Dark Horse Comics: What do you think your work on the comics Zombies Calling and the dystopian Ice did to help bring the Last of Us comic to life?
Faith Erin Hicks: It’s really nice having those two comics under my belt, both a zombie comic (I know, The Last of Us isn’t technically a zombie comic; the “zombies” are actually “infected”) and a dystopian comic, as it made the Last of Us world a little bit more familiar. I’ve drawn creepy, scary, gross things before, and I’ve drawn societies crumbling after a traumatic event, so I was able to build on those previous skills and make the art in The Last of Us: American Dreams extra creepy, scary, and gross, and draw even more beautifully decaying buildings.
DHC: What obstacles did you run into while working on the series?
FEH: Working within the twenty-two-page pamphlet format was a new challenge. Previous to The Last of Us: American Dreams I’d only worked in the graphic novel or webcomic format, where page count is not as important. With a graphic novel I usually have a general estimate of the length of the work, but I can compress or decompress scenes within it as needed (unless I go absolutely crazy and turn an anticipated two-hundred-page book into a five-hundred-page book, but that hasn’t happened…yet). When I wrote scripts for the first three issues of The Last of Us, they all ended up being twenty-three pages, so I had to go back and compress some sequences. The final Last of Us script ended up being twenty-one pages, so I actually had more space to work in that one, which was great.
DHC: What particular themes arose from this series as you were working on it? Were they planned or a surprise?
FEH: We really wanted this comic to be a coming-of-age story in a horrific postapocalyptic setting. Characters were dealing with issues of agency, of trying to transition from being dependent children to making adult decisions about their future, but at the same time, they’re living in this dangerous postapocalyptic world. The themes evolved fairly naturally out of discussions Neil, our former editor Rachel, and I had about the story; I’m really glad we got to work them into this comic. The best postapocalyptic/zombie stories always have something to say about the human experience.
DHC: What was it like working in the sandbox of a world created for a video game?
FEH: It was really cool! Part of that was that I liked the Last of Us world so much. I really enjoy character-driven survival/horror stories, and I remember being immediately drawn to the Last of Us previews I saw online, even before I got the job drawing and cowriting the comic. I’m mostly known for my original work, but it’s great fun being invited into someone else’s world to create characters and stories. I’m really glad I got the chance to work on this comic.
DHC: What’s one thing readers might not know about Ellie from reading the comic series?
FEH: Ellie is kind of a nerd for video games! You’ll see some of her fondness for them in issue #2.
DHC: If you had a superpower, what would it be?
FEH: The ability to make Diet Coke appear at will. I’m always running short when deadlines are looming and don’t have time to run to the store to pick up more. I am a comic-making machine fueled by caffeine.