Black Mist
11/25/2007

Black Mist may be familiar to some readers as it appeared as a series from Caliber Comics and drew rave reviews for the dark and moody story by James Pruett and the fantastic art from Mike Perkins. Unfortunately, the series never finished as Perkins went to CrossGen and then of course, Marvel Comics where he worked on Spiderman and is currently doing Captain America.

Black Mist will be coming out as a series from Desperado. It will complete the series with another artist finishing off the last issue or so but fans should be thrilled that not only will all of the Perkins art appear but for the first time, it will be presented in FULL COLOR.

Look for the series starting in August, 2007.

Here is an interview with creator and writer, James Pruett.

Q: BLACK MIST SEEMS TO BE A VERY DARK SERIES. WHAT IS THE SETTING EXACTLY?
JP: The story itself stretches from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia until it finally settles in the mystical setting of New Orleans which lately seems to have become a very popular setting for comics. I wanted to focus the story where the atmosphere of the city would play just as important part of the story as the characters, and what better place for a supernatural atmosphere than New Orleans?

Q: WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND THE NAME? WHAT IS BLACK MIST?
JP: I first came across references to a mist while researching biblical subject matters while in college. I found that during creation it?s noted that a mist covered the earth. Now what I did was take that reference and expanded upon it. This mist became permeated within everything, the soil, the trees, the flowers, even in human beings. It was part of creation itself, so it seemed logical that it should have been part of the building blocks that formed life itself. I like to think of the mist as the dark side of the human soul, the side that is in constant, eternal combat with our good nature for control of our self. Put simply, it?s a part of our soul...the dark side.

Q: HOW DOES THE CURRENT BLACK MIST COME TO BE?
JP: While researching for another story a few years ago dealing with Hindu mythology, I came across various articles relating to a mysterious death cult that terrorized British-controlled India during the 19th century. They were called the "Thugs" or "Thugees". What this cult would do was befriend travelers and accompany them on their travels throughout India. After a certain time and after they had gained their companions? trust, they would strangle them and steal their valuables. They considered each victim a sacrifice to their dark goddess, Kali. This went on for centuries before the British finally detected them and slowly wiped out the cult. But not before they had claimed approximately two million victims? a rough estimate which more than likely is a low account of the actual number. So, obviously, as you can tell, this fascinated me and I began to think of a storyline where I could use all of this information I had learned and thus, the beginning of what would later turn into the Black Mist: Blood of Kali storyline.

It is modern day and the Thuggee cult has managed to stay in existence by keeping a low profile, a secret organization that has spread out across the world, always moving from city to city before they are discovered. Now they have reached New Orleans, a city already renowned for its Voodoo heritage, so they figure their mystical worshipping might blend in a bit better here. And while they try to attempt a resurrection of their dark goddess within the body of a recently murdered woman, they accidentally tap into an evil even more sinister...the Black Mist.

Q: THIS IS NEW GROUND FOR YOU...A VERY DARK, SOMEWHAT VIOLENT SERIES?
JP: Well, truth be told, I?m probably better known for my more uplifting storylines while writing The Apparition and Book of Angels for Caliber in the past, but my first regular series was a psychological horror story set in the somber setting of World War I trench warfare. A lot of my writing deals with the duality of the human spirit, the yin yang so to speak. With the Apparition I was focusing more on the positive nature of mankind, showing how adversity could be overcome. Now with Black Mist, you have the opposite. What happens when you give in to that dark side? How does it affect a person? How does this change play on the mind and conscience of an otherwise moral person? I want to explore these themes now, the different aspects of morality.

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