Comics News

Cullen Bunn On Image’s Cold Spots

Published

8 years ago

September 6, 2018

Admin

Winter Bones

♦ Cullen Bunn and Mark Torres’ Cold Spots#1 is out now from Image and Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows spoke to Bunn recently about the new series…

TRIPWIRE: What is the genesis of Cold Spots?

CULLEN BUNN: I’m sure the idea came to me on a cold and dreary day, but I’m not sure beyond that. I’ve always been interested in paranormal activity, and the idea of cold spots manifesting when spirits were active appealed to me. I decided to mesh that idea with the fears almost every father has in regards to failing their child, and there ya go!

TW: How did artist Mark Torres come on board?

CB: Mark and I had talked about working on a different project together several years ago. Although that didn’t work out, we stayed in contact and talked about what we might do next. We through ideas back and forth until COLD SPOTS landed with the both of us.

TW: How closely did you two collaborate?

CB: I’d say it’s a pretty close collaboration even though, until recently, we never spoke on the phone. We exchanged a lot of e-mail and messages to make sure it all came together. Mark is a great designer, and he brought so much of that to the look and feel of this book.

TW: You have written quite a few horror comics. What is it about this genre that appeals to you?

CB: Sure, I love chills and thrills and ghoulish creatures, but horror, while based in fear, is also (to me) about hope. Here we have these hapless characters facing their own terror and overwhelming odds, but they still struggle to survive. Even if they fail, there is something… hopeful… about them trying.

TW: You have worked at a variety of publishers so what made Image the perfect place for Cold Spots?

CB: Even though REGRESSION was my first published Image book, COLD SPOTS was the first book I had placed with them. It just took a little while longer to get everything in order and the book going. Mark and I have big plans for the COLD SPOTS universe, and we wanted to work with a publisher who would let us really go wild with everything.

TW: Can you describe Cold Spots in a one-sentence elevator pitch?

CB: A miserable excuse for a father seeks his missing daughter, a girl around whom ghosts grow restless, in the middle of a supernatural winter.

TW: It seems to be a detective story with a horror twist. Why do you think that the combination of detective story with another genre particularly horror seems to work so well in fiction?

CB: I love horror/detective tales. The reader can uncover secrets and surprises right along with a detective character. Secrets–and the uncovering of them–are so vital to great horror stories.

TW: You have written superheroes, horror and even barbarians. Is it the variety that you enjoy as a writer?

CB: The variety keeps me on my toes, for sure. Not to mention, I love superheroes and horror stories and barbarians! I wholeheartedly enjoy playing in all these different sandboxes. It reminds me that I have a great job.

TW: Cold Spots is a five issue series. Have you left it open for other stories featuring the same characters or setting?

CB: Oh, yes! As I mentioned earlier, Mark and I have big plans for the COLD SPOTS universe, both in this series and in other books!