I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WIFWULF by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, & Dailen Ogden Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Title: WIFWULF
Authors: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, & Dailen Ogden (Illustrator)
Pub. Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Vault Comics
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 112
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/WILWULF
Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves and Emily Carroll's Through the Woods meet Squad (Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle), in WIFWULF - a tale of transformation, blood, and beauty that calls to the wild freedom of our true selves within each of us.
A haunting story of deep loneliness, raw wounds, wild magic, and the freedom of transformation.
Wif. Noun, Old English: A Woman; this word is also the original from which the word “wife” is derived. Contrast with “wer,” a man.
Wulf. Noun, Old English: A Wolf, a wild carnivorous mammal of the Canidae family, which lives and hunts in packs.
WIFWULF is an original folklore myth telling the story of Charity Bjornsdotter, a young woman in 1860s Montana who spends her days in the woods with her closest friend, a local wolf she calls Silver Slash. Charity is on the precipice of marriage to the most handsome man in her small village, the mercurial-yet-beloved Paul Skeld. But as her husband isolates her from Silver Slash, she begins to feel a call to the wilds...for it is there that her true destiny awaits. WIFWULF is the harrowing tale of a woman forcibly separated from that which makes her feel alive, a reinterpretation of the classic werewolf myth... and the origin story of a new goddess.
A successfully funded, beloved project on Kickstarter, WIFWULF explores a few facets of trauma but especially speaks to relationship abuse, something that has touched more than one member of the creative team. It’s a story that reminds us that even when you feel at your most monstrous, you can find your way back. But not unchanged.
It is also a story about werewolves. About bloody revenge and deep loneliness. About the secret, sad meaning behind the howls we hear from the dark forests on the darkest of nights.
Experience this haunting story in the dark of night, in whatever moonlit warren you call home – or shed your skin, embrace the night, and run wild with magic – and become forever changed.
This book contains mature content and may not be for everyone.WIFWULF contains gore, intimate partner violence, body horror, and animal death.
For fans of Emily Carroll's Through the Woods, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (specifically: The Company of Wolves), works by Kelly Link, Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties, Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle, Clarissa Pinkola Estés' Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, Kelly Armstrong's Bitten, Pretty Deadly by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Emma Rios, By Chance or Providence by Becky Cloonan, Monstress by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda, and the films The Witch and Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki).
“This just may be the most beautiful ‘werewolf’ story I’ve ever consumed in any medium.”-- Chris Shehan (The Autumnal, House of Slaughter)
"A luscious, vicious fever dream of a fairy tale about the cages we find ourselves in and the true cost of freedom. WIFWULF is the kind of story that lingers." -- Jody Houser (Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy, Stranger Things)
*Hey! Did you know we interviewed Dailen Ogden back when WIFWULF was on Kickstarter? It's true! And now, Dailen's back to chat with us, and only us!
Exclusive Interview with Dailen Ogden (2024)
Where did the idea for WIFWULF come from?
The flagship piece of WIFWULF concept art came about after I’d spent some time reading about Medeinė, the Lithuanian goddess of the forest. Though she’s often associated with Greek Artemis and Roman Diana, an important detail sets her apart—she is not the goddess of the hunters, but of the hunted. She’s a protector of the forest, and is said to wail and weep when animals are killed and trees are cut down. That first illustration really kicked everything else into gear; I wanted to explore that intersection between feral and feminine, between predator and prey.
What movies/television/books/video games inspired WIFWULF?
I think it’s impossible to talk about WIFWULF’s influences without talking about Hayao Miyazaki’s incredible film Princess Mononoke. Oftentimes when we pitch the book, we describe it as Princess Mononoke meets (Robert Eggers’) The Witch, and I think both influences are very clear in the final graphic novel. I also have to mention Becky Cloonan’s By Chance or Providence, a comic that is very nearly my bible when it comes to exploring folk horror and fantasy themes.
Do you consider WIFWULF fantasy, horror, mythology, legend, folklore – or everything blended together?
I think depending on what you bring to it, it can be all of those things—or none of them. For me, WIFWULF is a love story, albeit not a conventional romantic one.
Can you identify the universal themes in this book?
WIFWULF is, at its core, a story about reclamation. It is a story about freedom and autonomy, and about seizing those things even if the thought of doing so feels dangerous or frightening. It is a story about surrendering yourself fully to those who love you, and defending yourself against those who don’t. For me, that’s what makes it a love story—over the course of the book, Charity discovers that the ones who love you will love you in all your shapes and forms, for all the parts of you that are beautiful and the parts that are frightening.
What is addressed in WIFWULF that is still so relevant in modern society?
Werewolves, as a topic and as a theme, are deeply resonant for people because I think we can all relate to the desire to take ourselves off and become something else for a while—especially something else that is free from human expectations. In the wild, wolf packs are extremely close-knit family units, who work as a team to survive. Who wouldn’t want to take a break from themselves just to run free with a group you love and deeply trust? That’s the dream.
WIFWULF is powerful and power-filled. It’s reminiscent of both Women Who Run With the Wolves, and, at the same time, an adult Red Riding Hood (with the tale told correctly – more like Angela Carter’s The Company of Wolves).
Dailen – your heart is laid bare here. How did you channel the terror, the rage, and the beauty of women’s true wild nature and yearning for freedom? Was Charity’s transformation also yours? How do you think WIFWULF inspires women – as well as men – to reach down into their own darkness and bring forth this hidden/buried luminescence?
