Cavan Scott talks about DEAD SEAS

Dead Seas, the upcoming IDW Originals six-issue miniseries is releasing on December 21st. Dead Seas follows a cynical convict turned reluctant hero after he finds himself trapped on a sinking prison ship swarming with ghosts. Can he unite desperate criminals, pirates, and brutal guards as they try to escape a watery grave? Cavan Scott was nice enough to stop by First Comics News to answer a few questions about Dead Seas.

First Comics News: Who are the dead of the Dead Seas?

Cavan Scott: The easy answer is…everyone. In the decade before our story begins the souls of the recently departed started to return as ghosts. No one knows why, but humanity has had to cope with living their everyday lives with their dead relatives, friends and even enemies.

1^st: How do they capture the dead?

Cavan: Ghosts in the world of Dead Seas have two main weaknesses: they can’t traverse moving water and can’t bear their own reflection. So, spectres are herded into containment units using mirrors and transported to massive floating prisons called Revenant Containment Vehicles where their ectoplasm is harvested.

1^st: What do they do with the ectoplasm?

Cavan: The world has discovered that ectoplasm is a miracle cure for just about anything. Companies like Barrico process the raw gloop into medicine that is sold for astronomical amounts of money.

1^st: Why use prison labor to collect the ectoplasm?

Cavan: Because unfortunately anyone harvesting ectoplasm is quickly driven mad by the spirits. Of course, Barrico doesn’t tell convicts this. The prisoners think they’re volunteering in return for reduced sentences. Unfortunately, life expectancy on the RCVs isn’t great…and if people die, they immediately come back as a ghost!

1^st: How do corrections offices control both the prisoners and the ghosts at the same time?

Cavan: Revenant Containment Vessels are filled with hi-tech containment units that should keep the ghosts locked up. Unfortunately, conditions on the ships are usually terrible and the tech has a habit of giving up the ghost…literally.

About Author

Rik Offenberger

Rik Offenberger has worked in the comic field as a retailer, distributor, reporter, public relations coordinator, writer and publisher since 1990. He owns and operates the e-mail bases Super Hero News service, and his published works in print can be seen in The Comics Buyers Guide, Comic Retailer, Borderline Magazine, and Comics International. On the internet he has worked as a writer and/or editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama and First Comics News. He was the Public Relations Coordinator at Archie Comics for a decade. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief at G-Man Comics. For TwoMorrows Publications, Rik co-wrote The MLJ Companion with Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke, charting the history of Archie’s superheroes, and for Gemstone Publishing wrote chapters of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes.

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