On last week’s edition of The Goggler Pull List, we reviewed a comic book series from 2014 called Extinction Parade and Extinction Parade: War written by author Max Brooks.
Extinction Parade tells the story of two vampire sisters in Malaysia and how they, and vampires in general, had to figure out how to deal with a zombie outbreak that was decimating humanity, and with it, their food source.
Laila and Min have a human manservant that has done everything for them, from doing their laundry, to doing their “laundry.” But what happens to this aristocratic class when all that is upended? When their very livelihoods and servants, who are technically one and the same, are no longer? What happens when this class of society suddenly have to not only fight for themselves, but fight for their future, that of their servants, and of their food?
In a very weird, and ultimately too short a series, Max Brooks has been able to not only tell a story about class divide, but also implanting the idea that sometimes the ones with the servants may end up being the ones enslaved by their own constructs.
The Goggler Pull List #30
When we released that review last week, we never, not in a million years, expected Max Brooks to read it. Sure, we occasionally tag creators on social media, but they almost never respond. Especially when something is 7 years old.
Max Brooks did.
Being the cheeky sods that we are, and never ones to give up a good opportunity when we see it, we asked him if he’d be up to answer a few questions about Extinction Parade. This, boys and girls, is a lesson in why you should always take your shot.
With that, here is our quick chat (that took place over a series of Twitter DMs) with author Max Brooks about his comic series Extinction Parade.
Extinction Parade: A Brief Interview With Writer Max Brooks
Goggler: Max, thank you for doing this. We just loved that you used Malaysia as a setting, and how accurate you were with all of it, from the identification cards, to the names of some of the smaller towns you used. There just isn’t enough good zombie/vampire fiction that’s set here, so we thank you for that. Why did you choose Malaysia? Was there any particular reason or familiarity with Malaysia, or was it just a random choice for a new location that wasn’t America or England?
Max Brooks: Why Malaysia? Many reasons. For starters, it was the scene of one of the most devastating and unnecessary disasters in military history: the fall of Singapore. The British might have held out so much longer against the Japanese (like Americans at Bataan) but they were so arrogant and stupid that they committed strategic suicide… like the Vampires in Extinction Parade.
Max Brooks: Like the British in World War 2, I wanted the Vampires to throw away the geographical advantage of the Malay Peninsula. This narrow choke point is one of the most defensible locations on Earth, so it’s up to the defenders to fail. I also needed a country to illustrate how bad the vampires were at dealing with change. Malaysia is perfect for that, a country that has advanced so far, so fast, that it makes our vampire’s head spin. When you add all these flavors up, you have a perfect setting for this story.
Goggler: As a Malaysian we knew that the arrogance of the British pulling away to Singapore during World War 2 was a strategic error, it just never occurred to us that they also gave away a massive strategic advantage. I love how you drew on that to parallel what the Vampires did in Extinction Parade.
Goggler: Will we ever get to see Extinction Parade: Endangered? It’s been 7 years since Extinction Parade: War and is the third part still happening at some point?
Max Brooks: I’d like to see a third instalment of Extinction Parade, but that’s up to Avatar Comics. I’m not sure why they didn’t move forward. Maybe they will some day. We’ll see.
Goggler: There was also talk about an Extinction Parade TV series, what can you tell us about where that is?
Max Brooks: There was a TV show in development, but we never got farther than a few meetings. When Thomas Tull sold Legendary Entertainment, a lot of projects got put on hold. Who knows if they will revisit Extinction Parade or if another company will take an interest in it. That’s the crazy thing about show business; projects, like zombies, are never truly dead.
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