Exclusive: Comic Creator Rick Geary on His ‘Treasury of XXth Century Murder'
Rick Geary is arguably the most consisting entertaining cartoonist in horror comics today. His series of historical graphic novels A Treasury of Victorian Murder, published by NBM, and its ongoing follow-up, A Treasury of XXth Century Murder have delivered some of the most accessible, witty and, weirdly haunting portraits of many of the most infamous murderers in history. Geary's recent book in the latter series, The Terrible Axe Man of New Orleans, was nominated for an Eisner (for Best Reality-Based Work) at this year's Comic-Con. And its follow-up, The Lives of Sacco & Vanzetti, is making its debut at the con. I chatted with Geary yesterday about his latest work, and what's next for him. Check out our chat after the jump. And if you're at Comic-Con, be CERTAIN to stop by Geary's table. He's not only selling and signing books, he's also drawing free sketches – of the same detailed, high-caliber quality as the cartoons that appear in his books.
Do you know how long the Treasury series will last? How many books would you like to see?
As long as I have the energy to keep doing them, I will keep doing them. I don't know if I will bring out one a year, but I will keep doing them because I enjoy doing them.
Beyond Lovers' Lane, the next volume, do you have any other volumes you're planning?
I have a short list of the ones I'd like to do. At the Con I present them to my publisher [NBM] and we decide what the next one will be. It's kind of up in the air right now.
Axe Man of New Orleans isn't the first Treasury volume to be nominated for an Eisner…
No, The Lindbergh Child was nominated two years ago. And the book about Lizzie Borden [The Borden Tragedy] was nominated back in 1997.
You present a really definitive and accessible version of these stories in each volume.
I try to make them definitive in the sense that I try to include all the information that is out there, all the theories and speculation. Each book tries to be comprehensive about each case.
Do you ever get calls from film or TV producers who are looking to present these often complex real-life stories in accessible ways?
I wish! When the H.H. Holmes book [The Beast of Chicago] came out, it was about the same time The Devil in the White City book came out. There were some studios who were interested in [Holmes] as a topic. I was in touch with some people who were thinking about using the graphic novel as the basis for a film, but nothing ever came of it. Now I hear that Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to an H.H. Holmes project. These things come and go.
What else are you working on right now?
Actually, nothing really huge at the moment. I do postcards and whatever small illustration jobs that come along. But I'm not really doing any other graphic novel work at the moment. But there might be some stuff coming up soon!
