SpectreVision on The Core!
The fine gentlemen at SpectreVision did a deep dive into their filmography in the latest episode of The Core, including our film The Boy. You can hear Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah and Josh Waller discuss genre as drama here, exclusively on Shudder.
January 1, 2018
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Best of 2017: Lazaretto-style!
With 2017 (finally) behind us, we took a glance in the rear-view mirror and spotted Lazaretto cropping up on a few Top 10 lists. Not only… Members of our creative team either won or were nominated for their kick-assery. Check it:
VILLAIN MEDIA'S TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS LIST OF 2017:
#4: LAZARETTO: “With a clever title, writer Clay McLeod Chapman and artist Jey Levang examine a college where everybody is trying to find their own identity. In a terrifying twist, a deadly virus reveals the worst between men and women.”
TEAM GEEK'S FAVORITE COMICS OF 2017:
“I’ve read so many different comics this year, but the one that has stood out for me this year has to be Clay McLeod Chapman and Jey Levang’s Lazaretto. The story is a cross between Lord of the Flies meets Contagion, allowing you to feel claustrophobic, disgusted and extremely uncomfortable, but that’s the point! Chapman and Levang keep you invested in the characters and their journey to keep reading. They create a scenario that’s horrifying and can very well happen but twists it. You never knew what steps anyone will take to the series. You never know what these humans will do. This comic completely puts you on edge and allows you to come into a great story, but also skeeves you out in the best ways. Chapman doesn’t hold back with his college narrative that’s a little slice of life underneath, and Levang doesn’t hold back with how sickening he can make it look.”
2017 BROKEN FRONTIER AWARDS: BEST LETTERER
Aditya Bidikar received the 2017 Broken Frontier Award for Best Letterer on his work for Lazaretto, Paradiso and Kid Lobotomy. Congratulations, Aditya!
(Also a huge congrats to illustrator Jey Levang for being nominated in the Breakout Talent category for their work on Lazaretto. Much deserved!)
MULTIVERSITY COMICS 2017 CREATORS YEAR IN REVIEW:
What creators weren’t on your radar before 2017, that you are fans of now?
“Clay McLeod Chapman (“Lazaretto”): This is a total cheat, I know, but… Jey Levang. It wasn’t until our editor, Eric Harburn, suggested them for “Lazaretto” that I got my hands on a copy of their indie-comic HELL(P) and I was totally smitten from that point on. I will follow Jey in whatever they do next and pray we get to work together again. I’m a complete convert.”
Thanks to everyone who picked up our little icky comic… We couldn't have done it without you! And don't forget: One more issue to go! Pick up #5 at the end of the month to see how it all wraps up. It ain't gonna be pretty.
January 1, 2018
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Hyulch! Review Roundup for Lazaretto #4!
Just in time for Christmas, Issue #4 of LAZARETTO hits the shelves… Here's what the critics have been saying:
“Chapman is really starting to tighten the screws… Jey Levang gradually dials up the decay… The imagery makes you want to reach for the nearest bottle of hand sanitizer, then strip naked and bathe in it… Lazaretto is an especially unnerving piece of survival horror that unapologetically pokes holes in our false sense of security.”—Comicon
“This series is the chronicling of an evolving fever dream disaster, a slow sink into madness, depravity and sickness rendered in disturbing pencils and soaked by heaps upon heaps of blood.”—The Oregoneon
“Everything looks dirty and disease-ridden, with sickly greens and browns punctuated by splashes of crimson helping to make a thoroughly disgusting aesthetic… There’s no denying that Lazaretto has been one of the most impressive BOOM! Studios books of 2017.”—Big Comic Page
“One of our favorite new comic titles of 2017… This issue alone built up the intensity like crazy.”— The Pop Break
“Clay McLeod and Jay Levang’s disintegration of a college dorm and the students trapped within has become the back bone of one of my favourite comics of the year… I would recommend reading this on an empty stomach. Levang’s art work will make you shudder and potentially retch.”—Comic Cut Down
“A bone-chilling read, Lazaretto #4 (BOOM Studios) will undoubtedly freak out readers as they get an unflinching glimpse at body horror. A wickedly imaginative blend of zombie movies and Lord of the Flies…”—Villain Media
“Lazaretto remains disgusting, beautiful and scary.” (In German!)—Dragons Eat Everything
“Lazaretto #4 is a remarkable comic.” (In Greece!)—Comicdom
A “Rogues Portal Pull List” pick—Rogues Portal
A “Comic Pick of the Week”—Comics Heating Up
December 23, 2017
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Pop Break Bursts Lazaretto’s Bubble
I got sick and totally barfed all over The Pop Break during this interview about LAZARETTO… or did I? You'll just have to read and find out for yourself, won't you? Check out the interview here.
