DF Interview: Christopher Sebela brings found footage horror to the comic book page with ‘Blink’



By Byron Brewer

Wren Booker was three when she was found catatonic and covered in blood on the streets of New York. Since that day, she's been haunted by a childhood she can't remember. After decades of searching, Wren stumbles upon a cryptic website streaming multiple CCT feeds from strange rooms in a ruined building and something clicks, setting off hidden memories that lead her back to a place she's seen in lifelong nightmares. Hunting for answers, Wren breaks into the building, but instead finds herself entangled in the camera-filled dark mazes of a decayed social experiment known only as Blink.

Eisner-nominated Christopher Sebela (Dirtbag Rapture), Hayden Sherman (Thumbs), and Nick Filardi (Rogue Planet) team up for a found footage horror where uncovering your past will leave you trapped inside it.
Truth? Oni Press had me at “Christopher Sebela”. So I sat down with the scribe to chat Blink!


Byron Brewer: Chris, I am not sure this is the case for everyone, but I myself have had recurring nightmares that I sometimes imagine (?) to be repressed childhood memories. Talk about how this works into your coming comic Blink, and was there any occurrence of these in your life that may have been inspiration?



Christopher Sebela: Actually, a lot of Blink is inspired by nightmare stuff for me. I’ve been plagued most of my life by dreams/nightmares about mazes and labyrinthian places. Enough that I’m almost aware, when the dream starts, that it’s a dream. I’ve even had crossover with real life with people I’ve told about these dreams showing up in them and I tell them, “Hey, you’re in the dream I was telling you about.” So I definitely mined a lot of that for this book, if only to try and purge it from my brain once and for all, though I doubt that will actually work.



Byron: Wow!… Introduce readers to Wren Booker and talk about what experiences – or lack of memory thereof – have brought her to the point we find her in Blink. How have lifelong nightmares formed the person Wren is now?

Christopher Sebela: Wren is a freelance writer/journalist who investigates missing persons cases, because she’s a missing person herself. She has no memories of where she came from before she was found wandering the streets as a little kid, barely any memories of who her parents were, it’s a big blank spot. A side-effect of that is she’s plagued with sleep paralysis and the sort of demonic presences that people who suffer from it report. Whether that’s related to where she came from, well, that remains to be seen.



Byron: Can you give us an overview of the series, a summation of sorts… without spoilers, of course.



Christopher Sebela: Blink is the story of Wren Booker, who has spent her life in search of her past, discovering the biggest clue to the answers she’s been seeking from a website that appears online and immediately vanishes full of video feeds of a space that she recognizes deep down in her bones. Wren manages to track down where the feeds were coming from and she goes to find out what this place is and what happened to her. But once she’s inside, she’s trapped with a lot of darkness, monsters and mysteries she has to solve to escape with her life. There’s a lot of found footage horror elements and lots of stuff much weirder than that packed in here, all translated to amazing effect by Hayden Sherman and Nick Filardi.



Byron: What other important characters might readers need to know about? Can you spotlight some here?



Christopher Sebela: This really is Wren’s story, through and through. There are some secondary characters here and there but the important character is Wren and the most important thing to her is solving the mystery of herself and her origins. She’s truly obsessed to the point of letting the rest of her life slip, so any other people are just help or hindrance in that mission as far as Wren is concerned. And once she gets trapped inside, the sides get a lot blurrier.



Byron: I love the fact that Wren discovers the most important of clues to her lifelong search for answers on a random website. How else today would folks find anything BUT on a website? Talk about this important story tool and how it may reflect our times, as do things she later finds in the ruined building.



Christopher Sebela: Blink is really my first attempt at incorporating things from one of my favorite sub-genres — found footage horror. You can’t really do a direct translation of that kind of movie into comics, but I tried to harness the vibes and feeling of them into this narrative. So a lot of the storytelling comes from things that Wren watches or listens to, and her own storytelling comes in the forms of writing for an audience on a Patreon-like platform. But the heart of this story is a lot about surveillance, about the privacies we give up willingly and what kind of effect they have on us and on the world around us.



