Tuesday, July 21, 2009

CBR interview with Tischman & Gardner

Though alternative music stars like Gerard Way, Tori Amos and others have explored the medium of comics in recent years, representatives from the world of country music have been notably absent from the art form. Looking to change this is David Tischman, the writer (with Howard Chaykin) behind Vertigo’s “American Century,” “Greatest Hits,” and the upcoming WildStorm series “Red Herring.” His four-issue miniseries “Luke McBain” debuts in November from 12-Gauge Comics, with its title character drawn in the likeness of country star Trace Adkins. Kody Chamberlain is illustrating the series, with covers by Brian Stelfreeze. CBR News caught up with Tischman and 12-Gauge Publisher Keven Gardner to discuss the title.

“Luke McBain” opens with its titular star returning home after serving 14 years in prison. The southern U.S. town McBain finds himself in now is one controlled by greed and corruption, and he's the only one with the courage to set things right. “Keven has built 12-Gauge on this great notion of the modern South and that you can have these great character and action stories in the south,” Tischman told CBR.

“First and foremost, we wanted to create a story that would work for 12-Gauge, regardless of Trace Adkins's involvement. And we definitely did that,” Gardner agreed. “We came up with this story with kind of a 'Walking Tall,' 'Billy Jack' feel to it, a guy who's been in jail for a while, taking the rap for a crime he didn't do. He's really wanting to just relax, get back to the life he left behind. But no good deed goes unpunished. He finds out that his brother owns the town, so he's got to stand up for the people. Whether you know who Trace Adkins is or not, it's a really good story.” (read the rest of the article by doing the title link above!)

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