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An archived Hellgate: London feature. See the Hellgate Archives for more.

Interview: Dave Land of Dark Horse Comics talks about the HGL comic miniseries.
Date: July 18, 2006
Source: IGN Comics

IGN Comics Interview

Hell Comes to London
Delve into Dark Horse's upcoming Hellgate miniseries.

Hell is coming to London. That's all you really need to know about Flagship Studios' upcoming videogame. As is becoming a growing trend, Flaghip's game, expected to ship in late 2006, has spawned a complimentary comic book. In October, Dark Horse is set to publish Hellgate: London, a four-issue miniseries that serves as prequel to the game.

We spoke with Dave Land, Editor at Dark Horse Comics about the upcoming comic book from writer Ian Edington and artist Steve Pugh.

IGN Comics: Explain the premise behind the story for the Hellgate game and then how it ties into the upcoming comic book.

Dave Land: The story in the comics' series revolves around humanity finding out the true nature of an arcane symbol that's inscribed somewhere upon the face of the city. The hope is that if the meaning of this symbol can be deciphered it will give an advantage to the humans and help them vanquish the demonic horde that has invaded their world.

IGN Comics: Is this a miniseries, an ongoing series a one-shot?

Land: It's a four issue miniseries -- conveniently numbered zero through to three. Issue zero serves as an introduction to the world of Hellgate: London and one through three comprise the main story arc.

IGN Comics: What is the comic going to give me that I won't get from the game?

Land: I haven't yet played the game, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. But I think it's safe to say that we deliver some added background to the Hellgate world that'll hopefully make playing the game a richer experience.

Also, you can read the comic on the toilet. Unless you have a PC in your bathroom, you'll be hard pressed to do that with the game.

IGN Comics: The game and the comic take place in London. What's so special about England?

Land: England leads the world in pub culture, so I'd say that puts them at the top of the "special" list. But other than that, I'd say the spirit of the people is what makes England special. Through history there have been examples of how the English people persevered -- like during the Blitz in World War II. The game and comic just takes that to the extreme. We stop and say "okay, you could handle that, but what about THIS" and then open up a gateway to Hell itself. The English people are tough as well. You don't want to mess with them. Did you see England's Wayne Rooney stomp on that guy's groin during the World Cup? If I were a demon that'd make me think twice about going to London...

IGN Comics: While we're at it, is there more to a Hellgate than the obvious idea that it's a gate to hell?

Land: There may be some more details about what's going on behind the gates in the game, as well as what they are. In the comic we stay on our side of the gate. Which is probably for the best.

IGN Comics: Was it a kick to show a post-apocalyptic England? Do you have a special landmark or area that was most fun to have in the comic?

Land: I'm actually not from England and have only stopped by on a layover flight on my way to Germany. It would have been cool if we could have done something to show a demon trashing Heathrow airport. That place is a mess. But both our writer Ian Edginton and artist Steve Pugh are Brits and have heavily referenced actual areas of the city. The one bit that I liked the best was when hellfire rains down on the London skyline. They've got a cool building that they refer to as the "Gherkin" that Steve drew into the panel. I thought it was something he made up, but was surprised to find out the building actually exists. Ian has really specific knowledge about hidden rivers and streams that run (or used to run) through London and he's weaving those into the story as well.

IGN Comics: How much freedom did you have in crafting the comic-book story? Were you given a rough idea and then allowed to run with it or did Flagship have a hand in things throughout the project?

Land: We were given access to the story bible that they're using in producing the game, but they gave writer Ian Edginton a lot of freedom in coming up with the story for the comics. Of course everything was run back through Flagship for approval and they've offered suggestions at every stage so that we're keeping things in line with what people will see in the final game.

IGN Comics: What about with the design and look? Was there an effort to emulate the game? How were you able to give the comic its own unique style separate from the game?

Land: We've been working from reference provided by Flagship in putting the comics together. There really hasn't been an effort to copy exactly what you'll see when you play the game. Demons, and armor, and weapons were heavily referenced, but we're not looking at doing any "screenshot" exact panels. I don't think that'd be very interesting for anyone and would also sort of tie the hands of the magnificent Steve Pugh, who is drawing the book.

IGN Comics: Let's talk about Lyra. In your eyes, what makes her tick?

Land: Lyra's main drive is to not become demon food. That and her sense of curiosity and commitment to helping humanity survive are the things that keep her going. She's driven to figure out what's going on - how and why the demons have entered our world and trying to figure out how to get them to go away. Lyra is really just our lead-in character though. The bulk of the story focuses on Lyra's young charge, Jessica and how she deals with what the world has become.

IGN Comics: A lot of female leads with a gun tend to feel like the same woman just in a different situation. What makes Lyra different from the rest of the crop?

Land: I think both Lyra and Jessica have real human motivations behind what they do. I'm not sure if that makes them different from other "women with guns" or not.

IGN Comics: Is Lyra going to get a chance to use some bad ass weapons in this book?

Land: There are a wide variety of wicked weapons used in the book. My favorite is Jessica's sword. It's actually the sword of her grandfather, Lord Patrick Sumerisle. But Jessica uses it quiet effectively to make demon chunks.

IGN Comics: What should we know about the Knights Templar?

Land: Basically three things... The Knights Templar hate demons, have real cool looking armor, and in the world of Hellgate: London is humanity's only hope of survival.

IGN Comics: There are a lot of freakish looking demons in the game, will we be seeing the same creatures in the comic and are there some new surprises as well

Land: We're sticking pretty closely to the demons that'll be popping up in the game. So if you see it in the comic, you'll probably get the chance to kill it yourself in the game. Fun, no?

IGN Comics: Give us a rundown of some of the creatures we will see. Who's the nastiest and how exactly do these things play into the prequel tale?

Land: There are all manner of demons in the comic: harbinger demons, blood angels, pit barons, and fiend savages. But my favorites are the zombies. You can't go wrong with a good horde of zombies...

IGN Comics: If Hellgate: London the game is a success, would you be up for doing a sequel to the comic book?

Land: I think it's a given that the game is going to be a success. As for the comic, as long as the fans like it and Flagship wants us to do more we'd certainly be happy to keep going!