Byron: Tell readers about your collaboration on this comic with artist Hayden Sherman. Why are they the right artist for this mag?



Christopher Sebela: Hayden and I worked together on a creator-owned book at AfterShock called Cold War and it was my first time working with them but I was immediately blown away. And Blink was a story I’d been wanting to tell for years at that point, but I could never find a collaborator who I thought fit really well. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I knew when it wasn’t what I was looking for. I just thought Hayden would do some really interesting stuff if nothing else, so I asked them right after we wrapped up that book if they’d want to do a horror thing and they said yes. It took a couple of years until we could actually work on it because Hayden is rightfully in demand all over the place, but I think it worked out really well because Hayden’s storytelling chops and experimentalism have only gotten better in the ensuing years. It was one of those instinct kind of decisions on my part and it’s really paid off. No one else could have drawn Blink and told the story the same way.



Byron: Chris, what other projects do you have coming that you can tell readers about?



Christopher Sebela: I’m currently writing the last two issues of Foulbrood, a book about bees and crime that we’ve been kickstarting in batches of two. Our new campaign is coming up in June and Claire Roe, my collaborator, is starting in on issue 5 right now. The trade paperback for my supernatural stoner comedy book, Dirtbag Rapture, is coming out in August from Oni Press and it’s really dang good. Besides that, I have a couple of unannounced books, one from Vault Comics and another with AfterShock and I’ve got a jillion things in progress in various forms as always.



Dynamic Forces would like to thank Christopher Sebela for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Blink #1 from Oni Press is slated to be on sale July 27th!



For more news and up-to-date announcements, join us here at Dynamic Forces, www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/, “LIKE” us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dynamicforcesinc, and follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/dynamicforces.

With another slow weekend at the box office, Sony’s new action flick Bullet Train raced to the top with a $30.1 million opening. The film, from director David Leitch, has quite the cast including Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, Hiroyki Sanada, Bad Bunny, Karen Fukuhara, Masi Oka, Logan Lerman, and Zazi Beetz and industry experts think the film will likely reach $100 million while in the theaters. DC League of Super-Pets hung on to the family audiences, bringing in $11.2 million it’s second weekend while Nope grabbed the horror audiences with $8.05 million in it’s third week. Thor: Love and Thunder grabbed the fourth spot with $7.6 million taking it close to $700 million worldwide as it is likely nearing the end of its theater run and heading to Disney+ in the next few weeks. Minions: Rise of Gru slipped into the fifth spot with $7.11 million in its sixth and likely final weekend taking it to $334.5 million, very close to the original Minions $336 million total.     

Never one to pass up a chance to promote an existing or upcoming project, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson shared the post-credit scene for DC League of Super-Pets on his Instagram account. With the video, he also wrote: “The world is starting to simmer with excitement about the earths shattering SUPERMAN vs BLACK ADAM⚡️showdown one day. But until then… BLACK ADAM’S DOG ~ ANUBIS⚡️ has a few choice words for SUPERMAN’S DOG ~ KRYPTO. The definition and philosophy of ANTIHERO is quite intriguing… And YES… If you listen closely, I voice BOTH DOGS AND BLACK ADAM in this scene.” DC League of Super-Pets is in theaters now and features Johnson as Krypto, Kevin Hart as Ace, John Krasinski as Superman and Keanu Reeves as Batman. Johnson is also set to play Black Adam in the upcoming film of the same name along with Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari and Quintessa Swindell. It will be in theaters in October. 

You’ve seen it before, a picture of a baby that looks surprisingly like a famous person? I know I’ve seen quite a few that look like Patton Oswald… he just has that kind of face. Well, on Wednesday a woman from Northern Ireland named Danielle Grier Mulvenna posted of photo of her nine-month-old daughter Cora smiling next to a picture of Zombieland actor Woody Harrelson and the resemblance is uncanny. But the best part is that Harrelson saw the comparison and responded with a poem he called “Ode to Cora”. Harrelson wrote, “You’re an adorable child. Flattered to be compared. You have a wonderful smile. I just wish I had your hair.” Mulvenna responded to the poem by saying, “You made our day. Can’t wait to show her when she’s older. You have a fan for live xxx.” 

