Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Donny Cates, entertainment, heavy metal, interceptor

Donny Cates Talks Interceptor, Vampires And The History Of Women Who Beat Them Up

Published Sat, 31 Oct 2015 06:03:37 -0500

Last updated Sat, 31 Oct 2015 06:14:43 -0500

By Olly MacNamee

With a new 5 issue mini-series, Interceptor, coming from Heavy Metal this December, we sat down with it's writer, Donny Cates, to discuss his sci-fi, vampire space opera epic, described as a 'neon-drenched, blood-soaked vision of vampires like you've never seen before!'
Olly MacNamee: In the opening pages of your new book, Interceptor, we are told that the Earth was abandoned and blown to bits because of rampant pollution and war. But this isn't the truth is it? What were the Vampire Wars?

Donny Cates: The 'Vampire Wars' (they aren't named as such in the comic, mind you) were exactly that. The vampires came out of hiding and we (the human race) went to war with them. It did not go well. We were losing, and losing badly. So, we did the only thing we could do…..we got into spaceships and we 'peaced out'. Like one does. And on our way out of town we nuked the bejeezus out of Earth to (hopefully) rid it of its "infestation".

OM: The human race – or what's left of it – has been happily inhabiting the planet Palus. Why are they worried about vampires now? What, or rather who, is Interceptor?

DC: Well, that's the thing. We didn't rid the Earth of its Vampires at all, did we? What we actually did was shroud the Earth in nuclear fallout darkness for hundreds of years. In that darkness the vampires have evolved, they are now on the cusp of full scale intergalactic space travel and they have found our new home! Two vampire scouts have been found (luckily) dead on arrival on our new planet. So, to stop this invasion before it begins the President of Palus has enacted the Interceptor protocol. Which involves a scout of our own sent to Earth. Ours is…slightly better equipped with an arsenal of vampire killing weaponry and one very large mech suit. It gets rowdy.

OM: With two strong, albeit very different, female leads, is it a good time to be a female comic book character in comics? At a time when it is claimed there are now more female readers than male, are we seeing a slow shift in comic book content and culture that has allowed for more female protagonists?

DC: I can't speak for the entire industry obviously, but yes, i'd say that is a very positive trend. I walk into my local shop these days and i see a more diverse set of readers than i saw growing up for sure. My wife is a big reader now and that is certainly not something that would have been true even five years ago. But, I hesitate to speak for anyone other than myself. I will say that on this book i wasn't trying to "fill a quota" or any such nonsense. To me when I think of vampire stories a female protagonist is a crucial part of the story, from Mina Harker to Buffy Summers, there's a long history of powerful women beating the absolute shit out of vampires. Who am I to argue with Bram Stoker or Joss Whedon?

OM: A vampire infested and controlled Earth. What can we expect from the current inhabitants of Earth? How have they evolved over time and after such large doses of radiation?

DC: That is actually a very important part of the story. But the question isn't what happens to the humans who are irradiated, but what happens to Vampires when they feed on spoiled and irradiated blood? The answer….is pretty gross.

OM: What were your influences when writing this series, given your longtime love of all things blood sucking? Currently, Interceptor is scheduled for a 5 issue mini-series. What would you want to explore further in the world of Interceptor, if given the chance.

DC: Anyone who has ever met me or follows me on Twitter knows the answer to this already. Buffy Summers and the Scooby gang hold a very dear place in my heart. But, and this will be hard to believe for some people, I actually tried very hard to remove any relation to or similarity to that (the) slayer and mine. Its two very different books with two very different stories.

It's actually, in a very weird way, the most political book I've ever written. It's about two warring ruling classes, and the effects that war has on the people caught in the middle, the people left behind, and the soldiers tasked with carrying out their sometimes troubling orders from far, far away.

As to how long the series will last? Well, Dylan and I have big, big plans. After the movie comes out let's talk again, shall we?

–
And on that bombshell, we thank Donny for taking the time to speak with us here at BC.

Thanks, Donny.

Retailers, if you're quick, you've still got time to order your copies now!

Olly MacNamee teaches English and Media, for his sins, in a school somewhere in Birmingham. Some days, even he doesn't know where it is. Follow him on twitter @ollymacnamee or read about his exploits at olly.macnamee@blogspot.co.uk. Or don't.

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