Interview: Death Comes For The Toymaker!
Sep 02, 2024
Interview by Troy-Jeffrey Allen
Writer Dakota Brown, and artist Ryan Cody, Death Comes for the Toymaker pits the Grim Reaper himself against Father Christmas. Sort of.
In the following interview, Dakota Brown explains....
Let’s get into Death Comes for the Toymaker. Catch us up to speed. What is the story about?
Death Comes for the Toymaker is the tale of holiday gift giver Gil and his deal with Death that grants him immortality in exchange for a day of vacation for the reaper of souls. Unfortunately for Gil, the day he covers for Death is also the day he delivers gifts to the good children of the world. Alongside his “Nice” and “Naughty” lists, Gil is forced to carry and execute a “Dead” list, reaping the souls of those Death deems ready, even if they appear on Gil’s “Nice” list. But next year, things will be different. Gil’s little helpers have discovered a plan that would nullify Gil’s contract with Death, and might just get rid of Death altogether in the process…
What can you tell us about Gil The Toymaker? Should we avoid comparisons to Santa Claus?
While there are definite similarities to the winter holiday traditions of our world and the world of Death Comes for the Toymaker, the reader will quickly discover that “Christmas” and “Santa Claus” aren’t parts of this universe. Instead, this is a world where the gods of Babylon reign, and the winter holiday in question is “Ea’s Day”, a day to celebrate the god of the seas and his deliverance of mankind from the Great Flood. Gil’s deal with death is millennia old, and the product of a long journey to immortality in the Cradle of Civilization. At its core, this is a story about the effects of immortality and an exploration of what we do with the time we’re given, but it's also a retelling and direct sequel to The Epic of Gilgamesh. Without giving away too much, we see the Toymaker’s relationship with Death through five millennia of love, hate, and every complicated feeling in-between.
This project is part of the "Non-Stop" line. What makes this book a non-Ssop experience for readers?
Scout Comics’ "Non-Stop" line is one of the most exciting reader-supportive initiatives in comics today. For every series under this line, issue one’s release will be immediately followed by the release of the full series as a trade paperback. That means there’s no waiting on future issues or forgetting to stop by your local comic store to pick up the latest release. If you pick up issue one of Death Comes for the Toymaker in July and want to read more, the full series will be available to you far sooner than the typical trade collection release.
What made you team up with artist Ryan Cody?
I stumbled across Ryan Cody’s coloring work on Image’s Family Tree and fell in love with his choice of palettes and how those palettes played upon the emotions and themes of the scenes they were used in. But when I looked further into Ryan’s catalog of work, I discovered his history of dynamic and engaging line work that serves action and movement as much as it does dialogue and story moments that are a bit more still. Ryan’s love for the works of Alex Toth and Mike Mignola show in his work and serve the more foreboding and dramatic moments in Death Comes for the Toymaker with great effect. In the more action-packed moments of the series, Ryan plays with the format in a way that often sees characters breaking through panels and panels themselves breaking past their borders, making the action pop right off the page. Every pen stroke is a deliberate and artistic choice from Ryan that serves the script and (thankfully) makes me look like I knew what I was doing when writing the story.
Tell us about the rest of the collaborators on the book. Who are the art teams?
As lucky as I am to have Ryan’s pencils, inks, and colors on the pages, I am equally lucky to have Micah Myers’ lettering keeping the narrative flow going throughout the six issues. Micah’s experience shows in his choices, from dialogue bubble placement to sound effect fonts and sizes. Good lettering is often overlooked because when it’s done right, it pulls the reader into the story and constantly moves eyes to the next panel. But Micah’s work needs not to be overlooked or forgotten. The lettering throughout Death Comes for the Toymaker (and all of Micah’s work) is worth noticing as the art that it is.
In terms of audience, who is Death Comes for the Toymaker for?
Death Comes for the Toymaker is for fans of gods and goddesses, mythic beasts, bloody battles across multiple millennia, and exploring the tragedies that are the passage of time and missed opportunities. It’s a blend of small moments with old friends and bitter battles between eternal rivals. For fans of mythic epics full of action, terror, introspection, and heart, Death Comes for the Toymaker is worth picking up from your local comic store or directly from Scout Comics’ website.
Death Comes for the Toymaker is available now at your local comic shop. Reserve your copy with PREVIEWSworld Pullbox.
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Death comes for us all. But for Gil the Toymaker, the visit is an eternal tragedy!
Every year the holiday gift giver visits children all over the world on a special night, but Gil's immortality comes at a cost. Forced to do the work of Death, carrying a list of ready-to-harvest souls alongside his naughty and nice lists, Gil gives toys AND takes souls all in one night! But as the Toymaker reflects on the relationship he's had with Death for several millennia, an associate reveals a scheme that may just put an end to Death's contract (and, perhaps, Death himself!)
An epic twist on the legend of Santa Claus from writer Dakota Brown (Grandma Tilly's Hell-Tech Mech) and artist Ryan Cody (Family Tree)!
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Troy-Jeffrey Allen is the producer and co-host of PREVIEWSworld Weekly. His comics work includes MF DOOM: All Caps, Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91, Fight of the Century, the Harvey Award-nominated District Comics, and the Ringo Awards-nominated Magic Bullet.
