{"id":367795,"date":"2025-08-23T17:51:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367795\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:51:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:51:33","slug":"richard-van-camp-gears-up-for-next-graphic-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367795\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Van Camp gears up for next graphic novel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the success of the first graphic novel in his Wheetago War series, Richard Van Camp is ready to develop the second book in the planned trilogy.<\/p>\n

Described as the \u201cIndigenous Walking Dead,\u201d the series is set in Alberta and the NWT and features feared monsters from Dene legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an incredible story and it really showcases the beauty of being Dene from Denendeh. It really showcases the beauty of being deadly,\u201d Van Camp said.<\/p>\n

The renowned T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb author and his team have launched a Kickstarter campaign<\/a> to raise funds toward creating the new novel, which Van Camp has given the working title Angels with Antlers. <\/p>\n

People who pledge money to the project are eligible for a variety of rewards from a signed, limited edition, deluxe hard copy of the first book in the series \u2013 Wheetago War: Roth \u2013 to the chance to be depicted as a cameo character in the second novel.<\/p>\n

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Van Camp said anyone who invests will also get updates on how the series is coming along.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to have early access to see the character sketches,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Monsters and medicine<\/p>\n

According to T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb stories, a wheetago is a malevolent being that devours humans and becomes hungrier the more it eats.<\/p>\n

In Van Camp\u2019s novel, the monsters have returned after they were dug up by industry in the Alberta oil sands.<\/p>\n

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The first book follows a character, known as the child-finder, as he tries to reach his family in Edmonton and fights to retain his humanity after being bitten by a wheetago. Van Camp said as the man is holding rat root, a powerful Dene medicine, he only half turns into a wheetago. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty of Wheetago War the series is that it really is Indigenous people who are leading the charge against the wheetago, and I\u2019m really proud of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Beyond Indigenous legend, Van Camp said the series was inspired by The Walking Dead, a post-apocalyptic zombie comic book series and TV show, and what that would look like in the NWT. <\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork from Wheetago War: Roth by Christopher Shy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my books, really, they all start the same way. It\u2019s always two little words: what if?\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo this one is, what if Indigenous people \u2013 with everything we know about the wheetago \u2013 what if we used our traditional knowledge and our medicines and what we know in terms of warfare, spiritual warfare, to take them on and reclaim Mother Earth for the world?<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, it\u2019s up to the Indigenous people to save the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Camp said the third book in the trilogy will take place in the future and be titled Future War.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s brutal, it\u2019s incredible, it\u2019s epic,\u201d he described. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna make Lord of the Rings look like a slow walk to Granny\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Familiar faces<\/p>\n

Van Camp said one thing that makes his graphic novel special is Indigenous people from the NWT were used as reference models<\/a> in illustrations by artist Christopher Shy.<\/p>\n

Among the pages of Wheetago War: Roth, northerners may recognize Dwight Moses, Joel Evans and David Burke from Fort Smith, who starred in the film Three Feathers, based on the book of the same name by Van Camp. Actress, artist and traditional moose hide tanner Melaw Nakehk\u2019o and her son Oz are also depicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love using northern talent, whether as models or actors,\u201d Van Camp said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love seeing the North on the big screen, whether it\u2019s in a movie, whether it\u2019s in a TV series, or whether it\u2019s in a graphic novel. I love seeing the faces of home in all that I do.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork in Wheetago War: Roth by Christopher Shy, inspired by Melaw Nakehk\u2019o and her son Oz.<\/p>\n

Van Camp, who has been collecting comic books since he was a seven-year-old living in Fort Smith, said working on the Wheetago War series has been a dream come true. That\u2019s in part because he has been able to with artist Shy, who he described as one of his \u201cbiggest heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind-of feel like when we were working on book one I was cheating with life, because it\u2019d be Tuesday morning and I\u2019d get up to write and there\u2019d be three new panels in my Dropbox and I\u2019d be like, this is Christmas in April,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, how lucky I am to be looking at this artwork that Christopher Shy has done, using people I grew up with from Fort Smith as models \u2013 people I\u2019ve known my entire life \u2013 as heroes in this book.\u201d<\/p>\n

He quoted the words of a poster he remembers in the guidance counsellor\u2019s office at Fort Smith\u2019s Paul William Kaeser High School: \u201cThey haven\u2019t built an axe that can chop down a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

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