Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, revival, tim seeley

Geek Girl on the Street Reports: The Nortler* and Tim Seeley Talk About Revival #4

Published Sun, 28 Oct 2012 10:00:34 -0500

Kate Kotler writes for Bleeding Cool;

Revival #4 (Seeley/Norton, Image Comics) hit retailers worldwide on Wednesday, October 24. The latest of the zombie-alien-demon-romance-religious zealot comic set in Tim Seeley's hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin has continued to unravel in a mysterious fashion that has left fans on the edge of their seats anxiously waiting for the next issue.

With corker lines by Seeley such as "You don't just walk in, grab a demon and walk out with it on a leash. Shit ain't a Yorkie," and "Usually if you stick a knife in like I did just there you could get a face full of hot, pressurized Gramma juice. But check it out. Dry," and the always stunning artwork of Mike Norton, you'd think readers would have been adequately distracted from the fact that the pair (in 32 pages) unraveled questions from the previous issue (Whose phone was on the floor of Thang Vang's basement? Was that adorable dachshund** that May fell on okay?) only to leave us with a pascal of new ones. (WTF is Em doing running through the woods at night like some kind of wolf? Is that an alien or a demon? Was Mr. Hine crying in #3 because Gone With the Wind is a really touching movie, or because he knows his daughter and step-son are/were boning? And, is that pesky Mrs. Dittman finally dead?)

But, no – not the case. Damn mysterious comic writers, Seeley and Norton – leaving us all on tenterhooks for yet another month!

As I happen to be from the same city as the aforementioned comic creating duo, I decided to use my vast influence and power*** to get a few minutes with them and try to force some comic writing accountability out of them… I mean, how DARE they write/draw a comic that I actually want to buy month-after-month and can't stop thinking about between issues? Hrumph!

When confronted with this malfeasance and asked to atone by providing Bleeding Cool with the scoop about what's going to happen in subsequent issues, Tim Seeley said "Uhhhhh… There's stuff… but we can't say."

Typical!

But – joking aside – we at BC love the series and are really glad for the Chicago duo's new success. Mike and Tim were recently in New York for Comic Con and when I asked them about the fan response to Revival, they reported an unusual phenomenon happening that most comic creators only dream of:

"Mike and I had this realization," said Seeley. "There were two different types of people coming up to [our booth]. There were the people who were really excited and wanted to read the series and then there were those people who were buying like, 100 copies, because they wanted to sell them on eBay."

That's right, comic fans, Revival is one of a few series this summer and fall that are being speculated to revive the comics speculator market which crashed abysmally in the mid-90s. So much so, that Issue #3 sold out quickly in early September, and along side the first print of #4, is back in retailers on its' second printing.

"We're really flattered and it's really nice, but we're a little freaked out." Seeley elaborated, "I think that it's partially because people are thinking 'Oh, this will be a TV show and [when that happens] people will be looking for that first issue and I'm going to grab this and sell it and put my kid through college.' So suddenly there's all this weird pressure on us, like we better sell that TV show or people are going to hate us!"

That's a lot of pressure, for sure. The natural follow-up, of course: Is Revival – the Series coming?

"Oh, people have talked to us," says the enigmatic Mike Norton**** in his patented dry, frustratingly unrevealing baritone.

"We've had nips," says Seeley (in an equally mysterious and unrevealing manner).*****

Issue # 4 of Revival is currently out in stores, it's another excellent issue in an excellent series we strongly recommend that (if you haven't already) you start reading. The story is packed full of intrigue, funny writing and pretty art by a duo long overdue the acclaim from both the industry and fans. It's one of my personal favorite books on shelves right now. 5/5

*Like The Riddler and Mike Norton wrapped together in bacon and surrounded by adorable pugs.

**Seriously, you two! How could you do that to an adorable little doggie? For realz!

***It was a joke, Bleeding Cool, relax.

*****Callback, have you been paying attention? If you payed attention to the headline, Mike Norton is now also known as, "The Nortler" © Tim Seeley.

*****Huh. Fine, boys – we didn't really want to know, anyhow. Far more interested in Battlepug: The Animated Series… Pff!

Chicago based freelance writer, Kate Kotler owns first printing of Revival #1 which is signed by both creators and is open to monetary offers for it. (Comics journalism pays for shit! Just saying…) When not hawking her personal comics collection, Kate writes the Geek Girl on the Street column for Bleeding Cool and is the host of the Comix Chix podcast which airs every Wednesday (new comic day!) on GeekNation. You can follow her on the Twitters @AdorkableGrrl and read her personal ramblings on her website.

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