When a gunman fired on Las Vegas's Route 91 Harvest music festival on Oct. 1, 2017, 58 people lost their lives and more than 800 were injured by gunfire. It was the worst mass-shooting in United States history, and follows a decade where the issue of gun violence has become more and more prevalent for those living throughout the 50 states.

In response, writer and artist J.H. Williams III, himself a Las Vegas resident and known for his work on Batwoman and Promethea, decided to curate a benefit anthology comic for those who were affected by the shooting. This year that project sees publication in the form of Where We Live, which is scheduled for release on May 30 through Image Comics.

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The anthology sees more than 150 writers, artists and editors involved, all curated by Williams and Wendy Wright-Williams; alongside editor Will Dennis and Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. Running at more than 300 pages with a $19.99 cover price, the anthology will include work from Neil Gaiman, Amy Chu, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Tess Fowler, Dave Stewart, Joe Illidge, Ariela Kristantina, Mark Millar, Gabriel Rodriguez, Mike Mignola, Cliff Chiang and many more.

Ahead of the book's April 16 final order cutoff date, CBR spoke to Williams about his role co-creating and curating the anthology, along with his own contributions to the stories told inside.

CBR: The shooting in Las Vegas last October was the worst mass shooting in American history. Las Vegas is your home, and this must have been a hugely impactful event for you, your friends, and your family. What was your reaction to seeing the news?

J.H. Williams III: Shock and horror. Well, I guess that came second, actually. We saw it being reported on Twitter first, and my first reaction was kinda not accepting it, like it had to be a joke. But obviously within seconds my mind realized... no, it can’t be a joke. Wendy [Wright-Williams] and I were away from home for a friend’s wedding that weekend, and that Sunday night we were up all night waiting on every bit of news to find out what was happening, frantically trying to reach people we know and love to make sure they were safe. It was a horrible, helpless feeling, especially being away from home in another state entirely.

It seems like this is happening at least weekly. As I write these questions, in fact, a news story has broken about a further shooting in America [on April 3 at Northern California's YouTube headquarters]. Why is it that America faces this issue? Do you think this is something which can be dealt with?

It’s become a sickening regular thing, and I don’t understand it. I don’t think any of us can understand it. We certainly can’t fully understand the causes of it. All we can really know is that certain types of weapons allowed do make it much easier to kill large numbers of people in only minutes. If this problem can be dealt with, it can start by getting some common sense about the proliferation of these types of weapons. What is being used in most cases, are actually weapons designed for war -- that is their only purpose.

Dealing with the tools being used by people to kill other people can have an impact on the frequency, and the mass casualties and death, but it doesn’t address the "why" of these incidents at all. That is something else entirely and I imagine it would take a very in-depth study and exploration of what is going on in the psyche of our society that has led to these extreme acts and how often they are occurring.

Your response to the shooting was to announce Where We Live, a comics anthology benefit which will be released by Image. Firstly, where will the money raised by the anthology go?

It’s going to go those in need, victims of the shooting. The funds will be delivered to a GoFundMe set up by Nevada. We’ve made special arrangements to do this.

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You’ve announced more than a hundred writers and artists working on stories within the anthology -- people like David Walker, Gail Simone, Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola, Greg Pak, Joelle Jones. How did you bring people to the project? Was it a case of once the book was announced, people came to you?

We had a number of people approach us in the beginning. But most of it was from sending email invites for people to participate.

There are also newer talents involved, and that is inevitable with any project of this size. In all honesty, the lesser-known talents are not any less desirable or less talented than the known names, and I think it’s important to make that clear. Everyone generously offered their time and talent to this project because they care about what happened and felt compelled to help in the best way they know how. All of them have turned in profound work, and we’re very grateful for that.

We also set out purposefully to bring in local talents from Las Vegas. There are a lot of talented folks here, and we wanted to make sure they could be in this book as much as we could, since this book was for the Las Vegas community first, and the nation second. Each contribution has its own unique perspective and thing to say, and in how it’s said. I can’t really say a single one stands out more than another, because each of them are deeply moving in their own ways.

I can say that this has been emotionally difficult. I found myself weeping many times as stories would come in. The J.M. DeMatteis story makes me cry every time I read it.

Ray-Anthony Height, Andrew Dalhouse

What kind of stories can we expect from the anthology? There are so many ways to approach the topic of gun violence and gun control, so were you interested in running stories which look across that cross section?

Yeah, that a good way to put it. We just asked for people to write about what they wanted to, what they felt about things, from the heart. We did create a list of possible topics that surround the issues for people to use as a guide, maybe. And it’s all come in in a wide variety of approaches and styles. That's what is great about comics. The creative aspects allow for such wide-ranging visual and written styles.

But we go a little further than just comics. We’ve got essays and poetry as well. You can expect stories that are personal perspectives, real-life accounts from people who experienced the horror of that night, fictional tales, stories discussing people’s relationship with guns in their lives, and a few allegorical pieces as well. So the book will feel like a real mixtape.

Sina Grace, Shaun Struble

It sounds like it was highly important to you that you have a range of voices working here, and people approaching their stories in unexpected and personal ways.

For any anthology like this to work, everything you listed there is key. Especially when dealing with stories surrounding such a heavy and emotionally tough subject. It all has to come from the heart. Even the allegorical content has an underlying message or theme being conveyed.

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You’re involved in several of the stories yourself. What was your approach, creatively, in the specific stories you wanted to tell?

I couldn’t do as much as I wanted, because much of my time was involved in curating and reading scripts, and getting people to be involved. A lot more work than many might realize. But I ended up doing all painted pieces, except for one. I painted the cover, painted four pages for Neil Gaiman, painted illustrations for 2 poems, painted an illustration for an essay by a local journalist, and did ink and color on a single page that's sort of poetic written by W. Haden Blackman. Roughly nine pages of material comes from me.

I had planned to write and draw a piece of my own, but time involved in the other aspects of curating the book and those other commitments I outlined made that not possible. So that went into the Image+ magazine essay I wrote instead. Oh, and I’ve written the book’s introduction as well.

Creatively, what do you feel is the goal you have in mind for Where We Live? Ultimately, what do you want it to contribute?

Creatively, I guess it just will be what it’s going to be. It’ll speak for itself. As for what it might contribute? Our hopes are that it will add to the conversation that has begun and needs to happen surrounding the issues of gun violence. Hopefully it helps propel the conversation forward, helping to address the problems we’re facing as a society.

The FOC for Where We Live is April 16. The anthology will be released by Image Comics on May 30, with proceeds going to benefit those who were affected by the Las Vegas attack.