Q&A: Writer Mark Russell Invites Readers to Gather Around the Table for a Morbid Family Meal in New Horror Comedy One-Shot THANKSGIVING

After introducing readers to a breakfast to die for in his monstrously fun comic book Cereal, writer Mark Russell is now inviting readers to take a seat at the dinner table for a morbid holiday meal with a divided family, a deadly secret, and a very questionable added ingredient to the pudding in the new one-shot Thanksgiving.

Delivering hearty helpings of horror, humor, and heartbreak, as well as introducing a chilling new serial killer known as the Turkeyneck Killer, Thanksgiving is a must-read look at how fractured family dynamics and all-too-real prejudices can worm their way into the menus of holiday gatherings, transforming what should be the most joyous time of year into a festive fury of friction (and in the case of the Grandt family, a shocking revelation that could take away their appetites altogether... well, for most of them, anyway).

With Thanksgiving carving into comic shops on October 22nd from AHOY Comics, Daily Dead had the great pleasure of catching up with Mark Russell to discuss the metaphorical reflections of family division, the origin of the Turkeyneck Killer, and teaming up with artist Mauricet and letterer Rob Steen to bring this delectable (and deadly) one-shot to life.

Below, you can read our full Q&A with Mark and check out the official press release, preview pages, and cover art from Thanksgiving. To learn more about AHOY Comics, be sure to visit:

• http://comicsahoy.com/

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Mark, and congratulations on Thanksgiving, which takes a bloody bite out of the gut-churning toxicity of a “traditional” nuclear family during the holidays. When did you initially come up with the idea for this delectable and deadly one-shot?

Mark Russell: The metaphor of a Thanksgiving Dinner being a microcosm of the divisions in this country and how high-stakes those divisions have become first occurred to me the night of the 2024 election.

Thanksgiving centers on the Grandt family, who bring secrets, prejudices, and denial to the dinner table, something that unfortunately happens all too often around the holidays. How much of today’s real-world dysfunction and family divisiveness bled onto the page as you were writing this story?

Mark Russell: A lot. Though the family divisions are more of a metaphor for our divisions as a nation. How people we thought we knew somehow changed forever while we weren’t looking.

I’ve always thought that Thanksgiving (in itself a controversial holiday) was the perfect backdrop for horror stories, and you put the setting to great use here with the Turkeyneck Killer. How did you come up with the mythology of the Turkeyneck Killer and how they leave their distinct mark on their victims?

Mark Russell: I’ve long had the idea of a serial killer who targets people they think the news, the police, and the public won’t really care about or prioritize when it comes to finding the killer. Which I’m sure actually happens all the time, too. But I also wanted a killer who maybe doesn’t have a clear motive or MO in order to invite speculation about what they’re up to.

You do a fantastic job serving up hearty helpings of horror and humor throughout the pages of Thanksgiving as you dive into the troubled present and gruesome history of the Grandt family. How important was it for you to make this comic both funny and infuriating, a combination that is relatable to a lot of families who gather around the turkey each year?

Mark Russell: Thanks! I think the top priority for me wasn’t to be funny or horrifying but just to be honest about how dumbfounded I am that we have gotten to this point. But I’m glad it turned out kind of funny just so it doesn’t come off as just bleak and agonizing, which is how I feel much of the time when I think about these things.

The artwork by Mauricet and the lettering by Rob Steen infuses this story with a deceiving warmth that pairs perfectly with your prose and adds an effective contrast to the story’s more violent moments. What was it like collaborating with Mauricet and Rob to tell this not-so-family-friendly story?

Mark Russell: It went pretty smoothly, I thought. I gave some rough notes about the characters, who they were, what they represented in terms of our national imagination, and pretty much just let them run with it after that.

From the first draft to the final version, approximately how much time did it take you to write Thanksgiving?

Mark Russell: This was one of those rare projects that seemed to just pour from my pen. My metaphorical pen, anyway. I actually write on a laptop, as does any civilized person. But I think from the moment I started writing to the time I turned in a more or less finished script was about two weeks. Which is quick for a story this long.

Do you have any favorite holiday movies, books, or comics (horror or otherwise) that influenced or inspired you while working on Thanksgiving?

Mark Russell: Not that had a bearing on this book specifically, but there are a ton of great holiday films I love. It’s A Wonderful Life, Groundhog Day, etc. One thing that did kind of inspire me in writing this story was the Hitchcock movie Shadow of a Doubt.

What has it been like to work with the team at AHOY Comics as you prepare to invite readers to Thanksgiving at the Grandt household this autumn?

