Exclusive: Tom Gilliland Talks Court of the Dead Comics and Art Book
David Gelmini
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If you’re seeking a dark fantasy horror universe to sink you teeth into, look no further than Sideshow’s Court of the Dead. Get into the world through 11 free comic books and the 200-page full-color art book The Chronicle of the Underworld.
If you want to know more about how Court of the Dead came to be, check out our interview with creator Tom Gilliland.
Dread Central: Can you give us an overview of the history of the world of Court of the Dead: The Chronicle of the Underworld?
Tom Gilliland: The Underworld was created when entities of Order and Chaos – known as Priam and Abaxial – destroyed each other, and their etherea rained down to form Heaven, Hell, the Underworld, and the Mortal Realm.
Death is master of the Underworld, the realm which lies between the celestial realms and Earth. He is tasked with the dubious distinction of judging the souls of mankind and passing them on to Heaven and Hell. What awaits the mortal souls, however, is not what the myriad of religions have trained us to think. Heaven and Hell are merely interested in more foot soldiers for their eternal war with each other. They care not for salvation or damnation.
Thus, it is ironically the land of the dead that is our only hope for freedom from Heaven and Hell, and their vicious war cycle. The Chronicle of the Underworld lays out this history of the world in a visual bonanza of beauty and horror, treachery and honor.
DC: What kind of nightmarish creatures will you have on display?
TG: “Nightmare” is a very relative term. What may appear as a terror to some can be seen as a hero by others. The Underworld is home to many beings whose purpose may put them at odds with what mortal eyeballs take in and mortal minds perceive. In other words: Nobility and decay are not mutually exclusive.
All of the past members of the Court of the Dead that have been on display at the San Diego Comic-Con will return to represent themselves. As for new characters making their debut… The fool will finally have his day.
DC: Can you talk about how the interactive elements work?
TG: The Court of the Dead is about as interactive as it gets: Mortals live, they die… and their souls travel the Underworld. Should they be lucky enough to remain there, one must select a faction – Bone, Flesh, or Spirit – to guide their way in the land of the dead.
Seriously, the nature of this universe allows us to express the property in a lot of unique and creative ways.
DC: From what I’ve seen so far, Court of the Dead looks utterly beautiful. Can you talk about what went into the design process.
TG: From a design point of view, we broke the property down into a couple of avenues of approach…
The juxtaposition of beauty against horror is central to the Court of the Dead. We wanted to challenge the prejudice that terrifying creatures are all evil, and gorgeous entities are all goodness and nobility. We intentionally turned that knee-jerk assumption on its head.
The property was created by me, Tom Gilliland, Chief Creative Officer of Sideshow. I’m a gamer and aficionado of horror and dark fantasy. So, Court of the Dead is in many ways my defining what a superhero team looks like in those genres.
Color is very significant. Black is intended to be the most beautiful color in the property, set against the reds and purples of Hell and the nicotine-yellow of Heaven. The faction colors each represent the diversity of the Underworld’s struggle: Vibrant red-orange Flesh Faction for the ever-changing and mercurial attitude needed to navigate such a dangerous environment; chlorine-greenish-yellow for Bone Faction’s intense precision in the face of oppression; and aqua-blue-green for Spirit Factions’s zen-like perspective on higher ideals, such as self-determination.
Asymmetry is also a key design tenet of Court of the Dead. The world is out of balance. This is reflected in many of the characters having asymmetrical designs, multiple limbs, etc. The characters are designed to convey the corruption at the heart of the property.
Overall, we wanted to design the Underworld as a place that was both credibly creepy and wondrously beautiful.
DC: Do you have plans to turn this into an expansive series?
TG: Yes. We’re dovetailing from our well-received premium format line into other 3D collectible products. We also have a healthy publishing strategy that includes comic books and illustrated prose novellas. Any product we create, any story we tell – we are looking to create a level of thoughtfulness and quality that builds this world and remains true to it. Our future vision looks to gaming products to provide further immersion into the Underworld.
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