November 27, 2017
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Blech! Lazaretto #3 Review Roundup!
The raves keep coming! Lazretto #3 is our best reviewed issue yet. Here's what folks are saying…
“Lazaretto is an unnerving and heart-breaking experience that plays upon the tropes of the quarantine stories and its endearing characters to craft a truly absorbing tale. It’s existentially terrifying, and I highly recommend it to anyone who can stomach it. It’s a masterfully crafted social horror story.”—Bleeding Cool
“Shocking, harrowing and utterly captivating… It’s great to see Chapman and Levang working together so seamlessly to deliver their deeply uncomfortable vision…”—Big Comic Page
“Chapman has written a very tight, fear inducing script which draws the reader in and traps them there with the characters. He creates a world that no-one would want to be a part of but makes it almost impossible to walk away from. Add to this the wonderfully disturbing artwork and you have in your hands an infectious, stomach churning comic unlike anything currently on the shelf.”—ComiConverse
Lazaretto “will tear your heart out.”—The Pop Break
“Jey’s eye for storytelling is pretty amazing to me. The use of page layouts with their angles, perspective and those backgrounds really bring this to life. It’s so strong that it takes your breath away.”—Reading With A Flight Ring
Lazaretto is “downright scary.”—Pop Culture Uncovered
“Levang just creates this lurid, jittery world with inks and colors that seems claustrophobic, hectic and nightmarish. Impressively, frighteningly effective.”—Oregon Live
Lazaretto is “like we’re inside a living hallucinatory dream.”—Villain Media
“What keeps Clay McLeod Chapman and Jey Levang’s story from cheese is the very human and real friendship between a closeted gay man and a terrified young woman at its center.”—Uproxx (This Week's Best Comics)
“A claustrophobic story… Top notch and rather creepy since it could really happen.—Graphic Policy (Top Comic Pick of the Week)
Issue #4 will be on the shelves on December 27th. Two days after Christmas! Pinch those pennies and bring them to the comic store!
November 7, 2017
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Pumpkin Pie on Theatre Talk!
Wanna see something really scary? Check out this interview with me and Timothy Haskell (“This Is Real”) on Theatre Talk. “Writer/performer Clay McLeod Chapman, creator of The Pumpkin Pie Show and producer/director Timothy Haskell, creator of Psycho Clan productions Nightmare New York Haunted House and the new live experience This Is Real join guest co-host Jason Zinoman and Theater Talk producer Susan Haskins-Doloff to discuss creating horror theater.” Thanks to Jason Zinoman and Susan Haskins-Doloff for having me on to wax about spooky theater!
October 30, 2017
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Pumpkin Pie in Time Out NY!
Helen Shaw at Time Out New York gave us a lovely send-off for the Pumpkin Pie Show:
“A sound rips out from the downtown theater scene, a scream of fear and denial and shock. But is there something else in it? Can you make out—a name? That name is Clay McLeod Chapman, and every storytelling junkie in New York has just realized something awful: After 20 years, Chapman is abdicating his reign as the king of narrative horror theater. His brilliant and hyperliterary thriller series, the Pumpkin Pie Show, performed without a set or costumes by the writer and select solo actors, has been blowing minds every fall since 1996. But Chapman has finally decided he’s done. “The city’s changing,” he says. “I can try to survive another 10 years or put it to bed.”
It feels like an untimely end. But happily, final frights are in store: a three-week run of Death to the Pumpkin Pie Show at Under St. Mark’s, where Chapman and his crew—including barnstorming dynamo Hanna Cheek—are reviving some of their favorite tales from the past two decades. On Thursdays, Cheek performs 2009’s Commencement, a Rashomon-style piece about a school shooting—a difficult, beautiful work that has little in common with the goofball escapism of other PPS shows. Fridays are devoted to 2014’s Seasick, a gross-out comedy featuring songs by Kyle Jarrow; Saturdays are a grab bag, with Cheek and Chapman drawing at random from a repertoire of roughly five dozen tales. Help yourselves to a few more slices of Pie, everybody! Before it’s all gone.”
You can read the profile at Time Out NY here.
October 28, 2017
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Interview with Comicon!
Check out this interview I did for Lazaretto #3 at Comicon… It comes with a super-sweet sneak peak at Jey Levang's ooey-gooey artwork! The new issue comes out next week, on 11/1, so get ready to get icky!
