underwinter-1Image Comics has the pleasure in delivering ‘Underwinter: Symphony’ to us soon by the talented Ray Fawkes (‘One Soul’,’Constantine’) and he’s had some time to share a bit of what to expect from it. Fawkes has always delivered some very solid horror, or stories told in horror tropes so to hear that he has a new comic coming had me excited by itself.

To hear that it has such an original idea that blends horror with music has me even more interested. In the book, we’ll see “the line between musician and instrument blurs” as “a small group of musicians happen upon the gig of a lifetime, but soon find themselves enveloped in a web of cruelty and at the mercy of people who have none.”

This plot sounds like we’ll be getting a solid story not just of horror but a piece that you have to think about while reading. It isn’t clear as of yet how many issues long ‘Underwinter’ will run but Image Comics has put out a slew of 1-5 issue mini-series runs in both horror and science fiction in recent years so if not an ongoing series I would expect a short yet satisfying run.

As to where Fawkes got the idea for the series:

UNDERWINTER as a series is born of my fascination with the duality of our world: how it can be achingly beautiful and disgustingly horrifying all at once. “Everything is bittersweet” is, I think, the first line that went into my notebook when I was coming up with this series. SYMPHONY, as the first volume of the book, was conceived as the story that would introduce readers to the hauntingly bittersweet setting I wanted to explore: a visceral horror story in lush, ornate, beautiful dressing.

While he won’t tell us much as to why Music is so important here, Fawkes does say that:

Music is central to this story, and in a way, SYMPHONY is about the purpose of music in the world.

One of the major themes in the story is how pain and creation go hand in hand. This intertwining is something that many creatives have referenced over the years, and Fawkes expands upon that by saying:

Pain and art seem to go hand in hand in a lot of our narrative, right? There are all the stories about disturbed artists, addicts, and the insane, producing staggeringly beautiful, classic works of art. The relationship of art to passion, sin, glamour, and pain plays a strong role in SYMPHONY.

While I feel that this is a comic that by description would be more cerebral in nature, Fawkes claims that it is “an exploration” and “an attempt to ask a couple of questions about our world.” Next month we’re going to see a rather interesting piece of horror hit comic shops across the nation, and I for one am quite interested.

Are you looking forward to checking out ‘Underwinter: Symphony’? How do you think a horror comic that is intertwined with music will work for readers? Share your thoughts below!

Synopsis:

SYMPHONY,” Part One Critically acclaimed creator RAY FAWKES launches his new monthly horror series: UNDERWINTER, twisted portraits of our dark world, beginning with the perverse, topical SYMPHONY—a beautifully painted tale of music and cruelty in the modern age.

‘Underwinter: Symphony’ #1 will be released on March 22nd, 2017!

Source: Image Comics

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Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!