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EXCLUSIVE: Interview With ‘The Shelter’ And ‘Suicide Note’ Artist, Dwayne Biddix!

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In the first installment of our exclusive coverage for Indy publisher Hardway Studios we have a special interview with “THE SHELTER” and “SUICIDE NOTE” artist Dwayne Biddix. The illustrator sat down with us to discuss these projects, the zombie apocalypse, people offing themselves, and future projects. Read on for the exclusive interview!

THEoDEAD: ”First of all thank you for taking the time to interview with us. Before we get started on “THE SHELTER” why don’t you give readers your ‘origin story’ so to speak? How did you get involved with comics? What did you work on before “THE SHELTER”?

Dwayne Biddix: ”Well, THE SHELTER was, in its most basic form, the very first idea studio publisher, Chris Carpenter and I came up with when we were thinking about starting our own studio, way back in 2005. The original SHELTER is DRASTICALY different from the new one.

As for how I got into comics, I had done some small press stuff and Chris and I decided if we are going to work this hard we should put it toward a company we could succeed with. With the studio, I have done many projects that are still in limbo at other companies, before we became our own publisher, but the work that has made it out are, THE SHELTER (original), MORBID MYTHS, THE SUPREMACY, and SUICIDE NOTE. As well as the new THE SHELTER and I am currently working on a new slasher comic called TOOTHGRINDER. ”

THEoDEAD: ”Tell us a little bit about “THE SHELTER”. What is the basic premise? You co-created the story as well as donating your talents for the artwork, correct?

Dwayne Biddix: ”THE SHELTER was an idea Chris and I came up with where we had a heart-breaking ending idea and we worked backwards to develop the full idea for the story.

The premise is about VIOLET, our lead character, awakens to a world swarming with zombies and she has to find a way to survive. She finds a shelter where survivors can go to wait the invasion out, but she finds that there is not always safety in numbers.

Yes, I am the co-creator, along with Jamison Kasian and Chris Carpenter. I did the penciling, cover colors, and lettering. I plan to ship the comics with my donkey Max soon! ”

THEoDEAD: ”There are a lot of horror stories going on right now, particularly ones that use the zombie aesthetic, what do you think sets “THE SHELTER” apart from the rest of the pack?

Dwayne Biddix: ”THE SHELTER is less about the zombies and more about VIOLET struggling to make it one more day. This is a much more emotionally driven story than your typical gore zombie story, though we do gore it up pretty good! ”

THEoDEAD: ”What kind of zombies are you using in your universe? Are we looking at the classic George A Romero style zombies that are much slower and deliberate, or are they the balls-to-the-wall run for your life type zombies?

Dwayne Biddix: ”It is sort of a hybrid. They are like animals that move in packs that spot a target and just descend on them until they overwhelm. Some are fast and some are slow. ”

THEoDEAD: ”What type of zombie films or stories inspired you with the story for “THE SHELTER”?

Dwayne Biddix: ”The way we see it, every zombie story sort of builds on the ones that follow. All good zombie stories drive you to do better and all bad zombie stories drive you to do better than they did. ”

THEoDEAD: ”Should readers be able to expect a very violent outing with “THE SHELTER”?

Dwayne Biddix: ”It’s not over the top on every page but where we do have it, WE HAVE IT! ”

THEoDEAD: ” “THE SHELTER” is described as a “one-shot in the dark” event. Is there indeed going to be just one issue of the story, or would you like to further explore the world you’re presenting?

Dwayne Biddix: ”This is a one-shot. What we are doing is giving people a one-shot comic that gives them a whole story, to try a new title out. If the book goes over well, we will absolutely go back to the world with longer stories. The ONE SHOT IN THE DARK will offer many different stories that will range from slasher, such as TOOTHGRINDER, to gore fests, to psychological horror, and any other skin-crawling thing we can dream up.

With comic prices going up we want to give everyone the chance to give a new book a shot and get a whole story without having to invest in a series of issues or trade paperback.

So the future of all the stories you read in our ONE SHOT IN THE DARK line will be left in the hands of the reader. If you like it let us know, if enough of you tell us, you will see that world again! ”

THEoDEAD: ”Do you have any other projects coming up this year or even further down the line that we should keep our eyes open for?

Dwayne Biddix: ”Oh, yeah, but my torturer has promised a lot of pain if I give too much away right now. But I do want to talk about it soon!
But I can say that TOOTHGRINDER, a ONE SHOT IN THE DARK comic is coming soon. It is an old-school slasher comic about a deformed killer who loves to disfigure his victims in some very gruesome ways. ”

THEoDEAD: ”Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers and fans before we let you go?”

Dwayne Biddix: ”Yes, before you let me go, can you please pull me back up onto the building? Seriously, our greatest joy is to know people are responding to something we create, so it is awesome that people like you are reading what we say and create.

Thanks for having me; it was a pleasure talking with you and thanks to everyone who took the time to read this! But now I hear someone coming down the staircase, time to look busy!”

We would like to thank Dwayne for the interview, and his keepers for allowing him to speak with us. To check out Dwayne’s work head on over to Hardway Studios website. And be sure to keep it locked here at Bloody-Disgusting.com’s Graphic Content as we continue to bring you exclusive content from the guys at Hardway all month as part of our April Spotlight!

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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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