Read the interview here. “‘Society Is One Sneeze Away From Collapse’ – Clay McLeod Chapman On His Viral Miniseries, Lazaretto.” Thank you, Comicon!
October 26, 2017
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Ick! Lazaretto #2 Review Roundup!
Like a bad cold that won't go away, the positive reviews for LAZARETTO keep dribbling in. Here's what folks have to say about issue #2…
“Chapman uses dark humor to poke at college tropes like class hierarchy, pseudo authority figures, drug culture and libertine sexual attitudes, all of which combine to create a dark and deadly environment… Jey Levang's art (is) creepy as hell.”—Comicon
“A terrifying read, Lazaretto #2 (BOOM! Studios) will frighten readers to the core with its chilling vision of body horror and terror. An ingenious take on zombie movies and Lord of the Flies… Chapman’s thought-provoking social commentary will resonate with readers after they finish reading.”—Villian Media
“You can practically feel the virus seeping through each page… Lazaretto will make you want to wash your hands.”— Horror Talk
“Chapman takes the reader into a dark, unpleasant place as he picks away at modern society. Not for the faint of heart, Lazaretto is unapologetic about its disturbing content and refuses to shy away for the degradation of the human spirit… Lazaretto will make you queasy in more ways than one but it is an exceptional example of horror as social commentary.”—ComiConverse
“A stomach-churning body horror hit… With Levang’s wicked imagination promising more shock, gore, effluvia and horror this is a series that bears serious watching.”—Broken Frontier (Staff Picks 10/11/17)
Lazaretto is “claustrophobic in all the right ways.”—Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!
“What Clay is doing here is pretty awesome… A strong premise with excellent characterization.”—Reading with a Flight Ring
“Chapman and Jey Levang tell the story of a viral apocalypse through the eyes of college kids who either don’t understand, or are too afraid to grasp, just what’s happening. So instead they throw a party. Really, wouldn’t you?”—Uproxx (Best New Comics list 10/11/17)
Have you picked up this ooey-gooey comic yet? You should… Don't forget the hand sanitizer!
October 17, 2017
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ComicBook.com Interview!
Just in time for the release of LAZARETTO #2, the fine folks at ComicBook.com have done an interview with yours truly… I dare you to try and count how many times I say “kind of” in here. Go on. I dare you.
Read the interview here: “My God, I Can't Believe What We've Done: 5 Questions About Lazaretto With Writer Clay McLeod Chapman.”
October 12, 2017
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New York Comic Con Takeover
Oh my. Oh my goodness. New York Comic Con is coming up and I'm going to be making a lot of appearances. This is insanity right here.
First up, as a pre-game NYCC warmup, on Wednesday, October 4th, the folks at Forbidden Planet are hosting their awesome Annual In-Store Signing Jam. I'll be there with a whole bunch of other kick-ass creators to sign comics. Pick up your copy of LAZARETTO #1 and I'll sneeze on it!
I'll be kicking it at the BOOM! Studios booth (#1828) on Thursday, October 5th, from 3 to 4 PM, to sign copies of LAZARETTO #1… and maybe, just maybe, some exclusive surprises. Sssh. Bring hand-sanitizer!
But that's not all! In honor of the release of the SELF STORAGE paperback graphic novel, I'll be at the 451 booth (#444) all weekend! Come check me out on Thursday (10/5) from NOON-1 PM, Friday (10/6) from 4:30-5:30 PM, Saturday (10/7) from 3-4 PM, and Sunday (10/8) from 11AM-NOON!
Come in Lazaretto/Self Storage cos play and I will kiss you. On the mouth.
September 29, 2017
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Aah Chooo! Lazaretto #1 Review Roundup!
The reviews are in for issue #1 of Lazaretto and by all accounts it's the grossest, craziest, freaky-deakiest thing you'll ever read. But don't take my word for it! Check out what these folks had to say…
“A masterclass in pacing and characterization… capable of shocking the reader out of their complacency.”—Broken Frontier
“A gripping and horrifying opening chapter of what promises to be one hell of a new series.”—Big Comic Page
“Leaves you holding your breath and gasping for air… Utterly brilliant.”—Geek.com
“Chapman brings his unique writing style to something so completely different. A must-read for every comic book fan.”—Outright Geekery
“Chapman delivers a well-timed script that is every freshman and parent’s worst nightmare.”—Comicon.com
“I found every page to be oozing with compelling details and mile-high tension.”—Multiversity Comics
Lazaretto is “violent, bloody, and disturbingly horrific.”—ComicConVerse
“An excellent mix of horror, suspense, and a bit of the college melting pot.”—Graphic Policy
Lazaretto “will make an agoraphobic out of you… you'll want to take a shower immediately after reading it.”—Horror Talk
Lazaretto is “like when you realize what sending the family dog to live on a farm really meant.”—Nerdspan
Lazaretto is “about people finding themselves as individuals as well as society as they band together to survive.”—OmniComic
“Simply extraordinary… Everything you want from an opening issue and more.”—SnapPow.com
“Jey Levang's art manages to communicate both delicate human emotion and flat-out grossness with equal aplomb. It’s a fascinating idea, off to a great start.”—Uproxx
“Relatable characters and art that matches the book’s harrowing tone have set the stage for a disaster story with a horror slant.”—Geekery Magazine
“Definitely thumbs up, but don’t eat before reading.”—Biff Bam Pop!
