Interview with Luke Milton, creator of ‘Animals Rule This Land’

In anticipation of the launch of the graphic novel Animals Rule This Land on Kickstarter, Black Panel Press interviewed the author and artist, Luke Milton. The following was discussed:

1. Who is Luke Milton?
2. What is Animals Rule This Land About?
3. What inspired the creation of Animals Rule This Land?

Who is Luke Milton?

“Hi, I’m Luke Milton. I’m the writer and artist of “Animals Rule This Land.” I live in Perth, Western Australia, and this is my debut graphic novel.

I’ve always been passionate about comics, but I’ve had a long break from drawing. I pursued other things like writing and directing in theater for 10 years. I’ve done photography, podcasts, and graphic design. But this is my opportunity to finally bring all those things together and use my skills to produce my first of what I hope is many new graphic novels to delight and entertain you.”

What is Animals Rule This Land about?

“‘Animals Rule This Land’ is a graphic novel about a guy, an everyday guy who gets caught in an asteroid shower, gets knocked unconscious, and wakes up as the only human left in a town full of freshly evolved, walking, talking, clothes-wearing opportunistic, erratic animals. This is a trope we’re familiar with, and it should be something pleasant. But for the guy, it’s not pleasant because although these animals claim they want to be civilized and that everything’s okay, there’s clearly something darker under the surface. So it’s kind of a black comedy, folk horror take on a familiar trope where a fish out of water tries to navigate this brand new world where everything should be happy, friendly, cute, and fun. But nothing’s quite as it seems, and he has to figure out what’s really going on and hopefully find his pet cat, Franklin, who he loves very much.”

What inspired the creation of Animals Rule This Land?

“I created this graphic novel during lockdown. I’ve always been passionate about comics, but I had a big break, and that was something that inspired me to get back on the wagon and start drawing again. I think this story particularly struck me because everybody was having the shared experience of playing games like Animal Crossing. I started to really think about the loneliness and separation that people were feeling in the real world and what it would be like to be the only human on an island full of animals. It reminded me of those folk horror stories where people go to a village or somewhere where everything’s quite perfect on the surface, but there’s something sinister lurking underneath. It just really appealed to me to explore that.

Why did I create this graphic novel? I think it was because, inside me, there’s this beast.”

Animals Rule This Land is set to launch on Kickstarter. Click here to get notified when it launches.