Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Derek Charm is mixing horror with humor in his new comic, Toxic Summer, and its first issue drops on May 1 from Oni Press. High school graduates and friends Ben and Leo are expecting a great summer as lifeguards, but things go from bad to worse when there’s a toxic spill. Charm spoke to Cemetery Dance about his influences, the extremes of horror and humor, and what he hopes readers take away from his newest work.
(Interview conducted by Danica Davidson)
CEMETERY DANCE: You said this comic is inspired by classic beach movies, gross out teen horror, Mad Magazine, and your own insane friendships. Could you please tell us more?
DEREK CHARM: Yeah, it really came out of wanting to do something funny and silly like a teen summer movie, and then overlaying this horror/sci-fi element. The main characters Ben and Leo are sort of exaggerated versions of a couple friends of mine, and I just kept imagining them and weirder and weirder situations as their summer plans deteriorate. Artistically I was inspired by the original MAD and EC artists and the way they drew extremes to comedic effect, or to show growing horror.
What sort of horror works have been influential for you?
The idea of combining ’60s Beach Party movies with something like H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dagon” was so funny to me, so that was the starting point. Movies like Jaws, Weird Science, Lost Boys — anything where people are completely unprepared to be thrown into otherworldly events.
How do you approach combining humor and horror?
I think they actually go easily together as they’re both such extremes, and the way people react to things that are scary, whether taking them at face value or denying they’re happening can be so ripe for humor. I think my approach here was just defining the characters as clearly as possible so the humor comes naturally in the face of mounting supernatural problems.
What would you like readers to take away from Toxic Summer?
Hopefully just that it was a fun, breezy, spooky good time.
Where can people find out more about you and your work?
My past work is online at derekcharm.co, or @derekcharm on Instagram, and you can learn more about the comic through Oni Press, or by picking up Toxic Summer on May 1 at your favorite comic shop!
