Badass! Eibon Press Previews Laserblast and Maniac Comics
Steve Barton
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We told you about VHS Comics from the purveyors of truly graphic artwork Eibon Press, and now we’re back with enough eye candy to make even the staunchest of Fulci’s zombies’ maggots squirm!
From the Press Release:
VHS COMICS is a new sub-imprint of Eibon Press that specializes in wild, innovative adaptations of fan favorite horror films from the ANALOG AGE OF VHS HOME VIDEO! It’s a tapehead- friendly line of books that present a nostalgic look back, while moving into the future with top-of- the-line printing, bonus articles and interviews in each issue . . . plus some amazing VHS style extras. From Stephen Romano, co-founder and head writer of Eibon Press: “We were trying to come up with a new line of books that would honor the past, while providing the basis for some awesome, progressive storytelling . . . so we went out and licensed some of the most amazing horror and science fiction films from the late 70s and 1980s and we’re starting to roll the first two series out now. People are gonna love this stuff.”
First up is LASERBLAST, a “progressive” retelling of the classic Charles Band schlock horror favorite. Says Romano, “With this one, it was a chance to take a great idea and a killer brand—I mean, how awesome is a title like LASERBLAST, right?—and give it a new life in a new medium. People remember the movie because of the cool central premise and the fact that it was on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 . . . but I always saw a much darker, more terrifying ideal at the center of everything. What we’ve done is take the story of the film, and the same characters—you’ll see Kim Milford and Eddie Deezen in there, just like they were in the movie—but we’re really getting a lot deeper and more radical with it. If you’ve read our other comics, you know we don’t just like to trot the movie out in sequential art form, exactly as it was done before—that’s boring, and very antiquated thinking. It’s more logical with a film like LASERBLAST to re-invent it as something bigger, bolder and brainer. It’s also really super gory—ultraviolent, like all our other stuff. No PG rated kiddie crap here. I love writing these because it allows us some really fun creative possibilities. And the art just SMOKES on this series, too. We have the same guy doing both this and MANIAC. And let me tell you. . . MANIAC is going to blow minds.”
Indeed, the most anticipated title of the VHS line thus far has been Eibon’s ambitious re-telling of William Lustig’s sleazebucket horror classic MANIAC, starring Joe Spinell. And if LASERBLAST is “progressive storytelling,” the MANIAC series is outright insane. Based on the original film, and expanded to include backstory and additional nightmare sequences only hinted at before, this promises to be one of Eibon’s finest. Says Romano: “We’re striving extra hard to make this one extra special. Joe Spinell is like our leader. We really like having him as the face of
Eibon Press. He actually shows up in two of our other books. Our house artist loves to draw Joe. And here’s the thing: These are both ongoing comic series. We’re not talking about doing a five or six issue run adapting each movie. These will go on as long as we can hold onto the licenses. Which means we’re weaving in all sorts of new stuff and drawing inspiration from the films, so that we do justice to the movies we’re honoring, then go beyond them, like we’re currently doing with Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE. That means the story of Joe Spinell as the Maniac Frank Zito will go on long after the credits roll on the film. I love that because Joe, of course, is not with us any more, and we are able to resurrect him and keep him alive for many years to come. Plus we have an absolutely insane surprise in store for issue 2. It’s gonna make everyone lose their minds. We’ll be announcing what that is exactly on HALLOWEEN NIGHT at our website, so stay tuned!”
THE FIRST ISSUE OF MANIAC grabs the reader from page one, getting right inside Frank Zito’s head with the famous “I warned you not to go out tonight” inner monologue . . . then quickly becomes a bloodbath, as Frank’s nightmare consumes him. Says Romano: “The opening dream sequence that begins the first comic is a real tour de force for our artist. It’s 30 panels over two pages showing exactly what Frank does, and it’s one of the darkest, most violent sequences in horror comics history! It’s a statement about what we’re doing with the whole VHS comics line. We’re honoring these classic movies by expanding them. We even have some incredible extra stuff, like a whole additional chapter of backstory on Frank Zito, as seen through the eyes of his biographer . . . and the first issue ends with an epic exclusive bonus interview with director William Lustig, where he really dished out some dirt. It’s an incredible start to the series. And just wait until you hear about that big surprise we have in the next issue! Heads will roll . . .”
The art for MANIAC and LASERBLAST are done by PAT CARBAJAL, the Argentinian artist currently pacted with Eibon to draw all their major books, including Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE and the upcoming original series BOTTOMFEEDER. Carbajal has illustrated books based on James Bond, BACK TO THE FUTURE and Sherlock Holmes. “He’s the best there is,” says Romano.
VHS COMICS will also feature some incredible extras, including a custom designed VHS BOX inserted into every issue of the comic book! Says Lewis: “We wanted VHS COMICS to stand out from our other releases. That was a bit of a challenge, because every release we do is really deluxe, all sealed in our custom album jackets and shrink wrapped and everything. At first we thought we might make the Eibon Sleeve in the shape of a VHS box, but that was too weird to pull off . . . so we what we’ve done is to manufacture special VHS boxes for the special edition issues, and each box comes inside the Eibon sleeve with all the other extras. It’s flat, but you take it out and unfold it and assemble it. It’s an actual, real VHS box you can even slip a cassette into, with special custom designed comic art done just for the box! It looks just like one of those old VHS box covers, except is all our cool updated comic book versions of all this stuff. The one for LASERBLAST is just incredible.”
MANIAC and LASERBLAST will be released simultaneously on OCTOBER 13, at the Eibon Press website. You can only get them there. These comics are never in retail stores. Says Romano: “That is how we’re able to make these books to elaborate and cool—not just in the extras, but in the story and art and other things. We don’t have to deal with all the bullshit of distributing books through traditional channels, and we only do six releases per year at the moment . . . so we can take extra time and care, spend a little more money, and create end product that’s head and shoulders above the others. And we don’t put these things out in collections, either. That’s also old thinking. Each issue of every comic series is an event with us. Our goal is to make collecting single issue comics GREAT again.”
For more information visit the official Eibon Press website, “like” Eibon Press on Facebook, and follow Eibon Press on Twitter and Instagram.
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