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Inside the Cave with Cullen Bunn

Mad Cave Studios’ marketing manager, Maya Lopez, sat down with writer Cullen Bunn (Harrow County, The Sixth Gun) of the upcoming horror series A Legacy of Violence, a terrifying tale of murder, revenge, and the lingering ghosts of the past. Check out the full interview below!

Q: Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions! First thing’s first, we’re dying to know: what is your biggest inspiration when it comes to writing horror comics?

Cullen: For me, the biggest inspiration for horror comics are the things that scare me deep down inside. Almost every horror book I write draws on my very real fears. Sometimes, they’re masked as monsters or demons or serial killers, but when you dig a little deeper you can find the truth.

Q: What initially got you into writing comics?

Cullen: I’ve always loved comics and I’ve always loved telling stories. I knew I wanted to write, and I didn’t care what medium I used to reach an audience. Since comics were such a big part of my formative years, though, of course I wanted to play in that arena.

Q: What was your biggest inspiration in writing A Legacy of Violence, and how did this idea come to you?

Cullen: This was an idea that the folks at Mad Cave were kicking around. They had some very, very broad stroke concepts for it, and they came to me to help flesh it out and turn it into this epic tale of terror. Once I got ahold of it, I wanted to weave in some concepts of man’s cruelty to their fellow man, the tribulations of poverty, and the idea of answering for the crimes of the past.

Q: How do you connect with and develop the characters in this story

Cullen: Sometimes it is easier than others. Usually, when I create a character, I write a sentence or two that will describe their personality in very high levels. Then, as they enter the story during the scripting process, I layer more details into the mix. It’s important, because you want the reader to connect with these characters, whether the like them, hate them, or otherwise.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from A Legacy of Violence?

Cullen: First things first, I want readers to be entertained and scared by the events of the story. That’s paramount in this case. But, if they can walk away with a few thoughts about the indifference so many feel toward others, especially those who are suffering, that’s a bonus.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your writing process?

Cullen: I do a great deal of outlining for every comic I write. I do a high level outline, a beat by beat outline, and a detailed outline before I ever start scripting. In a comic, there are so many elements that must be planned for–the number of pages, the number of panels on the page, the turn of the page. I want to make sure there are no surprises waiting for me once I get to the actual writing. There almost always are, but maybe I keep them to a minimum!

Q: Who/what are your biggest influences as a writer?

Cullen: As I mentioned, my own worries and fears are a big influence. Things I see going on in the world around me. People I meet. Random thoughts. Daydreams. Successes. Failures. Scraps of conversations I overhear. Dreams and nightmares. All of these things can be an influence. And, of course, the stories, novels, comics, TV, shows and movies I read and watch often spark new ideas for me. Pretty much anything can be a source of inspiration.

Q: What are your favorite stories/artists/genres?

Cullen: Obviously, I’m a horror junkie, and I love writers like Robert McCammon, Joe Lansdale, Briane Keene, Bentley Little, and Stephen King, among so, so many others. It’s almost impossible to figure out absolute favorites.

Q: Do you have any favorite horror titles we should be catching up on?

Cullen: You don’t need to do much catching up, since the story just started, but Heart Eyes from Dennis Hopeless is pretty great! I highly recommend it!

Q: Any upcoming projects we should know about?

Cullen: I’ve got a number of other horror projects coming up, and I feel like they compliment A Legacy of Violence in some interesting ways. There’s Shock Shop, a horror anthology flipbook, from Dark Horse. There’s Door to Door, Night by Night, an action/horror/comedy series from Vault. And there are several other books I’m working on that haven’t been announced just yet.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Cullen: You want to keep up with my work, you can reach all of my social media, my newsletter, and my discord server at https://linktr.ee/cullenbunn . I greatly appreciate everyone who follows the projects I’m working on!

Cullen Bunn is a comic book writer for Mad Cave Studios(Grimm Tales From The Cave, and A Legacy of Violence), Oni Press (The Sixth Gun, The Damned, and The Tooth) and Marvel Comics (Wolverine, Spider-Man: Season One, and Fear Itself: The Fearless). He also writes short fiction and novels, including the middle reader horror novel, Crooked Hills.
Cullen’s short stories and non-fiction have appeared in dozens of magazines, anthologies, and e-zines. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. Since then, Brian and Cullen have teamed up on The Sixth Gun, an ongoing supernatural western, and Cullen has also worked on several other projects for Oni Press, Marvel, and DC.

You can check out more of Cullen Bunn’s work here!

A Legacy of Violence #1 is currently available for preorder on our website here, and will be available on Comixology, Drive-thru comics, and your favorite local comic book shop on October 5th, 2022!

Mad Cave Studios is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded by Mark London in 2014 driven by madness and committed to quality. For additional information, visit madcavestudios.com.

Maverick

Inside the Cave with Cullen Bunn

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