How far would you go for the ones you love?
Mad Cave Studios’ marketing manager, Maya Lopez, sat down with Mark London, Mad Cave Studios’ CEO and writer of the upcoming urban fantasy series, Hunt. Kill. Repeat., which follows the goddess Artemis on a quest for revenge, after her father, Zeus, strips her of her mortal ties. Read on to find out about Mark London’s inspiration, his writing process, and more!
Check out the full interview below!
Q: What is your biggest inspiration when it comes to writing comics?
Mark: I’m in love with storytelling. I grew up in the late ’80s, a great time to be exposed to all sorts of media: Comics, video games, movies, animation, and literature, all great platforms for storytelling in their own way. I devoured everything I could get my hands on, but comics were always something special to me.
Q: In Hunt. Kill. Repeat., we follow the goddess Artemis on her quest for vengeance against Zeus after he cuts her mortal ties. What was your biggest inspiration in writing this story?
Mark: Just as directors know what movies they want to direct, writers also have a list of stories they’d like to write. I’d wanted to write a revenge story for the longest time but needed the perfect backdrop to make it happen. What better way to do it than with the gods of Olympus in a post-modern setting? But it couldn’t be just any revenge story, it had to be about losing something so valuable to you that you would kill those responsible, even your own family.
Q: How did this idea come to you?
Mark: Almost a year ago, I was tinkering with the idea of an assassin story that I really wanted to write. It was full of action and had a lot of heart. So I pitched it to Mad Cave’s Publisher, Chris Fernandez. We started talking about different possibilities or scenarios, and our passion for Greek mythology took over. I kind of merged the two things and spat out Hunt. Kill. Repeat.
Q: Hunt. Kill. Repeat. Features a pantheon of Greek Gods in the present day. What kind of research did you have to do for this series beforehand?
Mark: Although this story is entirely fictional, and you can make up your own rules, it’s essential as a writer to anchor your ideas to something “real.” There’s a lot of material written about the gods which have become common knowledge, and readers need to find something familiar to relate to.
Q: Which member of the pantheon was your favorite to write?
Mark: Artemis, of course. But I have a soft spot for Hermes.
Q: What do you hope for people to take away from reading Hunt. Kill. Repeat.?
Mark: That you should never take things for granted.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your writing process?
Mark: It starts with an idea. It can even be a scene. It does not necessarily has to be the beginning. It can be the middle or the end, and I take it from there. I write cinematically. When I write, everything is playing in my head like a movie with music, sound effects, the works.
Q: Who/what are your biggest influences as a creator?
Mark: Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. Big action/adventure directors. And in the writing department, I’d have to say, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and Brian K. Vaughn.
Q: What are your favorite stories/artists/genres?
Mark: I enjoy all of them, but if I had to pick one, I’d go with fantasy. It allows me to play with narrative components that don’t necessarily have to deal with real-world elements to be believable or relatable. Writing fantasy allows you to do whatever you want with your characters, situations, and settings. It allows me to let loose and run with it and just have fun.
Q: Any other upcoming projects we should know about?
Mark: We always have a few projects in our back pockets. I can’t talk about those yet, but we’ll make an announcement when the time is right. Rest assured, there will be a steady flow of Mad Cave comics this year. For now, I’m focused on Hunt. Kill. Repeat. and the possibility of a second volume.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
Mark: 2023 will be a big year for Mad Cave, Maverick, and Papercutz. We’ve been hard at work preparing for the future by working with established creators, popular new licenses, and developing the same high-quality original stories from the Cave. You can expect many electrifying announcements in 2023 across all three imprints.
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