Sound the applause for the Maddest guy around, the one and only Mark London of Mad Cave Studios returns to the Mind Meld to discuss his latest upcoming title, Hunt. Kill. Repeat!
Its Mark! Woo!
1. Well, hello there! And welcome back to the Mind Meld! How the heck ya been!?
Very busy, but I couldn’t be happier, Rob. It’s been an excellent year for Mad Cave, and next year is shaping up to be even more promising.
2. Hunt. Kill. Repeat is on the horizon for release at the Cave and penned by you. What can you tell us about the book?
Bad ass Greek Gods and Goddesses. It’s Kill Bill/John Wick meets Clash of the Titans. Without spoiling it, the almighty Zeus takes over the Earth with his children and enslaves humanity. Artemis, his daughter, eventually decides that she wants no part in what Zeus has accomplished, and she is punished for it. This puts Artemis on a path of revenge against her siblings, and her father.
3. With it having a Greek Pantheon theme and set in our oh-so-lovely modern times, what made you go, “Oh! Let’s go for the Divinity in this direction!”?
If you’ve read my previous work, I’ve always enjoyed playing in the past, with an exception here and there. So when I pitched this to Mad Cave’s Publisher and my editor, Chris Fernandez, the story developed and landed in the present. After seeing how everything came about, I believe it was the right call.
4. Will we only see one story arc for HKR? Or will it go beyond that?
At the end of the day, it’s up to the fans to support the title. I hope they are as excited as I about Hunt. Kill. Repeat. because I do love this series and I know everyone on the team would love to continue it as well.
5. Given your enjoyment of playing in the past, is it likely we’ll see you playing in the sandboxes of other Pantheons like the Norse and the Egyptians for example?
Not in this first arc, as we wanted to strictly focus on the Greek Pantheon. You will see Olympus and a few other surprise appearances, but if we decide to continue the series, that’s a possibility.
6. As you mentioned earlier, its been one heck of a year for the Cave due to staff expansion, the acquirement of Papercutz, and the Lunar Distribution deal. Did you ever think you and the Cave would end up coming this far as it has?
I always knew, from the moment we decided to turn the project into a real business, that to succeed, we would have to take the company to ambitious new heights. I wish it would have happened sooner, but unfortunately, COVID did slow us down from achieving certain milestones sooner. However, I do think that those two years gave us time to focus and strengthen our commitment to building one of the most successful comic publishers in the industry and we eventually got where we wanted and that’s everything you’ve seen this year.
7. You also mentioned earlier how 2023 will be even more promising, any hints there you can give?
More awesome titles, more creators that you never heard of, and also ones that you have definitely heard of. With a stable of finely crafted books that will amaze and entertain, you can expect a ton more from Mad Cave, Maverick, and Papercutz.
8. Is it safe to say Zeus is gonna regret his decisions by the end of HKR?
I can neither deny nor confirm that.
9. Given all the troubles we’ve learned about a few publishers in the last year or so, is it safe to say us fans and those working for the Cave have nothing to worry about where late payments and the like are concerned?
Mad Cave is a creator-focused company, and we treat everyone as we would like to be treated. We simply can’t fathom not paying people for the work they’ve completed. Our most important asset is our reputation, our name, which means that we stand by what we commit to and one of those aspects is paying people on time and taking care of your own.
10. As someone who has been a fan of Stefano Cardoselli’s work over the years, what led to his joining up with you and the Cave Crew? And will this be the only work he’ll be doing at Mad Cave?
I hope we do plenty more comic with Stefano. About Stefano bringing Don’t Spit in the Wind to Mad Cave, you would have to ask Mad Cave’s Publisher, Chris Fernandez, who was able to bring Stefano into the family.
11. For my final question, what’s the word on there being wearable masks of a certain creepy helmet/mask featured in Nottingham? As I’d be totally down for walking around at night wearing something like that.
Haha! All I can say is you never know what sort of awesome stuff might be coming out of the Cave next.
Huge thanks to Mark for taking part in this interview! Hunt. Kill. Repeat #1 will be available March 1st, 2023 and is currently available for pre-order!
Interview by: Rob Wrecks
