Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Nanoman #1

      Jason Sacks
      September 26, 2011
      Cheap Thrills, Columns
    Recent
    • What Looks Good For the Week of December 4, 2019

      Daniel Gehen
      December 2, 2019
    • What Looks Good for the Week of November 20th 2019

      Daniel Gehen
      November 19, 2019
    • The Full Run: FINAL CRISIS – SUBMIT

      Daniel Gehen, Jason Jeffords Jr.
      November 15, 2019
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • The Full Run: Supergirl Year One

      Jason Sacks
      February 28, 2014
      Columns, DC Comics, The Full Run
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Orm (Ocean Master)

      nguyen ly
      December 7, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: DC Stargirl

      nguyen ly
      November 30, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: The Eternals

      nguyen ly
      November 16, 2019
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Image Announces Dead Eye From Gerry Duggan and John McCrea For October

      Jason Sacks
      July 19, 2019
      Image, News, Press Release
    Recent
    • Review: Transformers Galaxies #3 and the problem with Constructicons

      Stephen Cook
      December 3, 2019
    • AHOY Comics Announces A Wave of Titles for 2020

      Daniel Gehen
      November 12, 2019
    • What Looks Good for the Week of November 13th, 2019

      Daniel Gehen
      November 11, 2019
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 140 Character Reviews 9/24/14 My brain is fried and my nose is stuffed. Let's read comics!

      Jason Sacks
      September 25, 2014
      140 Character Reviews, Reviews
    Recent
    • 2.0

      Review: Roku #1 Fails to Deliver

      Jason Jeffords Jr.
      November 11, 2019
    • 3.5

      Review: AMAZING MARY JANE #1 Starts Strong But Plays it Safe With Messaging

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2019
    • 4.0

      Review: Count Crowley – Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter #1

      Mike Nickells
      October 22, 2019
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Interview: Chris Claremont: A Life in Comics

      Jason Sacks
      November 7, 2014
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns, Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: V.E. Schwab on revisiting Red London in The Steel Prince

      Stephen Cook
      March 13, 2019
    • Interview: David Foster Wallace and Hellblazer, words on Wyrd with writer Curt Pires

      Stephen Cook
      February 27, 2019
    • “The Night Has Teeth” An Interview with Sarah deLaine, Artist of Image Comics’ “Little Girls”

      Jason Sacks
      February 26, 2019
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • The Manic Pop Thrill of Grant Morrison and Mark Millar's Flash

      Jason Sacks
      February 11, 2016
      Big Two, Classic Comics, Classic Comics Cavalcade, Marvel Comics
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Madefire’s Free Friday 11/21/2014: Unity - Episode 1

      Jason Sacks
      November 21, 2014
      News
    Recent
    • AHOY Comics Announces A Wave of Titles for 2020

      Daniel Gehen
      November 12, 2019
    • Valiant’s BLOODSHOT Trailer is Finally Here

      Daniel Gehen
      October 21, 2019
    • The Rafaels Team-Up for “HIDDEN SOCIETY”

      Daniel Gehen
      October 3, 2019
    • Titan to Release Phantom of the Opera GN

      Daniel Gehen
      October 1, 2019
    • GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Title Awarded to Todd McFarlane for SPAWN

      Daniel Gehen
      September 30, 2019
    • Jim Shooter Brings SLOW CITY BLUES to IMAGE

      Daniel Gehen
      September 24, 2019
  • Books
    Random
    • Sam Glanzman and Joe Lansdale's 'Red Range' is Violent, Weird and Great

      Jason Sacks
      May 17, 2017
      Books, Classic Comics, Classic Comics Cavalcade, IDW, Indie
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      nguyen ly
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      nguyen ly
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Orm (Ocean Master)
  • Review: Transformers Galaxies #3 and the problem with Constructicons
  • What Looks Good For the Week of December 4, 2019
  • Collecting Profile: DC Stargirl
  • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen
  • What Looks Good for the Week of November 20th 2019
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Interviews

Brandon Seifert: Vengeance and the Law

Jason Sacks
November 13, 2012
Interviews

 

When last we checked in with Brandon Seifert he had a whole slew of projects he was working on, including a new series from digital-only Monkeybrain and a brand new Hellraiser series. Now that several months have gone by and we've had a chance to check out his new Monkeybrain series Spirit of the Law, it seemed like a good time to check back with Brandon and talk about his latest projects.

