Creator Interview: Dave Heeley talks This Comic Is Haunted

Rob speaks to Dave Heeley about his upcoming comic; This Comic Is Haunted...

Back in July, The77 Publications headed onto Kickstarter for another round of crowdfunding. This time, the publisher was seeking crowd support for an entirely new addition to their ever-expanding catalogue. 

The title for this new anthology is the spine-chilling; 'This Comic Is Haunted'. Headed up by the mysterious Grey Phantom, This Comic Is Haunted offers a shock to the heart for those long abandoned horror periodicals that have recently fallen into the dark superhero-saturated quagmire. 

Thankfully, a few comic book readers thought the same. As its Kickstarter campaign closed, This Comic Is Haunted managed to raise £5,820 from 262 soon-to-be terrified backers. 

As someone who's managed to have an early look at the finished comic - let's just say you're in for a fright! 

Anyway, thanks to the Grey Phantom, This Comic Is Haunted's human editor (and writer) Dave Heeley has been granted leave from his mail room prison. And as such he's agreed to answer a few "fiendish" questions about the anthology...just make sure you're cowering behind the sofa! 

Now that the Kickstarter campaign for 'This Comic Is Haunted' is over and the debut issue has been funded, I suppose it’s time for a beer and a long lie down?

DH - Yes! It’s been an interesting experience for me. Even though I’ve been involved in all The77 publishing Kickstarters so far it was a big difference being the one in charge. However, while it was stressful at times it was also incredibly rewarding and the interaction with the fans was fantastic.

The response to the Kickstarter campaign has been phenomenal, with the Comic raising £5,820 from 262 backers. What was it like seeing those numbers shoot up? 

DH - That first day was incredible. It was slightly expected though, as that tends to be when the high-value rewards such as original art and sketch rewards are taken up. The last day though was great as people rushed to back before the KS ended. That was exciting.

The team over at The77 Publications are quite active when it comes to utilizing social media for promoting current campaigns. Is there a battle plan drawn up beforehand as to how best to promote it? 

DH - We do have a set approach to social media interaction but I kind of threw that out the window this time. We always advertise via Facebook and Twitter as we’ve found that to be successful, and we like to use our “reach” via the various groups we run. Before the Kickstarter for This comic is Haunted I’d already created a Facebook group and decided to have a bit of fun by regularly dropping horror-themed memes. These seemed to be popular so going forward I’ll certainly be using those again. 

I think as well, with the current economic climate we all needed to push harder than we normally do. We understand that money is tight everywhere, so I tried to provide a few laughs along with our usual advertising techniques.

This comic anthology also marks your first time in the driver’s seat. How's the creative process been? 

DH - Very, very different. Until now I’ve pretty much concentrated on my writing and never had to worry too much about other people’s deadlines. This time I spent a lot of time interacting with the team, offering support and guidance. Thankfully I had Ben Cullis (editor of The77) and Andrew Richmond (our art editor) on hand to help!

With 'This Comic Is Haunted' being horror themed, what's been your inspiration? 

DH - Quite literally the entire Horror genre. I remember vividly creeping downstairs after my folks went to bed to watch Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman aged 4 or 5. From there it was a steady diet of James Herbert and Stephen King novels. My parents were incredibly liberal when it came to censorship and so I would regularly be having nightmares from watching Evil Dead and The Exorcist at friends' houses when I was a kid. 

I’m still a huge fan and modern horror fills me with as much joy as that which “ruined” my formative years.

Aside from your strip that's appearing inside 'This Comic Is Haunted', what's the one other strip that readers should look out for? 

DH - I’m incredibly proud of all the work folks invested into the comic but as an old-school 2000AD fan it must be Alan Hebden’s The Drummer from Hell. It’s so wonderfully retro and yet it still has an incredible pace and beat to the story. The fact that Lee Milmore one of my favourite current artists performed miracles with the art is a double bonus.

With quite a list of talented writers and artists already contributing work to the comic, who would you like to see appear in a future issue?

DH - I do have a bucket list for sure! In terms of covers, Cliff Robinson and Shane Oakley would be up there. Id be a fool not to want Charlie Adlard on board also, especially as his The Walking Dead art reinvigorated Horror comics and probably made This Comic Is Haunted a much easier sell. In terms of writers, I’m praying John Wagner finds a horror script down the back of a sofa.

With this issue being the series debut what can we expect to see coming in the future? 

DH - I’m very lucky to have a huge amount of work already commissioned. In fact, issues 2-5 are already pretty much paginated barring an A-listers script landing in my inbox.

I have some great strips coming though, from Dave Bedford and Andy Meanock’s Memento Mori to stories by Noel Hannon, Dan Pollard, David Thomas and many more! In terms of artists, we have the incredible Paul McCaffrey, Andrew Sawyers, James Fletcher (Diseased Mind) and a host of other gruesome talents.

With titles such as Penny Pentagram jumping from The77 to Pandora, could we see other titles jumping to This Comic Is Haunted?

DH - 'Penny' would have been a perfect fit, but my little sister got there first for Pandora! I’m not sure if any others would fit but I’ve got a horror story in Blazer! #3 drawn by Lee Milmore that will have a sequel appear in some form or other in the future.

And finally, are there any plans for a The77, Pandora, Blazer!, This Comic Is Haunted universe mash-up? One big bad against the best of the best!

DH - It has to happen at some point surely 😉?

With This Comic Is Haunted soon to be haunting its way into backers' homes, be sure to keep an eye out for our full review of issue #1 in the coming days! 

For back issues of The77, Pandora, Blazer!, and other merchandise. Be sure to check out The77 Publications online store by clicking here. 

Images supplied courtesy of Dave Heeley

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