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 Blood and Bones is a take no prisoners military horror graphic novel that asks the question "How far would you go to survive?" Written by Christian Beranek (Dracula vs. King Arthur, Willow Creek) with art by Andrew Mangum (Star-Spangled War Stories, Grimm Fairy Tales) and newcomer MaxFlan Araujo, Blood and Bones takes a team of commandos on a mission into the jungle to retrieve a rogue operative. What they discover, however, is a world lost to reason and drenched in blood!
Decapitated Dan: Hey guys thanks for taking time to talk with me about Blood and Bones. First of all lets talk about you guys. Who are you and what do you do?
Christian Beranek: Hi Dan, I'm a writer, producer, musician, actor and am never late for dinner. (laughs) I generally like to keep busy in a number of creative fields as it helps me stay out of trouble.
Andrew Mangum: Hey Dan, I'm a Illustrator and Inker, I've worked for such companies as DC Comics, Image/Frazetta Comics, and Zenescope Entertainment, just to name a few. I've been working professionally since 2001 and started as an inker at Digital Webbing. I'm currently co-creating a couple of projects, one of which is with Christian, "Blood and Bones", it's my military gore book :) and just finished inks on "Star Spangled War Stories no.1" from DC Comics.
Decapitated Dan: How did you two find yourself getting into making comics?
Christian Beranek: First comic I picked up was a Batman digest back in 1980. I was hooked right away. During the mid 80s I read all of these awesome horror comics, including Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore. It was then I knew I wanted to create my own sequential tales. But it took awhile to break into the biz. I started out as a publisher running Silent Devil. In fact, that's how I met Andrew!
Andrew Mangum: In regards to Blood and Bones, Christian approached me a few years back at one of the Wizard Worlds and ran the idea by me, we were both busy with other projects and we both had to wait for the opportunity to arise for us to really start production on the book due to our conflicting work schedules.
Decapitated Dan: So what can you tell me about Blood and Bones?
Andrew Mangum: "Blood and Bones" is Christian and I's military action gore book, the story focuses on a soldier's fight for his life, and pushes the limits on what he'll do to survive.
Christian Beranek: That and it's the most bloody work I've ever been a part of. I don't write violence for violence's sake, unless it makes sense for the story. KInda hard to do something called Blood and Bones without seeing some heads get smashed in.
Decapitated Dan: Are there any main characters?
Andrew Mangum: Only a few that we can really mention, the main character Jason and the villain Van.
Christian Beranek: Jason is sent to bring back in Van, his former protege. He discovers he may have trained her too well.
 Decapitated Dan: Where did the ideas for this story come from?
Christian Beranek: The book was originally supposed to be a sci-fi story but when I met Andrew we discussed setting it in the modern day. It was the right choice and I think readers will agree.
Andrew Mangum: Christian had a general concept and together we tweaked it, I took a lot of inspiration from some of my favorite military movies.
Decapitated Dan: If you were to give this book a movie style rating (G, PG, PG-13, R, X) what would it get, and why would you say that?
Andrew Mangum: Straight up "R" rating, and we're talking Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, and Rob Zombie "R" rating.
Christian Beranek: And if we ever see it on the big screen I'm sure there would have to be an unrated version for the DVD!
Decapitated Dan: In terms of horror what can we expect?
Andrew Mangum: Realistic horror, lots of blood and guts, this is my ultra-violent book, we're talking over the top violence! This is definitely a book that certain Mom and Dad's won't want their kids seeing!
Christian Beranek: There's also some horrific moments of sacrifice, stuff a man has to do to stay alive. It really pushes the limits.
Decapitated Dan: What are you hoping readers can take away from this book?
Andrew Mangum: Fun and asking themselves "I wonder if I could do all that"!
Christian Beranek: I hope they feel like they got their money's worth and went on an adventure. This is not a book for the weak of heart, so make sure you're ready!
Decapitated Dan: So lets talk about KickStarter.com. How has this process helped so far with this book?
Christian Beranek: Kickstarter is a site that has helped finance such titles as Sweets by Ko dy Chamberlain and Athena Voltaire by Steve Bryant. To me it's phenomenon that's existence is a testament to the independent spirit. As creators it allows us to promote and raise funds and awareness for ideas that are not backed by big corporations. It puts the power in the hands of the artists and the readers who want to see projects such as Blood and Bones succeed.