 

Jason Sacks for Comics Bulletin: Spirit of the Law is a bit of a step away from your usual horror. How did you approach this new series?

Brandon Seifert: It's a step away, but not a big step.

Spirit of the Law is a noir/pulp mashup, but it's also a supernatural horror story. It's about a group of hitmen who are hunted down by the paranormal vigilante they accidentally created. So in some ways it's more of a traditional horror story than something like Witch Doctor, which also mixes in comedy, action, and medical drama. The focus in SotL is very much on these hunted men, the peril they're in, and the fear they feel. And it's gorier than Witch Doctor — a hard "R" rating, rather than the "PG-13" thing we're doing in WD.

My approach to writing Spirit of the Law was honestly more like my approach to my Hellraiser work than it was to Witch Doctor. A lot of that is the genres. Some genres are about setting, character types, story types — noir, hero pulp, westerns, stuff like that. Other genres are about the emotion they're trying to evoke in the audience. Horror is about trying to scare, disturb, or gross-out the audience, while comedy is all about the laugh.

 

 

So something like Witch Doctor, which has both a big horror element and a big comedy element, is a bit of a juggling act. Too many laughs negate the scares, and vice versa. Whereas just doing a horror story, that's more tonally pure. So with Spirit of the Law, my collaborator Michael Montenat and I are mixing in Film Noir and Hero Pulp conventions, but the emotional tone is consistent. Same as with Hellraiser — I'm not trying to balance two different emotional reactions in that one either.

CB: Would you call the protagonist of Spirit of the Law a heroine or more a force of vengeance?

Seifert: I think you can definitely look at the Spirit of the Law in different ways. In one way, she's definitely a force of vengeance, in the way you see in folklore and in stuff like The Crow. But because of her setting — the 1930s, the height of pulp — and because the people she's getting vengeance on are criminals, I think there's an argument that she's heroine. Or at least a vigilante. If nothing else, if you put her in a superhero or pulp hero world, the other characters in that world would react to her the same way they react to heroes or vigilantes on the more violent end of the spectrum.

 

 

But honestly, whatever the Spirit is, there's one thing she's not — she's not the protagonist of the story. Spirit of the Law is about the Spirit — but it's about her, as seen through the eyes of the mob hitmen who accidentally create her. Basically, I love noir-ish stories that are told from the point of view of a sympathetic criminal. And while I've seen plenty of superhero origins, I've never seen one told exclusively from the villain's point of view. So the Spirit of the Law isn't the protagonist; Sammy Workman, the man who killed her, is.

CB: When we talked at SDCC, you mentioned that she was based on the statue Blind Justice; how do you think the visual works for the character?

Seifert: I've always thought the “Blind Justice“ or “Lady Justice“ visual was a great look for a superheroine. But I've never seen it used. There was even a superheroine in the ‘90s called Lady Justice, but she didn't actually follow the look! She just wore normal clothes and a blindfold. So it was kind of an iconic visual that was just lying around.

There's lots of things I love in the “Blind Justice” icon. For one thing, you've got the mix of vulnerability — the long dress, very feminine — with violence — the big sword. I also love the whole "blinded" aspect. Justice isn't supposed to care who you are. She's just supposed to do her job. All of that works very well with Spirit of the Law. Though whether our character is actually pursuing justice rather than vengeance isn't very clear. There's a moral purity in “Blind Justice” that isn't there in the Spirit of the Law.

CB: Will we get more stories with this character?

Seifert: That's the intention!

My collaborator Michael Montenat and I were just kind of testing the waters with this first two-parter. But we ended up having a lot of fun working on it, and I think it turned out great. Michael drew the living hell out of it, and our colorist Ron Riley took Michael's great art and made it even better with his lovely, moody color work.

I met Michael in person for the first time at New York Comic Con — he's based in New Jersey and I'm in Portland, Oregon. And we agreed we want to work together more, and to do more SotL stories. So, chances are really good! The one thing that remains to be seen is: Do the readers like it?

 

 

CB: Witch Doctor is coming back soon, and judging by the ads it will be as intense as ever. Can you give us a preview of the new mini?

