Comic book creator Troy Nixey has had a successful career spanning 30 years. His work as both a writer and artist has remained firmly planted in the weird, obscure, and horrifying. This month sees the release of a creepy new anthology of stories – both rare and previously unreleased, unfinished ideas, and collected artwork all published in a beautiful hardcover edition from Dark Horse Comics.
Cover by Troy Nixey & Michelle Madsen
I was able to read the collection in its entirety and discuss this book, how Troy’s career has led him to this point, and what’s in store from him in the near future in this exclusive interview. There are no spoilers for “Bacon and Other Monstrous Tales” in this interview.
The entire anthology has a feeling of cleaning out the old trunk. A way of releasing, and in some cases, re-releasing these ideas and stories out into the world and making space for new creations to take their place. Is that how it feels to you? Or was it simply more about sharing these stories all in one place?
Troy Nixey: The idea spawned from the first “Trout” collection (“Bits & Bobs”) that was released before the new “Trout” mini-series in 2019, “Trout: The Hollowest Knock.” I was thrilled to put all my previous Trout material under one cover and it got me thinking that I had a lot of old material, long out of print and never-before-seen work that I believed would make a fun book. We initially wanted to include the Creepy and Eerie stories that I drew from Damon Gentry and Landry Walker scripts as well to give it a real horror vibe, but the license holders wouldn’t give us permission for some baffling reason.
How long have you been kicking around the idea of a collection like this?
TN: It’s part art book, part comic part show-and-tell. After we didn’t receive permission to include the Eerie and Creepy story it allowed me to switch gears from a straight forward collection to a fun, quirky book. I’ve always wanted to re-release the Bacon material but never found a good fit until now. It’s right at home with all the other oddball material.
How hard was it for you to leave some of these stories unfinished?
TN: Not that difficult to be honest. The idea of including annotations before each story was always there and they became even more important with the couple of things that aren’t complete. I mention, in regards to the Bill The Clown story, I was planning on finishing the inks but when I actually sat down and really looked it over I knew it was better to leave it alone. There’s something intriguing about how the inks dissolve into pencils. Plus, I would’ve screwed it up. Haha.
Do you see yourself revisiting any of these characters or worlds in new stories down the road; the same way you came back to Trout?
TN: Bacon made a cameo in the first issue of “Trout: The Hollowest Knock.” It was fun to connect their worlds. I have, what I believe, is a really cool vampire story featuring Bacon but alas time is not on my side. I have so much on my slate right now that I’m excited about, I can’t imagine I’d get to it anytime soon. But never say never…am I right? I have a longer story in mind for Gus and Stan, as well. That one is definitely higher up the list of projects I want to do. I had so much fun with those stupid characters and their gory ways.
The concept of this collection is something I believe most readers would love to see from other creators as well. Did you get kick-back from anyone who believed it wasn’t the right kind of product? Either for you professionally or in terms of it not being an everyday sort of release in comics?
TN: Besides my editor Brett Israel, a handful of awesome Dark Horse folks, and yourself, no one has seen the completed book. I reckon when I send some copies to friends, they’ll dig it. We’re living in a time now where folks are more open to different approaches to books. It’ll have its detractors, those who wake up every morning to spread grump in the world, but I think most will find it fun!
Continued belowMichelle Madsen is one of the best colorists working today. How did you two link up to work on the cover art? And if you can say, do you have any plans to collaborate in the future?
TN: Michelle is awesome! I love working with her! She came in and saved our bacon (ha) on “Vinegar Teeth,” coloring issues three and four when things didn’t work out with the first colorist. She nailed it, I was thrilled with the results! Not only did she color the cover to this collection but she also colored the Gus and Stan strips. No further collabs on the slate as of yet, but Michelle and I will definitely work together again. Michelle and Dave Stewart are my top two colorists to work with…they also happen to be married. I love that my two favorite colorist collaborators live under the same roof.
The mini-histories given at the beginning of each story are great. I love that they feel off the cuff and of the moment. They give us all we need to know, even if you can’t recall every little detail about a publication. Was this a decision you made from the start to keep things slightly aloof or was it far too time-consuming attempting to track down the finer details?
TN: I’ve been known to say that I’m incredibly serious about my not-so-serious creations. I definitely sit down and get my butt to work each day but I want there to be whimsy, weirdness, creepiness, and fun in my work. It’s my personality, I’m a pretty goofy person by nature and I think it’s best to reflect that in every level of my creativity. I prefer a more conversational approach to annotations rather than it read like a text book. I’m not a text book kinda guy.
The artwork throughout the book is truly fantastic; from the work within the stories, to the cover, to the interstitial pages. Readers will be delighted to see pieces ranging from all over your career, various styles, and bonus art both pertaining to the stories themselves and other random pieces. Looking at yourself as both a writer and visual artist, does this collection give us a full look at who Troy Nixey is at this point or do you see it as simply stones in the path of where you’re headed?
