Home > COMICS > 'CROSSED' Q&A WITH GARTH ENNIS AND JACEN BURROWS
'CROSSED' Q&A WITH GARTH ENNIS AND JACEN BURROWS
The writer and artist duo behind Avatar's 'Chronicles of Wormwood' re-team for a new book that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future.
By Matt Powell
Posted 7/22/2008
Rounding out the summer this August comes a new post-apocalyptic horror thriller from frequent partners Garth Ennis and rising superstar Jacen Burrows (Chronicles of Wormwood), however, don't look to the undead to be the culprit of the disaster. In the Avatar-published, 10-issue series Crossed, any living man, woman or child could spell the end for anyone in this town, with a blood-red emblazoned cross on their face being the last image their prey will see.
Violence is on the menu in this series as a small town falls victim to an epidemic spawned by a potentially global infection leading its citizen to explore the limits—if any—in human cruelty!
Ennis admits he's never gone this far before in any of his previous works, and supported by Burrows' intense pencils the possibilities for this series are equal parts graphic and intriguing.
Recently Wizard, chatted with the creators to discuss the series and the series of nastiness they have in store.
WIZARD: Garth, you've been quoted as saying Crossed is the most disturbing thing you've ever written. How so?
GARTH ENNIS: Some of the scenes go further than anything I've written before, simple as that. I'm out on the very edge of my own comfort zone here. Some of the things that happen to people in the first couple of issues are not nice.
The notion of "disturbing" or "extreme" material can get you into a slightly dubious area, because what appalls one reader will have no effect whatsoever on another. One guy throws up, another just shrugs. But this is certainly as far as I've ever gone.
I've heard that the idea for this series came to you from a dream. Is that true?
ENNIS: The very beginnings of the idea, yes. I was staying with friends and I dreamed that their house was surrounded by zombies. It looked like a fairly standard attack-of-the-undead story, the horde smashing their way in and chasing the diminishing band of survivors from room to room. Then I looked out the window and realized they weren't zombies at all, they were people who'd turned very bad. They were smiling horribly, gleefully anticipating the dreadful things they were going to do when they got their hands on us. Then I woke up. The rest of Crossed I came up with conscious.
Jumping over to you Jacen, you're no stranger to horror, but once you knew the nature of the story how did you prepare to tackle this book?
JACEN BURROWS: [Laughs] I was born to draw this book! I've never been handed a script more perfectly suited to the kinds of things I enjoy drawing. I love the dark stuff. Give me Bernie Wrightson over John Byrne any day. I think my love for horror comes through in even my non-horror work and in this case I am free to indulge myself to really push the edge.
Do you feel that Garth has taken his work up another notch since you've last worked together?
BURROWS: It is pretty hard for a guy working at the top of his game, who is widely accepted as one of the best writers to ever work in comics to take it up notch, but I have to say there is something special about this book. I think this will end up being our strongest collaboration yet. It is certainly my favorite project.
To get the horror tone down, what kind of reference material or other mood-setting materials do you use to aid you?
BURROWS: I've been referencing a lot of candid war photography. The stuff coming back from Iraq these days is so awful and disturbing. That stuff is true horror. I'm not out to make horrible things aesthetically pleasing, fun and entertaining. I want the readers to feel something.
Stylistically, this time around I am attempting to keep a higher level of realism in my figure work and incorporating more black space to build contrast. The colorist, Greg Waller, and I are working hard to create a well thought out, cinematic atmosphere as well. It has been quite a while since the last issue of Wormwood came out and I think people will be pleasantly surprised by some major improvements I've made to my work. I think this is simply a natural evolution in my artistic cycle as opposed to being specific to Crossed.
Back to you Garth, how do you describe the world of Crossed? Is the outbreak that strikes there practical enough that it could happen in Anytown, USA?
ENNIS: The infection is global and very nearly total. The #0 issue shows a typical outbreak in a small US town. Issue #1 jumps forward about a year, when the Crossed are in the ascendant and only a few small groups of survivors are left to pick their way through a very dangerous world.
Physically the world looks much the same, if rather dilapidated. It's what's infesting it that's different. You'll see a lot of this when you read the story. I'm keeping a lot of the details vague initially; I'm trying to get across the idea of people being too busy staying alive—by the skin of their teeth—to stop and analyze what's happening to the world.
What would you say is the most intense scene you've written thus far?
ENNIS: The one at the end of issue #3.
How brutal do the Crossed-affected people get? Is anything off limits, for instance, children and animals?
ENNIS: There are no limits. They become utterly dedicated to causing the maximum chaos and terror possible, turning into engines of destruction as soon as the infection takes hold. And they love every disgusting minute of it.
What about the survivors of the world? Are they just regular people? Is the government or any other faction trying to contain or cure the plague?
ENNIS: They're ordinary people. No rocket scientists, no one with government contacts, no “Good job, I was in the Navy Seals."
Will we be following or getting to know a regular cast of survivors in the town or will the players change pretty frequently?
ENNIS: You'll meet the cast in the first couple of issues. Most notably, Stan, Kelly, Thomas and the highly resourceful, slightly mysterious Cindy. There are others, too, but everyone is subject to the same possibility of sudden, violent extinction.
With the shape of the rash on the faces of the infected clearly some religious speculation could be derived. What are your thoughts on how the citizens of the Crossed world interprets that and how you'd want readers take it as well?
ENNIS: You'll see that in the story too. Some people do jump to the obvious conclusion, but—as I say—they're too busy surviving for much in the way of speculation or analysis. God's judgment or something escaped from a lab—who cares? You're just as dead either way.
This isn't really a "big picture" story; it's not about scientists coming up with a cure or the military rallying for some kind of fight back. No one draws a line in the sand, because it's irrelevant. No one raises a defiant fist in the air, because they'd just get it chopped off. Crossed is about people who have to help themselves, because there are no heroes coming to save them.
With the victims of the CROSSED infection delving into huge acts of violence and brutality, what do you feel that says about the capabilities of the human condition?
ENNIS: These are people unable—unwilling, in fact—to control the basest instincts humanity is capable of. The survivors, on the other hand, find themselves struggling not only to stay alive but also to hold onto their humanity. What will you do to survive? Are there lines you won't cross, even if it means dying?
Horror comics have taken a significant bump up in recent years with books like The Walking Dead and newer horror titles having cult followings. How do you feel about the upward trend of horror comic and are they a viable competitor for superhero comics?
ENNIS: I guess they'd certainly be one of the more viable competitors, up there with sci-fi and fantasy. But we've a long way to go before the superhero stranglehold on the industry is broken.
Are you currently following or influenced by any classic or modern horror stories, films or authors/directors in your work?
ENNIS: With Crossed, two books that were a definite influence were World War Z by Max Brooks and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