The official twitter account for She-Hulk posted a series of images that when you just look at the post, makes up the logo for the series. But when you click on each part of the logo, it shows additional part of the images that include Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Tim Roth as Abomination, Benedict Wong and Wong and finally Charlie Cox as Daredevil. While all the other images were things we’ve seen in the trailer, the image of Daredevil is the best close up we’ve seen of the character in his new yellow and red outfit. The image, seen below, shows that while a different color, it doesn’t look too different from his Netflix outfit but word is that by the time he shows up in Echo and his own series, he’ll have new threads, so this might be them just using the existing costume for this series. 

Tim Roth is the second actor from the 2008 Incredible Hulk film to return to the MCU. The first was the late William Hurt who turned up in Captain America: Civil War as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and would appear again in Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow. Roth, who played Emile Blonksy aka the Abomination in the early Marvel Studios film popped up for a cameo with Benedict Wong in last year’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and is seen in trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law which debuts on August 18th. While Hurt and Roth are the only two actors to reprise their roles, the titular character and his alter ego of Bruce Banner have been a mainstay of the franchise for year with actor Mark Ruffalo replacing Ed Norton as The Hulk staring in the Avengers movie. In an interview with Forbes, Roth talked about working with Ruffalo.  "Yeah, I was like, 'You've changed.’ It's kind of fun. We used to hang around and muck about between takes, and we had a nice time. I very much respect Mark as an actor, so even under those bizarre and wonderful circumstances, that one was a treasure." He also talked about returning to the character after a decade and seeing his co-stars working clued him in on what to do. "Once I started shooting on it, I didn't know how to go about my business, and it was a bit disconcerting. Tatiana Maslany is incredible, and She-Hulk is a comedy, and she's bloody good at comedy but, to be fair, she's pretty, pretty good at everything. When Mark Ruffalo showed up to do his stuff that I was involved in and saw the two of them interacting, it was a penny drop moment for me, and I went, 'Oh, that's what we're doing. Oh, okay,' and then I knew what to do. Basically, on the first segment I was involved in, I got some serious direction from them about we go about our business there, and then it was all playtime. It was a lot of fun." 

Still reeling from the sudden cancellation of his film, Batgirl co-director Adil El Arbi shared a photo on social media of himself with stars Leslie Grace and Michael Keaton in their full costumes from the film. The $90 million film was axed even though principal photography was completed and a cut had already been shared with a test audience. The reasoning for the cancellation is said to be that the film isn’t a high enough quality to release in theaters and that is the new direction the company is taking with DC Film projects. Warner Bros Discovery is planning to use a special tax write-off option that have during a short window after a merger. Batgirl and the sequel to Scoob! are both being used in that way as the company believes they will make more money back as write-offs than they would recoup by spending the money to finish and market the films. El Arbi and his co-director, Bilall Fallah, have said in a statement that they were “shocked and saddened” by the news and have received support from fellow directors Edgar Wright and James Gunn as well as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige who the pair worked with earlier on the Ms. Marvel Disney+ series. By taking the write-off, WBD will not be able to release the film in anyway that might make a profit including releasing it on HBO Max. 

Matt Smith, former star of Doctor Who, talks about his upcoming role as Prince Daemon Targaryen in the Game of Thrones spinoff series for HBO, House of Dragons. In his interview with Rolling Stone, he wondered if all of the sex in the series was necessary. “You do find yourself asking, ‘Do we need another sex scene?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we do.’ I guess you have to ask yourself: ‘What are you doing? Are you representing the books, or are you diluting the books to represent the time [we’re living in]?’ And I actually think it’s your job to represent the books truthfully and honestly, as they were written.” His personal opinion? “Yeah – slightly too much, if you ask me,” he said. But did he ask himself if we needed him dancing shirtless in Morbius? Probably not. 

