DUSTIN: Okay let’s start with the most obvious question… how big are your balls for naming a comic HOLY F*UCK or just HOLY FUCK if you will?
NICK MARINO: HAHAHA! Knowing what she knows, that question would put a smile on my fiancée's face.
The official title is "Holy F*ck" and it isn't what we intended to name the book at first! But after we discovered that "The Bible 2" was taken, Daniel and I brainstormed a list of nearly 40 ridiculous options. These included: "Super Action Jesus", "Two Gods, One Nun", and "The Bible Too: Look Who's Bibling Now!" (which was the runner-up to Holy F*ck).
DUSTIN: I’m going to use your words to ask part of this next question. Where did the idea for “a sacrilegious satire sprinkled with action and adventure” come from? There must be a story behind this story.
NICK: About four years ago, I started developing The Bible 2. Hell, I even bought thebible2.com!!! The basic premise was: what if Hollywood made a sequel to The Bible set in the present? It would have sex, a hero-villain team up, and lots of violence.
I intended to draw the story myself. But I'm a slow and lazy cartoonist. Figuring I would never find a collaborator who'd want to tell this crazy story with me, I abandoned the concept.
DUSTIN: What can you or rather should you tell the audience about the story for HOLY F*CK?
NICK: You can read this story and accept everything at face value if you want. It's macho Jesus with a machine gun shooting at Zeus and Isis. It's funny and weird. Easy, right?
But there's a lot more going on underneath the hood. It's a tale about choice, determination, and authority.
From my perspective, this is really Sister Maria's story. She's the one who finds Jesus. She's the one who brings him to Satan. She's the one who's actively going after the mythological gods and trying to stop their oppressive agenda.
However, if that's too heady for you... LOOK!!!!! Jesus and Satan with big guns! Zeus and Isis with nuclear missiles! Nudity and profanity!!!
DUSTIN: How did you come to work with Daniel Arruda Massa on the book and was it difficult finding an artist that not only was cool with the subject matter, but that could also bring it to life?
NICK: In the spring of 2013, I was podcasting with Kaylie McDougal on my now retired podcast network, the AudioShocker. Somehow The Bible 2 came up in our conversation and I told her about how bummed I was that the story was dead in the water.
But I got lucky because Daniel listened to that episode and left a comment that basically said, "I'd draw The Bible 2." I got in touch with him lickety-split and we started working on it immediately.
We took my original idea for The Bible 2, stripped it down, re-plotted the story together, and then we spent the next nine months writing and drawing Holy F*ck!
Trying to find a collaborator who wanted to tell this f*cked up story with me wasn't just difficult... it was practically impossible! No one other than Daniel would have approached it with such passion and dedication.
DUSTIN: Who designed Satan? Because the glasses, the mustache, the polo, the fanny pack and the shorts crack me up just thinking about it. FOLLOW UP: If people tattoo Satan on their body will they get a free copy of the first issue?
NICK: Satan's awesome design is all Daniel!!! I think the extent of my design input was, "maybe he could wear some tight bike shorts?" Daniel just ran with this character and breathed hilariously bizarre life into him.
And if someone got a tattoo of Daniel's Satan design? I'd have to do something pretty special for them. Yeah, I'd definitely hook them up with something sweet...
DUSTIN: How’d the book end up at Action Lab: Danger Zone?
NICK: I emailed them. (Along with every other publisher accepting online submissions... and even a few that weren't!)
Knowing that our subject matter would be a tough sell, Daniel and I completed the entire story ahead of time (with the exception of colors and covers). Action Lab Entertainment has a submission email listed on their website, so I shot them a pitch with a link to the completed story.
A few months later, Jason Martin and Dave Dwonch got back to us. They liked Holy F*ck and they wanted it for the Danger Zone imprint. Our goals were a good fit with what they were offering so we signed on with them.
DUSTIN: Is there anything you can tease about the first issue or the series in general?
NICK: Daniel and I have worked our asses off to craft a diverse cast of wild and weird personalities who end up in some situations that are truly bonkers. We've got outrageous jokes, plot twists, character drama, big action, and intense suspense.
And remember my buddy Kaylie that I mentioned earlier? She did a couple of variant covers for Holy F*ck #3 that are... well, it's tough to describe them. Dripping with juicy beefcake? I guess that's the best way to say it.
Remember that Holy F*ck will be out in December from Action Lab's Danger Zone imprint so be sure that you pre-order it now at your local comic shop. Be sure to follow Nick on Twitter at NickMarino.