Day Of The Dead: Desertion' is an exclusive 24-page comic book commissioned for the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray of George A. Romero's classic 'Day Of The Dead'.

The story is penned by Stefan Hutchinson ('Halloween Comics') and Barry Keating ('Hack Slash Meets Re-Animator') with artwork from Jeff Zornow ('Halloween'). The storyline recounts the dark and disturbing origins of the iconic zombie, Bub.

We caught up with writer, Stefan Hutchinson, to talk about Day of the Dead: Desertion.

The Big Bad Wolf: How did you hook up with Arrow to be the writer on this comic?

Stefan Hutchinson: That’s due to Barry Keating. He and I had been talking about doing a project together for a while. I’d originally hooked him up with Tim Seeley for the ‘Hack Slash / Re-Animator’ crossover a while back. He had been talking with Arrow and the possibility of doing something with ‘Day Of The Dead’ came up. Needless to say, when he asked if I was interested in working on it with him, I was all over it. It’s an honor to contribute anything to the films that inspired you.

The Big Bad Wolf: Do you feel any pressure working on this Day of the Dead title or is it no sweat since you already write major horror franchises such as Halloween?

Stefan Hutchinson: No pressure in that sense. I mean, after doing something like ‘Halloween’, which has a varied audience who all want different things and all think that their way is the only way… well, you learn to ignore that and trust your own instincts. If you try just to write for the fans, you lose your way, you lose your voice and turn in a piece of shit designed to please everyone that becomes an exercise in box-ticking.

The way I approach it is by trying to get the feel of the source material in the book. You know, the tone, the mood – those sorts of things – and start from there.

The Big Bad Wolf: Bub is one of the most beloved characters in horror. Did you get any direction on how to start his origin or was that all up to you?

Stefan Hutchinson: It was up to us. Myself, I wanted to do a comic based on the Rhodes character, because he’s just awesome to watch, but the agreement was that Bub was the icon of this film. Other than that, it was all down to Barry and myself.

We went back and forth on back story a bit – i.e. should we focus on military? Those sort of questions. We can assume from the film that Bub is ex-military, but telling that story would be too close to the film itself. Our story starts after Bub – whose real name we never reveal – has deserted the military to try and protect his wife and son. He’s made a choice to care about the smaller, more personal picture in the face of the chaos, rather than attempting to change the world.

The Big Bad Wolf: Will we see any other characters in this comic from the Dead series?

Stefan Hutchinson: Maybe. The story is essentially about two of the principle characters from the film. Bub and someone else. That will become clear as you read it. One thing we do throughout is try to channel the themes of all of the first three Dead films into a coherent worldview – try and put them into a specific viewpoint. One of the great things about Romero’s trilogy is that it’s not really about the zombies themselves, but about our response to them so hopefully we captured that in some way. If anything, despite being a prequel to ‘Day Of The Dead’, this story also forms something of a conclusion to the ideas of ‘Night’, ‘Dawn’ and ‘Day’.

The Big Bad Wolf: What can we expect from this title in terms of blood and gore?

Stefan Hutchinson: Well, the script was written with only Jeff Zornow in mind, so I’ll let you guess at that one!

The Big Bad Wolf: Speaking of Jeff Zornow, how is it to be working again with your long time collaborator?

Stefan Hutchinson: It’s always awesome working with Jeff. He’s the best horror artist out there, and that’s not hyperbole. There’s nobody else who comes close, especially when it comes to delivering carnage. We have a one-shot coming soon, hopefully by the end of the year, called ‘Voices’. I wrote the script specifically for him and it’s going to be our most hardcore collaboration yet. With ‘Halloween’, Jeff is essentially on a leash, because it’s not really about the violence, whereas ‘Voices’ is all about it.

The Big Bad Wolf: Is there any other way for fans to get this comic other than buying the Blu-ray edition?

Stefan Hutchinson: Nope – it’s exclusive to the Blu-ray. However, the Blu-ray is region free, so it’s not just for we UK folk – and it also has brand new features on the disc too. What’s important to note, is that if that does well, then it will open up the possibility of doing comic books for titles that wouldn’t be lucky enough to get a license on their own. I can’t name any films yet as it’s still early days, but they’ll be properties previously untouched in the comic book medium.

The Big Bad Wolf: When is this 25th Anniversary Edition Day Of The Dead Blu-ray going to be released?

Stefan Hutchinson: It’s released on March 29th – so just over a month away, and you can pick it up at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/DOTD-Buy-Here

The Big Bad Wolf: Is there any chance to see an ongoing Dead comic?

Stefan Hutchinson: Not from myself. I wouldn’t want to enter into that arena, simply because ‘The Walking Dead’ has covered everything that can really be done in a zombie world – especially a Romero-style one.

I have an undead title I’m planning to do with Steph Stamb at some point, but it’s nothing like anything else out there. There’s a glut of zombie comics out there, so if I’m going to jump in that arena I want to make sure I’m giving readers some thing fresh and not same old, same old.

The Big Bad Wolf: In closing, what would you like to say about the Day Of The Dead: Desertion comic?

Stefan Hutchinson: I think people will enjoy it quite a bit. We’ve gone for the best approach in telling it, which is one of reverence and respect for the source material. It’s also a part of a great package – the definitive release of the film.

Also, for lovers of the film, it will wash away the foul taste in the mouth left by that atrocious sequel and fucking god-awful remake. This alone will make it all worthwhile…

The Big Bad Wolf: Thank you for your time, Stef. Best of luck with Day of the Dead: Desertion!

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