TIM BACH returns to THE FAMILY GRAVES, unearthing another tale with the I SCREAM SPECTACULAR
- Andrew Irvin
- 18 hours ago
- 11 min read
Tim Bach is back in the Yeti Cave with Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, marking a return to The Family Graves, with the I Scream Spectacular on Kickstarter through August 15th.
COMIC BOOK YETI: Welcome back to the Yeti Cave, Tim! The Family Graves has been a topic of conversation before over here, but this is the first time we’ve had a chance to chat. How are you feeling about the campaign so far?
TIM BACH: It’s a pleasure to be back. First, let me say thanks for all you do to promote independent comics. Comic Book Yeti is a rare resource in that it puts the spotlight on comics from truly independent creators and publishers. So thanks for that.
The campaign is going well. This is my first time crowdfunding something, and I didn’t really know what to expect. Seeing people respond positively and backing the campaign has been great. We met our funding goal on day 12—and that was an amazing feeling! We have a few days left, and people keep supporting the comic. It’s so great to hear from backers and see people’s enthusiasm. When you create comics, you always want readers to find your book and enjoy it. And this has been really exciting to see people back us.
CBY: We appreciate recognition of the effort that the team here puts into keeping indie creators at the forefront of our platform. Hopefully this interview brings some new comic readers into the fold on what you’re up to, as well! For those who haven’t gotten up to speed with The Family Graves, you’re offering issues #1-4 as part of the campaign. Can you tell us a bit about the story leading into the I Scream Spectacular?
TB: The Family Graves is a mixed-up family of monsters—a werewolf dad, medusa mom, teen siren, fish-boy, and an adorable baby zombie. In the first story arc, they discovered a set of magical mirrors filled with dark energy and then had to race across dimensions to prevent a chronal vampire from devouring the space-time continuum and destroying reality. While bouncing across multiple worlds, they were split up, endangered, and forced to confront a lot of realities in their own lives.
CBY: Saving the space-time continuum is about as high stakes as you can take things, I'd say. So The Family Graves: I Scream Spectacular is a 30-page one-shot, already completed. You mention its audience includes, “fans of The Incredibles, the Universal Monsters, Hellboy, Lost in Space” and superhero sci-fi run amok. What sets this family apart from the rest of the comics landscape?
TB: The Family Graves is about horror, humor, heroics, and heart. So while it’s definitely spooky and macabre, it’s mostly an adventure comic with a real classic comics feel to it. The Family Graves is escapist in that it’s the antithesis to "grimdark." It’s the antidote to the daily news cycle. It’s feel-good fiction for a reality that’s not so great right now.
There’s a place for apocalyptic nihilism in fiction, but there’s just so much of that now. Family Graves is, in the end, a positive experience told with sincerity and heart. We’re not afraid to be real or to have fun.
We think of Family Graves as being in that classic mode of Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, Gremlins, and Monster Squad. There are plenty of thrills and chills and even family dysfunction and drama, but it’s all sort of rated PG and coming from a place where heroes get to be heroes and save people. It’s a book that an adult is going to enjoy—and then enjoy again when they share it with their teenager or even middle schooler.
CBY: Finding the right time to share spooky content is always a bit of a fuzzy exercise—it’s funny you mention Gremlins, as that was the first movie I showed my kids that actually scared them, which I didn’t remember having the darkness you mentioned aiming away from with this title—but it’s all about the sensorial blend of motifs, isn’t it? As you mentioned, this superhero team consists of an interesting mix of characters from mythology and folklore - were there any extended family members you’d considered but omitted due to page constraints?
TB: This is a world where supernatural creatures live side by side with humans, in relative peace. It’s completely normal here for a goblin to walk down the street or for a minotaur to be your barista. So the main and side characters are all different types of beings, and I have a whole family tree of characters I want to introduce over time. So, yes, there is never enough room in a single issue to get in every creature, but with a world like this, one of the cool things is how artist Brian Atkins is always slipping elves or insect people (or whatever) into background shots, making the world that much more fantastic.
CBY: I like that the worldbuilding allows you room for that sort of character range. Apart from their superpowers and inhuman appearance, the Graves family seems to deal with many issues and engages in behavior any regular human family might. Are there any archetypal figures or actual family members who have informed your depiction of these characters since their first appearance?
TB: Right. It sounds funny to say it, but in this family of monsters, readers are going to find real people—a real family, one they can recognize and relate to. As to where that comes from… I’m not sure. The first series was written when my son was eight or nine, and Brian began working on it just after his first child was born, so we were both new-ish dads, and I think you can see a lot in that first series about fathers and sons. And as we continue, we’re exploring all the ties within a family between spouses, siblings, grandparents, and so on.