“Grotty” becomes “literally blood-smeared, violent, ambulant plague-carrier.” This is issue one of five, so if you like a good epidemic panic story, get it in now for some autumn-winter monthly fun.”— Women Write About Comics
“The issue has a wonderfully smooth flow thanks to the strong writing. Each character in the issue has a clearly defined personality… The dialogue is a highlight and keeps the story moving along. The art style has a great human, analog look to it.”— Comics Crusaders
“Like some sort of weird horror movie it also reads a lot like a Micheal Crichton novel… This combination makes for some stellar reading that will thrill, entertain and amaze readers.”—Reading with a Flight Ring
“Chapman [succeeds] in creating a feeling of isolation in a sea of people. The overwhelming demands on time and involvement for a person trying to figure out who they are and want to be are wonderfully captured.”—Geeks Worldwide
“Chapman introduces this flu slowly but assuredly, like a good horror movie. You know it’s coming, but you’re at the stage where you’re simply paying attention to the details until the other shoe drops. Given how lazy, irresponsible, and immature freshmen college kids are it’s no wonder a terrible flu takes hold of the school. Chapman writes this in such a way that’s believable.”—Adventures in Poor Taste
...And that's just a taste! Honestly, you should just pick up #1 and judge for yourself. Issue #2 hits the shelves October 11th!
September 24, 2017
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Broken Frontier interview!
In celebration of tomorrow's release of issue number one, here's a great interview at Broken Frontier with me and Jey Levang, yucking up all things LAZARETTO! You can read the interview at the Broken Frontier site here.
September 5, 2017
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Big Comic Page interview!
Artist Jey Levang and myself discussed how to survive the recent outbreak of the canine flu over at the Big Comic Page. You can read all about it right here. Safety first, kiddies! Pick up your copy of LAZARETTO #1 on September 6th.
August 31, 2017
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Claymated Venompool!
The fine folks at Marvel Comics made a claymation promo for the Edge of #Venomverse comic I wrote and I'm so stoked. We've been clay-mated! Check out the video here.
August 25, 2017
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Venomverse Preview!
The AV Club is all about our upcoming issue of Edge of Venomverse #5. You can check out an exclusive preview here.
“Chapman has… crafted a story that works to Stokoe’s strengths, giving him the opportunity to make the horror as creepy as possible so that there’s an intense contrast with the fundamental comedy of Deadpool… Readers can expect this book to go way over-the-top.”
Check out the whole issue on 8/23!
August 18, 2017
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Westfield Comics Interview!
I opened my heart up to the fine folks at Westfield Comics about our upcoming comic Lazaretto and things got pretty ooey-gooey. You can read the interview here. Lazaretto #1 is on shelves this September!
July 6, 2017
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Jey Levang Interview
Know any Norwegian? Then you should read this interview where awe-inspiring inker Jey Levang discusses our upcoming BOOM! Studios comic LAZARETTO! Read the interview here at Empirix.
June 20, 2017
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Interview at Newsarama announces LAZARETTO!
So… Time to spill the beans. I've been working on a brand new limited comic series over at BOOM! Studios called LAZARETTO. Guys. It's sick. Literally and figuratively. I just did an interview over at Newsarama to announce the release of issue #1 out this September. Read it here.
I'm so psyched for this comic. It's got art by the amazing Jey Levang and I can't wait to share it with you… So, so sick.
June 15, 2017
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Interview at Daily Dead!
Just did a lovely interview with the fine folks at Daily Dead about NothingUntoward, The Tribe Trilogy, The Pumpkin Pie Show, The Boy and Edge of Venomverse, along with some other spookyoooooky stuff! Read the interview here.
May 26, 2017
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“A deeply eerie and evocative portrayal of what it's like to stare into the abyss and find something there waiting for you. A memorable, disquieting ghost story about stories, rendered inside a Möbius strip.”
— Kirkus
