JAMES KUHORIC ON FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH

[MattBrady]

This past weekend, we spoke with Jeff Katz about his original treatment for Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, which is being turned into a six-issue miniseries from Wildstorm and Dynamite. Katz clued us in on how the story got rolling in the first place. Now it’s time to talk to the writer of the miniseries, James Kuhoric.

Newsarama: James, in terms of Ash, this is obviously the big time - arguably bigger even, than Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness. Was this something you knew about as a possibility prior to this, or did you learn about this for the first time when the idea of doing the comic came up?

James Kuhoric: “Bigger than Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness,”…wow. I was a huge fan of the MZ crossover, John Layman did a great job of capturing Ash (some of those lines were classic – calling Doctor Doom “tin britches” cracked me up) and putting him in another crazy set of circumstances. I’ve been following Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash since the movie was first floated four or five years ago. All horror movie enthusiasts were salivating at the possible crossover and I was no exception to that rule. When the possibility came up of working with Wildstorm to bring this movie project to comics, I jumped at it. This is the granddaddy of all horror flicks and it’s exclusive to us in the comics industry!

NRAMA: So how did you get roped in? Obviously, you're the go-to guy for Ash, but was as simple as that? Just ask you if you're in?

JK: All the credit for this one goes to the Dynamite and Wildstorm guys. They worked out the details with New Line and MGM to get the approvals done (the hardest part of any creative process) and then went a step further getting Jeff Katz’s incredible original approved movie treatment for us to work from.

As for me – they didn’t even get the complete question out before I took the gig. I’m a huge fan of all three properties and was already intimately familiar with all the sequels. Working with Wildstorm/DC is a dream come true. Now if I can just get them to let me cross Ash over with Batman or Superman…

NRAMA: Keep dreaming… You've got your finger on Ash in terms of characterization and voice, but what about the other two? Was there a learning curve for you in a sense, to get the feel of Jason and Freddy?

JK: I had the hardest time wrapping my head around Jason’s voice. I mean how many times can you say “…” without it getting repetitive?

NRAMA: Would you like a drum kick?

JK: Thanks folks! I’m here all weekend!

Seriously, I felt completely at home with Freddy, Jason, and Ash in terms of their “voices” in the comic. I’ve watched all the sequels to each franchise literally hundreds of times and know them inside and out. Artist Jason Craig and colorist Tom Mason are equally insane about these movies and the three of us have dissected the issues page by page to make sure every action, reaction, and quote is authentic.

NRAMA: WE’ve talked with Jeff Katz about the treatment, but from your side, tell us about it - what form did that take, specifically? How long was the treatment, and how much was in it?

JK: Jeff put together a brilliant treatment for the feature film several years ago that made it through all the approval stages. People don’t realize just how close FvJvA came to being made. The treatment is a complete movie outline that gives specific detail on the events that take place during the story.

Our part in creating this comic book movie was to take those events, break them into serialized chunks, fill in all the sequence action, and create authentic dialogue for all the characters. It was a daunting task but we’re really thrilled with the outcome. Jason Craig’s art is amazing and in comics our special effects budget is unlimited so you’ll be seeing bigger and badder fight sequences.

NRAMA: That said, how much room do you have to fool around in?

JK: We had quite a bit of leeway to play with the unfolding of the story and the dialogue especially. Jeff’s treatment gives the story structure of how the tale unfolds – “Will is murdered by Jason in a brutal bloody scene” and we fill in some details “Jason punches a hole through Will’s gut and strings him up to the building rafters by his intestines.” Yeah…you’re gonna love this one, trust me! Hey, if we are lucky, we’ll try to get authorization to print the original treatment in the trade paperback so you guys can compare the comic to the movie outline. Thanks again to Jeff Katz, without his brilliant treatment this project would never have happened!

NRAMA: Okay - broad strokes - this is the hunt for the Necronomicon, right? That was already seen in the Jason film, right? And this is also picking up from Freddy vs. Jason, where Freddy is stuck in Jason's mind?

JK: Damn, who snuck you a copy of the script? Yeah, if you recall in Jason Goes to Hell, we find out that the Necronomicon was in the old Voorhees house at Camp Crystal Lake. Fun story – it really was the Necronomicon prop used in the Evil Dead films! This story picks up five years after the events of Freddy vs. Jason. Freddy is dead and gone, living only in a tiny place in Jason’s subconscious. Since he can still communicate with Jason from his mind prison, Freddy hatches a scheme to get the Necronomicon and use its passages to become the master of the dreamscape. That’s about all the spoilers I’m gonna give you. Buy the book and you’ll find out the rest.

NRAMA: How does Ash get involved?

JK: The same way he always does…seemingly by accident. Ash was transferred to the Crystal Lake S-Mart to take over the lagging House Wares department and get things running smoothly in time for the big town renaming ceremony on New Years Day (they’re changing Crystal Lake to Forest Green in a nod to Friday the Thirteenth VI). Of course, little does our wise guy know that the Necronomicon is here and drawing him to it inevitably as it always does.

NRAMA: Putting these three in one book...are there like zen mind tricks you ahve to do to prevent yourself from just geeking out over the whole thing, and not being able to write?