I suppose the portrayal of marriage comes from my parents. They had a real loving marriage, and I wanted to portray that love and support. Our life wasn’t perfect, but my parents provided a wonderful model of what a marriage could be—even as my brother and I were driving them crazy. We see a lot of bad relationships in fiction—and life—and I knew when I created Phil and Bjanka that I wanted them to be the supportive partners my parents were. But there’s not one particular person who inspired a character or situation directly.
CBY: It’s worth acknowledging you haven’t brought this story to the world on your own; you’ve mentioned Brian Atkins co-created The Family Graves, but you’ve also included Marco Della Verde, Frederick Hornung, and Joshua Jensen in the mix for the new one-shot. Can you tell us a bit about how you and Brian met, and how everyone else initially became involved in the project?
TB: Brian and I met at a con. I had known his brother, Robert, before that, and Brian was tabling at a con with Robert. Brian and I started talking, and I was immediately impressed with his work and his story skills. A few weeks later, I reached out to see if he would make a comic with me, which became Gargoyle By Moonlight. For both of us, that was our first full-length comic. Working with Brian was so much fun—and we both really learned so much. So soon after that, when I had a chance to pitch a book to a publisher, and I knew I wanted Brian to be a part of it. I brought him this idea I’d been working on in different forms over the years and we developed it into The Family Graves.
Joshua Jensen was recommended to me by some comics friends. As soon as I saw his work I wanted to work with him, and I’m so fortunate that he joined the team. He has an amazing way of setting the mood and action, of conveying depth and setting. He just intuitively gets the story and what we’re trying to accomplish in each scene and brings a wonderful collaborative spirit to everything we’ve worked on together.
Marco Della Verde has been a letterer on most of my projects. We met several years ago through Comics Experience—Andy Schmidt’s online school and community for comics. Marco is such a talented letterer and overall production designer—and he does so much of the work of making a comic a comic. I really value his craftsmanship and input.
The I Scream Spectacular is the first time I’ve been able to work with Frederik Hornung, but I’ve admired his work online for a while. He’s a great monster-maker and horror artist. I was especially drawn to the retro E.C. Comics nature of his work. He can be scary and spooky, but there’s also a lightness in there. And since The Family Graves is more spooky than full-on gory horror, I knew Frederik would strike just the right tone, and he did. His retro variant looks like it was pulled off the shelves of a 1950s spinner rack.
CBY: Your original run of The Family Graves came out through Source Point Press. Can you share a bit about how this title initially found a home there, and how the publishing arrangements have changed up for this release?
TB: I mentioned Andy Schmidt above. He’s a former editor at Marvel and IDW, and he recently became the EIC at Boom! Studios. He has a real heart for creators and a love of comics, and he saw how hard it was for unknown creators to get their comics published and wanted to do something about that. Long story short, he connected with Source Point Press to create an imprint there.
Source Point was a real force at conventions, being at multiple cons almost every week of the year; big cons, mid-size, and little regional ones—even just toy shows. They had an incredible distribution system hand-selling books at cons to readers and selling direct to retailers. It was very successful, and on top of that, they were just moving into the direct market with a deal with Diamond. So it was the perfect time to get onboard.
At the same time, a lot of Source Point’s books have a horror vibe and they had quite the following. When The Family Graves came along, we were a perfect fit for their audience. And since our book was more all-ages than some of their horror books, we were a great addition to their lineup.
It was a really great relationship. I went to a bunch of conventions and the Source Point crew was awesome everywhere I went. I really learned a lot from them. They always did right by us. The book did well, and Brian and I had a second mini-series in the works. But the book didn’t come together as fast as we’d hoped. And by the time we ramped up and were ready, Source Point Press had changed their focus away from individual issues and to releasing full OGNs.
We had some opportunities with other publishers, but the chaos with Diamond has dramatically changed the publishing landscape. The deals that were there—they aren’t there anymore. Plus there are even fewer publishers these days that will allow you to own and control your work.
So we decided to believe in ourselves and go directly to the comics readers with this one. And it’s very gratifying to find support out there for The Family Graves. We specifically designed the I Scream Spectacular to be new-reader friendly. We wanted to introduce the book to a new audience while also building on the world of the first series. That’s also why we made the first four issues available in print and digital for the Kickstarter. People can jump on board fresh, or catch up. But the one-shot is a self-contained adventure that’s easily accessible.
