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#PHXCC Exclusive – Paul Tobin Goes Insane In “Colder: Toss The Bones”

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Today at Phoenix City Comic Con Dark Horse Comics have announced the third chapter in Paul Tobin and Juan Ferrerya’s creator-owned horror series “Colder” entitled “Toss The Bones.” After the crazy conclusion of the last arc, The Bad Seed, Declan Thomas has overcome his own problems with insanity. He’s living happily with his girlfriend, Reece. He’s become a healer of sorts, but everything falls to pieces upon the arrival of a mysterious creature, Swivel. The second arc tore apart the victory felt by the end of the first. And concludes with the return of the original antagonist, Nimble Jack.

COLDERTB #1 FC

Now, heading into the third volume Bloody-Disgusting sat down with Paul to talk about his concept surrounding insanity, being careful to avoid putting it in a box, and the process of developing something truly unpredictable locked entirely in the human form.

 

BLOODY-DISGUSTING: What can you tell me about the return of Nimble Jack? What sort of insanity does he bring with him, and why is this time different than the first arc? What does Declan mean to him? And why does he want him dead?

PAUL TOBIN: I always wanted to bring Jack back, for two main reasons. The first is just because I love him. He’s such an amusingly beautiful asshole. But the main reason is that Colder is about insanity, and you just can’t keep the crazy down. I have some stupid compulsions in my life… mostly revolving around the “proper” order of doing things. And they’re crazy. And I know they’re crazy. But they keep coming back. Keep influencing my actions. I can’t beat them. I have to live with them. The whole second arc was about Nimble Jack growing again, growing from a tiny seed, and coming back as strong as ever. You can’t keep crazy down. As far as what’s different from the first arc, the relationship between Declan and Jack has changed. Declan understands Jack, now, because Declan has come to realize that he’s himself not a bastion of sanity. And… Jack? Well, Jack’s Jack. Giving reason to insanity would be cheating. He’s just hungry.

BD: Nimble Jack was seemingly born through Declan’s release at the end of “The Bad Seed.” Was his rebirth Swivel’s end goal, and if so then how is Nimble Jack connected to the larger concept of insanity?

PT: Swivel was, in effect, a farmer. And insanity was his crop. Nimble Jack is the product of that crop. It’s up to perspective if he’s the grain or the weed from the field. I don’t like to entirely pin down the concept of insanity, because it means different things to different people, and I have to account for the fact that I might be crazy myself. I mean, in a way… I’d better be crazy. It’s what I get paid for, and what I enjoy writing.

BD: After collaborating together on several projects, what is it like to continue to develop the surreal world of insanity with Juan Ferreyra? How have you two pushed into new and undiscovered territory with “Toss The Bones?”

PT: Juan is an absolute jewel. We joke back and forth about how we each think we’re the innocent ones being pushed by the other, but of course the simple truth is that we’re pushing each other, goading each other into digging deeper. I guess we’ll eventually find out which of us is crazier. I always think it’s funny when people meet us at conventions and say, “Oh… I thought you’d look crazier.”

BD: What is your process of inspiration for “Colder?” How do you get into the mood to write about this world, and what sorts of things are important to you in telling a story like this?

PT: For each of the arcs, I’ve tried to delve into a certain fear. And they need to be common fears… fears that reach everyone. The overall themes are of hunger and insanity, of course. The frailty of the mind and the body. And once I have that anchor of fear, I expand on it, just let it go crazy. With some books, I put a cap on how far I let my mind race… but with Colder I’m waiting with a cattle prod, and every time my mind balks, I give it a little jolt. That said… I like to stay away from “gore” horror: that’s just such an easy out. We’ve have fun with covers in that area, but inside the book, I want to disturb and unsettle more than I want to scare. When you scare someone, they shriek, and then five seconds later they’re laughing. When you unsettle someone, they’re awake at four in the morning, and they hate you for what you’ve done. I want that.

BD: Disturbing imagery is now a central conceit of the series, but how do you ensure that each panel is more than the sum of it’s imagery, and that it carries an emotional and unsettling impact?

PT: I mostly try to work with characters. I want them to be real. I want them to care. I want them to exist outside their terror and the struggle against Nimble Jack and insanity. If I can do that, then the scary parts will live as much as the characters. And, Juan is fantastic at taking the slightest feeling of unease and amping up the voltage. I throw him crumbs and he gives me insanity.

BD: What is your idea of true insanity? And how do you think we should best talk about it? What does it mean for Declan now that he has let go of his insanity, and that he’s moved beyond overcoming it? What is he struggling with now?

PT: Better men than me have failed trying to define true insanity. But… I’ll give it a go. That’s what I’m here for! To me, denial of reality doesn’t really count; it has to be an inability to perceive reality. When we talk about insanity, I think it’s important to address the issue from a perspective not of, “how can we make them normal?” but instead “how can we make things as best as possible, with the cards we’ve been dealt?” What we do in Colder is then push that question further and ask, “What IS reality?” And, as far as Declan letting go of his insanity… that might be true, but that doesn’t mean insanity is done with him.

BD: How has Reece changed since the events of “The Bad Seed” and what role does she have to play in this new story?

PT: I think Reece has come to an understanding that this is her life, now. That running isn’t a solution. That there might not, in fact, be a solution. This makes her a bit more grim, but at the same time Declan makes her happy, so there’s a conflict, there. And, while she was passive in the first arc, and then dominant in the second, Nimble Jack is now up against Declan and Reece, together… as a team. Of course, to him, that’s just more food on the table.

BDWhat scares you most about “Toss The Bones?” And is the final story in the world of “Colder?”

PT: Pigeons. Pigeons scare me. They’ve always been a central part of Colder, because much of the story takes place in an urban environment, whether in Boston or the Hungry World. And pigeons are such a ubiquitous part of urban society that we forget they’re there. I love the idea of something so invisible turning into a threat, or at least as one of insanity’s bullets, helping to perforate reality and put a man down. I think there’s a very real fear of society’s undercurrents, and pigeons have this whole society that exists next to ours, and we barely pay attention. So I let Nimble Jack play with those concepts this time. I gave insanity its wings, so to speak. As far as this being the final arc? It’s very possible. I think horror can become mundane if it’s pushed too far. And you can’t just keep opening the same door. There has to be consequences to horror. There are consequences to this arc.

 

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[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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