Dark Horse Comics

FANGORIA: RAT GOD has a longer story arc than most of your past work. What made you decide to try a mini-series than a series of one-shots?

RICHARD CORBEN: In a longer story, I and hopefully the reader can get to know the characters better than in the shorter stories. Also, there is more space to develop things like mood and pacing. The elements don’t have to be immediate and in your face. With more pages, I can move the plot forward at a deliberate speed with more depth and subtly.  There is also a tendency to feel a longer story is better just because of its size, which is obviously absurd.  I personally like comics of varying lengths, short and long.  I think the longer ones are harder to do.

FANG: Mixing Lovecraftian mythology with Native American spiritualism has made for a very unique take on horror for both. What inspired you to combine these two seemingly opposite elements?

CORBEN: The original concept was to use some themes similar to those as from some of Lovecraft’s stories, such as the existence of unknown ancient civilizations. I thought a very appropriate source in such a case would be the prehistoric American tribes. I feel this is an honest approach, even though I used some real tribes as well as some I made up.