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Paul Tobin Makes Sense of Colder: Toss The Bones

Article Image b17fDeclan Thomas can't catch a break. Previous story arcs followed our hero as he plumbed the depths of the darkness in his own heart in order to combat a being hellbent on wreaking havoc and sowing discord. He succeeded, after being pushed well past the brink and back again, and earned himself a moment of respite after the events of The Bad Seed. But there's no rest for the weary, and Declan's moment of triumph is all too brief. He can't outrun his torment (or tormentor) forever. Colder: Toss the Bones from Dark Horse Comics will pit our unlikely hero against a new threat that will leave readers up and night and checking over their shoulders once every few seconds.

Colder: Toss the Bones #1 (JUL150061) is available in comic shops September 30.

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PREVIEWSworld: After The Bad Seed, we assume Declan Thomas found a way to put his insanity inside a three-lock box, and there may just be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But no! You guys have to go and be mean, and make Declan go through hell again. So what’s up with this new character Swivel?

Paul Tobin: I basically considered Swivel as a farmer, but his crop is insanity. Past that, the considerations were... how does one go about tending to a crop of insanity? What are the seeds? The necessary nutrients? Where are the fields? What weeds must be avoided? And... of course... what form does the crop take? All of those were my considerations when Juan and I approached the middle arc of Colder. That... and... "How can we make it unsettling." Luckily, the answer there is "Well, just give it to Juan to draw." Plus, in every arc, I try to pin the horror on something that's very personal. Such things as simple hunger, which we've all experienced to one degree or another. Swivel's thing is fingers, obviously, so I based many of the "farmer" aspects in that area. End result...? Yep... Declan and Reece are going through hell, again.

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Artwork by series' artist Juan Ferreyra.

PREVIEWSworld: Paul, you’ve said in a previous interview for Bloody Disgusting that you have some “stupid compulsions” in your life that keep influencing your actions, and you can’t beat them. This theme of “you can’t keep crazy down” is a theme readers should expect to run throughout Toss The Bones?

Paul Tobin: Definitely. There's no rhyme or reason to compulsions. They exist. I can tamp down some of my own compulsions, but in some ways that only makes them worse. Mine are fairly simple and non-damaging, luckily. They're things I can live with. But the insanity in Colder runs much deeper, more damaging. The compulsions and the insanity are entirely unavoidable. I mean, they have that "till death you do part" aspect, but... compulsions don't truly die. Insanity is a very tenacious partner. You don't get a say.

PREVIEWSworld: If you had to reference certain horror comics that had an impact on you, what would those books be? Or is it horror movies that have a greater impact on your drawing/storytelling style?

Paul Tobin: Definitely horror movies, for me, though I respect... and do feel some influence... from some comics, probably most notably the works of Junji Ito, like Tomie, or definitely Uzumaki. But it's the Japanese and Korean horror movies that really cemented how I want to tell horror stories. They're not about the scare; they're about unsettling you, taking you out of your comfort zone, making you question your own sanity. American horror is all about what's in front of you. Japanese horror is all about what's behind you.

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Artwork by series' artist Juan Ferreyra.

PREVIEWSworld: Are you making the convention circuit scene this summer? If so, can you tell us what shows you’ll attend, or where on the ‘Net you’d make the announcement?

Paul Tobin: I'll be at San Diego, but only for a couple days. Need to preserve my own dwindling insanity. I'll be there on Thursday and Friday. No table, but a host of signings and maybe a couple panels. Haven't worked out my schedule yet. Announcements are usually on my Twitter (https://twitter.com/PaulTobin) which is really the easiest way for most people to contact me, or keep up to date on what I'm doing, or to endlessly question my sanity.

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Artwork by series' artist Juan Ferreyra.

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