“Hinterkind” has been a rare bird of late: a Vertigo title that is a true ongoing, and doesn’t have roots pre-2012. Because of that, the book doesn’t get mentioned in the same breath as many of the other Vertigo titles, and seems like a bit of a sleeper in that line. We want to help change that perception, and so today, thanks to our friends at DC/Vertigo, we have a triple threat of a piece: an exclusive preview of “Hinterkind” #13, an interview with writer Ian Edginton about the new arc that starts here, and a copy of each of the first two volumes of “Hinterkind” to give away to a lucky reader!
All you have to do is leave a comment below with your email address, and on Friday, a winner will be chosen at random to win the two volumes. Good luck!
“Hinterkind” was incredibly refreshing in the way that it focused squarely on what happened after a cataclysmic event at the start of the series. After the first few arcs have focused on the “present,” why have you decided to go back and tell the story of the plague?
Ian Edginton: I was tempted to let the main story run on a lot longer and keep on peppering it with hints about what happened before the plague, who was doing what during the pre-plague years and so on. I keep a big notebook that has all the story breakdowns, back-stories of the characters, who’s interacted with who and who they will go on to cross paths with and it wasn’t long before I realized that at some point I was going to trip over my own feet trying to keep up with everyone.
I didn’t want it to be that when certain characters met up, they spouted reams of exposition explaining where they were and what they were doing during the plague years.
It’s always better to show than tell and that’s why we have this flashback arc. I don’t want to give the whole game away, so it only runs to two issues but it clarifies some of things that have been mentioned such as why Jon Hobb had his Sidhe features surgically altered to pass for human. We also discover the origin of the plague – the Blight – and it’s a shocker!
It must be very different to write a story where the ending is absolute, and cannot change. Since you know how the plague ends, how does that change your approach when writing these chapters that fill in the gaps?
IE: While the outbreak of the Blight and near extinction of humanity is a pretty damn big punctuation mark, it’s true, what I wanted to focus on were the characters who would live on into the green world that followed. What were they doing? How did they survive and how does it impact on their actions in the main story. Did they do something that’s haunted them ever since? Did they fail to do something that could have saved the world?
The flashback arc not only answers some of the questions that were raised in the future, but it also poses even more that will be answered in the stories to come. The plan is to do more of them set years after the Blight, for example, how Asa Monday (Prospers grandfather) and the others survive in New York after society’s fallen. Then there’s how Queen Telesche sets about building the Sidhe empire on the West Coast. There are plenty more stories to tell!
Francesco Trifogli’s art has been one of the highlights of the series thus far, and this issue necessitates him to drawn an entirely different landscape and world than he has been for the past 12 issues. What sort of guidelines did the script give him in creating a world before the plague?
IE: I think he must imagine that my sole purpose in life is to give him headaches! Instead of drawing great over grown cityscapes, this time round he’s been asked to draw detailed shots of Paris and New York! That said, no matter what I’ve thrown at him, he’s risen to the challenge and then some. He’s great, I couldn’t ask for a better artist.
Continued belowThis chapter appears to bounce all over the world, looking at the plague as a planet-wide phenomenon. Which of the settings do you feel most satisfied with, and which did Francesco’s art really sell you on?
IE: I love the scenes in Paris. The chase over the roof tops. It’s very Jason Bourne and has got me thinking that I’d like to do a spy book next!
Finally, for those who haven’t picked up “Hinterkind” yet, why is this a good place for them to get on board?
IE: It sets up the background for the main story and establishes the post-apocalyptic, green world that’s to come. It poses as many questions as it answers for which there are the first two trade collection now available just in time for Christmas!
Thanks again to Ian, and to the folks at DC/Vertigo – enjoy the preview below, remember to pick up the issue on Wednesday, and to enter our contest by posting your email address in the comments below!
Hinterkind #13
Written by Ian Edginton
Illustrated by Francesco TrifogliStep back in time to before the deadly plague that almost wiped out mankind took hold in “A Diary of the Plague Years” part 1. From the streets of New York to the boulevards of Paris and the mountain strongholds of Afghanistan, the beginning of the end starts here as the Sidhe prepare to unleash their long-awaited revenge. War has been declared – and we have already lost!
