VISITATIONS - WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Do you know what Jason Robards, Robert De Niro, Rod Steiger, Neville Brand, Ben Gazzara, José Calvo, Kurt Andon, and F Murray Abraham, all have in common? No. They haven't all slept with Meryl Streep, silly; as I'm sure Kurt swings the other way. The one thing these men have in common, is that at one time or another they've all played a certain Chicago based gangster on screen. What's his face! That schmuck with the receding hairline and the..... BANG-BANG-BANG! Errr? Anyway, as I was saying, please check out the following comic book my mate Scott created, set in Chicago.


Scott Larson On Amazon


1) What are your own origins, Scott?   I was born in Chicago, and most of the members of my family, from my father to my older siblings, are artists in one form or another. I grew up among illustrators (drawing and painting), sculptors, model builders, poetry writers, and film makers.

As a kid, I loved watching reruns of the old Batman TV show and discovered the comics from there. Starting with Batman my interest grew to other characters, and over the years I’ve accumulated the entire run of The Amazing Spider-man, as he is my favorite. 

Between the family artistic inclination and my exposure to comics, drawing them seemed a natural choice for me. I’ve been penciling comics since 1999, and the bulk of my work has been done for AC Comics’ Femforce title, and I also have had the opportunity to work on high profile characters like King Kong for Markosia, 1000 Ways To Die for Zenescope Entertainment, and The Saint for Moonstone Books. 

2) What inspired you to create, ‘Visitations’?   I’ve always been interested in the history of Chicago, especially the Al Capone era of the 1920s. I’ve lived in the city my entire life and my family had been here for over a hundred years before I was born.

One day, while visiting Graceland Cemetery on Chicago’s north side, I saw monuments belonging to the founders of the city plus some pretty spooky looking gravestones. Later, while researching some of them online, I found other really interesting tombstones from cemeteries around the world. I wondered what it would be like to take some of them and use them for character inspiration.

I woke up one morning with the first story and all the characters in my head. I thought it would be interesting to put these characters in Chicago (around the turn of the century) and let the city be a backdrop to their adventures. As their adventures go on, the reader will get to see the city evolve and grow.

3) In your own words how would you describe this story?   I would say that the story is part history, part horror, and part adventure, all done in a way that no one has ever seen before. The first issue is only an introduction, plus I plan on playing and taking chances with the way storytelling is done in very different ways in future chapters: page layout, point of view, and interactive printed pages will make this a very unique series.

4) What song would you say best represents this comic and why?   I guess it depends on which issue you’re talking about. This first one would definitely be “Don’t Fear The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, mostly because it takes place in a cemetery where deaths occur. Future issues would have a different soundtrack. There’s a story coming up entitled, “Slaughter In The Stockyards”, which would use the classic Scott Joplin ragtime piano tune, “The Entertainer”. To see why, you’ll have to stay tuned.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   George Lucas! Besides being a tremendous creative spirit, the man is a master at marketing!

6) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour?   That I have the stamina to do a large project. The scope of Visitations as a whole is pretty ambitious, and the first issue was quite a bit of work. The writing, the penciling, the inking, coloring, and lettering was tremendous on it’s own. At the same time there was a great deal of upheaval in my life, and I was a very busy guy. 

7) During your time in this field, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead?   My love for the medium. Comics aren’t exactly the easiest thing in the world to do, and there’s always a struggle creatively, even without editorial interference. I’ve worked with a number of small publishers and have had work not published, or art mutilated by bad inking, coloring, and even lettering. It’s very difficult to endure these things. The fact of the matter is I enjoy drawing and telling stories visually, as there’s always something new to learn. If you don’t love it then there’s no reason to do it.

8) If ‘Visitations’ had a motto, what would it be?   Wait until you see what happens next!

And on that exciting note, I'd like to thank Scott for telling us about his comic book, Visitations, before directing you towards his blog, facebook, and twitter pages, as well as his official visitations comic book website.