Broken Frontier

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer is coming to Image Comics this spring. Helming the mini-series are creators Joshua Ortega, Nat Jones and Jay Fotos.

BF spoke to Ortega to hear about his plans for the book and to find out what it’s like to bring an epic painting to sequential life…

BROKEN FRONTIER: Death Dealer was originally slated to be written by Steve Niles, but you ended up taking over. How did that come about?

JOSHUA ORTEGA: When Steve realized that he was going to be too busy with his other projects to do Death Dealer the way he wanted it to be done, he suggested me for the gig. Luckily, I was Nat’s top choice as well, and everything fell together quite nicely after that. Steve’s a great guy and a friend, and I really appreciate him giving me the nod of confidence.

BF: How much, if any, of his groundwork for the series did you take over?

JO: Actually, Nat had just written an outline for the series when Steve asked me to do the book. So in this case, I worked with Nat to flesh out the story, add characters, but Nat created the skeleton for this series. I write the script for each issue, but Nat and I work together on the overall story arc.

BF: Nat Jones and Jay Fotos share the art duties on the book. How does their vision fit that of Frazetta’s?

JO: Very well. Nat and Jay are an incredible art team, and I don’t think there are really any teams that could do a better job on this book than them…I’m sure there are some guys out there who could do a different, equally cool job, but I can’t imagine anyone team would be a better fit than Nat and Jay.

BF: What does Frank Frazetta’s creative genius mean to you, not only as a fellow creator, but as the one scripting a series based on his legendary painting and subsequent books?

JO: Frazetta’s work is amazing, and my job as the writer on the book is to create a story worthy of the Frazetta name, and to make sure that Frank approves of the story each step of the way. So far, so good, though I’m sure if I step out of line, Frank will let me know! [Laughs]

BF: Did you get any advice from the master himself?

JO: Not so much advice as guidance. Frank has told us all what he does want in this series, and what he doesn’t want. As you can imagine, we listen when the Master speaks!

BF: Can you go a little deeper into what he wants and doesn’t?

JO: An epic story that is faithful to the essential qualities of his work. Frazetta’s work is timeless, so a story about one of his creations has to have that quality…his work is also emotionally resonant, so the story has to achieve that as well. Frank and Ellie don’t want a story that’s pulpy, simple, or overly reliant on blood and guts. They want depth, something that someone could read years from now and still enjoy.

BF: How did Death Dealer land at Image?

JO: All credit here is due to Jay Fotos. He’s really the guy who set this all up, established the relationship with Frank and Ellie (Frank’s wife) and Frank Jr., and Jay deserves a ton of credit for getting this project all put together.

BF: Will the adaptation of the Death Dealer be based in large part on the books written by James Silke, or did you use the atmosphere of the paintings as your primary source of inspiration?

JO: No, this series will have nothing to do with the novels other than the fact that the lead character is Death Dealer. We were specifically told by Frank and Ellie not to use the novels or the Danzig comics for reference…they want us to create an entirely new mythology for the character. Since I’d never read either the novels or the comics, it wasn’t hard for me to start from scratch.

BF: How do you go about creating a whole world with *only* the paintings in mind?

JO: Very carefully. We draw inspiration from them, but we also realize that we’re creating something entirely new here…it’s a fine line, but we’re all happy with the results so far. Now we just have to keep it up! [Laughs[

BF: What can you tell us about the story itself?

JO: It’s a dark fantasy story with an epic scope and a large cast of characters. It takes place in the land of Iparsia, where a war between two nations was fought long ago…now, war threatens to sweep across the land once again, and legend has it that the Death Dealer will appear should the two nations ever return to their warlike ways.

BF: The epic nature of the Death Dealer seems to suggest there’s more to be told than what’s included in the six-issue mini series. Is there a follow-up in the works?

JO: Yes, there’s much more to this tale than what’s in this first series, though we are definitely making sure that “Shadows of Mirahan” is a complete read unto itself. So while we will be setting up all sorts of cool and interesting stories that we can tell as a sequel or at a later date, this book will stand on its own, and readers will get a complete story rather than a set-up.

BF: So, there are plans for a sequel at this point already?

JO: There are definitely other plans that we’ve discussed. Whether that’s a sequel, an ongoing, a spin-off, or something else entirely remains to be seen. As I said, there a lot stories to tell within this world…and the Death Dealer, as you’ll see, is a very rich character with a lot of depth.

BF: Is there anything else you want readers to know about the project, the collaborative effort, etc.?

JO: Just that this has been an awesome project to work on...from the honor of collaborating with a creative genius like Frank Frazetta, to the chance to finally work on a project with Nat Jones and Jay Fotos, Death Dealer has truly been an amazing experience. I encourage all fans of Frazetta, dark fantasy, and horror to check this book out…after all, this is the first Death Dealer book created with Frazetta’s blessing and oversight!

Death Dealer #1 is slated for an April 11 release. All artwork shown in this feature is copyright © Frank Frazetta. All rights reserved.