Revival Day was a gift and a curse, a source of joy and extreme paranoia. For every person who was overjoyed to be able to see a sunrise again, there's another who was shattered by the experience. When news of Revival Day spreads nationwide, things get worse. Wasau and the surrounding area is quarantined and blockaded by the government, forcibly changing everyone's quality of life drastically. A sleepy town is turned into a hotbed of news crews and military Humvees, travel is forbidden, and every move they make is under observation.
What do you think that does to a town? When you turn a quiet burg into a pressure cooker, no one is safe. People can't help but feel unmoored by their new status quo. The new normal for the citizens of Wasau is creeping terror, made all the worse when the government moves in with a detention facility for the revived and an even stronger military presence.
Oppression and terrorism follows in the wake of these moves. While the situation in Wasau is about as stable as it can be at the moment, the citizens of Wasau have been pushed face-to-face with hard questions about life and death, and still others have experienced the boundary between the two for themselves.
The horrors of Revival Day manifest themselves in a variety of ways. An old woman takes pliers to her mouth, pulling out her teeth one-by-one as they're instantly replaced. A man cuts himself open live on camera for sexual pleasure. A group of people seek to feast on the flesh of a reviver.
He was a character who on the surface seemed almost humorous, but was much more dangerous and dark when you delved into him. What inspired the creation and look of Lester? Seeley: Yeah, Lester was inspired by an interview I had read with Jack Lalane in the back of an airline magazine. It was a great interview, which began as a puffpiece, but sort of evolved into this observation about how Jack's fight for fitness was really a denial of mortality.
I combined that basic idea with this year-old Lothario I met at a bar in San Francisco, who had lost a lot of his ability to speak from a stroke, but had lost none of his charm with the ladies. Lester is, of course, just one of a handful of many characters that called your version of Wausau home. Looking back, who are some of your favorite characters? Norton: Dana is my favorite overall, but Tim populated the town with lots of real people to like.
Vang, Cooper, Jeanie Gorski. Like, I really hate them. Seeley: [ Laughs ] I always love the villains, so I think that's why Blaine Abel, the rather tragic exorcist and snowmobile repairman always stood out to me. I also love non-villain Wayne Cypress, based a bit on my own dad, and Weaver Fannie, the samurai Amish woman.
Mike, what always struck me about the visuals of "Revival" was the moments of action and excitement were great, but where you really shined was the character design, acting, and the tone, whether it was humorous, creepy, or horrific. Looking back, what was it like to bring this book to life on a month by month basis? What are some of the things you'll miss about it? And what are some of the things you won't miss? Keeping up the constant schedule for five years was tougher than I thought it would be.
Incredibly rewarding, but hard. I will miss the characters and setting. I love drawing characters acting. And pugs. Seeley: The dude pulled that shit off every month for five years! How is Mike not artist of the year five years running?! Let's wrap up by teasing what fans can expect from "Revival" 47, the series' finale. What are some hints you can offer about what people will see? Seeley: I think 47 pulls together all the threads we've been rolling out over the course of the series, and I think it does it in a pretty unpredictable way.
I hope so, at least. I'm not sure if I'd revisit it -- at least not in this form. It's definitely a contained shape as it is. Seeley: It was an honor for me, as well. Norton proved his place in the pantheon with this book. Also, many, many thanks to Image Comics, for existing, and for publishing our book. We owe Eric Stephenson and the production staff there many beers.
Have you guys already begun to develop or think about potential projects? So hey, if anybody needs me to draw Spider-Man Seeley: Whew. All I know for sure is that I'm pretty beat. It'd be nice to write something, I dunno
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