Pop culture meets vampire sub-culture in Mark Ricketts and Micah Farritor’s
Night Trippers from Image Comics, which hit store shelves this week. The
idea behind the one-shot original graphic novel is that vampires are
manipulating the masses through their invasion of popular culture, specifically
through the music industry.

“I was influenced by those sixties
artists/hucksters who developed and packaged pop idols behind-the-scenes,”
said Ricketts. “Guys like Justin De Villeneuvre, who transformed a skinny
young schoolgirl into a world-wide fashion sensation he named
Twiggy.”

But don’t be fooled by the light-hearted artwork and
colorfully rainbow cover, Night Trippers is an all-out bloodbath set in
the streets of London, during the mad-cap ’60s. According to Ricketts,
Trippers features all the trappings of the music entertainment industry
with an evil ulterior mixed in for good measure.

“I’d like to think
we’ve made ritual sacrifice, arson, torture, manipulation, bloodletting, brutal
murder, megalomania and the prospect of total anarchy fun again – joyful
even,” said Ricketts.

Check out the Night Trippers website
at www.nighttrippers.com
for more info and podcasts featuring ’60s-esque music by Epicycle and fictional
interviews.