FEATURE: THE ART OF THE NEEDLE DROPS... PART ONE

Featuring our aforementioned cannibal DJ, The Needle Drops... Volume One intertwines an illustrated comic strip - Desert Drive - with contributed fiction pieces that delve into the many subgenres and niches hidden in the shadows of horror.

Desert Drive opens in a bleak wasteland, as a lone station wagon signals the descent of sunlight. Unruly mutants of various trappings skulk in the underbrush of a mischievous and cruel desert. Illustrated by talented pen & ink artist Thom Simpson, his art seeks to encompass that pulp feel we've established with our design - taking our signature style to a whole new level.

Illustrated by talented pen & ink artist Thom Simpson, the illustration seeks to encompass that pulp feel we've established with our design - taking our signature style to a whole new level.

As seen above and below, the black and white textured approach lends itself to our pulp vibe. "When you’re working visually, you’re trying to convince the viewer not that what they’re seeing is necessarily real, but that it has its own form, its own tangibility - for me, that’s the most important part about creativity." says Thom, particularly of note when considering the construction of our own mythos.

A Snippet of our Opening Panel

Texture enables Thom to create striking landscapes where ink is the defining factor. As our story follows our central character midway through a journey across the drudgery of the desert highway, we can see the darkness reflected in Thom's detailing, evoking a stunning atmosphere to the panels.

Details from the 'Prologue'

Thom doesn't hesitate to get his hands dirty either, with close-ups that lend themselves to his distinctive visual flair with grim details highlighted in all their glory. "The visual meat to the formative bones".

The descent of sunlight and beginning of our tale

Telling an episodic story across multiple Volumes allows us to limit the scope in storytelling, too. Hyper detailed vignettes of a slow-building mythos is the format The Needle Drops... seeks to resemble. The devil's in the details. But each need to compliment the anthology as a whole - another gruesome tale amongst its peers: and at Urhi, we're ambitious by nature.

Meet Dave

Desert Drive itself is told over three parts situated throughout The Needle Drops... Volume One - connecting our stories in a unique manner, thanks to our cannibal DJ. Stay tuned for an upcoming feature where we finally meet our questionable host...

A final tease

Don't forget that Urhi Supporters will have exclusive early access to the prologue panels in their complete form, before the launch this summer. The full 17-page spread will be featured in The Needle Drops... Volume One, now available for pre-order. We've plenty more to share in the coming weeks...

Support Thom directly over at FoxCult, and follow him on Instagram (@thom_simpson, @_foxcult_) for more information.

Until then.