The following is an interview with artist Abigail Jill Harding regarding the recent release of the concluding issue of Ask for Mercy: Season 3. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Harding about the fan excitement heading into the final issue, the shared creative process of working with writer Richard Starkings, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: With so much hanging in the balance within the final issue, what are you most excited for readers to experience?
Abigail Jill Harding: It’s a BIG finale, with BIG monsters! And dare I say something special at the end. It’s amazing how our characters have evolved.
BD: What can you tell us about your shared creative experience in bringing this apocalyptic story to life along with writer Richard Starkings?
AJH: It’s been awesome; working with Richard is really fun. We bounce ideas and drawings back and forth to each other, rather like one would play tennis. It’s a really engaging way to work and bringing stories together. This one was very much the same. It was decided pretty quickly we would jump back to the present and for it to be an alien invasion of sorts. I remember saying to Richard at the beginning, “We should, like, totally see the Hybrid sitting atop the York Minster.” Here we are.
BD: Looking back at the entirety of Season 3 and the phenomenal critical and fan response that it has received, what has been the most fun creative aspect of bringing this season to life?
AJH: It’s been incredible. To base it in a place both Richard and I are familiar with, it’s practically home. Drawing the streets and buildings we have both walked past. At one stage, Richard mapped out the escape route via both the script and google maps by saying, “Okay, so the LandRover is going to stop outside that Café Nero we went to during Thought Bubble.”
BD: What makes ComiXology Originals the perfect home for Ask for Mercy?
AJH: ComiXology boasts such an impressive library. The accessibility of comics now, even from home. You can pick up entire books and read them anywhere from electronic devices. But also having the opportunity to have print versions, too. I feel it’s perfect for Ask for Mercy.
BD: Are there any other upcoming projects on which you are working that you are able to share with our readers?
AJH: As of right now? I got a few things cooking. I just started a small project with Richard, which I am really excited about. Drawing a haunted forest.
The other being A Parliament of Rooks. It’s in the slow-cooker right now, but I do hope to one day develop it into a comic. Plenty of Victorian Gothic horror, birds, demons, and witchcraft.
