Mad Cave Studios’ The Dark Pyramid Promises To Be Action-Packed! An Interview with Paul Tobin and PJ Holden.

Mad Cave Studios
Release Date: March 12

Not to be confused with The Black Pyramid of King Amenemhat III of Egypt, Mad Cave Studios has their own ideas regarding The Dark Pyramid that’s in Alaska. Writer Paul Tobin said his boss, editor Mike Marts, came up with the idea and he filled in all the blanks. Unlike other takes, instead of exploring the conspiracy, he had better ideas. And when he partnered up with P.J. Holden, their second collaborative work together, what they fashioned will surprise readers.

This comic book miniseries will hit shelves March 2, and I spoke to them to learn more about this series. I’ve been keeping track of nearly every bit of lore regarding this mystery, and the fact other authors want to take a stab at the strange goings-on got my attention. But first, I asked about why they love writing/drawing for comics.

PT: Because my grandmother bought piles she got from garage sales and random buys. I’d always be digging through them to read whatever’s there. The stuff which stood out was old westerns, Tweety & Sylvester and some superhero stuff.

PJ: I remember the first time I saw a comic, it was a sort of love at first sight. I was a very reluctant reader, and it all changed one night, when the weather was bad outside, and there was this bunch in front of me. They were UK comics–Warlord, some Marvels and the like. I also remember finding a stash in a bin–I remember one had a picture of Thanos.

Did you guys get any formal training?

PJ: No. Most artists I know say it’s a calling. You just do it. One thing I did, like others back then, was use carbon paper to duplicate something. You can duplicate them and that’s how I learned, and eventually made my first comics. I consider those who were trained in other fields, like animation, are better in other aspects because what they learned is to be efficient. I must have been 10 or 11 when I started.

PT: A lot of the stuff you learn in school is stilted, and following the rules. The training of animation artists emphasizes efficiency. When I met Phil Hester, another comic artist in college, we never really thought about the process. When I started working at Marvel and was talking with an editor Nate Cosby, I asked how to format my scripts? He said it didn’t matter; do what you want. I have a lot of friends who are writers to say they all had different approaches. Overall, nothing is set in stone.

What kind of advice do you have for newcomers, people wanting to break into the biz?

PT: As long as you are making those comics you love, you’re fine. And as long as you have told the story in the way you want it, you’re okay. You’ll always get some criticism afterwards, no matter what. And a successful writer is one who can adjust to what’s turned in (art-wise), because there are still some more things to do.

PJ: In my experience, some writers might still write the script as the art is coming in. It’ll make an impact. But our job is to draw what they give us and going back and forth is not that common.

My big go-to bit of advice for someone who just wants to start is to say draw it without the dialogue and share what you got with someone. Don’t ask them if it’s any good. Ask them, what do you think is happening? It’s about how you can successfully tell a story on its own, even without words. Everything else after that is polishing. Be true to yourself and don’t beat yourself up over what others are saying.

With this latest project, who came up with the idea for the story in Dark Pyramid?

PT: Mike Marts, the editor at Mad Cave Studios, came to me with the idea. He named the characters and said it has to be about the Dark Pyramid from Alaska. I tried to change the name and he said no. He had a few other ideas, and afterwards, I met Christina Harrington to talk (extremely briefly) about which artists we’d like to work with. I mentioned P.J. because I read his post on social media where he was looking for work, and we did a project before.

PJ: I didn’t have to send in sample pages or anything. The stars simply aligned.

Did you guys do a lot of research about The Dark Pyramid, or the fact the Alaska Triangle is also a hub for paranormal activity?

PT: It’s the duty of a writer to do so, and I did a fair amount of research. Perhaps 20 hours’ worth, and it’s possible to have any artist, not just P.J., decide to only use 30 minutes worth to turn to pictures.

PJ: It’s an actual location. When it comes down to you having to know the place, getting the details right isn’t important. You can still get stuff wrong. You have to draw the line at what’s significant or not. There are elements which don’t have to be rooted in reality. You’ll want some other bits that can be tense or dreamlike. What we created is a whole new cloth we’ve cut for it.

PT: Mount Denali is a very real location. And I gave P.J. references about another place nearby to set the story in, but it didn’t work. I ultimately decided on making up the town of Foothorn, where all the action takes place.

What can you “spoil” about this miniseries?

PJ: The thing about the black pyramid is that you shouldn’t know what it represents. The first issue hints at finding some Earthquake monitor device, and from there we’re simply doing our own thing. It’s stuff that you never read about before. We are creating our own mythology.

PT: All the events take place within a day.

Does that include Hooky Hildago, the intrepid explorer, wondering where that huge pillar with strange writing came from?

PJ: When I drew that, I was figuring out what would work best here? I went for a Mesoamerican vibe but ultimately, wanted to present some ancient language we never seen or written before. When you look close enough, you can tell that those glyphs represent some weird writing system. While no one can trace its origins, It’ll mean something to someone, somewhere.

In later issues, I put in some mythological stuff in later issues. As I see it, this comic is a huge Indiana Jones style adventure.

And as for the monster who appears in the first issue, who came up with that idea?

PJ: Paul had quite a specific idea in mind for “Eve.” I wanted to draw her head weirdly, where it played with angles and moved in a way that a human can’t do. I wanted the reader to feel uncomfortable when looking at her. It had to look unnatural. I wanted her introduction to be discombobulating.

Even the dialogue Paul wrote for her had that unsettling vibe. When she speaks, you can tell she is having difficulty verbalizing. It’s like that noise you hear from a microphone (before someone speaks).

When issue #1 comes out, the variant John McCrae cover will feature her. (pictured left)

Is there anything you can tease out for the issues beyond the first?

PT: Not everything goes well for everybody. There are a lot of deaths. You’ll find many people running around, and things will get frantic in the later issues!

PJ: A lot of murders.

PT: PJ came up with a lot of great creature designs which we still have to see. There’s one of which I hope readers will really like because Christina would’ve fired me had I not brought it back multiple times.

Any final words?

PT: I hope fans love this comic as much as me and PJ and Christina did, because I thought we all worked well together. The characters make it into the pyramid, but you’re just going to have to pick up the issues to find out what their fates are.

PJ: And an open door exists for more in this world. It really depends on how well this work is received. When this is our second book together, we’re really excited about the finished product. I had enormous fun with colouring–creating the lighting effects. And Paul gets me to draw lots of monsters, which I really like. I can do that all day.

Travel Channel’s Take on The Dark Pyramid Clip