This past week, the Spider-Verse as we know it was transformed! EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #1 marked the beginning of a new era of Spider-Verse storytelling with a new status quo for Araña, the roaring debut of Spider-Rex, and more! And things are only just getting started as each issue of this new limited series will contain more thrilling additions to the Spider-Verse mythos in the form of new heroes, fresh journeys for iconic favorites, and the rise of a dark threat that could end the Spider-Verse for good. The series will serve as the foundation for Dan Slott’s next Spidey epic, beginning in October’s SPIDER-MAN #1.

Here's what fans can expect from the third issue in this exciting saga, EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #3, on sale September 14:

· What if Felicia Hardy became a Spider-hero? Dan Slott teams up with artist Sumeyye Kesgin to answer that question with the debut of super thief Night-Spider! Check out her sleek look, designed by artist superstar artist Kris Anka, in a special design variant cover!

· Introduced in the hit Deadpool: Samurai manga and fresh off her recent appearance in Deadpool: Black, White, & Blood, Sakura-Spider strikes out on her own! Learn the origins of this breakout new hero in a story by her creators, Deadpool: Samurai creative team Sanshiro Kasama and Hikaru Uesugi!

· Author Nikesh Shukla makes his Marvel Comics debut alongside a squad of the best artists in the business including Mark Bagley, Paco Medina, David Baldeón, Gerardo Sandoval and Abhishek Malsuni with the return of fan-favorite hero Pavitr Prabhakar, AKA Spider-Man: India!

Check out all the covers for EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #3 plus a first look at interior artwork, and stay tuned in the weeks ahead for more news about what’s to come in EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE!

Frank Miller Presents (FMP), the new publishing imprint created and curated by the titular comic book legend, will publish its first title to specialty comic book stores served by Diamond Comic Distributors on Wednesday, August 17 in what FMP calls a "surprise drop."

The original 32-page Ashcan Edition comic book features two stories: Frank Miller's Ronin Book II by Miller, Philip Tan, and Daniel Henriques, and Ancient Enemies by FMP publisher Dan DiDio along with Danilo Beyruth and Alex Sinclair. The special comic will also feature sneak previews of other upcoming FMP titles.

The FMP Ashcan Edition will have a suggested retail price of $1 to readers and collectors but will be sent to comic book retailers free of charge as an introduction to the new publisher.

The 10-page Ronin Book II story recaps Miller's original Ronin series published by DC in 1983 prior to The Dark Knight Returns and catches up with Casey McKenna as she "travels across the ravaged landscape of America in search of the new Ronin."

The 17-page Ancient Enemies story is a prequel to the upcoming series, which is about a "thousand-year-old galactic war before the primary combatants arrived on Earth and threatened all existence." (via GamesRadar)

Just two days after Warner Bros. Discovery made the stunning move to cancel the HBO Max film Batgirl, an unapologetic CEO David Zaslav sought to reassure Wall Street there is a cohesive plan for the future of DC, Variety reports.

“You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world,” Zaslav said during an earnings call Thursday. “We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business.”

DC has long wished to emulate the success of the Disney-owned Marvel Studios, which Kevin Feige has built into the highest-grossing film franchise in history. Zaslav recently brought Feige’s former boss, retired Disney film chief Alan Horn, on as an adviser. During the earnings call, Zaslav suggested DC would try to emulate the Marvel playbook.

“It’s very similar to the structure Alan Horn, [former Disney CEO] Bob Iger and Kevin Feige put together very effectively at Disney. We think we can build a much stronger, sustainable growth business out of DC,” said Zaslav. “As part of that, we are going to focus on quality. We are not going to release any film before it’s ready. … DC is something we can make better.”

“We are very excited about them. We’ve seen them. We think they are terrific, and we think we can make them even better,” Zaslav said in terms of marketing and distributing the upcoming films, which also include The Flash, starring controversial actor Ezra Miller.