First off—thank you for that The Company of Wolves comparison. Angela Carter’s ornate, decadent prose has been a strong influence on both my visual and written work for many years. As for the question, the first part of it almost answers itself; all of that terror, rage, and wildness, all of the longing, the willingness to step into the unknown and be pulled apart and rebuilt from the ground up—all of that is mine. WIFWULF is an extremely vulnerable piece of work for me, and I can’t thank Jack and Collin enough for helping me put it all into words.
At a glance, WIFWULF feels very gendered (and in some ways, it certainly is) but I think there’s a universal message to take away from this—after all, anyone can experience relationship abuse. It changes you, sometimes in ways that cannot be undone. But when you finally manage to rebuild in the wake of destruction, only you get to decide what the end result will be. And if you’re brave enough to be vulnerable, to be who you really are, it grants you a strength unlike anything else.
People aren’t buildings that burn down and turn to ash, and float away, forgotten. They’re forests.
List your favorite graphic novels or comics from when you were a child and talk about how you see them as an adult.
I was—and still am—a huge fan of Sailor Moon. I was a manga kid for many years before I began reading western comics, and Naoko Takeuchi’s celebration of feminine power, determination, and love still resonates with me to this day. I think it’s a shining example of how many people you can move when you tell a story that you deeply love.
I also need to shout-out Neil Gaiman’s novella The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, with illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano. Though it isn’t a comic in the most literal sense, it still absolutely belongs among the titles that influenced me as a youngster, and upon rereading it I have realized that it parallels WIFWULF in a lot of interesting ways! It’s an amazing example of an unconventional love story, one that is less about romance and more about the sacrifices you’re willing to make to help free another person from what binds them.
Talk about your favorite (and least favorite) type of character to create/draw (Dailen) and create/write (Jackson and Collin).
My favorite types of characters to draw are esoteric, witchy, and feminine. Comics require a certain degree of visual streamlining to pull off, but when I make one-off illustrations I love to go as maximalist as I possibly can. My least favorite characters to draw are kids, but I think that’s mostly just because I’m not confident in drawing them.
What are some of your favorites (and why):
o Movies (Classic or Current)
o Books
o Series (TV/Streaming)
o Video Games
It should come as no surprise that one of my favorite movies of all time is Princess Mononoke. I’m a huge fan of anything Hayao Miyazaki directs, and recently I cried like a baby after watching The Boy and the Heron. When it comes to live-action films, I’m a fan of titles like The Green Knight, The Witch, Midsommar, and Saltburn. I love movies that don’t feel entirely cut-and-dried. As for books, I have to give it to Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, as well as Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle and Junji Ito’s Tomie. As for Television and streaming, I’m going to give it to Midnight Mass. Finally, Video Games: I never get tired of Skyrim, and I’ve probably put close to 300 hours into the Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom pair. I’d also like to shout out Yomawari: Night Alone as being an adorable and also terrifying little top down isometric horror game.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers/tour participants about WIFWULF?
We hope that when you read this book, you feel the attention and care that went into making every single page! This book was a huge labor of love, and we hope it’s as meaningful for you as it was for us to make. Thank you for reading!
About Jackson Lanzing:
JACKSON LANZING is one half of New York Times Bestselling writing partnership known as “the Hivemind,” alongside Collin Kelly. The two met in college, where they first became bitter rivals before becoming best friends. Their work in comics includes Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, Kang the Conqueror, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman Beyond: Neo-Year, Dark One (with Brandon Sanderson), Joyride, and Star Trek — for which they received a 2023 Eisner nomination for Best New Series. They also work in film, TV, games and, and are incredibly proud of their recently released middle-grade novel Thor Quest: Hammers of the Gods from Marvel Press.
They live a few minutes from one another in Los Angeles, CA — along with their wives and far too many pets — where they spend their time reading, debating, playing music too loud, and enjoying every tabletop roleplaying game they can get their hands on.
About Collin Kelly:
COLLIN KELLY is one half of New York Times Bestselling writing partnership known as “the Hivemind,” alongside Jackson Lanzing. The two met in college, where they first became bitter rivals before becoming best friends. Their work in comics includes Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, Kang the Conqueror, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman Beyond: Neo-Year, Dark One (with Brandon Sanderson), Joyride, and Star Trek — for which they received a 2023 Eisner nomination for Best New Series. They also work in film, TV, games and, and are incredibly proud of their recently released middle-grade novel Thor Quest: Hammers of the Gods from Marvel Press.
They live a few minutes from one another in Los Angeles, CA — along with their wives and far too many pets — where they spend their time reading, debating, playing music too loud, and enjoying every tabletop roleplaying game they can get their hands on.
About Dailen Ogden:
DAILEN OGDEN is a freelance comic artist, writer, and illustrator based in Colorado. Dailen is known for their esoteric art and comics, and spends their free time collecting houseplants and raising a Shepherd puppy, as well as a tarantula and a python.
Giveaway Details:
2 winners will receive finished copies of WIFWULF, US Only.
Ends May 31st, midnight EST.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
4/29/2024 | Excerpt | |
4/30/2024 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
5/1/2024 | Excerpt | |
5/2/2024 | Interview/X Post | |
5/3/2024 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
5/4/2024 | Excerpt/IG Post |
Week Two:
5/5/2024 | IG Review | |
5/6/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/7/2024 | Review | |
5/8/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/9/2024 | Review | |
5/10/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/11/2024 | Review/IG Post |
Week Three:
5/12/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/13/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/14/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/15/2024 | IG Review | |
5/16/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/17/2024 | IG Review | |
5/18/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post |
Week Four:
5/19/2024 | IG Review | |
5/20/2024 | Review | |
5/21/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/22/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/23/2024 | Review | |
5/24/2024 | Review/IG Post |