Distilling comics to their ultimate essence and having fun, Silver Age superhero stories is happening regularly today at one of the most unlikely publishers.

Writer and artist Dean Haspiel joins us this week to talk The Fox from Dark Circle Comics. Last summer we reviewed The Fox: Freak Magnet and the exploits of Paul Patton Jr. and family, so it was a pleasure to get with Dean about the new direction he is taking this classic Archie Comics owned superhero under the Dark Circle imprint.

Dean, who writes and draws the book, collaborates with Mark Waid on the writing and that relationship is explained here as well as some of the new heroes popping up in The Fox world.

The most recent chapter of the latest story arc, Fox Hunt, can be found in The Fox #4, out today wherever comics are sold, and that most certainly includes the device you are reading this freaky interview on!

FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Dean! After the success of Freak Magnet were you eager to get working on your next arc for The Fox?

Dean Haspiel: Thanks, Clay! I originally proposed a different idea for the Freak Magnet sequel that involved an ex-girlfriend who was a therapist for disturbed superheroes, the power of fossil fuel and the resurrection of a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur buried underneath the center of Impact City, and a zombie-version of The Jaguar.

But, my then editor, Paul Kaminski suggested we do something called Fox Hunt, and I wrote a different idea.

Things are a little more violent and bloody this time around, while maintaining true to The Fox as we saw in the last volume. How is it for you to get to write and draw some of the more visceral scenes?

My favorite genre is horror. So, turning up the gross factor in Fox Hunt wasn’t hard for me to do. I just wanted to keep some of the zany, Silver-Age superhero tone I established in Freak Magnet, while decorating some of the scenes with terrifying tentacles, exploding heads, and puddles of viscera.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]