Jamie Lee Curtis teases her 'gruesome' environmental comic: 'I have a very dark mind'
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Jamie Lee Curtis is bringing some of her horror expertise to the page.
The Oscar-winning actress took over San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, revealing the first look at her upcoming horror graphic novel Mother Nature. Co-written by Russell Goldman and illustrated by Karl Stevens, the book centers on a young ecological activist named Nova Terrel, who stumbles upon a malevolent company conducting an experimental oil extraction project in her New Mexico hometown. Soon, she discovers the company's experiments have awakened an ancient horror, sparking grisly death and destruction.
Curtis spoke to a packed crowd (including more than a few audience members cosplaying as her character Deirdre Beaubeirdre from Everything Everywhere All at Once), and she explained that she'd first had the idea for Mother Nature as a teenager. "Of course, I had some gruesome deaths because I have a very dark mind," she told the audience with a laugh.
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Jamie Lee Curtis at San Diego Comic-Con 2023
Curtis explained that she wanted to write the story as a screenplay for years, and it wasn't until after the release of 2018's Halloween reboot that she started to think seriously about publishing it. It was her husband, actor Christopher Guest, who encouraged her to pursue it — first as a screenplay, and then as a graphic novel.
The result is a gory environmentalist tale — in which people are killed by freak hailstorms or crushed by collapsing oil machinery. Curtis told the audience that she hopes Mother Nature's environmentalist themes feel more timely than ever, saying, "We're f---ing the world! We need to do better. There is a possibility of change, but we are going to have to do it."
The story is set in the fictional town of Catch Creek, New Mexico, and much of the story centers on Navajo characters and mythology. Curtis, Goldman, and Stevens spent years working and collaborating with indigenous experts, including Navajo author Brian Young, who wrote the graphic novel's afterword.
Titan Comics The cover for 'Mother Nature,' written by Jamie Lee Curtis and Russell Goldman and illustrated by Karl Stevens
Curtis also teased that eventually, she's hoping to bring Mother Nature to the screen. "We may well make this into a movie at some point," she said. "That would be fun. Maybe I'll direct it, maybe I'll co-direct it, maybe I'll be in it, and maybe I'll do all of it. You know, I'm 65 years old this November, but my point is that I have no time to waste. I joke about it, but I'm going to die way sooner than later, and therefore, I have s--- to do! This is one of the things that I needed to do, and I'm excited about it."
Curtis was one of the few actors to make the annual pilgrimage to San Diego Comic-Con this year. Usually, the fan convention is a whirlwind of starry film and TV projects, with dozens of actors stopping by for panels and signings. But this year, Comic-Con falls in the middle of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, and SAG-AFTRA has prohibited its members from promoting struck film and TV projects, both past and present. (Curtis, who's been a vocal supporter of the SAG-AFTRA strike, was allowed to attend as a comic book author.) A number of planned SDCC panels and appearances were canceled.
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