Interview: Robert Armstrong – Creator of Red Hill Billy: Red Hill Rising
David Gelmini
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Robert Armstrong is a prolific comic creator, having worked on Batman, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Transformers, and Conan. Rather than working with a major publisher again, he’s taking the indie route with his next work, Red Hill Billy: Red Hill Rising (KickStarter here), about ten-year-olds fighting werewolves. Sounds weird, right? Well, read our interview to find out more.
Dread Central: Is this a dream project for you?
Robert Armstrong: Yes, it most certainly is. I never had the opportunity to have my own stories published when I worked as a “tracer” (inker). I always wanted to pursue self-publishing, but I was burned when the company I worked for went under, owing me – and a lot of other people – a lot of money. It took me close to a decade to get back on the horse.
DC: After working on series such as Marvel and DC’s superheroes, how does it feel to be creating your own series?
RB: The freedom to create something completely my own, without the constraints that the mainstream publishers bring with them, is amazing. I grew up reading superhero stories, and I loved the time working on Batman and Spider-Man, but horror is – and always was – my home.
DC: I understand that the idea for the series came from your love of ’80s movies?
RB: My very favorite movies growing up were the Amblin-style action/adventure films like Goonies, Flight of the Navigator, and Monster Squad. I find that they were superb at making you care about the characters before they were thrust into VERY REAL situations they may not escape from.
DC: Can you talk about the style of artwork?
RB: Because the book features werewolf beheadings, impalings, and plenty of little kids getting swallowed WHOLE, I decided to use a more cartoony style of art for this book. My influences were 90’s era Joe Madureira and Humberto Ramos. Honestly, I figured that way it would be easier to get into kids’ hands than if I drew it in a hyper-realistic style. (My dream is for this to subvert younger readers like the Faces of Death videotape my friends and I would pass to each other – behind our folks’ backs.)
DC: So the main characters are ten-year-olds?
RB: Yes, the story is really an origin tale for my own 10-year-old mulleted asskicker Red Hill Billy. He lives in the woods and hunts with his father, Red, until it’s decided he needs to go to a real school for a “real” education. He kicks up a fuss but makes friends almost immediately. So it’s him and his new classmates fighting for their lives when a horde of insane rabid werewolves attack the local small-town fire hall.
DC: Can you talk about the werewolves in the series?
RB: The antagonists aren’t just werewolves – they’re RABID werewolves. They’re driven to consume everything that crosses their paths and will break their own bones to get at you and swallow you whole. I had a little too much of the recent trend of making werewolves tame; I wanted some real mean motor scooters with mouths the size of washing machines that were virtually unstoppable eating machines.
DC: What is it about the Canadian wilderness that makes it such a perfect setting for the story?
RB: When you get that far from civilization on a cloudy night, the darkness surrounds you completely – you can’t see your hand in front of your face. And when the moon is full, an unearthly blue glow makes everything seem supernatural. It was a perfect fit for the scary-ass story I wanted to tell.
DC: Sigmund Torre, who also worked for DC, is doing the coloring?
RB: Sigmund started as a penciler for Dreamwave Studios, where I met him (working on Neon Cyber). He has since moved on to provide colors exclusively for DC (Raven) and video game design (Face Mountain) until I stole him away. He loved the story and tried out like everybody else to be the colorist. His colors simply blew me away – the over-saturated palette makes the book look like it came straight out of an animated movie.
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