Exclusive Interview: Joshua Williamson Discusses Frostbite And Ideas For A Sequel

Since last summer, Joshua Williamson has become a force to be reckoned with at DC. Odds are it probably has something to do with his stellar work on The Flash, which led to him getting the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad gig. But one of his projects that none should overlook is that of his recently concluded Vertigo miniseries, Frostbite.

Needless to say, it was indeed the scribe’s take on the Scarlet Speedster that instilled confidence in me to give his post-apocalyptic thriller a read and, much to my delight, it quickly became one of my favorite titles to be published by the mature imprint over the past year. Maybe I should’ve been paying better attention and noticed that it was a limited run as opposed to an ongoing, but you can imagine my sadness upon discovering the “of 6” in a Diamond listing a few months back. Still, it remains a remarkable standalone work and is deserving of any science fiction fan’s time.

Telling the story of a young woman named Keaton, Frostbite follows her journey in a world that has since been consumed by deadly frigid temperatures that are in stark contrast to the unseasonably warm winter we in the Detroit area have been enjoying. Needless to say, I hope to never experience such an extreme situation in my lifetime.

Anyway, it’s not long before the lead gets swept up in a tale full of intrigue, deceit and action worthy of a big budget adaptation. Oh, and there happens to be this disease called “frostbite” running rampant that slowly turns the infected into ice. Amazingly, the author was seemingly able to block Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice from his head and avoid constant usage of ice puns, although I fully admit I wouldn’t have held it against him if he went down that road.

What follows are a few questions concerning this week’s finale – and the property as a whole – that Williamson graciously took the time to answer for us in a recent interview. We’ll warn you now though that possible spoilers lie ahead.

WGTC: It’s safe to say there’s been no shortage of post-apocalyptic stories in recent years. How did you manage to put such a fresh spin on the genre with Frostbite?

Joshua Williamson: We didn’t focus on the world building as much. Played it fast and loose with the science and just set up the characters and let them tell the story. It was more of a priority for me to make the two main leads, Keaton and Vic, engaging. Give clues as to the world around them, and let the reader fill in the blanks.

Two post-apocalyptic stories I liked that were obvious influences were Mad Max: Fury Road and Snowpiecer, but both of those had one thing in common in that they were still in the mourning stage of the apocalypse. I wanted our version to be so many years later that humanity survived and had rebuilt a little bit. They were used to the new normal of their lives. It wasn’t so much still on the move and with people in torn clothes with no power. I wanted humanity to have moved on a little bit from the apocalypse that created the new Ice Age… BUT introduce a NEW looming apocalypse with the Frostbite disease.

WGTC: Not to spoil much, but I certainly think the ending of issue #6 lends itself to a sequel. Do you see one happening in the near future and, if so, have you started forming any ideas?

JW: It depends on a lot of factors. Sales, obviously. If the trade sales warrant it. If some kind of demand pops up. At first, I was hesitant to go with that ending but decided to just tell the story how we wanted. And that was the ending we wanted.

I have ideas for the next series. We’ll see. It would be a blast to write Keaton again with the new role she has in the end.

WGTC: From the very first issue, I thought Frostbite lent itself well to a film or TV adaptation, especially if it were on a network such as SyFy. Do you too see the potential for such a thing happening and would you like to see it come to fruition?

JW: That would be fun. I’ve had a few comics of mine adapted for television and it’s super surreal but interesting. Hard to describe the experience. But with Frostbite I could see it being on television, sure. It’s such a different type of survival show and I think our lead characters would be compelling for a larger audience.

That concludes the first part of our interview with Joshua, but be sure to check back soon to see what he had to say about The Flash. In the meantime, treat yourself by picking up a copy of Frostbite #6 at your local comic shop.