The 1987 film “The Monster Squad” is perhaps best known for the line, “Wolfman’s got nards!”
Janie Jones “Strummer” Mercado doesn’t have nards, but she is a werewolf. And a private investigator. And she just got presented with a case of biblical proportions.
That’s the premise of Black’s Myth, a new, black-and-white series from AHOY Comics by writer Eric Palicki and artist Wendell Cavalcanti that will lead off the publisher’s sixth wave of titles.
(Wow, six waves. We remember when AHOY was one wave old, barely able to speak or walk or eat solid food but still somehow able to publish The Wrong Earth.)
We talked to Palicki about his new book and all other manner of werewolf business. Check out a preview of the book, and then read the interview below.
Dan Grote: Why black and white?
Eric Palicki: We’re leaning into a rougher-around-the-edges DIY aesthetic, as well as harkening back to classic horror mags like Creepy and Eerie. I’ll confess to being a bit skeptical about the color choice until I saw how much Wendell’s art pops with gray tones, and I was reminded about a little book called The Walking Dead.
DG: Werewolf mythology dates back centuries, from the oral tradition of the ancient Greeks to European pagans, not to mention the werecats passed down from non-Western cultures. Europe even had its own werewolf equivalent of the Salem witch trials. But also, it’s just pretty cool when a person turns into a wolf and shreds some dudes. How deep did you go into were-lore in prepping for this book?
EP: My interest in werewolves was originally piqued in college where I came across the (supposed) real-life account of Theiss of Kaltenbrun. (Long story short, Theiss lived in the Eastern Europe in the 1600s and went on trial for heresy and witchcraft after claiming he and others in his village turned into wolves so they could battle the devil and protect the year’s harvest.) The idea of werewolves as a force for good, or as Theiss’ people called themselves, the “hounds of God,” stuck with me. I stored it away, an idea in search of a story, until I arrived at Strummer — a werewolf who’s more or less turned her back on that whole side of herself — and Black’s Myth was born.
DG: Who are some of your favorite werewolves in fiction?
EP: Well, Theiss is arguably fictional — his lycanthropy almost certainly is — but beyond him, this lifelong comics fan loves Rahne “Wolfsbane” Sinclair and Jack “Werewolf by Night” Russell, and everyone loves An American Werewolf in London’s David Kessler, although that’s not the kind of story we’re telling here.
DG: How many times have you heard what you thought were the opening notes of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” smiled, then realized you were actually listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” or, worse, Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long”?
EP: So, I was born and raised in Northwest Ohio, barely a half an hour outside of Detroit, Michigan, and Kid Rock was a constant source of disappointment. You can choose to assume I just mean specifically in regards to how often “All Summer Long” played on the radio, or maybe I’m speaking in a broader sense. Who knows?
That said, I love “Werewolves of London,” of course, but Zevon had an incredible career, unfortunately overshadowed by that. One. Song. Anyone who digs “Werewolves” should at least check out the whole of Excitable Boy, as well as his live album, Learning to Flinch, and his Grammy-winning final record, The Wind.
DG: Black’s Myth isn’t just for werewolves, though. Your supporting cast includes a djinn and a church grim, or ghost dog. How deep a supernatural bench are you pulling from?
EP: Oh, the characters we meet in issue one are just the tip of a very large iceberg. The title of the book is a nod to Strummer’s client Rainsford Black, who hires her to find 30 stolen bullets, possibly made from Judas’ silver pieces. Once we explain why Rainsford is in possession of what he believes are 30 super-charged monster-killing bullets, we open up the story to play with many supernatural pieces, drawing from mythologies all over the world. I don’t want to give too much away, but when the inevitable vampires show up, they’re in the form of twins who call themselves Dosferatu.
DG: That’s dope.
Your hero, Janie Jones Mercado, is nicknamed “Strummer,” after the Clash frontman. How does this speak to her personality vs. if you’d nicknamed her “Rotten” or “Ramone” or “Richard Hell and the Voidoids”?
EP: Joe Strummer, to me, represents the best version of the punk rock ethos. Sure, it could just be that he had a better publicist, but, well, I recently pulled out the original pitch for Black’s Myth that I sent to Ahoy, and it opens with a quote from Strummer: “Without people, you’re nothing.” By the time we get to the end of our story, I hope readers recognize that as our theme. We’re all in this together — whatever “this” may be at any given time — and we’ve got to look after each other.
DG: You worked with artist Wendell Cavalcanti before on Scout’s Atlantis Wasn’t Built for Tourists. What made you want to reteam?
EP: Wendell and I worked together even before that! The first script I ever wrote with enough confidence to have drawn was a four-page mini-comic called “The Undertaker’s Daughter,” about a teenage girl who was also a hired assassin. We were just kids back then, still finding our way around the medium, but we’ve stayed in touch on and off since, and I was delighted when his schedule opened up enough for Atlantis Wasn’t Built for Tourists and now Black’s Myth. After all this time, I feel like we’re simpatico, and I hope it’s a collaborative relationship that lasts for years to come. If Wendell and I could have a Brubaker/Phillips type partnership, it would be wonderful. That said, I hope this book gets Wendell the attention he’s way past due to receive.
DG: You’ve edited quite a few anthologies for A Wave Blue World over the years, including This Nightmare Kills Fascists, All We Ever Wanted and the Dead Beats 2 book about to be launched on Kickstarter. When you’re editing these books, is there a part of you that’s looking at them with an eye to recruiting potential creative partners?
EP: Always! I’ll be launching a Kickstarter for an all-new graphic novella in June with art by Christopher Peterson and colored by DJ Chavis. Both Chris and DJ are veterans of those anthologies, to give you just one example I can talk about.
DG: Liana Kangas is doing your covers. Liana is one of those creators who tends to make friends wherever she goes. (Case in point, she’s been on WMQ&A twice.) Got a good Liana story?
EP: Liana is incredibly kind and thoughtful, and it’s impossible not to love her. I was delighted she agreed to provide covers for the entire series. We collaborated on a story in the first Dead Beats, which was amazing. She’s been trying her hand at writing lately, having done work for TKO and in the Off Into the Sunset anthology, so we asked her to contribute to Dead Beats 2 as a writer, and she decided to make her story a direct sequel to our story in the first volume. It was totally flattering and completely in line with how awesome Liana is. (Her story is great, of course.)
Black’s Myth #1 is out July 7 from AHOY Comics.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
