Daniel Hillyard and Doug Wagner of THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE Talk About the Series and More

To celebrate 15 years of The Ride, Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard created The Ride: Burning Desire. The final issue of that series is dropping on Wednesday and I’ve been lucky enough to ask a few questions of Hillyard and Wagner regarding the series and what to expect in the future. You can find an exclusive preview for the final issue over here.

1. Why go back and bring The Ride back?

Doug: The premise behind THE RIDE is just one of those with endless possibilities. There’s this ’68 Camaro out there, and if it happens to make its way into your life, it brings karma with it. I love it! You can write crime noir, high-octane action, horror, comedy. It’s all available to you.

Add to that, THE RIDE was my first foray into the creator-owned space and also relaunched my writing career, so I will always have a special place in my heart for this book and for what it’s done for me. When Keven Gardner (President of 12-Gauge Comics) casually mentioned we should do something special for the 15th anniversary, I lost my mind with excitement. Then he added that we should revisit Samantha Vega, the very first character ever seen in THE RIDE, and I’m pretty sure I blacked out for a few minutes there. I couldn’t wait to give Vega another go, especially when we brought Daniel Hillyard on board.

Daniel: Doug and I had just finished PLASTIC, and THE RIDE had a big anniversary just around the corner. The timing couldn't have been better.

2. Who is your favorite character?

Doug: Vega is my favorite. Heck, she better be. She’s the main character. I love to write characters who struggle to let their true selves out, who fight internally to find a happiness that is right there in front of them, that scratch and claw to get out of their own way. Vega is the epitome of that to me. The answer to her own happiness, to her quest to find her life’s path is laid out in front of her from the very first page. But her own doubts, fears, and bullheadedness keep her from seeing it. So, Vega gets the hell kicked out of her until she figures it out. Side note… my favorite eclectic fetish dancer is Bunny Foo Foo.

Daniel: For me, it's Annabel. She's just too cute and she has to go through a heck of a lot in this story. But what's interesting is that she can't talk, and so we had to find other ways to communicate to the reader—her gestures and expressions, as well as how she dresses and even how she cuts her hair. All these things tell us how she is coping or not coping with all that she's been through.

3. The story gets really dark, really quick with the kidnapping of a child and then it evolves into the death of another child. What was the inspiration for such a dark story?

Doug: Honestly, everything in this story is inspired by the first ever story in THE RIDE way back in 2014. Vega brutally murdered a human being. Yes, it may have seemed justified, but when it comes down to it, it was murder. She’s believed from that day forward that she’s cursed, and I wanted to have her question that belief throughout the entire story.

If you’re wondering where the darker aspects of the story come from, it’s called life. I know having a child kidnapped and one murdered makes everyone uncomfortable, and it should. I know some people will be revolted, put the book away, and ignore it ever happened; but I’m hoping it will wake others up and have them responding more like Vega—“That ain’t happening on my watch!”

4. At the end of each issue, there's been a little mini-comic that's explored a little bit of the past of some of the characters. Is there going to be any kind of continuation for these stories, or are fans going to be left to fill in the gaps?

Doug: Initially, these were intended to be standalone shorts, “origin” stories for our dancers. However, as I’ve worked on them with each respective artist, some of them have requested we continue working with these characters. I can’t really divulge which ones are moving forward, but talks are definitely underway.

5. What has been each of your favorite moments from this series?

Daniel: For me, it's got to be the discovery of a body in a rundown hotel room in issue #2. Just the way that the scene builds. There's a moment when Vega is just getting ready to kick the door in on this room and wondering if she's going to be ready to deal with the trouble that she's expecting to find on the other side. As it turns out, it's not the fist fight that she thought was coming, but rather a corpse. But the fact that Doug wrote in these little moments as she takes pause was just genius and says so much about her character and how far she will go to help the ones she cares for! She's not indestructible and she knows it. She's expecting to take a solid beating here, but she goes in anyway. And it's colored and lettered so beautifully!

Doug: Wow, I’m struggling with this one. I have two moments that I absolutely love. They both come in the final issue so I can’t go into too much detail. All I can say at this time is everyone should be terrified when you’re sprinkled with the Glitter of Death and when you find yourself under the judgmental gaze of a stuffed bunny.

6. What are your plans for after the final issue of The Ride: Burning Desire?

Daniel: Lots of blood, guts, serial killers, horrific masks and an obsession with... something. You know, standard fare for Doug and me.

Doug: LOL. Daniel ain’t lying. We’re already waist deep into a very disturbing new book that is hands down our best collaboration to date. We both adore horror and possibly have stumbled on a new approach to it. We’re trying our best anyways.