Young couple Trudy and Gabby just want to start the next part of their lives together after Gabby inherits a cattle ranch, but they get way more than they bargained for when they discover that Rutherford Ranch is home to all manner of supernatural entities and eerie occurrences in the new comic book series I Hate This Place. With the first issue of the new series now available in comic shops (as well as on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play) from Skybound, we caught up with writer/co-creator Kyle Starks and artist/co-creator Artyom Topilin to discuss their new series!
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions for us, Kyle, and congratulations on I Hate This Place. When did you and Artyom originally come up with the idea for this comic, and how long did it take you to put together the first issue?
Kyle Starks: I started thinking about I Hate This Place oh, I’d say, three years ago or so. I heard about Skinwalker Ranch on a podcast on a long drive to a convention and thought what a unique setting. If you don’t know, it’s a paranormal nexus. It has lights in the sky, cryptids, hauntings, dark magic—just the whole shebang. Anyway, I thought “what a great setting” and wanted to figure out a great story to take place in this location and I believe I did! I think readers will really enjoy going on this adventure with Gabby and Trudy as they make their way through this terrible and mysterious place fraught with dangers.
Artyom’s artwork in I Hate This Place is gorgeous and pairs so nicely with this eerie tale. What made Artyom the perfect fit to team up with to bring your prose to life on the page?
Kyle Starks: You nailed it in one—Artyom’s art sets a very unique tone and one that is perfect for this book. They are doing great work—and I say this with no hyperbole—their art only gets better issue to issue. This is Artyom’s first major direct market work and they’re killing it.
I love how the house in I Hate This Place is a central location for so many different types of supernatural entities. How important was it for you to integrate more than just one type of creature in this comic book series (in addition to human monsters as well)?
Kyle Starks: One of the primary elements when thinking about Rutherford Ranch, the setting for I Hate This Place, that truly excited me during the concept phase is that I can interweave any horror genre into it. I can play with haunting, monsters, slasher, demons, paranormal, monsters. I can run the gamut and it’s thrilling to me and I believe will be thrilling to the readers too.
What has been the most challenging or rewarding part of working on I Hate This Place?
Kyle Starks: All creative pursuits have challenges that come along with the process of making the work, and I don’t believe this one has had any more notable than my other projects in the past. I would say the most rewarding part has been that I’m here working in a new genre (horror) from my standard comedy fare and seeing this great creative team bring together my vision together successfully. Everyone knows trying something new comes with a lot of anxiety, but the team has really made this book sing.
Do you and Artyom have an exact issue count in mind for I Hate This Place? Do you have an idea of how you want it to end?
Kyle Starks: Our intention is for I Hate This Place to be an ongoing series, so we’re treating it like it’s an ongoing series. I know the ending for this book, and that could be issue 15, it could be issue 60. I would love to do 15–18 issues minimum. I know I would be really pleased with the story of Rutherford Ranch told in that many pages, though, like I said, I could do this for a long time. I have a bunch of ideas.
What has it been like teaming up with Skybound to release I Hate This Place into the world?
Kyle Starks: This is my third book with Skybound—the prior being Assassin Nation and 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton—both in stores now, both awesome. So, it’s not my first rodeo with Skybound. I love working with them. I’ve had the same editor, Jon Moisan, on every book and we love working with Jon. Skybound is great!
Were you influenced or inspired by any other comic books, movies, TV series, video games, or books while working on I Hate This Place?
Kyle Starks: Inspiration is a nebulous thing. Aside from the aforementioned influence of hearing about Skinwalker Ranch, I think I Hate This Place, like all my work, likely pulls from a lifetime of influences and consumed media. I couldn’t point my finger at anything directly.
Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from I Hate This Place?
Kyle Starks: I hope people take away a great reading experience, a fun time, an exciting horror journey. I hope they love Gabby and Trudy, I hope they can envision how awful Rutherford Ranch is, and I hope they think about what they would do. And, I hope if they love I Hate This Place they tell everyone about it!
