A Preston music events manager has released a new indie horror comic.
52-year-old Rob Talbot, who works at The Boatyard at The Continental, has created GraveWorms as “a love letter to all the great – and even not so great – horror comics of yore.”
Rob is the eldest son of Bryan Talbot, the internationally-acclaimed, award-winning comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.
He decided to create his own comic after spending over a decade writing for horror movie fan organisations and magazines, including Scream, Diabolique and Starburst, in his spare time.
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GraveWorms features monsters on the rampage and gateways to the beyond, and – drawing on Rob’s years of experience in the local scene – lays bare the modern music industry.
Rob said: “The inspiration to create the four stories within the comic came from rekindling a love for the horror comics genre around four or five years ago. It was mostly the real classics, from the 1950s up to the 1980s that inspired me, including timeless titles such as Tales from the Crypt and House of Mystery.
“I was a huge fan of horror movies, magazines and comics growing up. It wasn’t a choice doing a horror comic – if I was going to do anything, it was going to be that.”
The first issue delivers 44 pages of chilling tales, with hosts The Baroness and The Executioner in the time-honoured EC/Creepshow fashion.
Rob said: “Having hosts telling the stories within the comic is something of an old tradition going back to the 1950s. It’s something I’ve been heavily influenced by, and I want to carry on that tradition in my own work.”
On balancing horror and humour in the comic, he added: “There is black comedy running throughout it, but it’s pastiche and authentic, and done for the love of it. There is a fine line when it comes to dark comedy and horror. You will find just as many laughs as there are scares.”
Rob illustrated GraveWorms over the past two years while working at the pub. “I came up with the stories in a month or two, but the drawing took up most of the two-year process.
“I didn’t want to let the fact that I hadn’t drawn anything for over 20 years get in my way. The horrifying results speak for themselves!”
The first issue of Rob Talbot’s GraveWorms is available to buy online.
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