EXODUS Frontman Teams Up With TERMINAL PRESS On New Comic

EXODUS frontman Rob Dukes will be collaborating with Terminal Press on the upcoming zombie anthology comic Zombie Bomb!, edited by Adam Miller and Rich Woodall.

EXODUS' record label, Nuclear Blast, caught up with Dukes on the eve of the band entering the studio to record the follow-up to 2007's "The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A" to ask a few questions.

Q: Between your cross-country motorcycle trip and touring South America, where in the hell did you find the time to come up with a zombie story?

Dukes: Brian Ferrara from Terminal Press e-mailed me while I was on tour and asked if I would be interested in being a part of Zombie Bomb! I wrote a quick, funny, kinda sick idea down and sent it to him. A week later, we were sitting in Grassroots (a bar in lower Manhattan) talking about how it was a good start but needed a twist. Three days later, I was in an airport texting him ideas. We went back and forth until we both were laughing and excited. It was a cool process.

Q: Is this the first story — aside from song lyrics — that you've ever written?

Dukes: To be honest, a few years ago I started writing a novel. It was a story in my head and it just took on a life of its own. I would write a lot, then break for a while, and begin again. This went on for two years. Then I met Brian Ferrara and his wife from Terminal Press. They wanted to do an EXODUS comic. After they started work on that, I called him and said I had a story that I had been writing and would like him to see if he thought it would be a good comic. They thought it was cool. The next day, he had Keith McCleary writing the script and now it's a comic in the process. I have seen pages of it and it's fucking awesome! Dark and evil and fucked up… just like it's supposed to be.

Q: What was the collaborative process with the Terminal Press artists like?

Dukes: Those guys are the coolest dudes ever. Amazing artists and just cool fucking people.

Q: After the story-editing process, how true to your original story did the plot remain?

Dukes: It was exact. They didn't change anything.

Q: What IS the plot? Or can you not comment on the story?

Dukes: It's about a killer. He evil and twisted. The other one is about zombies.

Q: What are the chances of you working more closely with the comic book industry in the future?

Dukes: I would love to. It's a big part of my life and I never thought I could do anything in that world, but I guess I was wrong. I really have to thank Brian Ferrara and his wife and all the people at Terminal Press for actually listening and being honest and up front about the ideas I have. They are really cool people. My life is ever-expanding into worlds I never thought I could be in. How fucking cool is that...?!

View sketches, pinups, and finished Zombie Bomb! art here.

Terminal Press' comics/metal crossover, "Exodus: Death Begets Death", is written by Keith McCleary ("Killing Tree Quarterly", "Deep Throat"),with art by Russ Manning nominee Rolo Ledesma ("Debbie Does Dallas") and colors by Narek Gevorgian ("Silent Assassin", "Dimmu Borgir: Dark Fortress").

"Exodus: Death Begets Death" will be available early 2010 from Terminal Press. Visit www.terminalpress.com for updates and the Terminal PressFacebook fan page for a look at some "Exodus: Death Begets Death" concept art.