TN: I’ve never been embarrassed of my past work, even the work from my teens. We all have to start somewhere and I appreciate there’s a lot of growth shown in this book, stops and starts and experimenting with not only different styles but different tools. It’s a bit like browsing through an artist’s flat file or sketchbooks. This is my thirtieth year working as a professional artist and at forty-nine I feel like I’m only figuring out what and how I want to approach the craft. I’m super excited by that and when I’m excited I’m happy and when I’m happy I create and create and create! I’ve been working on a lot of commissions of late and pushing myself with a very detailed, cross-hatching, style. I didn’t know I had it in me until I started it a couple years ago. That’s pretty cool. I’m eager to draw a comic again and have been working on designs and concepts for a few different projects. One, I’m writing and drawing and it’s taking me down a different path than I originally traveled and I’m excited to see where I end up and what forks in the road I bump into.
The dialogue in many of the stories has a delightful tongue-in-cheek nature to it. You walk a fine line between that and being unknowingly corny, and yet, you nail the tone every time. This sense of humor works so well in these pulp tales. Is that sort of humor something that speaks to you across all mediums or is it something you have an ear for only while writing them?
TN: Ha! Thanks. I love writing dialogue, and like my annotations, my dialogue reflects my personality, Gus and Stan in particular. I love goofy, gory strips and it’s why I’d love to revisit them. It’s interesting, the new project I’m working on for myself contains zero dialogue and sound effects but definitely contains my tongue-in-cheek nature as well as really horrific imagery. It’s been fun to let loose and 100% be me.
Continued below“Gus, Stan, and the End of Bloody Everything” feels like a strip that could’ve been ripped from the pages of 2000 AD. Were any of the included stories inspired by something specific? Either stories you were a fan of or something from your everyday life that spun into something wild and supernatural for the page?
TN: The biggest influence for Gus and Stan would be the schlock-y sci-fi and horror movies from the 80s. With the two page limit of each strip I’d have to set up a joke, pay it off and show a lot of gore. The wonderful dreck we watched in the 80s is full of the kind of nonsense I needed to make the strips work. My only disappointment in regards to Gus and Stan was that Fangoria (where they were originally published) decided to pull all ongoing content as they moved into their second year of publication. It was published quarterly so only four strips were created. I had three years of strips planned out. It was building to something super ridiculous but hey, that’s showbiz.
Leaving “Bacon” for the end of this collection was an ingenious decision allowing for the short stories and unfinished ideas to set the tone before moving to the longest story included. I had an absolute blast making my way through the other stories and was truly horrified and unsettled when I got to it. I’m so glad it’s making its way into the world. We both have an affinity for turn-of-the-century nautical horror, but is body horror something that gets to you on a deeper level? Or is it just another horror sub-genre to dabble in and give readers the creeps?
TN: I love body horror!!! It’s what I go back to the most. There’s something incredibly visceral about changing, adapting, mutating the human form. Body horror also has the ability to be beautiful as well as terrifying. I can’t make a direct connection to why it’s something I return to time and again, but there’s something exhilarating about drawing organic, unsettling imagery. I drew a variant cover for Ed Piskor’s “Red Room” #2. I told him I wanted to draw something gory with zero blood. People really dug it when it was released and it is definitely unsettling but there’s also something hypnotic about it, I think anyway. These things that disturb and disgust us when we see them are also with us at all times and are the reason we’re alive. I find it all incredibly intriguing.
How are you feeling about this book’s release? Is it more of a sense of excitement for readers to hold all these stories in one place or feeling of closure, being able to put this collection out and move onto new ventures?
TN: It’s always fun to have a new book come out. It’s a prefect wrap-up to my time with Dark Horse. There hasn’t been a splitting of the ways or anything like that, just different opportunities have come up. Some of the stories appeared in previous Dark Horse publications so it’s definitely a nice feeling to have them all together in a brand new book.
Dark Horse is one of the best publishers when it comes to hardcover collected editions. Has it been hard waiting to hold the final product?
TN: I’ve been kicking this can down the road for quite a while now so not really hard, no. What usually happens is I get buried in work then a package arrives with my comps and I’m reminded that something is coming out soon. Hahaha. Having said that, it’s going to be a really great looking book. Dark Horse knows how to get their hardcovers done, as you suggested. Great design and great printing.
Thanks for taking the time to talk. Let’s end with a look to the future. What’s next for you?
TN: My wife and I recently had twins so being a Dad is numero uno right now, but as for drawing…commissions, commissions, and more commissions. I also have a couple of short stories for anthologies that I’m working on with Lonnie Nadler that I’m really excited about. That will lead to a much larger project. The larger story is written and it blew me away! There’s no publisher, we haven’t approached anyone, we’re going to start chipping away at it and see where it takes us. There’s also my comic that’s growing organically and I’m chatting with a really awesome writer about a possible mini-series for next year. I’ve taken a couple years off from comics but now it’s time to roll up my sleeves and get back to it.
Thanks Chris, great chatting with you!
“Bacon and Other Monstrous Tales” is set to be released August 28, 2021 at all comic book retailers.