What advice would you give to aspiring comic book writers trying to break into the industry?
Kyle Starks: The best advice for someone who wants to “break into the industry” is to make the best work they can and never stop talking about it. Make the thing YOU want to exist in the world to the standards you want that thing to be, and you’ll make something great.
With I Hate This Place #1 coming out on May 18th from Skybound, what other upcoming projects are you excited about, and where can our readers go online to keep up with your work?
Kyle Starks: I do have other work in the pipeline, but unfortunately am not yet able to announce or discuss them yet—but they are very exciting! Follow me on social media @thekylestarks to see updates or to interact with me or my work.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions for us, Artyom, and congratulations on I Hate This Place! When did you and Kyle originally come up with the idea for this comic, and how long did it take you to put together the first issue?
Artyom Topilin: Thank you! Kyle came up with the story and I was hired as an artist last spring. I think we did a month of prep, I was drawing sketches of environments, characters, and then in about two months, in August, I drew my first issue.
Your artwork in I Hate This Place is gorgeous, terrifying, and really immerses the reader into this story. What has it been like to bring Kyle’s prose to vivid life on the page?
Artyom Topilin: Thank you. I was excited to work with Kyle, I like his and Erica Henderson's series Assassin Nation, and I think we're a good team. I get a lot of freedom on this series, and I get to propose some ideas. Most important for me working on this series is getting better at my craft. I want to look at a finished issue and be proud.
I love how the house in I Hate This Place is a central location for so many different types of supernatural entities. Do you have a favorite creature that you’ve worked on for this series?
Artyom Topilin: I get to draw a lot of gross creatures, it's a treat. I guess it's a spoiler, so for now I'll just say that my favorite creatures to draw are bugs that maybe appear in issue 3.
What has been the most challenging or rewarding part of working on I Hate This Place?
Artyom Topilin: Well, I hate drawing everything geometric, so every time the ranch house or its interior is in the frame, it gets a little tough. But I also always get to draw someone getting sliced in half a couple pages later, which is always fun.
What has it been like teaming up with Skybound to release I Hate This Place into the world?
Artyom Topilin: I've never worked with a big publisher before, it's new to me to work with so many people behind the scenes. There's editorial, marketing, shops, bookkeepers. I even have to fill out my own checks. Gone are the days of a simple PayPal transfer for me.
Were you influenced or inspired by any other comic books, movies, TV series, video games, or books while working on I Hate This Place?
Artyom Topilin: I'm heavily influenced by Guy Davis and James Harren's work on BPRD comics, Junji Ito, the aesthetic of EC Comics, and horror movies from the ’70s to ’90s. Alan Wake is a video game set in a rural American town, and it's a great cozy atmosphere that inspired me a lot on this book.
Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from I Hate This Place?
Artyom Topilin: I just hope they'll enjoy our book, honestly.
What advice would you give to aspiring comic book artists trying to break into the industry?
Artyom Topilin: I don't feel like I’ve "broke into the industry" myself yet, and I usually don't like giving advice, so I'll just say this: I got on Twitter, posted some drawings and people started hiring me.
With I Hate This Place #1 coming out on May 18th from Skybound, what other upcoming projects are you excited about, and where can our readers go online to keep up with your work?
Artyom Topilin: People can find me on Twitter @artyomtopilin. I mostly just shitpost these days, as pretty much all I draw is for work, but I will post a sketch every now and then!
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We have a preview of I Hate This Place #1 below, and to learn more about the new horror comic book series, visit:
I Hate This Place #1: After inheriting a farmhouse, Trudy and Gabby are ready to start the next chapter of their lives together...except it’s already home to a mysterious force that’s attracted ghosts, aliens, and all kinds of supernatural beings for decades. Now, Gabby and Trudy must play by the “house rules” in order to survive the most frightening place on Earth.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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