JK: Um…I’m still geeking out over it. I tried just telling myself “this isn’t real, it’s just a dream, this isn’t real, it’s just a dream,” but editor Scott Peterson called and told me that it wasn’t a dream and that he’d kick my ass if I was late with the scripts.

I have to tell you that this really is a dream come true for me and all the creative contributors. We’re all such huge fans of the three franchises and as such we all really want to see this done right. We’ve literally dissected the script page by page and reworked scenes and dialogue so that everyone was completely satisfied with the results. This is a major collaboration and a labor of love for all of us. We hold Freddy, Jason, and of course Ash, in the highest regard and won’t settle for anything less than perfection for this series.

NRAMA: With this, Ash will have gone through a couple of high profile crossovers. What makes him so plastic (not talking about his face), or to put it another way, why do you feel he's adaptable to whatever/whoever his adventures throw at him?

JK: A lot has been said about our boy, Ash. I could teach a course on what keeps him going and why he ends up the hero in the end even when he would rather not be involved at all. In the end his adaptability comes from two sources – one is that he really is the Chosen One, destined to fall from the heavens and deliver us from the terror of the Deadites and the other is that he’s a “regular big chinned wise guy,” not some movie nitwit that does the dumbest thing at every stage of a horror flick. Bruce Campbell and Sam Rami deserve all the credit for making Ash the character he is. Throw possessed versions of his friends at him and he dismembers them. Possess his hand and turn it against him, no problem, he lops it off at the wrist. Ash just doesn’t give up and he doesn’t take any crap. When you push a guy too far he either snaps or lashes back. And Ashley J. Williams puts the “ash” in “lashes back,” baby!

NRAMA: Got it. Finally, speaking of your last crossover, the regular series stopped, let MZ/AoD in, and then picked up again with the ramifications of the Marvel Zombies playing an albeit minor role in Ash's life. Are you looking to do that this time? To use this as a story to, in the macro view, get Ash from point A to Point B?

JK: The Marvel Zombies crossover effectively “resurrected” Ash from his short time on the precipice of Heaven (a good thing because I’m sure they wouldn’t have let him through the Pearly Gates and let’s face it, Hell isn’t big enough to handle Ashley J. Williams). This crossover is a little different because it happens at time in his future. Ash is a little older and a little wiser (yeah…I know…just a little wiser) in this than he has been in the various series leading up to this point. The original movie treatment we are working from didn’t take any of the comic book continuity into consideration and literally takes him from his place in S-Mart at the end of Army of Darkness and puts him into the Freddy and Jason world.

To that end, this story is independent of the comic adventures – it’s kind of an “ultimate” universe if you will. If you’ve seen the three franchise movies you can step right into reading the comic without any knowledge of continuity or cannon.

I will say this – read the comic and you won’t be disappointed. This is the movie we were going to see presented in the comic format we all love. We struggled and strove to make it as authentic and ass kicking as possible. Grab your boom stick and chainsaw arm before you try to read this, cause your gonna need them, baby!

[Staredcraft]

Great to hear...I was always interested in this movie since I first heard about it...hell since I saw a flash animated trailer posted on newgrounds! Can't wait for it!

[C_Striker]

I'm Sold!!

[LikeaPhoenix]

How much is Bruce Campbell being compensated for having his likeness used in the comics. Gotta admit that eventhough Army of Darkness came out 1 1/2 decades ago, it's still one of the most entertaining action adventure movies out there.

[HNutz]

SWEET!! Can't wait to check it out!

[rwe1138]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

JK: Now if I can just get them to let me cross Ash over with Batman or Superman…

I want this, too!

[JLAJRC]

I so can't wait to read this.

The next crossover I want to see is Ash/Birds of Prey with guest appearences by Wonder Woman and Catwoman, if for no other reasons than to see Ash try to flirt with all of the DC superheroines.

[Rod1Million]

...is that the art is top-notch, because some of the past horror comics that I would be interested in have had sub-par artwork. An exaple of the series that had the BEST art and story for me was Jason vs. Leatherface, pubished by Tops comics . I feel that since the script is from the movie that would- have- been, this series is a must-have....but if the art is @hiteous, that wil be a definite deal-breaker!

[Jason Craig]

Originally Posted by Rod1Million

...is that the art is top-notch, because some of the past horror comics that I would be interested in have had sub-par artwork. An exaple of the series that had the BEST art and story for me was Jason vs. Leatherface, pubished by Tops comics . I feel that since the script is from the movie that would- have- been, this series is a must-have....but if the art is @hiteous, that wil be a definite deal-breaker!

On the Jeff Katz thread, Thomas posted a link to the tryout pages we did. Now these pages arent the Freddy Jason Ash pages, but it will give you a feel for what may be to come, and then you can descide.

I will say this is the best work Ive done, and prior, I had done Se7en issue 5 with Dave Wohl which i was really proud of, and newsarama had gave a great review on, and this is easily the best.

