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Honeys And Huckleberrys Get Hacked-Up In Hatchet

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by Vince Brusio

You may have heard the name “James Kuhoric” before. He writes comics. If familiar, it’s not surprising that you would associate it with sharp objects, and crazy creeps in cinema. He’d probably consider this a badge of honor. James, at the center of his black heart, loves horror. Bigly. That love for things uncertain and ugly is back in the comic shops this March with the release of American Mythology’s new licensed book Hatchet #0 (JAN171238), based on the sick splatter film created by Adam Green. In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, James shares with us his latest passion for grinding an axe about a boy that would never make a good barber. Such a lack of fashion finesse may be detrimental to divas and a Dapper Dan, but it does make for one awesome and agonizing horror comic that’s mean, moldy, and soaked in the slippery red stuff.

Hatchet #0 (JAN171238) is in comic shops March 29.

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Vince Brusio: American Mythology has dipped its toe into publishing titles ranging from classic works (The Land That Time Forgot) to retro TV shows (Pink Panther, Three Stooges). Tell us why a hard-hitting horror title like Hatchet fits nicely under the roof of American Mythology?

James Kuhoric: The folks at American Mythology have been gathering up some of the best properties from all genres over the past year of publishing.  They are very interested in telling a wide range of stories with characters and properties that appeal to fans of all types of comics.  Horror comics have always been popular since the EC days and they continue to deliver four color nightmares to this day.  And it is without a doubt my personal favorite genre for movies, comics, and video games.  Adding a classic American horror property like Hatchet to the line of comics just makes sense.  I’ve been dying to get back into a gloriously gory series like this since Freddy vs Jason vs Ash

Vince Brusio: For those who may not be familiar with the Hollywood film that precedes this book, can you fill us in on the backstory for Victor Crowley?

James Kuhoric: If you are a horror fan and you haven’t seen the Hatchet films, get out and buy, rent, or stream them right now!  You’ve been missing out on a series that embraces the 80s horror slasher flicks, and revels in delivering a bloody love letter to those classics.  Hatchet is the story of Victor Crowley, a disfigured and cursed boy who was accidentally killed and comes back from the grave as an unstoppable killing machine.  He’s a “repeater” – a ghost that can take a physical form like a poltergeist and just keeps coming back to relive the moment of his death and to break anyone misfortunate enough to enter his swamp.  This is a wonderfully over-the-top gorefest that will have you laughing and cringing in fear.      

Vince Brusio: Why did you decide to invest your time into writing this book? How does it fit in your wheelhouse? Does it appeal to your well-known love for schlocky 80s horror, or is there another more sinister reason? Feel free to insert evil laughs when necessary.

James Kuhoric: Hatchet is right up there with my other all-time favorites in horror.  Movies like Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Friday the 13th defined my early horror education and have a special place in my heart.  Having a chance to work on Hatchet is playing to my favorite type of horror.  When the folks at American Mythology reached out to me about contributing I immediately started imagining new and horrifying ways for Victor Crowley to kill his victims.  I didn’t realize how much of that had been building in my brain, because the carnage just started spilling out of my head and onto paper immediately.  And when I hear myself chuckling as I write, I know we’ve hit on some particularly gorrific scenes. 

Vince Brusio: Hatchet is a particularly bloody film. Will that same sanguine factor drip into the comic? Will gore fiends be satiated?

James Kuhoric: Absolutely!  You can’t have a Hatchet comic without gallons of blood.  That’d be like The Exorcist without the pea soup.  We were very lucky to get gore-hound Andrew Mangum for the interior artist.  Not only is he a big fan of the series, but his gore covers on The Puppet Master are some of the most explicitly blood dripping works of art in all of comics.  Every panel he works on is designed to evoke the feel of the movie when reading.  I have no doubt fans of Sam Rami’s films will be satisfied with our approach on the series.

Vince Brusio: Quite a few variant covers are available for this #0 issue. That’s quite an investment. Does this mean Hatchet will live again at AMP after this #0 issue? And will you again resume the writing chores?

James Kuhoric: The covers are there to give fans choices for what they like most in their collections.  With incredible artists like Greg LaRocque (The Flash), Buz Hasson & Ken Haesser (The Living Corpse), and of course Andrew Mangum, you can pick your favorite or collect them all depending on your interests.  The Hatchet #0 issue is a brand-new story telling the history of one of my favorite characters, and allowing us to introduce the tale to new fans by retelling some of the events of the movies.  You can pick up Hatchet #0 and enjoy it even if you’ve never seen the films.  But we are working very closely with Hatchet’s creator Adam Green to make sure that this series is as terrifying as possible. 

Hatchet will be returning with more issues this summer, and I will be penning the continuing horror.  It is a real treat for me to step back into a classic horror universe like this, and I plan to give fans as much bloody fun as they can handle.  We hope to deliver more stories from Honey Island Swamp that will raise the bar for original and gory killings by Victor Crowley.  And beyond that, a very special crossover story is coming that will thrill horror fans everywhere.  I can’t say much more about it right now, but rest assured that this will be a very cool event, and something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time!

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.

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