Having done two issues of Heavy Metal back to back I was recommended by Kevin [Eastman] to Jesse Negron, the creator of DRAVN, as someone who could help them put together their special issue of the magazine. Then as they started to send me some of the materials they were working on and I got to know the property I became that guy who had the fresh set of eyes to the project and started helping them on the development of the project directly. It's a big, rich and creative universe they've created so I couldn't help but start having ideas. In the end I co-wrote three of the stories and edited the dialogue on the other stories.  As only half the magazine had been assigned to artists at this point I brought on board Stellar Labs to produce the art for the other half of the issue.

Dravn isn't so much a 'spin' as it is a whose been interfering with human evolution and timeline and why. There is a power at play with an agenda that isn't necessarily in our best interests although they are seeding technology that is far ahead of our time, and we have to try to build it with what we have at hand.

For my own part I really like seeing a world being built that isn't just for one single story but can spin-off and survive in many directions at different time periods as you can possibly think of. And unlike Star Wars there is a much bigger story behind everything else.

Jesse is the creator and lead writer, and he actually is new to comics, although he does have a notable Hollywood background, and teaches at the college level. The main character designer I know is Keith Thompson, who I was shocked to learn also provided character designs for the big bad Pacific Rim feature film. Major pedigrees right there, and you mentioned Stellar Labs being in the mix as well, but who exactly are some of the other artists bringing this monster to life? Was it a task finding just the right artisan visionaries for just the right artistic vision?

Jesse is new to comics but certainly not new to storytelling. My contribution was to bring on Stanley Lau, Kendrick Lim, Garrie Gastonny, Sami Basri, Erfan Fajar, Sakti Yuwono and Jessica Kholinne to the project. Both Imaginary Friends Studios and Stellar Labs have a pedigree outside of comics for concept and design artwork. Most of that was already done by Jesse and Keith when we started so we helped refine some of it.

Including work from the amazing Camilla d'Errico, the issue feels like a regular issue of Heavy Metal in that it has several different stories, set in different time periods, each of which can be read separately but when viewed as a whole you can really appreciate where it is going and the potential these stories are just scratching the surface of.

So as the DRAVN premise is debuting in Heavy Metal Magazine, will it eventually spin out into its own collected thing, or is Heavy Metal just gentlemanly opening the door? And as it should appeal to those discerning Heavy Metal readers, does this mean there will be the sort of content to make One Million Moms cringe in secret joy?

Hahaha! I don't know about the Million Moms but we did want to make sure it would be a good fit for Heavy Metal even though Jesse's plan is to extend its life way beyond the pages of the magazine. Right now we are working on another 40 pages of material to add to this for a book version that will have more designs and back story to it. The bigger plan is to have 3 large graphic novels that tells one story while threading through several others. This will lay the main foundation for the DRAVN universe and then there are a hundred different other stories to tell.

The story touches upon many different familiar names, but which character is your favorite?

That's a difficult one. I came late to the game as so much of this was written and developed by Jesse, but as I started to expand some of the stories I think I gravitated towards the stories of Vlad Tepes and Gwen and Arthur's stories. Especially Gwen's story as this deviates more than the others from what we have come to know. Arthur's character is someone who I associate with Barack Obama. He thinks he's doing the right thing but is also willing to do the wrong thing if it gets the results he wants. The ends justifies the means. I love characters that aren't clear cut and that can't be pigeon holed easily.

With DRAVN in mind then, do you feel that fiction is most effective as metaphor, or as escape?

First and foremost I have always felt fiction is escape. Anything that takes you from where you are to someplace else is by definition escape. I think the metaphor is the most effective way of achieving that escape. By creating something that feels familiar and resonates with you it's easier to believe in and therefore a more immersive experience can be achieved. With DRAVN we're taking you to places that you've heard of and are familiar with and subverting them. Not much different from doing an "Else Worlds" or a "What If" story but with history and myth.

In addition to DRAVN and your work with Heavy Metal, you are also spearheading the return of ATOMEKA, the comics label you co-founded with artist Garry Leach way back when, now to be published through Titan Publishing's new comics imprint. How important is this return to form for you- is it like finally scratching an old itch?

In relaunching Atomeka I'm going back to why I got into publishing in the first place, to do my own creator-owned material, only I got lost along the way.

For a few years in the early 1990s it looked as though comics were going to break back through to the mainstream. A1 had launched very successfully for an independently produced anthology. We sold 25,000 copies of a $10 black and white comic. I took a few opportunities to work on both newsstand and direct sale market initiatives to expand comics readership. Unfortunately that readership proved too attractive to both DC and a lesser extent Marvel. Their comics started to age with their audience. The same happened in the UK with 2000AD. It's okay to do that provided that you replace it with something else that can serve as a new entry point for new readers. There wasn't that replacement so comics have been circling the event horizon ever since.

Fortunately comics have been growing in other areas such as young adult graphic novels like Amulet, Bone and Diary of a Wimpy Kid and we're finally finding there is a new audience for the medium. How many of them want to find us is a different matter.

With A1 and Monster Massacre, as well as the Heavy Metal issues I have been packaging, I am viewing it as co-operative publishing. Creators coming together to create their own ideas and concepts in a platform they can all get behind and benefit from. 10-15 creators promoting a single book is better than those artists doing so individually, and by virtue of both books being series the work and ideas within will have a much longer shelf life than the average graphic novel. The big difference for myself is that I am putting myself into the mix as a creator again and I gotta say, I'm enjoying it.

You mentioned how the more mainstream publishers have been ill-equipped and slow to respond to the need of maintaining readerships as readers age, but could it not be argued that properties like Heavy Metal, and DRAVN today, exist purposefully for the adult readers of sequential arts? And if such is the case, might it be construed that if adult fans of fantasy fiction require an escape from these illustrious times, that such a comic as DRAVN exists to not insult their intelligence?

First off I think it was a conscious decision for some publishers to move away from the all-ages fare they were producing to the more mature material they're publishing now. There was a thriving older reader with more disposable income who could afford a pricier publication by going to glossier stock and better binding.

As far as Heavy Metal is concerned, it was created for those who loved the comic medium and wanted something a little more mature than the Marvel and DC Comics offered in the 70s. I don't think of Heavy Metal as 'Adult' but mature in the same sense that Harry Potter isn't for young kids. It gets labelled as Adult because prose can get away with talking about things that can be for a young adult audience but when you start adding imagery to that it suddenly becomes more mature or adult.

Now DRAVN is an example of that. I would put DRAVN right next to Harry Potter or Hunger Games in terms of audience. I would be comfortable giving a well read 12-14 year old this copy of Heavy Metal to read and the series itself could be a readership from 12 to 80. When you find yourself asking "how can I write this for a 12/16/21/35/42/65 year old?" you're in danger of insulting your reader's intelligence. But let's also not forget that many an author have done very well out of insulting their readers intelligence.

Excellent. And what, in closing, do you think will surprise readers the most about DRAVN?

If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise.

I will say that the blend of genres and ideas, pulling from folklore and religion gives it a rich grounding. Buy this issue of Heavy Metal and you'll get a taste of what is to come. Like all creators, our work lays ourselves bare. We are at your mercy.

For more DRAVN, hit the official website. For more Heavy Metal, hit their official website. For more Dave, love up his DeviantART.

DRAVN is on dA!! Hit them up and Watch them here: [link]