Renegade Arts Entertainment is pleased to announce the
release of CHANNEL EVIL TRADE PAPERBACK, collecting the four issues of Alan
Grant’s (Judge Dredd, Batman) and Shane Oakley’s (Albion, Cthulhu Tales) horror
miniseries. This deluxe paperback collection also includes a new,
never-before-seen strip, An Evening with Ba’al, written by Grant and
illustrated by D’Israeli (Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Future Shocks).
Inspired by Alan’s encounter with something from the dark
edges of consciousness, CHANNEL EVIL follows Jez Manson, a local TV chat show
host ready to exploit everyone in a bid to make the big time. After watching a successful medium channel a
benign spirit, Jez invites her on his show, ready to ridicule her for cheap
laughs and a few headlines. But Jez is persuaded to try channelling
himself. Full of scorn, Jez agrees,
planning to fake it, but it turns out that Jez is a natural and finds himself
channelling Ba’al, an ancient source of evil.
Trying to laugh the whole thing off, Jez is unaware that
he has opened a door for Ba’al to exploit and return chaos and destruction to
the world. Jez finds his dreams full of
twisted nightmares that share too many details, matching the next day’s news
reports.
However, the channelling show has made the national news
and Jez could be moving on to the big time. Persuaded to channel Ba’al again on
live TV, Jez knows deep down he's on the edge of the abyss, but the lure of
fame and fortune is too strong. What
will he unleash this time?
Alan Grant on the genesis of Channel Evil:
'The idea originally came to me while I was reading a
book by a guy who had formed a "channelling" group to contact the
spirits of the dead. I did some research and found that, although it's ignored
by the mainstream media, channelling has a huge audience all over the world. I
wondered what would happen if, instead of channelling one of the boring spirits
who advocate peace and love, somebody managed to channel the spirit of some
long-forgotten scion of evil.
I used to own a flotation tank, it was soundproof, and
totally dark. Once, when I was in the tank, I was thinking about a Batman story
I was working on, which featured a villain known as Cornelius Stirk. Stirk
suffered from severe mental illness, which he "treated" by cutting the
still-beating hearts out of his victims and then consuming them. The thought
suddenly flashed through my mind: "This is what I do for a living...and
it's evil!" Immediately, and to my terror, a disembodied voice said
clearly: "You think that is evil? I can show you what evil really
is!" Chills ran up and down my spine. I broke out in a cold sweat. I was
out of that tank faster than a ferret up a drainpipe! When I'd calmed down and
thought about it, I realised that - whatever the reality of what had happened -
it was a brilliant base on which to build a story. I hope it frightens readers
as much as it terrified me.'
Shane Oakley on Channel Evil:
'Working with Alan is another ‘dream box’ I’m ticking
off. We’ve been trying to get together
on a project for over ten years and I’m still buzzing that we’ve finally got
there. Alan’s scripts are great to work
with, they’re lean and mean, he gets on with the story, doesn’t arse about or
waste space. I love the idea it’s set at
the English seaside, like a lot of kids (and grown ups) I had many day
trips/weekends away in Blackpool, the place has a very seductive glamour, a
glittering feast for the senses.
But it’s also a little grubby and seedy, which suits the
personality of Jez and his show perfectly. And obviously, drawing nightmare
scenes of horror and a big bad ass demonic storm god is a plus.’
‘Channel Evil’ collected trade paperback. Previews Code: JAN131257
By Alan Grant, Shane Oakley, D’Israeli. 136 pages, black & white
strip
Website: http://bit.ly/RAvDhD Color covers and sketches.
Includes cover artwork from Frank Quitely, Mark
Buckingham, D’Israeli and Wayne Nichols, plus Shane Oakley’s character design
sketches.