Murder Chickens, Zombie Slashers and Holy Motor Oil?! Doug Wagner & Daniel Hillyard Go Completely Off the Rails With I LOVE APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE MISFITS

Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard are back together, and apparently normal was never even invited to the meeting.

The creative duo behind Plastic, Plush, Vinyl, I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer, and Narco are reuniting for I LOVE APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE MISFITS, a brand-new supernatural horror comedy graphic novel launching through The Fourth Leaf, Clover Press’s new creator-owned publishing imprint. The project is currently live on Kickstarter, and if the phrase “homicidal chickens” does not immediately get your attention, I do not know what to tell you, fam.

Wagner and Hillyard have built a reputation on comics that are violent, bizarre, funny, uncomfortable, weirdly emotional, and somehow still full of heart. Since Plastic hit in 2017, their collaborations have carved out a very specific lane where serial killers, cultists, cannibals, homicidal furries, fashion-school psychos, and all kinds of wonderfully broken people get thrown into stories that should not work nearly as well as they do. Apparently, that was just the warm-up.

I LOVE APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE MISFITS starts with a nerdy pacifist getting resurrected in a vat of holy motor oil and waking up trapped inside the hulking body of a supernatural slasher. Because clearly resurrection was not complicated enough already. He is then forced into protecting a psychic kid from the forces of Heaven, Hell, and whatever nightmare fuel decided to clock in that day.

Luckily, our boy is not walking into the apocalypse empty-handed. He has a Halloween mask, a pile of supernatural problems, and a squad of homicidal chickens ready to turn somebody’s bad day into a crime scene. Yeah. Murder chickens. Wagner describes the story as another one of his tales about friendship, family, loyalty, and people who are hilariously damaged in ways that just happen to involve extreme violence.

“People often tell me I write weird books. I don’t. I write stories about friendship, family, loyalty, and wonderfully broken people that just happen to feature serial killers, cannibals, homicidal furries, and, in the case of I LOVE APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE MISFITS, murder chickens,” Wagner said. “Somehow, Daniel and I managed to make our previous books look almost responsible, and Clover Press encouraged us every step of the way. Together, we’ve created a wonderfully weird beast that I absolutely cannot wait to unleash on the world.”

That “previous books look responsible” part might sound like marketing talk until you hear what Hillyard says they packed into this thing.

“I never could have imagined that mine and Doug’s love of the quirky and horrific would bring us to a place of crazed cultists, a Frankenstein-esque serial killer, immortal murder chickens and a zombie-driven-apocalyptic-death truck! I mean…WHAT!?” Hillyard said.

Exactly, Daniel. WHAT?! This is the kind of comic where you read the pitch twice because your brain needs a second to confirm the words are actually in the right order. Crazed cultists? Check. Frankenstein-style killer? Check. Immortal poultry with homicide in their hearts? Absolutely. Zombie-powered apocalypse truck? Of course. Why not throw gasoline on the whole damn thing while we are here? Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz apparently had the same reaction most of us would.

“When Doug and Daniel first pitched me on this, I pretty much greenlit it when they said ‘Murder Chickens,’” Kanalz said. “But at the heart of this story is the family Doug and Daniel have crafted, this is about what and who you’d die for. And Murder Chickens.”

And there it is. Underneath all the gore, insanity, mutated slashers, supernatural warfare, and poultry-fueled murder, Wagner and Hillyard are still building around the same emotional core that has made their collaborations work in the past. The lunacy gets you through the door. The characters are what keep you reading.

The new graphic novel also serves as one of the opening shots for The Fourth Leaf, Clover Press’s new publishing imprint focused on creator-owned comics and graphic novels. For Wagner and Hillyard, that setup feels like a perfect fit. These two have spent years proving that horror does not have to follow the same tired playbook, and comedy does not have to soften the brutality. Sometimes the funniest thing in the room is also carrying a chainsaw.

The Kickstarter campaign is offering several editions for collectors, including a deluxe hardcover, an exclusive Dust Jacket Edition featuring art by Chris Bachalo, and a Deluxe Slipcase Edition. Backers can also score exclusive art prints and, because this project clearly refuses to behave, a Murder Chickens Card Game.

Yes, they made the chickens playable. At this point, respect.

You can support I LOVE APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE MISFITS right now on Kickstarter.

For updates on The Fourth Leaf imprint and future Clover Press projects, follow Clover Press on Instagram, X, Bluesky, and Facebook. You can also subscribe to the Clover Press newsletter here.

Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard have already made a career out of proving that horror comics can get nasty, funny, heartfelt, and deeply strange without losing the plot. With I LOVE APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE MISFITS, they look ready to take that formula, strap it to a zombie death truck, throw in a couple of murder chickens, and drive straight through whatever was left of good taste.

Wepa.

This one sounds gloriously unhinged.