Texas has a new cryptid, and it’s coming this May from Image Comics in the new series Of The Earth. A slow-burn nightmare from writers Chris Condon (Green Arrow, That Texas Blood) and Andrew Ehrich, with art by The Walking Dead’s Charlie Adlard, is a book you are going to want to put on your pull list at your local comic shop.

Tabitha “Tabby” Black is on the run and decides to hide out at her grandma’s house. But when she gets there, things seem off; there’s an unexpected oil rig in the yard, and then she finds her grandma in a basement covered in black liquid. From there, things get darker as the story unfolds into a methodically paced ecological horror story that has you guessing what’s next as the tension ratchets up.

After reading the first three issues, I was all in and can’t wait to find out what’s up with this new mysterious monster they cooked up for the comic. I chatted with Condon about his new comic, its origin, his influences, and his work with Ehrich and Adlard. After the interview, check out the cover and the first six pages from issue #1.

What is the origin behind your new comic, Of The Earth?

It originally began with a scene in the first couple of pages of the book, where it's a desolate road, and something happens with a coyote. I was just kind of taken with this scene, as somebody who cares a lot about animals, and as somebody who has pulled over for an animal that has been hit by a car. It just kind of spoke to me about who is this person that I'm writing about? With this opening scene, we kind of build into where she's going. She's going home; she hasn't been home in a while. And then where can we go from there?

The idea of making it this sort of horror exploration of things from the earth. Oil, the exploitation of the environment and nature versus humanity.

It sounds like it's kind of an environmental horror, but are there other horror subgenres you would place Of The Earth in?

Yeah, there's a bit of psychological horror and the terror in just losing the people that you love. I think there's something about going back home and finding it's not what it once was. The house is different; outside the house, there's an oil well that wasn't there before. And she's just kind of shocked by that, because her grandma would never have done that. Why would she put an oil well in? Just the horror of the unknown, I guess.

After reading the part about the grandmother and her being covered in oil, and she starts to change, is there body-horror in the story?

Kind of? Yes.

Are there any horror influences you looked to or referenced when creating your new series?

Brian De Palma is a favorite director of mine. He's like, steeped in his influences, and I'm much the same way. Andrew Ehrich, my co-writer on this, is the same way, and Charlie Adlard’s the same way. In fact, we had a poster for the book, and Charlie referenced a film in it, and it wasn't even something we discussed, but it was an Evil Dead reference [see below], and I was like, “Oh, I love this, this is exactly what I would do.”

The biggest influence, probably, especially early on, is a 1970s Australian film called Wake in Fright, I think it's one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen. It really is just about the horror of humanity. There's definitely the Hitchcockian influence in the opening; it's very much Psycho-driven. A couple of films in particular, when we were talking about this story, were Jaws and Alien. They take their time with it before showing the monster.

Tell me about collaborating with your co-writer, Andrew Ehrich, and artist Charlie Adlard.

Andrew and I both worked for Joe Dante years and years ago at Trailers from Hell. We have the exact same mindset on a lot of things, the same interests, the same likes and dislikes, and we enjoyed the same things, so we kind of just saw eye to eye, and we started writing together at a certain point. I would work on an idea, and I would kind of hit a wall with it, and I'd go “uh, you maybe want to take a crack at this with me,” and so we would just do that. None of that stuff ever saw the light of day.

I always knew I could trust Andrew, and I always felt like we had the same sensibilities, we had the same interests. So it was always on my mind to collaborate with him on something again someday. I loved the collaboration with him. We kind of handled it by each taking on an issue. I did issues 1, 3, and 5, and then half of 6; he did 2 and 4, and then half of 6. So we kind of split it up. We each did a script, and then we would revise all of the scripts together. We each did the work on a script, and then we would come back, and we would talk about it, and, you know, hammer it out, and make it feel consistent

Charlie's just fantastic. We got to know each other in 2021. We ended up doing some EC stories together. One was a silly sort of dark fantasy about the 8th dwarf. The other was sort of an esoteric horror thing. I have this new story, I think he'd be really great at. Translating that sort of sparse environment and really intense story.

With Andrew and Charlie, we have these components, we have these different pieces, and I think this is going to work out really well, and I've just been really pleased with the result. Also collaborating with Pip Martin, the colorist, who's done a fantastic job on the series, as well as our designer, Mike Tivey, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

In issue 1, you introduce the Wildcatter mythology. Can you talk about that?

I liked the idea that it sort of opens like a book. Kind of like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, where it's almost like you're introduced to this world, you're introduced to this concept, and it's like this rolling voiceover scroll. Telling you what this world is, and kind of introducing this concept, sort of bringing you out of the reality that you were in, and bringing you into the reality of the book. That was kind of the idea, to kind of introduce this mythology of this fictional monster, cryptid, whatever you want to call it.

Without spoiling anything, what can horror fans get excited about in your upcoming comic?

If you like a slow burn, I think this is the book for you. It's like a roller coaster ride, you're going up that first hill, and there's so much terror built into going up that hill. And I think that it might be so unsettling for some people that they're like, “That right there, that's the terror.” And then when we drop you, we never stop rolling, and you get hit with all of the twists and turns and drops.

Also, there's a cool monster in it. Take a look at the cover for Of The Earth below along with a sneak peek inside.