Exc. Lemire & Sorrentino on Gideon Falls comic book TV Show + read 1st issue

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

"What's he building in there?"

– Tom Waits

For those who've had more than a decade to fall in love with Marvel's cinematic universe, and are eagerly awaiting whatever comes next for the World of DC, I'd like to take a moment to issue you a fair warning: The indie comics boom in Hollywood is fast approaching, and before long there won't be a superhero that can save you.

Today, it is my pleasure to bring you an exclusive interview with writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino, the co-creators of GIDEON FALLS, an ambitious and mysterious horror comic series destined for the small screen courtesy of Hivemind Productions. From the bestselling creative team behind Marvel's Old Man Logan and DC Comics' Green Arrow comes Gideon Falls, a character-driven exploration of obsession, shared mania, and faith. The series follows a group of seemingly random strangers – a disillusioned Catholic priest, an obstinant local sheriff, a therapist for whom the line between patient and partner blurs, and a schitzophrenic isolationst determined to uncover a mystery he belives is buried within his city's trash – as they each become a means to a new beginning for an ancient evil housed in a malevolent structure known to some as The Black Barn.

Nothing is what is seems in Gideon Falls, and here to tell us more about it are legendary comic book duo, Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino:

After working together on Old Man Logan for Marvel, and Green Arrow for DC, how freeing is it to be working on a creator-owned title that doesn't find you beholden to a character's lore, or a future mandate passed down from on high?

JL: Creator-owned projects are always thrilling because of the freedom we have. This world is ours alone, and Andrea and I are free to build it however we want without going through any sort of approval process. So we either succeed or fail on our own. For me anyway, that freedom promotes a more daring approach. I can follow the story wherever it leads without having to be second guessed. 

AS: Uhm, I think I’ve always worked with a good dose of freedom even when I was at the Big Two, so I don’t think it changed much for me from the page-drawing point of view, to be honest. But the feeling of working on a creator-owned thing is completely different. The idea of producing something that didn’t even exist before we started, and the total control we have over the direction of the series and the characters is a great feeling that you will never experience when working on an established character. It’s really great.

Throughout the comic book making process, were there any ideas left on the cutting room floor that you could envision being resurrected for the show?

JL: I feel like it is almost the opposite. I keep expanding and growing the mythology, and that will provide the television show with more and more raw material to work with. The world of Gideon Falls allows for so much experimentation that even ideas or characters that don't seem to fit right away always seem to find a way back into the book eventually.

AS: I think we realized that we could explore a lot more about the lore behind the story of Gideon Falls, the Black Barn, and all the characters connected to it. The story became bigger and the universe surrounding the mystery has expanded a lot.

In reading the comic, I've noticed that the art often has a "woodcut" quality to it, particularly when shadow and shading are present. Was this a deliberate tactic when hoping to create a parallel between the wooden shards of the Black Barn and the characters that are being drawn to the insidious locale?

AS: Yes, well, when Jeff talked to me about the idea behind Gideon Falls, I spent some time trying to envision the best way to put his ideas on paper. This involves drawing the pages in the right way, obviously, but also finding a good approach to sell the right feel and mood for the story. 

In Gideon Falls, I thought about this kind of ‘woodcut’ texture on the blacks. I think it links the characters with the always haunting presence of the Black Barn over them, but also help in creating some kind of depressed and undefined feeling within the mystery that the characters are living.

Do either of you have any "dream casting" scenarios for this project?

JL: That is a fun question, and one I admit I have not really given much thought to yet. Of course, I am open to anything – it's about finding the right actors for the role, and I certainly didn't have any actors in mind while writing the comic. To me, the comic characters are like real people themselves. But since you asked, off the top of my head, Ed Harris would be a great Father Fred. And maybe Adam Driver as Norton.

AS: Actually, not. You know, sometimes I’ve seen actors I’ve never heard before cast for some key roles for famous comic characters, and they give one hell of a performance. So I didn’t really ever thought about a ‘dream casting’ because I’m sure the right men and women for our characters are out there somewhere and I don’t even know of their existence. 

Luckily, we’ve got the guys at Hivemind that are doing perfect work in this regard, and I can't wait to see Norton, Clara or Father Fred to get to life in the show.

Lastly, could you share with us a short list of some of your favorite horror films of television shows? Is there any film or television program that you feel embodies the tone and tenor of what's planned for GIDEON FALLS?

AS: I can talk about my favorite horror movies. The first Alien movie has a special place in my heart, Psycho, 28 Days Later, the first Saw too, I think. I’m also really enjoying the American Horror Story show. I like the anthology idea behind it, with every season featuring a different environment and situation, and how it experiments with pushing the visuals to extremes sometimes. 

JL: For me, the big touchstones were Twin Peaks and the first season of True Detective. That sense of mystery slowly unfolding and the feeling of cosmic dread hanging over everything was very inspiring.

In partnership with co-creators Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, Hivemind's Jason Brown, Sean Daniel, Kathy Lingg, and Dinesh Shamdasani will executive produce the series alongside Lemire and Sorrentino with high-level creative talent already circling the project. As the demand for new and original properties continues to grow across the entertainment spectrum, I've no doubt that GIDEON FALLS will find its place among fans of the freakish, forsaken, and phantasmagorical.

In addition to our exclusive interview with two of the book's creators, Hivemind has been kind enough to share a full version of Gideon Falls #1, the enigmatic debut issue of the acclaimed series from Image Comics. Enjoy!