a monster calls
John Layman aims to melt faces and induce whiplash with Leviathan
Cautionary tales don’t come much bigger than Leviathan, in which Ryan DeLuca and his friends make a misguided attempt to liven up a party with a spot of black magic. Alas, their ill-advised dabbling in the dark arts summons a giant monster intent on killing them all. “It’s a book where you buckle up, turn off your brain, and hope you don’t suffer whiplash, or worse, keeping up with the astonishing pace of non-stop action and mayhem,” says writer John Layman who teams up on the series with The Manhattan Projects artist Nick Pitarra.
“We’d been talking for years, wanting to work with one another,” says Layman. “I wanted to make the quintessential Nick Pitarra book, the book you would go to first to show off Nick’s stuff. So, we wanted to do something big and epic and visually crazy. Nick brings 110% to everything he does, with manic, lunatic energy and enthusiasm. I wanted a story that would best capture that.”
The cast – or menu might be more appropriate – includes Vivian Monroe, the girl of Ryan’s dreams who is on the Leviathan’s list of people to devour; Father Baron, a priest who has tangled with the monster in the past; a general hungry for military glory, and a mad scientist, because of course there’s a mad scientist. “There are no slow moments in this book, only a ratcheting up of the insanity,” says Layman, who promises to deliver, “Dinosaurs, radioactive dinosaurs, demons, giant mechs from hell. This comic is the equivalent of snorting a pound of cocaine, strapping yourself to a rocket, and blasting off at such a speed it melts your face and disintegrates your brain.” You’ve been warned. DW
Leviathan rampages from 1 August.