Mark Russell: AHOY is always great. AHOY is a specific flavor and it’s a flavor I like to turn to often because it’s so gratifying to write something that’s at once off-the-wall, completely sprung from my own imagination, and also mulched with a bunch of jokes.

Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from Thanksgiving?

Mark Russell: To what extent these divisions in our country aren’t innocent or harmless any more. If they ever were.

Do you have plans to write more one-shots centered around Thanksgiving or other holidays in the future? It feels like there is a lot of material throughout the calendar that you could tap into.

Mark Russell: I did do a series with AHOY about the cereal monsters (Cereal) which seems to have become something of a Halloween staple. But no immediate plans to do more holiday-themed titles.

With Thanksgiving coming out on October 22nd from AHOY Comics, do you have any other projects coming up that you can tease for our readers?

Mark Russell: Yes! I currently have a Racer X series (in the Speed Racer Universe) out at Mad Cave and also a science fiction series of one-shot stories called Vanishing Point, which I co-created with artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner.

Press Release: Thanksgiving: a day for American families, when the alienated, the estranged, and the politically antagonistic come together to perform unity—until the strain inevitably tears them apart. But for one family, the addition of a cruel and deadly secret—involving the continuing rampage of the mysterious Turkeyneck Killer—solidly binds them together in the saddest, most shameful way.

This fall, pull up a chair at your own risk at THANKSGIVING, a gory and timely new horror-comedy one-shot from writer Mark Russell (X-Factor, Second Coming), artist Mauricet (Howl), letterer Rob Steen and publisher AHOY Comics. The oversized 48-page issue about a family dinner gone horribly wrong will feature three grisly covers by Mauricet—a main cover, a “Blood for Dinner” variant, and a “Turkey Death” variant—and land in stores on October 22, 2025… just in time to ruin your holiday.

“Thanksgiving is a black comedy using the most American of holidays as a metaphor for what our nation is in danger of becoming,” said writer Mark Russell. “t tells the story of a nuclear family with many of the same divisions you find within our nation and how deep the rifts between people become while we aren’t paying attention. About how a monster lurks in plain sight, but we choose not to see it.”

“Welcome to the Grandts family's Thanksgiving dinner,” said artist Mauricet. “Please take a seat at the table. We are about to start serving the meal. For the appetizer, you will have a bit of dysfunctional America wrapped in cynical humor. For the main course, we offer you one of the most original serial killers the country has known. Still hungry? Expect a rather surprising dessert…”

"Mark got mad about something big and wrote this story—I think to help process it,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “I think it'll help us all process it. Whenever he gets mad, I hope he brings it to AHOY. Mauricet, meanwhile, is doing the best work of his career, but then he always seems to be."

The darkly funny one-shot THANKSGIVING #1 will land in comic shops on October 22, 2025.

For more updates on AHOY Comics, visit them on X, Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram.

About AHOY Comics
AHOY Comics debuted in the fall of 2018 with the bold promise for readers to expect more from its line of comic book magazines, featuring comic book stories, poetry, prose fiction, and cartoons. Brainchild of publisher Hart Seely, editor-in-chief Tom Peyer, CCO Frank Cammuso, and Ops guy Stuart Moore, the Syracuse-based indie publisher has made its reputation on witty satires, acclaimed creators, and commitment to bold and risk-taking storytelling — with critically acclaimed titles such as THE TOXIC AVENGER by Matt Bors and Fred Harper, SECOND COMING by Mark Russell and Richard Pace, BABS by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, HOWL by Alisa Kwitney and Mauricet, THE WRONG EARTH by Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle, JUSTICE WARRIORS by Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson, the quirky monster anthology PROJECT: CRYPTID, and many more.

About the creators

Mark Russell is the author of not one, but two, books about the Bible: God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. In addition, he is the writer behind various DC comic books such as Prez, The Flintstones, and Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles. He lives in obscurity with his family in Portland, Oregon.

Mauricet is a Belgian comic book artist. He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil in his right hand. His career started 36 years ago in Belgium and France working for some of the big publishers in Europe. For the American market, he has worked on such titles as Tellos, The Crossovers, Harley Quinn, The Gang of Harleys, Dastardly & Muttley, Future Quest, Star Wars adventures, Swine and Creepshow. More recently he has been steadily collaborating with AHOY Comics drawing stories for Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Terror and Project: Cryptid as well as the miniseries G.I.L.T. and Howl, both co-created and written by Alisa Kwitney.

Cover Art by Mauricet: