Matt Miner and Christopher Peterson Talk Haunted Muscle Cars and Death Trap!
From the Death Trap Press Release:
A haunted muscle car, a circus crime family, a dancing bear, bearded women, methed out carnies, crab twins, and a young woman teamed up with the ghost of her dead father on a mission of vengeance: just some of the utter insanity that awaits you in the hot new comic Death Trap, now launched on Kickstarter!
The 4-issue mini-series is the high-octane brainchild of creators Matt Miner (Toe Tag Riot, All We Ever Wanted) and Christopher Peterson (Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight). Josh Jensen and Matt Krotzer are the colorist and letterer on the book.
Recently, Matt and Chris took the time to answer a few questions for Graphic Policy about Death Trap and its inspiration.
Adam Cadmon: So the obvious question, why a Mercury Cougar? Does that model have personal significance?
Matt Miner: I mean, it’s a badass muscle car that doesn’t see enough love in pop culture. Look at those hidden headlights – just makes that front grill so sexy. It’s also the car I’m looking to buy, you know, when I can afford it, and find one with a manual transmission that’s in good running shape, because I’m a comic writing dog rescuer, not a mechanic.
Christopher Peterson: I think Matt decided to find a car that no one has any extensive reference for me to draw … so I hope he likes 1968 Ford Mustangs in half his panels. But seriously, it’s cool to have something different instead of the usual muscle cars.
AC: The book’s press release states that Death Trap is a “love letter to carsploitation and revenge flicks of the 1970s and 1980s…” What made you want to explore this type of book now?
MM: Most of my previous work has more of a political edge, but I think right now in the world of 2019, we need fun escapes more and more. I’ve been a huge fan of B-movies my whole life, and am stoked to partner up with Chris, who has experience bringing the exploitation film feeling to comics. This comic is an enormous amount of wild and bloody fun.
CP: I like this era/style/genre because it’s got a lot of clunk to it. I enjoy the grounded foundation where there’s no magic or anything, just people in a rural area without all this slick technology and style … and then we dump the wacky onto it. I love realism, but with a slight kick to it – everything has just a bit of an aberrant or bizarre quality to it that makes it fun
AC: You’ve done some socially conscious stuff in the past, Matt, will Death Trap address current events or is this a more localized story as regards Ollie and her family?
MM: Death Trap steers clear of real-life politics in an overt sense. At least for me, it’s nice to get a break from that stuff that hangs over our heads every day, and dive into a world of circus freaks and vendettas and dancing bears. My fingerprints are all over this thing, though – it’s not like we kicked our progressive sensibilities to the curb when creating the book.
And our albino dancing bear’s name is Wojtek (pronounced Voy-tek) after the World War 2 Polish bear who carried artillery shells and smashed Nazis.
CP: I think the main thread going through all this is that we treat these characters like people, including backstories. We’re not here to make fun of people with differences or laugh at their situation – we hope we’re empowering them – and that hopefully comes across.
AC: This book crosses into several genres, that said, what overall tone are you going for?
MM: F’n bananas fun.
CP: Finding peace in chaos.
Check out the Kickstarter for Death Trap here!
Adam is a writer, an explorer of consciousness, a dog owner (times 2) and a decent fellow if you ask him. He currently lives in a suburb about 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta.
