FOG! Discusses INDOCTRINATION With Matt Battaglia & Michael Moreci at FORCES OF GEEK

Z2 Comics keeps it coming with Indoctrination, an apocalyptic political thriller in the vein of the first season of True Detective mixed with the scary realization that people are coerced into believing what groups are capable of.

Writer Michael Moreci (Roche Limit, Hoax Hunters, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and artist Matt Battaglia (Roche Limit) join us for a spin on the Cosmic Treadmill in advance of the June launch.

The book is already getting major attention from some True Detective fan sites, but as the following interview will reveal, there is more to Indoctrination, as our heroes face a far more sinister force.

Between death cults and sleeper cells, Indoctrination tackles fear, at a time when the world is growing tired of threats from inside and outside forces.

FOG!: What can readers expect from Indoctrination?

Matt Battaglia: Readers can expect a thoughtful thriller in the vein of classic 70s cinema, but wrestling with the potent issues of our times.

Michael Moreci: What Matt said. I think the series reminds me a lot of Hannibal, in that it’s slow, methodical, and the underlying developments are so unsettling that it makes everything else all the more frightening. 

We want to make a book that gets readers at their core with intense, thought-provoking, and chilling horror and crime. It’s very unique in a lot of ways, in a lot of GOOD ways, and there’s never been a better time for it to hit—in regard to the current political climate and the comics climate.

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FOG! Chats With Will Tracy and Gabe Koplowitz About ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK at FORCES OF GEEK

I was at first skeptical to read yet another brightly colored Conan-sword-tale. With space lasers the fashion this week, this seemed like a step backward back in time to a place I didn’t need to revisit.

And the creators are comedians, and we all know how those people are.

This all came to a climax when Z2 Comics forced me at dagger point to read issue one of their Allen: Son of Hellcock to prepare for an interview with their famous funny people Will Tracy (HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Onion) and Gabe Koplowitz (VH1).

I finally relented. Mead in hand, I had some questions for these guys because I was only two pages in when I realized this might be the funniest book of the year.

Will and Gabe joined us to answer our questions about the new publisher and disappointing the person that brought you into this world. Allen: Son of Hellcock debuts today in stores and digital comic shops.

FOG!: Will and Gabe — thanks for joining us today, what’s going on these days with Allen: Son of Hellcock? How did this come about? Where do you guys know each other from? Do you even know each other?

Will Tracy: I just met Gabe for the first time literally 15 minutes ago, and I can already tell I’m going to hate him. I think it’s his face, voice, and personality that make him hateable. Also his clothes and his smell and his glasses. And his stupid feet and hands. 

However, on a professional level, we wrote Allen: Son of Hellcock together about, oh, seven or eight years back. And we could not be more thrilled or proud to see it finally unleashed upon the world this Wednesday, December 16th!

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FOG! Chats With CHRIS HUNT About CARVER: A PARIS STORY From Z2 Comics

Paul Pope’s protege Chris Hunt has a new comic from Z2, Carver: A Paris Story hitting shelves November 11. 

Chris joins us today to tease the red wine and whiskey soaked black and white noir mystery comic and the short film that serves as a prequel to the story.

FOG!: Chris, thanks so much for joining us today. What brought the Carver story to life for you? 

Chris Hunt: Carver started as something of an experiment for me about 5 years ago, when I was applying for Paul Pope’s residency at The Atlantic Center For The Arts. I did a short story about this old school, mustachioed adventurer having to fight off a man-eating lion. 

It was very straightforward, and the main character didn’t have any back story. I kind of just started playing around with what his background would be, how he may have become this old school bad ass. 

I found that I really enjoyed the idea of building a world around this pseudo-Hemingway archetype and I just started playing around with different concepts. I had actually been in Paris with an ex-girlfriend when I came up with the idea for the original story and concept for the character. 

I thought it would be an interesting place to start the saga, so to speak. The backbone of the story is my personal experience when I was there, but it spiraled out into something much bigger as the story was developed.

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FOG! Chats With IAN McGINTY, Creator of WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE at FORCES OF GEEK

Ian McGinty is familiar name to Bravest Warriors, Hello Kitty and Adventure Time comics fans, drawing countless issues for the weirdo all ages bubble pop space adventures contained therein.

Z2 Comics (formerly Zip Comics) recently tapped Ian for a new creator owned title that even caught the attention of spoken word artist and punk rock singer Henry Rollins.

Today Ian talks to us about his new book for Z2, Welcome to Showside, Hank’s roll in voicing the pilot for Showside and introduces the heart attack-inducing Mallo-Butter-Waffles. 

Who said bubble-gum pop with a hint of punk edge should be relegated to the turntable?

Looks like we have a sticky cotton candy comic book in the world of Welcome to Showside hitting shelves in October.


FOG!: Ian, thanks for joining us today! We know you are probably super busy! Are you working on a ton of books at the moment or just concentrating on Welcome to Showside?

Ian McGinty: Absolutely, my pleasure. At the moment I’m working on six different licensed properties that include comics, animation, card games and video games.

Some I can’t talk about right now, but the ones I can include Steven Universe, Munchkin, FLUXX and, of course, Bravest Warriors. 

Added on to that is my own book, Welcome to Showside, so it’s been quite a month, to say the least, but wow, what a rad month.

Thankfully, I’m someone who thrives on being busy and I love juggling all the different characters/storylines.

It’s weirdly invigorating to switch from having to be strictly on-model for some projects and then getting to go crazy with my own stuff, so I’m having a blast, and I’m definitely most excited about Welcome to Showside coming out soon.

I just love drawing and creating, so it’s been extremely fun overall.

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