 Decapitated Dan: How has the reaction been so far?
Christian Beranek: We're about halfway to our funding goal, so good so far but we still need more support. We promise if readers pledge towards the book we will do our best to make Blood and Bones as awesome as possible!
Decapitated Dan: Can we expect more titles from you in the future?
Christian Beranek: In addition to my work with Disney's Kingdom Comics I have several other creator owned titles in production. I'm also cranking away on a bunch of webcomics with Tony DiGerolamo over at http://www.thewebcomicfactory.com
Andrew Mangum: Yes, as mentioned before, "Star Spangled War Stories" from DC will be out in September, and I have another co-creator owned book with Mark Kidwell "Wilder", and I would most definitely love to do another project with Christian, maybe something involving Dracula and medieval times (hint, hint), and I'm currently working on other projects that I can't mention yet. American Wasteland graphic novel should hopefully be out soon Arcana Comics.
Decapitated Dan: Any strange or interesting stories from shows you care to share?
Christian Beranek: When you go to the shows sometimes you have to share hotel rooms with other creators. Let me tell you, the majority of them snore like maniacs! Talk about horror. All in all I've had great experiences. I enjoy conversing with colleagues and meeting my readership.
Andrew Mangum: Yes, having the Zenescope work, people expect a lot of t/a sketches, I had one uh...fan..want me to write something dirty on a piece he was purchasing...something from the drawing to him, when I told him I didn't know exactly what to write, he looked at my wife Danita who was with me at the table and asked well what does she say to you in bed, that creeped me the hell out but that's one of the things you deal with at shows.
Decapitated Dan: Were you guys into any horror titles growing up that lead you to want to create a book like this?
Christian Beranek: As mentioned earlier, "Saga of the Swamp Thing" really got me going. I also loved "House of Mystery" and the EC titles I could find. In terms of inspiration for Blood and Bones, I'd be remiss not to mention "Predator" -- who doesn't love stories about badass commandos going to war!
Andrew Mangum: Yes, regarding movies, I'm a huge fan of the "Evil Dead/Army of Darkness" trilogy, and more recently I love "28 days later", and the original and remake of "Dawn of the Dead", and you can't go wrong with Alfred Hitchcock! In regards to comics, anything that the legend himself Bernie Wrightsen has done, I've loved! I'm also a huge fan of and not in any particular order; Justiniano, Greg Capullo, Matt Martin, Dave Finch, Kyle Hotz, Josh Medors, Mark Kidwell, Jerry Beck, Nat Jones, and Jay Fotos, anything they've done I've most likely picked up and enjoyed! I also love what Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows did on "Crossed", that's a badass book!
 Decapitated Dan: What comics are you currently reading?
Christian Beranek: "Unknown Soldier" has been rocking. I'm also a fan of "Chew" and the Frazetta books.
Andrew Mangum: I'm a geeky fan of Capullo's, so of course I'm reading "Haunt", but I gotta say anything he drew, I'd pick up! I'm also reading the new "Crossed" series by David Lapham, and generally don't read too many books anymore due to time constraints but I'll pick up books that any of my buddies have done in show of support!
Decapitated Dan: So where can readers find out more about this book?
Christian Beranek: Our Kickstarter link is http://kck.st/bmc2NP
Andrew Mangum: Also the Blood and Bone's Facebook page, and Andrew Mangum Art Facebook page.
Decapitated Dan: So in summary give me a quick recap on Blood and Bones and why fans should give it a try.
Andrew Mangum: As far as a summary, military action and a lot of violence. People should pick up the book because it's a fun read and you'll definitely find yourself saying Ewwww and Hell Yeah, all on the same page!
Christian Beranek: It's a wild ride and I think it's worth your time and money. Hopefully you'll agree!
Decapitated Dan: Thanks so much for your time guys.
Christian Beranek: Thanks, Dan!
Andrew Mangum: Thanks Dan for having us do this interview on Comic Monsters!
Decapitated Dan: Best of luck with the book. Comment on this interview here or on our forum.
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