GRAPHIC VIOLENCE: JOSHUA EMERICK ON DRAWING CKY & CKY’S DERON MILLER ON BEING A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER

Rocking out, pissing off the industry, fighting the undead—it’s all in a day’s work for CKY. The members of the Pennsylvania muscle-rock band have just become characters in their own one-shot comic book from Devil's Due Publishing, set to be released this August. Written by Dave Mowery and illustrated by Josh Emerick, the comic features the quartet blowing away wave after wave of zombies and giving a hefty finger to corporate scumbags. So how does one transform four guys from West Chester into unholy killing machines? Artist Joshua Emerick and CKY singer-guitarist Deron Miller filled Revolver in on how to reign in ink…after this five page sample.

REVOLVER Josh, what’s your artistic background? What comics did you like growing up? How'd you get into drawing comic books?
JOSH EMERICK I was self-taught from day one. I grew up with Batman, X-Men, Punisher, Spiderman, Werewolf By Night, and Tomb Of Dracula. I got into drawing the books by admiring great artists like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Mark Texeira, and so on.

How was the concept of the comic presented to you? How'd the comic come about?
EMERICK I did a freelance interview with Deron Miller back in ‘06 We talked about a lot of things, and one of them was comics. I said that I would do a book for them. The rest is CKY history. I got a good friend of mine to write it, sent the guys the script, they liked it, and 48 pages later it was completed.

How much contact did you have with the CKY guys? Are you a CKY fan? If so, what songs/albums are your favorites?
EMERICK I had a lot of contact with the guys in the beginning. I kept a close working relationship with Deron. I am a huge fan. They are one of my favorite bands. Their first two albums hold a very strong place with me in my life. Their music is so awesome. They have such a gift at making you feel great and carefree while listening to the music. They have a sound like no other band out there. Thank God for them.

REVOLVER So Deron, how does it feel to be comic book characters? Are you comic readers?
DERON MILLER I read some horror comics sometimes, but I’m not an aficionado…I don’t think anyone in the band is. So what, though, this shit is cool!

When the concept of the comic book was told to you, what was your initial response?
MILLER My first feeling was like, ‘Wow, this is something that Kiss did!’ It’s very rare that a band be interesting enough to have a comic book made of them. Like Paul Stanley said, you’ll never see Marvel Comics Presents The Eagles. An updated version of that might be Marvel Comics Presents Shinedown!

Was there anything that had to be/not be featured in the comic? How closely, if at all, is the comic tied to Carver City?
MILLER It’s not about Carver City at all. That’s an idea for the next comic. This one focuses on our attitude toward the music industry.

Josh, how long did drawing the comic take? Was there a particular member of the band you like drawing the most?
EMERICK The book itself took almost a year. I had another kid while it was being done. It took a lot of time with a lot of disappointment as well. Thank God for my Golden Lobster team and Devil's Due picking this book up. I had a lot of fun drawing Chad—it was always loose and free drawing that man. Hope he likes it. Deron was a lot of fun too, but only because of my secret crush on him.

Uh, OK. So Deron, did you ever have to model for Josh? Who in the band has the most superhero-like physique?
MILLER He asked me to come over and strip down for him, but it got awkward when I realized it had nothing to do with the comic.

Who in the band has the most superhero-like physique?
MILLER I guess I would have the closest physique to a superhero if I was Slightly Out Of Shape Man.

Is it hard to turn a band into a comic book? How closely did you work with the writers, if at all?
EMERICK Not hard at all, as long as you’re a big fan. I can't imagine me doing a Fall Out Boy comic. I love these guys. It was easy. As far as the writers, Dave Mowery and I worked together on underground comics in the early ‘90's. This was an easy job together as well as a reunion. We talked a lot about the book while it was going on.

Josh, is drawing zombies as fun as it seems?
EMERICK Hell yeah. I loved drawing the zombies. My wife and I are huge Romero fans. This gave me a chance to do some justice to that line.

Who, in your estimation, is the most metal comic book character of all
time? What other band should have a comic made of them?
EMERICK Wolverine, the Punisher, Gene Simmons, any Frank Frazetta character. The Beatles and Elvis. Oh, also Social D.

Deron, if you could each have a super-power, what would it be?
MILLER I’d fly and shoot lasers out of my hands. The lasers would sound exactly like they do in the movie V.

If you could do a comic book team-up with another band, who would you want it to be?
MILLER The All-American Rejects. It could be a “comic leaflet”…they’d be a flaming pile of flesh at the bottom of Page 2.

Interview by Chris Krovatin