When I wrote the third volume of Clive Barker's Book of the Damned way back when it was kind of a big deal for me. It was the first time I was entrusted with writing a full issue of anything (and this was also one of those pricey square bound "prestige format" comics and not the regular not so pricey normal format comics) and I was getting to write the origin story behind those puzzle boxes that were central to Clive Barker's Hellraiser stories.
The story was told mostly as a series of journal entries by Philip LeMarchand, the creator of the boxes, and the corruption of his own soul as he journeyed from tortured artist to torturing artist, murdering people, including many children in the course of building his creations. Among the journal entries there were interspersed profiles of never before seen cenobites, articles taken from other non-existant books which backed up the legend of Philip LeMarchand and pages cataloguing some of his puzzle box creations.
The project turned out pretty well, even though there were a lot of compromises on the format of presentation and much of the journal entries were cut from the finished project, unfortunately at random, affecting the slow build of LeMarchand's corruption and affecting the way that certain plot points carried through (or, now failed to) the story. It was well received and did nothing to advance my career whatsoever, and seemed to have become little more than a footnote in my overall body of work.
Or, so I thought.
I was recently contacted by Max Lichtor, the Assistant Gallery Administrator at Pyramid Gallery who revealed to me that the material I'd created for The Book of the Damned served as the basis and inspiration for Pyramid Gallery which sells gorgeous recreations of the LeMarchand boxes including the ones that I created for The Book of the Damned. Seeing these boxes brought to beautifully realized life is a treat in itself. Dipping into the Gallery entries and seeing that the work I'd started in The Book of the Damned not only represented but expanded on in great, enriching detail really makes this website sing as a dark reflection of the works of Clive Barker. It feels genuinely like the kind of mysterious store you'd hope to find by accidentally turning down some dark side street you'd never be able to find again; a store that once entered you almost wish you hadn't because despite the amazing assortment of oddities on display, there is something wrong--corrupt about the store and you wonder how you'll leave without giving away to the proprietor the fact that you shouldn't be there in the first place. This is by far the coolest reaction to anything I've ever written, and I am truly honored.
If you're a fan of Clive Barker's you owe it to yourself to visit Pyramid Gallery. If you make a purchase, and you'll want to, to them I sent you.
No comments:
Post a Comment