Digital Webbing's Dark 48

Digital Webbing, the long standing comic book site, has had an immense and passionate artist community for years now. But they've also dipped into the comic book market with their own books for quite some time. The success of their licensed BloodRayne book based on the video game of the same name, has brought the publisher greater prominence, but the company has had a long string of excellent original books as well. From Nothingface to Zombie Highway, Digital Webbing has been churning out their own series for seven years. One of their latest is Dark 48 created by Steven O'Connell with art by Daniel Indro and Joel Seguin. JXM sat down with Steven to discuss the upcoming release.

JXM: With the gamut of post-apocalyptic books out there right now (i.e. Y The Last Man, The Walking Dead), what makes Dark 48 stand out?

Steven: I think Dark 48 is unique because the virus attaches itself to the Y Chromosome... thus affecting only males. The strike team sent in to rescue survivors are all female. This isn't a zombie book in that the infected are dead. They're very much alive in Dark 48 and pretty pissed off. It's clearly more like 28 Days Later than Night of the Living Dead.

JXM: Tell us about the "infected," for a lack of a better term. What is the nature of the virus and how it does it affect its victims?

Steven: It's a designer rage virus created by the Soviet Union during their war with Afghanistan in the 80's. It was meant to affect the Afghan rebels... turning them on each other instead of the Soviet Army. The thinking being they'll kill each other - we'll save lives and ammunition. Then we'll mop up. Thankfully they never used it.

JXM: What can you tell us about the all-female strike team? Who are they and what do each of them bring to the table?

Steven: Battle Corp Delta is the strike team's designation. A Major in the Israel Defense Forces trained them in Israel. Her call sign is Bullet. Her name: Dafne Yariv. She is actually killed in one of Battle Corp Delta's first missions. But that tale won't be told until the second story arc. The leader of the team is from the U.S. She's Danielle Russell, call sign: Anthem. She's a hardnosed commander and doesn't take any crap from no one. Next in command is a Canadian, Abigail Harte, call sign: Twilight. She's a little more personable but still has the skill set to lead the team when need be. She's also a great navigator and weapons expert. Next up is Mia Cavazos from Spain, call sign: Solstice. She's the Computer and Radio operator. She's a bit high-strung and butts heads with Anthem at every turn. Mackenzie Faulkner represents the U.K., call sign: Wraith. She is a medic but also mans the 50-caliber machine gun from time to time. Noriko Ishi is from Japan, call sign: Katana. She is also a medic. She's pretty quiet and keeps to herself. She's more of a wall flower. Natalia Zharkov is one of the Black Shark Pilots (A Black Shark is a single seat Russian built attack Helicopter) from Russia, call sign: Oktober. The second Black Shark Pilot is Brigitte Jentsch from Germany, call sign: Panzer. Panzer and Oktober could be twins because they're so alike. They both can outdrink any man and still put a bullet dead center on target in the blink of an eye. Panzer is also a back-up medic (when not drinking). Last but not least is Caitlin "Cat" Simmons from the U.S., call sign: Ruffian. She's the baby of the group. She has a lot to learn but is an expert marksman. The squad traverses the lower 48 seeking survivors in two military Strykers. They're like a mix between a tank and a Hummer... without the cannon.

JXM: Who on the strike team will readers most identify with?

Steven: I'm betting on Ruffian. She's the youngest at 19. We see the world through her eyes and she narrates the whole series.

JXM: Tell us about the setting. What is the world of Dark 48 like?

Steven: Imagine being in a large stadium with a standing-room only crowd. Then a fight breaks out and spirals out of control. That's the world of Dark 48.

JXM: How long is the book planned for? Is it an ongoing? Mini-series or maxi-series?

Steven: The first arc is two issues. I have another two issue arc planned after this one. Then a three issue series to follow that. The great thing about this series is it's just not about Battle Corp Delta and their experiences. We can follow Battle Corp Alpha or Battle Corp Beta... all with their own all-female squads.

JXM: What were some of the challenges of working on an original story like Dark 48, compared to working on an adaptation like BloodRayne?

Steven: Not much different only that I own Dark 48. With BloodRayne I was able to write anything I wanted to as long as the licenseholders (Majesco Entertainment) approved it. There really wasn't anything I had written they didn't like. I had a great experience with them.

JXM: What was your experience like collaborating with Daniel Indro and Joel Seguin?

Steven: Daniel was a great find. He answered an ad I placed on Digital Webbing. The funny thing is it was for another creator-owned project I was working on. It was for my character Tiger Wraith who made her debut as a female in BloodRayne: Dark Soul. Originally the character was male and the first appearance was in Tiger Wraith #1 from Mammoth Press back in '98. I revamped the character and decided to bring her into the BloodRayne universe. My deal with Majesco was great in that anything I created stayed mine. I had planned to give Tiger Wraith her own series but it just never came to fruition. I decided to use Daniel on Dark 48 instead. It was a screenplay originally that I shelved right around the time I acquired the BloodRayne license in 2004. Something about Daniel's samples jumped out at me. He's from Indonesia so his art style reflects more of a European flavour than someone from the West. I saw his potential from the samples... and after Daniel did some early character designs I could tell he was the right guy for the job. He designed the armour so spectacular that you can still see the female form. You know these soldiers are female even with their helmets and body armor on. He did a fantastic job in that regard.

Joel is one of the finest colourists out there. He's Canadian, from Montreal I believe. He's a penciller as well so he brings that skill set to his colours. If there are any continuity problems with Daniel's pencils that I might have missed, Joel is quick to pick them up. He had a bit of a challenge with Dark 48. I had planned from the get-go to have the colourist colour over the pencils and skip traditional inks. Most colourists find that a challenge... Joel thrives on it. He is so good at what he does that sometimes I forget there aren't inks on the page. They make a great team. I want to keep them around as long as they want to work on Dark 48.

JXM: Any other projects you’re working on right now?

Steven: It's Dark 48 for the better part of 2008. I do have a planned BloodRayne one-shot that may see print in early 2009. Plus, I was tapped to write a creator-owned project with Dario Carasco (Alpha Flight, Northstar, Night Thrasher, Captain America, Star Wars Tales Of The Jedi: The Sith War series, Golden Age Of The Sith series, Fall Of The Sith Empire series & Jedi Academy: Leviathan). That will probably surface in late 2008. We'll see.