Interview With SLASHERMANIA Creator Russell Hillman

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There a few horror comics that really spark our interest. I was a huge fan of Vigil and Quinn’s FAUST comics years ago, but nothing every came close to that experience for me as a comic reader again.  Now creator Russell Hillman is on the verge of creating one that that even I, the jaded horror comic book reader, is excited about… SLASHERMANIA!

We had a great chat with Hillman about this unique and horrific looking comic.

LEGLESSCORPSE: Slashermania has an interesting storyline, it’s like The Running Man meets Friday The 13th. How did the concept come about?

RUSSELL HILLMAN: For an abandoned project a few years back, I came up with a long list of B-movie-esque titles, and Slashermania was one of them. I was looking over the list to see if there were any names on there I could do anything with – and Slashermania leapt out at me.

The concept is a mixture of a lot of things –the Olympics, the Academy Awards, pre-release conjecture about Cabin in the Woods, an old Batman comic and a few dozen other things. It’s not an original concept, but it’s a solid one.

LC: What inspired the comic? Was it horror comics, or are you a fan of the 80’s slasher films?

RH: Both, definitely. I felt that – unlike zombies or vampires, for instance – slashers are under-represented in the world of horror comic books. Tim Seeley’s Hack/Slash is the obvious exception, and is well worth your time and money. I love Hack/Slash but I wanted to go in a different direction. I wanted to have non-supernatural slashers, I wanted an eighties setting, and I wanted to go completely over-the-top crazy with the bodycount.

The slasher movie is definitely my favourite horror sub-genre. From the big names like Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, through the cult classics like The Burning, Black Christmas and My Bloody Valentine and into the less-celebrated like Girls’ Nite Out, Sleepaway Camp and Graduation Day. You have to dig through a lot of trash to find gold, but I can usually find something to enjoy in even the worst the slasher movie has to offer.
LC: Doing some crazy gore in comics is much easier to get away with as opposed to on the big screen. Is Slashermania going to have some over-the-top gore, blood, and mayhem?
RH: Oh, tons. There’s a drill to the back of the head moment that’s come out particularly well, for instance. I have some beheadings, burnings, a chainsaw rampage, bodily dismemberment, household tools put to bloodier uses – but all of them in service to the plot. There are some deaths that require full-on gore, and others that need a more subtle touch, and I hope I’ve managed to find that balance.
LC: The few pages and art that you have available is amazing. Tell us about some of the artists you have involved?
RH: I have an amazing art team on this – the penciller Ron Joseph has been able to handle pretty much everything I’ve thrown at him and has served it up looking better than I ever imagined. Jake Isenberg’s inks blend perfectly with Ron’s pencils, adding depth and nuance, and Harry Saxon’s colours really help sell the period feel, managing to look somehow bright and faded at the same time.
LC: How many issues is the comic are you planning to create initially?
RH: It’s intended as a complete, done-in-one book, though I may be retooling it for single issues if the Kickstarter campaign falls through. If so, it’ll be about six issues.

I have some ideas beyond that, but let’s see who will survive and what will be left of them first.

LC: You currently have an Kickstarter campaign going? Tell us a little about some of the perks you have available for those that donate to this cool comic?

RH: We’re offering a wide range of options, from a PDF copy of the completed book, the book itself, postcards, prints, t-shirts, original art… there’s something to suit pretty much every budget, so drop by and check us out.

There’s not long left, and we’re nowhere near the goal, but miracles can happen – and if they don’t, I’ve got a ski mask, a toolbox, a set of chef’s knives and the addresses of all your readers. 1, 2, Russell’s coming for you…

END

There’s not a lot of time left to help support this amazing project. Use some of your Holiday cash and buy yourself a cool and unique gift this year and claim a perk over at the campaign!

 GET A PERK NOW AND SUPPORT VIA KICKSTARTER!

 

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Interview With SLASHERMANIA Creator Russell Hillman

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Chad Armstrong

Editor-In-Chief at LeglessCorpse
Editor-In-Chief leglesscorpse.com. President of Eli Roth's The Crypt Mobile App. Writer, horror movie lover, and all around sarcastic bastardo.