Back before his hit IDW series Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees was horrifying comic book audiences everywhere, writer/artist Patrick Horvath had a dark vision of the future. Or a hopeful one, perhaps, with Free For All, his book about pitting billionaires against each other in a fight to the death.
“I wrote it in 2017 and drew most of it in 2018 / 2019,” Horvath told Comic Book Club over email. “And along with the actual zeitgeist of the times, another big inspiration for me was Scott McCloud’s DESTROY!! I loved the idea of having a small one-shot that was hyper-focused on a moment and was able to work through whatever creative demons you scrambling around your head.”
The book is getting a second life thanks to a Zoop campaign, collecting the full story in print for the first time. To find out more about the book, and what Horvath thought about the scuttled billionaire battle between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, read on.
Comic Book Club: Patrick, this is an absolutely unbelievable premise because you posit a world where rich people have to deal with consequences. What led to the creation of this fantastical fairyland?
Patrick Horvath: The initial idea came to me towards the end of 2016. It seemed like the world shifted gears and started accelerating down a bad path that it had already [been] traveling. It struck me that a lot of the main causes for caustic divisions could be traced back to money, more specifically needing it and not having enough. A lot of FREE FOR ALL was initially just a cathartic exploration of what this sort of “eat the rich” neo-gladiator solution would look like.
More seriously, what was the inspiration? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you created this a few years back?
You are correct! I wrote it in 2017 and drew most of it in 2018 / 2019. And along with the actual zeitgeist of the times, another big inspiration for me was Scott McCloud’s DESTROY!! I loved the idea of having a small one-shot that was hyper-focused on a moment and was able to work through whatever creative demons you [have] scrambling around your head.
If I have my timeline correct there, what was your reaction to the whole “Elon Musk/Mark Zuckerberg” cage match thing, because this pre-dates that?
It was amusing, but ultimately a letdown, right? I mean they could have gone all the way with it. I would totally settle for a billionaire fight club where the loser must fully divest and donate it all to the people.
We’re thrust into the middle of this premise, as far as I can tell based on the preview pages provided… How much pre-work did you need to do to make sure this premise worked? Meaning: did you sketch out a full history for this world?
I didn’t do too much work in putting together the full history of the world. My main inspiration was the concept of the post-scarcity federated version of Earth in Star Trek, but then I just skewed it. It was amusing to me that we’d finally figured out a way for us to thrive harmoniously, and that in this case it was largely due to these death matches.
What can you tell us about the main characters in the book? Is this a love story, or a hate story?
Once the book settles in, we’re following along as we build towards what’s being billed as one of the most anticipated fights of the year between Ted Brooks and Luella Dominguez. Drama is afoot as they’re not only former business partners, but also former lovers. Brooks is sort of the prototypical successful real estate magnate who also happens to check most of the boxes for the profile of a psychopath. He’s the current reigning champion of Free for All, and actually lives for these matches where he can highlight his superiority. Luella plays counterpoint, having grown cynical as all the love and trust she used to define herself by has been ground down by the money making machine. Is it a love story, or a hate store? It’s both I guess. Money and revenge clouds all of it.
Given you’ve now released Beneath the Trees, did you have any concerns about being known as the Ultra-Violence Guy?
I’ve been working in horror films for around 16 years. I guess by this point if it’s in comics or in movies, I’ve made peace with the fact that that’s where I tend to do most of my work. I don’t know if folks really search out my work for the violence so much as the sideways directions I like to take stories and characters.
Was there anything you went back and tweaked for this release?
With the Zoop campaign, depending on its success I’ll possibly crack open the files and tweak the color and lettering. I’ve had so much more experience since I originally made it, and while I’m super proud of what I created, I’d love to add a little polish here and there.
The original graphic novella was 40 pages long… Did you add anything for the Zoop campaign? And regardless, now that you’ve done more long-form storytelling, is this a world you would want to revisit?
There will be some additional back matter for the printed book, and I’d love to revisit the world. There’s obviously a bunch more that could be done with it. Fingers crossed, I’ll get the chance.
Free for All is live on Zoop today, so get pledging!
