Exclusive Preview Pages from DAPHNE BYRNE #4 and Q&A with Writer Laura Marks and Artist Kelley Jones

A 14-year-old girl battles for her life and sanity after a deceptive demon invades her psyche in Daphne Byrne. One of several new series at Joe Hill's Hill House Comics imprint at DC, the fourth issue (of six) of Daphne Byrne will be unleashed on April 28th, and ahead of its release, we've been provided with exclusive preview pages to share with Daily Dead readers, along with a new Q&A with writer Laura Marks and artist Kelley Jones.

You can read our Q&A and exclusive preview pages below, and to learn more about Daphne Byrne #4, visit DC Comics and Previews World online.

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions for us, Laura and Kelley, and congratulations on Daphne Byrne! How and when did you come up with the idea for this story? 

Laura: Joe Hill approached me and asked if I had an idea for a comic. He said he was curating a new series of original horror titles for DC. I’ve always been fascinated by the 19th century Spiritualist movement, and I thought this was the perfect chance to do something set in that world. And most of all, for our title character I wanted to create a teenaged anti-heroine, someone lovable and relatable who slowly evolves into a hardcore monster.

What was it about each of your respective styles that made you want to work together on this?

Laura: Kelley’s style is just amazing—lush, detailed, old-school richness. He puts so much drama and subtext into every panel. Beauty and ugliness, innocence and bloody gore are always coexisting in startling ways. He’s got pages that I could stare at for hours.

Kelley: I had just finished Batman: Kings of Fear and wanted to do some pure horror. DC asked if I'd do a one-shot for Lucifer. It went over well and one of the things about that issue was it was set in the late 1880s. It clicked because Daphne Byrne is also set in that same timeframe, and I seemed at ease drawing stuff from 130 years ago. So, DC asked if I'd like to read an outline for a new horror book. I read the 4-paragraph outline and said yes. It was the first time I heard of Laura, and I was impressed with the story’s complexity. It was an out-and-out challenge to draw a 14-year-old girl protagonist, but I love being challenged. Plus, it was scary. It had to be scary.

I love the classic, gothic art style and 1800s setting for Daphne Byrne. What made that style and 19th-century setting the best fits for this story?

Laura: It’s a story about female rage, among other things—and in the late 1800s, women were really not allowed to express that. Today, a misfit girl could go on the internet and find her tribe. Daphne can’t do that. She has no one to confide in. She doesn’t even have language for what starts happening to her. Plus, it’s such a visually gorgeous era: the New York of Henry James and Edith Wharton. Kelley’s art and Michelle Madsen’s colors have captured it perfectly.

Kelley: I felt that the whole thing should be low tech in its execution to keep it authentic to its time, which means more effort, but yields greater atmosphere. And horror is atmosphere. Like capturing the light of that time with nothing really electric yet, the mannered way people held themselves, the rigid dress, and the overly ornate decoration to everything.

Were you influenced or inspired by any other comic books, TV shows, movies, or novels while working on Daphne Byrne?

Laura: Joe Hill’s work, especially Locke & Key, was a huge inspiration. He showed me that comics can be a perfect medium for character-driven horror. And I feel like The Exorcist and Carrie are Daphne Byrne’s spiritual godmothers. The Brontë sisters, too.

Kelley: I was inspired by the fiction of M.R. James, J.S. Le Fanu, and Wilkie Collins. Classic Bray Studio era Hammer films. ITV Granada’s seminal and definitive Sherlock Holmes series, to be sure. And everything dear Bernie Wrightson did in the ’70s for DC’s horror anthologies. I actually pictured Laura as a young girl for Daphne.

What has it been like to team up with Joe Hill on the Hill House Comics imprint at DC?

Laura: Joe and the whole editorial team have been the best creative partners anyone could ask for. And the other Hill House titles are amazing. I’m honored to be in that lineup. 

Kelley: I have nothing but respect for Joe. He is into the journey of making this book. Horror does not have any of the same tropes as superhero books—it has to be quieter, yet ironically, has to be more exploitive to pull off the impact of that moment of terror. You have to be very clear and very ambiguous at the same time. Joe has been a great cheerleader to me, and a great audience.

What can readers expect next in the Daphne Byrne series?

Laura: The first three issues were largely about the grooming process: seeing this mysterious entity worm his way into Daphne’s mind, making her more dependent on him, more isolated. Now, in the final three issues, we get the payoff. It all gets darker, weirder, bloodier, building until the final climax.

Kelley: The dark side of the moon lit up.

I think Daphne Byrne would translate well to the screen. If it were ever adapted into a movie or TV show, what would be your dream casting for which actors would play your characters?

Laura: For Daphne, I’d go back in time and grab a young Melanie Lynskey—around the age she was in Heavenly Creatures. And cast Claire Foy as her mom.

Kelley: I could see Julia Garner from Ozark as Daphne, but she'd have to dye her hair black. Judy Dench as Miss Swarthmore, Rory Culkin as Brother, Carol Burnett as Nonie, and Steve Carell as Mr. Fleming.

Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from Daphne Byrne?

Laura: Don’t mess with little girls.

Kelley: That sometimes the blood splashed all over the walls is deserved. That and the Things that are under the bed are more afraid of you.

With the fourth issue of Daphne Byrne coming out on April 28th, what other upcoming projects are you excited about, and where can our readers go online to keep up with your work?

Laura: After the last two issues of Daphne Byrne, you can check out some of my recent work on The Good Fight, The Expanse, and Ray Donovan, if you’re looking for TV shows to binge while you’re stuck at home.

Kelley: I’m working on a Batman project, and Joe Hill has something gruesome he wants to do as well!

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Daphne Byrne #4 synopsis: "Daphne has found an ally in Mr. Brooke, a skeptic and expert on the manipulations of Spiritualism. But when a more immediate danger threatens her life, she’ll learn something very surprising about Brother-the powerful spirit she thought had her best interests at heart…"