Category: Interviews, News
Tags: Ilias Kyriazis

Ilias Kyriazis makes us Greek comic book fans proud. A few years ago, he won the first prize in the first comics contest organized by “9″ magazine. He soon became a frequent collaborator of “9″ and quickly became known in Greece for his works Manifesto (an affectionate look in the life of twenty- something Greek slackers) and Blood Opera (a hilarious zombie epic). He also co- founded the Subart Comics team and contributed to the GIN747 and Tourta collections. Recently he participated to the Zuda project, the new webcomic imprint for DC Comics. He is the winner of the “Best Script” award in the Belgrade comics contest. He gave us this interview some months ago. Check out his work in:

 http://www.zudacomics.com/melody

iliaskrzs. deviantart.com

Interview by Dimitris Kontogiannis

CnB: Who were your biggest inspirations in terms of writing and art?

 I K: Life? I dunno… things that see around me.

 CnB: I think Blood Opera is one of the most interesting things you ‘ve ever done. These days the culture is again saturated with Zombie films, comics, books, etc, but at the time it was a truly original spin on that genre. How did the idea come about?

 I K: Thank you. Well, basicaly Ι wanted to do an action story (something quite uncommon for “9″ back in the day) and I had this idea of a guy seeking revenge three days before the end of the world. The zombie thing came as an afterthought. I need someone for the hero to fight, I always liked zombies, so…

CnB: I am sure you are sick of answering this question, but to what extent was Manifesto autobiographical? It seemed to touch a very specific nerve with people my age.

I K: Well, I get asked a lot… but I rarely answer. Lol. I think that it’s not important for the reader to know what is based on reality and what not. He or she should accept it as a comic story and judge it on its own merits.

Besides that it’s a good thing that people seem to like it. I like it too

 CnB: Will there be any more SUBART issues?

 I K: Naaah! Subart’s been dead for ages. The closest thing to the spirit of Subart we did afterwards was BLAST Comics by Giganto.

 CnB: What kind of music are you into these days? 

 I K: Currently on winamp: Ladyhawk, Nirvana, MGMT, Meatloaf, Rhapsody and a couple of musicals.

CnB: What comics are you reading at the moment?

I K: I read lot’s of stuff. Mainly american comics with a touch of manga. I enjoy all Urasawa’s books (Monster, Pluto, 20th century boys), Bendis’ work on Avengers, Criminal, Wet Moon and I follow many indy artists like Tomine or Clowes whenever they have a new book.

CnB: There seems to be an endless succession of films that are based on comics these days. Recently we have had The Dark Night, Watchmen, Iron Man, etc etc. What do you think of this trend?

 I K: As a movie viewer it’s a fun distraction. As a comics fan I don’t care much one way or another. As a comics professional I hope I get to sell a movie option and become rich.

Only a handful of these are actually good movies (Ghost World, Sin City…) most of them are just ok and many are awful.

CnB: What are your plans for the immediate future? Will you be doing more work for DC’s Zuda webcomics?

I K: I cannot reveal anything until it’s time. About Zuda, I hope so… I’m pitching a new series to them soon.

About the Author: CnB