Waaay better then the tryout pages posted

Thanks again for all the support of the books.........its a wicked story, and as a horror fan this is a dream job.
I have 1500 plus DVDs and horror is the majority, and these 3 particular characters, I own them all. Ive studied them for years and Im finally getting to put my spin on them.
Ill say New Line Cinema is really watching every step closely to insure its meets there expectation. Every single page has to be approved not only by my editor, but by everyone envolved, and if one person doesnt like something, we stop and fix it. Its a tedious project, but the end result will be the best possible we can do.

thanks

-j

[thomas_mason]

the pages are at our site ARE U MENTAL? and we'd love to hear from everyone!

thomas

[BillReed]

I'm in.

[MikeCosta]

So... why is Jeff "obviously" the "go-too-guy" for Ash?

Am I the only one constantly frustrated by the vague and confusing "reporting" on this site? I mean, what does that statement mean? What supports it? Context, please.

[MarkSparacio]

Hey Jim! Just wanted to say Congratulations on this huge announcement! The Army of Darkness work that you've been doing has been nothing short of brilliant and although I haven't had the chance to read MZ/AOD yet, I've heard that it was great as well. I am sure that this will be killer too (pun intended)! Good luck, continued success and congratulations again, you deserve it!

[LuisMa316]

Originally Posted by MikeCosta

So... why is Jeff "obviously" the "go-too-guy" for Ash?

Am I the only one constantly frustrated by the vague and confusing "reporting" on this site? I mean, what does that statement mean? What supports it? Context, please.

Have you read the AoD comics?

[DaVeO]

Thanks for those samples Thomas. If that's just a taste of what we're getting I think this comic will be in safe hands.

Now if the next project can be Ash vs Jason vs Freddy vs Hack/Slash my head would just explode.

[sniperboy65]

My $$ is on Freddy.

[thomas_mason]

no problem daveo! i wish we could show more but hopefully soon they will show some pages from the book. keep checking back at our blog and we will show as much as we are allowed as often as possible

[MHELLER1974]

Although I am extremely pissed off at New Line for killing this in theatres, I'm glad to see this as a reality in any format. Perhaps when the book comes out and outsells the X-Men, they'll reconsider their foolish decision. Art looks great, I think the biggest problem in horror comics is, anyone can draw Freddy or Jason, or Michael Meyers, or whomever, but it's a whole other ballgame to capture the essense of that character. I think the biggest problem with licensed comics today is you need a writer who can put the right words in the character's mouths to make them sound authentic, and you need the right artist, who when they illustrate a character, the way they walk, the way they make whatever facial gestures they are known for on film, just the same on printed page. And without the benfit of film, an artist has to "get" that, in a panel to panel format, which to me there is no greater challenge.
Now, I have to ask, when are the toys, stattues, and other merchandise coming out?

[thomas_mason]

i will say that everyone working on this project is just as upset that this isn't a movie (although i believe new line isn't so much at fault as much as sam raimi is) but we are thrilled that new line is letting this happen as a comic book! everyone involved on this project loves these characters and is taking the extra steps to ensure that this is done right and that we capture the essense of these characters as well as the feel of the films. we are fans of these movies as well and we don't want to disappoint the fans (us included).

[Jason Craig]

Originally Posted by MHELLER1974

Although I am extremely pissed off at New Line for killing this in theatres, I'm glad to see this as a reality in any format. Perhaps when the book comes out and outsells the X-Men, they'll reconsider their foolish decision. Art looks great, I think the biggest problem in horror comics is, anyone can draw Freddy or Jason, or Michael Meyers, or whomever, but it's a whole other ballgame to capture the essense of that character. I think the biggest problem with licensed comics today is you need a writer who can put the right words in the character's mouths to make them sound authentic, and you need the right artist, who when they illustrate a character, the way they walk, the way they make whatever facial gestures they are known for on film, just the same on printed page. And without the benfit of film, an artist has to "get" that, in a panel to panel format, which to me there is no greater challenge.
Now, I have to ask, when are the toys, stattues, and other merchandise coming out?

When i was in San Diego for the Con, I crashed with my buddy Zach Ward(yes Scott Farkus..) anyway, he played in Freddy V Jason( he was marks bro in the bloody bathtub).....point is, Robert Englund pulled zach away for a couple hours and completely went over all his mannerisms, how freddy moves. Everything Robert does is kinda like a dance step, you know fosse moves, toe to toe walking...and me and Zach went over the moves and gestures, and that combined with being a horror freak myself.....trust me, im doing everything in my power to make it feel like Freddy Jason and Ash.

I was out at Wildstorm a couple weeks ago, and just the double page spread was a nightmare because i dont want any of the poses to look like an Xmen fight pose, but if you really watch the films, there very simple in there fights. you know....a stab, a slash, it was only until Freddy V Jason was made that we learned that freddy new martial arts...lol

so when i do the pages i want the action to jump, but i dont want it to look cheesy, like a spandex super hero fight scene. I want it to feel raw, and brutal, yet capture there essence

hope that helps....

back to pages for me

-j

[Captain'sLog]

Speaking of crossovers:

Buffy vs. Ash!
Buffy vs. Ash!
Buffy vs. Ash!
Buffy vs. Predator!
Buffy vs. Ash!