By Zack Quaintance — Writer John Arcudi has a new project out next week, a Civil War-era horror comic called Two Moons, illustrated by rising star, Valerio Giangiordano. Like some of Arcudi’s most notable work — from BPRD to Rumble — the book involves an ancient evil surfacing at a time of great strife. I read an advanced copy of Two Moons #1, and it’s a smart character-driven comic that really stands out among the glut of great horror titles available right now in the industry.

The book is out this coming Wednesday, and Arcudi was kind enough to take time to discuss it with us…check out our conversation below!

Interview: Writer John Arcudi

ZACK QUAINTANCE: In reading TWO MOONS description, I was struck by how much thematically you’ve given yourselves to work with here — Civil War, ghosts of the past, monstrous evil — but the word that jumped out most was “shamanic.” How does shamanism factor in this comic, and what sort of research did you do to inform it? Based on past work, I’d expect you might already have quite a bit of relevant knowledge...

JOHN ARCUDI: Without giving too much away, the main character of the series - Virgil - is a Pawnee American raised by a white family. During the Civil War conflict he suddenly discovers he has a history of shamanism in his family and, it appears, he’s possessed of a gift for those skills himself. He just doesn’t want to believe it, and even when he believes it, he wants nothing to do with it. I sort of see it as an onset of a mental disease like bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, which are both associated with mystical abilities in some cultures. This isn’t dismissing the suffering of people struggling with these disorders, but rather it’s the way I see Virgil grappling with his newfound life. It’s an effort for body and mind just to stay balanced.

ZACK: One thing I really appreciated about your work on both BRPD and DOOM PATROL was how effectively relationships between characters set tone and mood, be it alienation, desperation, etc. TWO MOONS sounds more likely to be driven by a single character. How did you approach this differently — if at all — compared to working with ensemble casts?

JOHN: First of all, thanks for the kind words. I’m always trying to be better, honestly. In Two Moons, there is a “hero”, that being Virgil Morris (aka Two Moons) but there’s another central character in Frances Shaw, an Irish immigrant who is a nurse in the hospital nearest to the Union Army camp where Virgil is stationed. She sees the aftermath of this crude 19th C. war which may not be as scary as being shot at, but it takes its toll. Still, she’s committed to helping those who need it. With each issue her role in the book grows, becoming more and more important both to Virgil and to the story. That interplay and the tension that develops between them drives a lot of the story forward.

ZACK: Another constant I’ve enjoyed in your work is ancient evil sort of re-emerging into modern times. That looks to be the case in TWO MOONS, as well, or ancient evil emerging into the Civil War, anyway. Is that an idea you’re consciously interested in, and if so, what draws you to it?

JOHN: You know, that’s funny. I didn’t even think about that, but of course you’re right. It seems to show up a lot. In the case of Two Moons, however, the evil is similar to what I’ve seen in some of the mythologies of several indigenous cultures across the US. I mixed a few of them together to get the desired visuals, but also because I don’t really see this particular evil as unique to one culture - Native American or otherwise. I don’t see these manifestations in Two Moons as external evils at all, but rather a metaphor for the evils that live inside of us. I mean, the Civil War wasn’t fought by goblins, after all.

ZACK: There’s a four-page TWO MOONS preview out now, and artist Valerio Giangiordano’s work is just unbelievable. From James Harren to Doug Mahnke, you’ve developed original ideas with some of the best artists in comics. Can you talk about Valerio’s work on TWO MOONS, and how you came to collaborate on this project together?

JOHN: Valerio is pretty incredible! We got into contact on Facebook years ago and I decided I just had to work with this monster talent. Plus, we got along right away, which is at least as important as ability in any collaboration. He hasn’t done much work in the US market beyond a bunch of killer covers for Marvel, but that’s going to change quickly. His European work, however, is something else. What particularly stuck out was the way Valerio can really draw horses! That’s fairly rare to see in comics, and a pretty important skill for an artist working on a western themed comic. We’ve worked great together and I’m lucky I found him. And as beautiful as #1 is, wait until you see #2!

ZACK: Can you talk a bit about the trajectory of this project? I saw you say when it was announced it had been a story you’d been trying to write for years, and I was curious if some of the horror of late — the resurgent prominence of the Confederate Flag, for example — affected the book as you and Valerio prepared for publication this year?

JOHN: Yeah, the Confederate battle flag. It’s back with a vengeance, though it never went away, I guess. I didn’t mean this book to play on that odd obsession with misguided “nostalgia” (or whatever the hell it is!) we’re seeing in the 21st C. Two Moons is, after all, set 150-odd years ago during the Civil War itself when the battle lines were clear and that flag was seen on the field of conflict, not on the back of somebody’s pickup. Still, I don’t suppose some unfortunate association can be avoided, especially when you look at the cover of issue #2. But no, we didn’t make any decisions about how we would present this book based on recent events, mostly because, at its core, Two Moons is all about hatred already. What could be more topical?

ZACK: Apologies for a bit of stock question — but what do you see as the scope of TWO MOONS, in terms of how long the book will ideally run?

JOHN: Always a hard question to answer for so many reasons but I will tell you I already have three arcs planned out. I want to explore the shifting ways indigenous peoples were viewed by white folks throughout the 19th C. And those views absolutely did shift, or rather careened!

ZACK: Finally, anything else you’d like to note about TWO MOONS before the first issue hits?

JOHN: This book has it all, really. Monsters, Native American struggles, romance, bromance, mysticism, the Civil War, and a Western vibe. Anybody who wants more than that is just greedy.

Two Moons #1 is out Wednesday, February 24.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.