Kieron Gillen and Ryan North Talk Horror Superheroics with Super Creepshow #1

This week, Super Creepshow #1, the latest anthology from Image/Skybound, releases, putting a superhero twist on the classic anthology. Kieron Gillen, Rossi Gifford, and Pat Brosseau team up for a new story featuring a horrifying web-slinger, while Ryan North, Derek Charm, and Brosseau imagine a super speedster at their most frightening.

Gillen and North answered some questions about Super Creepshow #1. Check out our conversation below.

EARTH'S MIGHTIEST SUPERHERO HORROR SERIES ASSEMBLES! The most star-studded superhero epic of the year begins with a pair of skin-crawling stories! First up, superhero comic icon KIERON GILLEN (Young Avengers, Darth Vader) and ROSSI GIFFORD deliver a terrifying story that will have your spider sense tingling! Then, Eisner Award-winning creators RYAN NORTH (Fantastic Four) and DEREK CHARM (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) make the case that super speed is the most horrific power of all!

How did you want to approach the "bit by spider" superhero and put an even
darker twist on what's already been portrayed pretty gruesomely in certain
stories?

Kieron Gillen: I thought “What would Adrian Tchaikovsky do?” and then I add “If he was very drunk and in a bad mood?”

How did Rossi deliver on the character designs to ensure this was a horrifying experience for the main characters? How exciting was it to push the envelope on the transformation?

KG: Rossi is just a phenomenon. When we go into the body horror of what happens, it sings in an awful wail of pain. But the real thing which makes the killing kill isn’t just that – it’s how she works the earlier scenes. This is a really grounded slice of life teen story, and she does it with something which is one part Archie and one part Dazed and Confused. So when it’s got that energy, and it cascades into the horror? That’s the fun of it.

Super speed is often a power that isn't associated with horror (at least in terms of pure powers). What was it like to flip the concept on its head and show off the horrors of being stuck in hyperspeed?

Ryan North: I think most super powers, if considered through the right lens, can be horrific. At their core, their origin is usually things that happen to you (rather than things you choose) and there are so many things that happen to you that are maybe not the greatest. And the idea of being stuck at speed – the world frozen while you alone can never talk to another person again – felt like it resonated.

Did this book serve as a sort of prep for your upcoming Flash run in a twisted way?

No, not like you’d expect! They’re such different conceptions of speed and what it’s like to be a speedster that it felt more like two alternate universe versions of the concept. Though it did make me realize: I don’t want Wally to get stuck going super-fast because that rarely ends well.

What was it like to see frequent collaborator Derek Charm's work on the book — what made them the perfect fit for this story, and what can you say about their art here?

Derek is a huge talent of course, and I love working with him, but why I wanted him specifically for this is his style: it’s so clean, so accessible – friendly and clear. And while normally horror is known for being dark and gritty, I thought a bright, cheerful aesthetic would work really well to sell the horror: like it’s invading this world that isn’t built for it and never expected it. And Derek just knocked it out of the park. I couldn’t imagine anyone else drawing this story!

Super Creepshow #1 is in comic book stores now!