You read that right. I said battles zombies with her family. Ford, her husband Jim Gillette and her sons Rocco and James have been transformed into comic book characters in “The Gillettes: Family Business.”
The plot of the manga-style graphic novel, which will hit shelves in November, concerns the Gillettes attempting to get to a Halloween rock concert while battling hungry zombies and trying to undo an ancient Chinese curse.
The project is the creation of 14-year-old Jake Tinsley, who drew worldwide popular and critical acclaim with his Night Owl comic book series.
Ford said having her family turned into cartoon warriors made perfect sense to her – even the zombie butt-kicking part.
“We always wanted to do a comic book,” she explained. “And this was a great family project. We include the kids in everything we do. They sing the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ on my new album, Wicked Wonderland, and we bring them on the road where they often jump onstage and throw metal horns or squirt water guns at the crowd.”
“Our kids kicked the hell out of it. They are pretty beastly anyway. Our kids are extreme and Jake is extreme as a writer,” Ford added, noting that both of her boys are into boxing and are assistant jujutsu teachers.
Speaking of Wicked Wonderland (due Oct. 6), the singer and guitarist will be out supporting the album with a month-long run of dates with Queensryche that kicks off Oct. 15 at Coyotes in Louisville, Ky.
During the trek, Ford will be joined onstage for her set by Queensryche, where she’ll perform her hit “Close My Eyes Forever,” as well as a pair of new songs: “Crave” and “Patriotic S.O.B.”
And finally, to go along with her Queen of Heavy Metal title, Ford stars as the voice of the character Queen Rima in the upcoming video game “Brütal Legend.”
The game, due Oct. 13, also features the vocal talents of Black, Tim Curry, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford and Lemmy Kilmister, as well as a soundtrack boasting cuts by Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Mötley Crüe, Kiss, Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Ministry, Rob Zombie, Megadeth, King Diamond, Scorpions, Slayer, Anthrax, Sanctuary, Tenacious D and more.
“Legend” tells the tale of Eddie Riggs (Black), a roadie who is transported to a heavy metal fantasy world where he’s called upon to save the human race with magical powers and weapons like a Flying V guitar.
“We go out to kick some ass,” Ford told RollingStone.com about her experience as a video game avatar. “I get axed, electrocuted, and thrown off a second story building and I manage to survive the whole thing.”
It’s good to be the queen.