CBY: The Family Graves is not your only title, either. At Moonrise Comics, you’ve got other titles such as Gargoyle By Moonlight and Guitar Phantasy available. What else do you have out in the world, and is there anything you’ve got coming up that you’d like to mention here?
TB: Thanks for mentioning those books. If people like street-level monster-punching supernatural adventure, I really recommend Gargoyle By Moonlight to them. I always tell people it’s like Hellboy taking a walk down Yancy Street.
I’ve teased it online, so I think it’s okay to tell people here as BREAKING NEWS, a CBY EXCLUSIVE: there is more Family Graves on the way! We have a four-issue mini-series that will be launching right after we fulfill this first campaign. So look for a new Kickstarter campaign launching from us in October! I can’t give the story away: but there will be witches!
CBY: Witches certainly have their fans (and I count myself among them), so I'm sure folks will be looking forward to the next batch of stories. I also appreciated that you set the story in Chicago, as a fellow Midwesterner and former Chicagoan. Is there a reason you opted for Chicago as the setting over your St. Louis locale? Also, was there a rationale behind opting to utilize a real city instead of a fictitious metropolis?
TB: Yeah, it’s good to represent the Midwest. The Family Graves live in Chicago for one main reason that’s kind of boring. In the first book—no spoilers—a key story point involves a solar tower that heats up water and provides electricity. Chicago is right on Lake Michigan, obviously, and I’ve always loved the way the city is nestled against the water. It’s a gorgeous skyline. I liked the idea of having the tower near the lake and then being able to siphon water into the tower. Sports fans know there’s a huge multi-sport rivalry between our cities, but even though I’m from St. Louis, I really do like Chicago as a town. It’s a great city with amazing museums and things to do. And it’s home to one of my favorite cons: C2E2, which has always been a blast.
The Family Graves is such a fantastical, crazy world of creatures and monsters. Setting it in a real locale really helps to ground it, but also heighten the fantasy at the same time. Recognizable locations tend to put the reader at ease, but then you throw a centaur in there, and all of a sudden, there’s a shift internally, like, okay, this is not what I thought might happen. And then anything can happen. So I like giving the reader a sense of the comfortable or predictable and then twisting things from there.
CBY: Ah, I'd call that reason more "practical" than "boring," and the rationale for opting with a real place makes sense in the broader context of subverting expectation. Beyond a grounding in a real setting, you’ve drawn from myth, legend, and folklore for the cast of The Family Graves. Given the opportunity, are there any specific characters from across the broader fiction landscape for which you would like to write a story in the future?
TB: Not to look like I’m pandering here, but I’ve always loved our North American Yeti, Bigfoot. There are a lot of…let’s say, less than great Bigfoot movies and stories out there. The first time I saw Bigfoot was probably the classic Six Million Dollar Man version in reruns somewhere. Yes, those episodes are hokey, but to me as a kid, it was all so terrifying and magical at the same time. I just love the whole lore and world around Bigfoot even today. And I would love to recreate that same magical scariness I felt when I was a kid and do it for a new generation.
I’m also a massive fan of the original Universal Monsters. I’d like to tackle some mummies and vampires too.
CBY: Yeah, Lon Chaney Jr.'s The Wolfman was my personal favorite as a kid. To close, we always offer creators an opportunity to share unrelated work that’s providing inspiration. What other comics, or films, music, literature, and other art has been catching your attention lately?
TB: Again, not sucking up to the Yeti, but have you read The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster by John O’Connor? He traveled all over the country searching for Bigfoot, talking with believers and folklorists. He writes about what the search for Bigfoot means. It’s a wonderful read all about the supernatural and America and what we choose to believe.
I also just read Toby Barlow’s Sharp Teeth. It’s a werewolf novel that’s part crime thriller, part supernatural tragedy as rival factions collide in sunny Southern California. It’s fast-paced and beautifully written. (Don’t let the fact that it’s formatted like free verse scare you away. You don’t even notice the formatting after two pages.)
Other than that, I’ve kind of been on a classics kick watching a lot of old westerns and B&W movies. But I did recently watch Drop, which is a taut thriller that reminds us about all the evil we let into our lives with our devices and apps.
CBY: Tim, thanks for sharing your work and a list of great recommendations! We’ve dropped the campaign link into the mix, but now is the time for any portfolio, publication, and social media links you’d like to share.
TB: Thanks for allowing me to connect with your audience. I’m most active on Bluesky and Instagram, but I’ve also listed my Facebook link too. Besides www.moonrisecomics.com, I can be found here:
Bluesky: @timothybachstuff.bsky.social
Instagram: @timothybachstuff
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