“We’re essentially taking a life story style approach,” Parker said. “The Fantastic Four come back from space with force. And they are zombies. From there, everything changes.”
This book is polybug, explicit and bloody.
“We put something pretty bad in the script, then the art came back… and they were like, ‘Hey, I just add a little more,'” Sheridan said with a laugh.
And yes, both writers finally start writing Spider-Man in full.
“I noticed both of us looking at the script in question #2,” Sheridan said. “Hey, wait a second. That’s you. You’re putting the words in Spider-Man’s mouth.”
Marvel Zombie cover collage. Provided by Marvel Comics.
Theme, identity, future
Although each project is separate, themes of identity, regret and emotional connection are carried out throughout.
“We both lost constantly,” Parker said with a laugh. “Of course, our characters are looking for identity.”
They are also conscious of not repeating themselves, even though some stories necessarily reflect previous work on killing your darling.
“The surprising thing is that it’s our favorite writing,” Sheridan said.
Still, they are not afraid to own their voice.
“People say wes Anderson should do something that doesn’t feel like a Wes Anderson movie,” Sheridan said. “Why he? If this is the style of what we want to do, we’ll continue doing it.”
What’s next?
Between Green Goblin, Godzilla, Blink and now Marvel Zombies, Parker and Sheridan are quickly building one of the comic’s most eclectic and emotionally resonating catalogs.
“We work 24/7,” Sheridan said. “We’re juggling. I’m a terrible clown.”
CATCH Bring On The Bad Guys: Blinking on July 2nd, Godzilla: Dead Zone and flicker, and on August 6th.
As Sheridan said, “It’s our Babenheimer moment. It’s a part of both our souls, but another part of our souls.”
