INTERVIEW ON COMICRELATED.COM
Gary Reed

TITLE SPOTLIGHT
H.P. Lovecraft`s Call of Cthulhu: This is an original graphic novel and not a reprinted collection. It is an adaptation of one of H.P. Lovecraft's most influential works and staying true to the original work, Swiss writer/artist Michael Zigerlig, narrates the tale with the original prose of the three points of view describing the horror of Cthullu. Generally regarded as Lovecraft's masterpiece, this tale, as many of Lovecraft's work, influenced generations to come. H.R. Giger, famed biomechanical artist and creator of the look of Alien, was so influenced by Lovecraft that he provides the introduction to this graphic novel. This book will be available in March so will be in the January Previews.

CREATOR SPOTLIGHT
Michael Zigerlig visited the school of art in Berne, Switzerland where he grew up and still lives. He quit his apprentice as a graphic designer and mainly focused on Chinese martial arts the last ten years. At the age of 26 he recovered his passion for drawing and artwork and illustrated "The Call of Cthulhu" from H.P. Lovecraft.

1. What do you consider your first major project and your thoughts on it?
H.P. Lovecraft`s Cthulhu is one of my very favourite stories and it was quite a challenge for it is very well known and everyone who knows it, have expectations regarding a visual conversion. It was important to me to use Lovecraft`s own text passages to keep it authentic and to mediate Lovecraft`s unique writing style. The fact that H.R. Giger (His books Necronomicon 1&2 were my first steps into Lovecraft`s world) wrote the introduction for me was also a responsibility to handle the story with deep respect.

2. Of all the projects you've worked on, what was your favorite?
Actually, Call of Cthulhu will be my first published project and it helped me to find my own drawing style. At the beginning it was more an experiment to find a way to visually adapt Lovecraft`s writing. The result fascinated me and I couldn't stop, I worked all day on it until it was finished. Call of Cthulhu is absolutely the spark that made me draw again and it hasn't stopped yet.

3. If you could return to any of your previous projects, which would it be?
Some years ago I had the idea to draw an adaptation of the Wushu (kung fu)-movie "The 36 Chambers of Shaolin", but didn't finish it. I don't think that I will do this now, but some influences of it, especially the fighting sequences, flew into my new comic project "Five Swords from Outer Hell".

4. If you could do any project, what would it be?
Definitely Batman or Hellboy. But I would also be very interested in Sherlock Holmes for I've been a huge fan since childhood.

5. Who has worked in comics for awhile and should be much better known?
I think there are a lot of artists in Europe who are not well known in the usa. One of my favorites is Joseph Behe who has a really impressive style of inking and aquarelle painting.

 

The new project is Lovecraft related too, but written by myself. Call of Cthulhu is almost like a documentary, so I wanted to make speech bubbles and a lot of action sequences for the next book. The story is set in China, India and the Desert of Arabia in the time of Lovecraft`s Abdul Alhazred (The 8th century) and is full of ideas I had developed over years. The main character is a Taoist student named Oax who is searching for Irem, the City of Pillars.

Gary Reed is the publisher of Transfuzion Publishing and was the former publisher of Caliber Comics. As a writer, he has written a number of graphic novels and comics including Saint Germaine, Deadworld, Baker Street, Renfield, Raven Chronicles, A Murder of Scarecrows, and others. Outside of Talking Transfuzion, he has his regular blog covering a wide variety of topics at reedgary.blogspot.com and his website www.garyreed.net