Seifert: Our new series, Witch Doctor: Mal Practice, is six issues chronicling the worst 36 hours of Dr. Morrow's life to date. It kicks off with Morrow, tired after a long day treating supernatural diseases, going out for a drink, meeting a girl, and then waking up the next day with no memory of what happened next.

For most of us that'd be embarrassing, but Morrow's a key player in the upcoming apocalypse, so it's potentially catastrophic! Was he drugged, or poisoned, or infected with some supernatural disease? Morrow becomes his own patient, and his quest to find out what happened t
o him kicks open a whole can of worms. Really big worms. With teeth.

So, that's the story. On the presentation end, Mal Practice is a move away from the kind of stories we did in the first miniseries. Witch Doctor Vol. 1 was very much about setting up the world and cast; Mal Practice is about taking that and running with it. We'll be seeing more of the world, more magic, more danger, more mysteries about Penny Dreadful — and more monsters! My collaborator Lukas Ketner has really outdone himself on his monster designs for this miniseries. We're going to be giving people nightmares!

 

 

CB: How are you feeling, being in control of the Hellraiser universe now?

Seifert: Well, I'm hardly "in control" of it. For one thing, I'm just doing a four-issue miniseries — and for another, Clive Barker is the one at the wheel of the ship. But it feels great to be involved! Hellraiser is something I've loved since high school. Back then, I plotted my own Hellraiser fan fiction and stuff like that. So it's incredibly neat to get to contribute to the franchise. And also really, really surreal!

CB: What should we expect in the next mini?

Seifert: In the current Hellraiser ongoing series from BOOM! Studios, the Pinhead we know from the movies has stepped down and became human. And his replacement is Kirsty Cotton, the "final girl" from the first two Hellraiser films.

My miniseries Hellraiser: The Road Below is sort of a "Year One" for Kirsty, picking up shortly after she became the new Pinhead. She's new in her role, and overconfident — and she gets in the middle of a blood-feud between two families who are more than what they seem. Kirsty's only got the best intentions… but we know where those will lead you, right? The Road Below is sort of its own Hellraiser film, told over the course of four issues — but with Kirsty in the Pinhead role.

CB: Sounds great! Thanks Brandon!

Brandon SeifertJason Sacks

Share On:
Tweet
The Full Run: Grant Morrison and Mark Millar's Flash
The Vampire Diaries 4.05 “The Killer”

About The Author

Jason Sacks
Publisher Emeritus

Jason Sacks has been obsessed with pop culture for longer than he'd like to remember. Jason has been writing for Comics Bulletin for nearly a decade, producing over a million words of content about comics, films and other media. He has also been published in a number of publications, including the late, lamented Amazing Heroes, The Flash Companion and The American Comic Book Chronicles: the 1970s and 1980s. Find him on Facebook and Twitter. Jason is the Owner and Publisher of Comics Bulletin.

Related Posts

  • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

    Mark Stack
    January 2, 2019
  • Top 10 Thoughts About Jack Kirby

    Jason Sacks
    August 28, 2017

Latest Interviews

  • Interview: V.E. Schwab on revisiting Red London in The Steel Prince

    Stephen Cook
    March 13, 2019
  • Interview: David Foster Wallace and Hellblazer, words on Wyrd with writer Curt Pires

    Stephen Cook
    February 27, 2019
  • “The Night Has Teeth” An Interview with Sarah deLaine, Artist of Image Comics’ “Little Girls”

    Jason Sacks
    February 26, 2019
  • Interview: Caitlin Kittredge talks the future of Witchblade

    Daniel Gehen
    February 12, 2019
  • Interview: Andy Nakatani and the Future of Weekly Shonen Jump

    Daniel Gehen
    December 19, 2018
  • INTERVIEW: Todd Matthy talks robots, princesses, and bridging the divide with storytelling

    Stephen Cook
    September 13, 2018
  • INTERVIEW: Gallaher & Ellis discuss THE ONLY LIVING GIRL

    Daniel Gehen, Thea Srinivasan
    September 7, 2018
  • Interview: Daniel Elkin Will Fight You Over Small Press Comics and Chicken Nuggets

    Daniel Gehen
    July 30, 2018
  • Exclusive Advance Interview: Matt Kindt on ‘X-O Manowar: Agent’

    Jason Sacks
    May 24, 2018
  • Alex Alice: Creativity in the Stars

    Jason Sacks
    October 4, 2017
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders