With Sebastian Girner (whose work we enjoyed on Scales & Scoundrels a few years back) and John Bivens (again, a creator whose contributions to Cult Classic: Creature Feature got a big thumbs up from us at BF) involved, Vault Comics’ The Devil’s Red Bride looks well worth investigating when it debuts later this year. Check out some interior preview pages alongside the full press release below.
Vault Announces THE DEVIL’S RED BRIDE, a samurai grindhouse epic from Sebastian Girner and John Bivens
Vault Comics is thrilled to announce THE DEVIL’S RED BRIDE, a brutal samurai grindhouse epic by writer Sebastian Girner (Shirtless Bear Fighter, Scales & Scoundrels), rising star artist John Bivens (Cult Classic: Creature Feature, The Spread), colorist Iris Monahan, and letterer Jeff Powell. Set in 16th century Japan, THE DEVIL’S RED BRIDE is a blood-drenched love letter to Samurai fiction in a chilling tale of guilt, trauma, and vengeance.
The fates of warlords ebb and flow like tides of blood, none more than the Aragami Clan who follow their lord clad in the ‘Red Devil’ mask into every battle. But when Lord Aragami succumbs to illness, his daughter, the fierce Ketsuko, hatches a plot to save her people, no matter the cost…Years later, as Ketsuko wanders the heaving battlefields of her ruined homeland, she discovers a chance to avenge the terrible wrong done to her clan, even if it means stepping back onto a road steeped in slaughter.
“I’ve never been more excited (and disturbed) to write a story as I have this one,” remarked THE DEVIL’S RED BRIDE writer and co-creater, Sebastian Girner. “Into it flowed a lifetime of my fascination with revenge-as-motivation, of Samurai and Japanese history in general, and sprinklings of dark fantasy and supernatural horror to round out what I hope to be a full comics five-course.”
“Though clearly a work of fiction I’ve tried to contextualize the narrative with some historical authenticity,” added Girner. “The era in which our story is set, the famous Sengoku Jidai (“the era of warring states”) was a period in Japanese history from the 15th through the 16th century, which was marked by near-constant civil warfare, and political turmoil, in which many a feudal lord saw their chance to climb the ladder of chaos. A fitting backdrop for a story about power, revenge, and regret.”
“And though female Samurai, or onna-bugeisha, have never quite enjoyed the same level of popularity (for all the usual trite reasons) as their male counterparts, they were ever a part of their country’s turbulent history, and I encourage anyone interested in exploring futher to read up on the fascinating life of the 13th century warrior Tomoe Gozen, whose near-mythical status one would be remiss not to mention as a clear inspiration for this book’s lead.”
Series artist and co-creator John Bivens, added, “the movies I think of when drawing these pages are ONI BABA, EL MARIACHI, and EVIL DEAD 2. The soundtrack playing in my background is a mix of hard-core noise and Japanese 70’s funk. Moments in the story remind me of reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark for the first time. Sebastian has crafted an awesome story, and I am grateful he asked me to help visualize it. I hope that people either think, “They couldn’t ever translate this to film.” or “I wish they would make this into a movie, but damn it would have to be unrated.”
THE DEVIL’S RED BRIDE #1 hits store shelves in October 2020, and will launch with a variant cover by Nathan Gooden and Tim Daniel. The official synopsis can be read below:
16th century Japan. The fates of warlords ebb and flow like tides of blood, none more than the Aragami Clan who follow their lord clad in the ‘Red Devil’ mask into every battle. But when Lord Aragami succumbs to illness, his daughter, the fierce Ketsuko, hatches a plot to save her people, no matter the cost…
Years later, as Ketsuko wanders the heaving battlefields of her ruined homeland, she discovers a chance to avenge the terrible wrong done to her clan, even if it means stepping back onto a road steeped in slaughter.
From writer Sebastin Girner (Shirtless Bear-Fighter!, Scales & Scoundrels) and artist John Bivens (Creature Feature, Spread) comes a blood-drenched love letter to Samurai fiction in a chilling tale of guilt, trauma, and vengeance.
