Andrew MacLean is the author and artist behind comic books such as ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times. His current project is Head Lopper, a madcap fantasy adventure. We caught up with him to talk about his latest work.
STARBURST: So, what’s Head Lopper about?

Andrew MacLean: Norgal and Agatha, a sword-swinging nomad and a severed witch’s head, respectively. They travel about, getting in fights with monsters and sorcerers, and somewhere along the way heads get cut off.

How would you describe it to an elderly relative?

I’d say it’s like Conan. It’s the only thing I can think of that they might have heard about.
How different is it from ApocalyptiGirl?

I wrote and drew the both of them, but otherwise they are different in every way. It’s visually very striking. Why that particular direction?  It’s just the way I like to draw.

The fight scenes are a bit grand. Where did the inspiration for that come from?
Probably the choreography of Samurai and martial arts films. I’m a big fan of that stuff.

It’s been described as Hellboy meets Adventure Time. Is that a fair description? Are those two things inspiration?
I’m a huge fan of Hellboy so I get that reference for sure but I’ve never really gotten into Adventure Time so I can’t say whether it’s fair or not but it’s not on my radar.

Why is fantasy so popular right now?
Probably because it’s been so unpopular for a long time. Sooner or later all genres come back around. I can only assume Game of Thrones was the major catalyst for fantasy. Then again, if not them, then someone else.

Will the hero ever shave his beard?
Nope.

What other projects do you have planned?
I’m opening an apparel/accessories company with my wife – laserwolfattack.com – but otherwise Head Lopper really takes up all of my time.

Head Lopper is available via Image Comics in graphic novel format.