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Tag: Video Games

Interview with Brian Ralph at Robot 6

by Dan
Graphica / July 25, 2011

Comics blog Robot 6 caught up with cartoonist Brian Ralph right before the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend and chatted to him about his zombie comic Daybreak.

As Robot 6 notes, Daybreak maybe a zombie book, but it's "a zombie book with a unique twist." The story is viewed entirely from the perspective of an unnamed survivor (that means you, the reader!) exploring a post-apocalyptic landscape who finds a potential ally in a one-armed man: 

I had not seen a “first-person shooter” style of comic before. It turned out to be very exciting approach to storytelling. I was constantly trying to figure out new ways for the reader to feel like they were interacting with the characters and become characters in the story as well. I made some decisions along the way; to never show the reader’s “character” such as in a mirror. I didn’t want the reader to talk with a word balloon. I felt those things would break the illusion. It was tricky to work with those constraints, but such a fun challenge.

But interestingly, despite the “first-person shooter” style of Daybreak, you don't see a lot of zombies in the book:

I made a couple attempts at sketching the zombies thinking, of course, that I should include them, but I kept finding ways to avoid them. I wasn’t sure why, but it never felt right. Ultimately I decided that it just wasn’t necessary for the story I was trying to tell. The story is about traveling around with a stranger and becoming friends. Are any zombie stories really about the zombies? I don’t think so. The stories and movies are about the survivors having to form relationships. The blood and guts cheapen that. Plus, what a fun constraint, to draw a zombie book without ever showing a zombie? That’s crazy. 

Read the full interview here.

Daybreak is published by Drawn & Quarterly in September. The book is available for pre-order from your local indie bookstore, or online at Chapters-Indigo, and Amazon.