These days, pop culture is having a love affair with the macabre. You literally can’t swing a dead cat without hitting vampires, zombies, or other such undead creatures in the entertainment world right now, but how is such horror crafted?
At Dallas Comic-Con, we had the great fortune of having two iconic craftsman of the macabre: horror writer, Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Wake the Dead), and legendary comic book artist Bernie Wrightson (Swamp Thing, Batman: The Cult, Dead She Said) lead an insightful Q&A session into the horror entertainment world.
Two juicy chunks of news to come from the Q&A were the announcement of Niles and Wrightson’s collaboration again on a sequel to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, titled Frankenstein Alive, Alive! with IDW and the news that Niles will be re-launching 30 Days of Night monthly.
Frankenstein Alive, Alive! will have a thirteen issue run in a black and white and in “really loose style with lots of spreads.” Wrightson talked about the premise:
“It picks up from the very last page of the novel and follows the monster for a very long time.”
No other teasers or hints would be shared though as Wrightson and Niles insisted that they wanted the readers to be surprised and not spoil the fun of reading Frankenstein Alive, Alive!
Niles added that “doing a sequel to Frankenstein [with Bernie] is a dream come true.”
30 Days of Night will be relaunched soon. Niles explained the impetus behind getting back to the comic:
“I’m going to be doing 30 Days of Night monthly again because the response to the X-Files [crossover] was really good.
We’re going to do all new characters who had no clue what happened ten years ago.
Somebody needs to be doing comics out there with nasty vampires. I am so sick of sparkly vampires. Look, [Twilight vamps] are not vampires. If you’re out in the day and not drinking blood, you’re not a vampire.”
Niles admitted that he has never read one word of Twilight but that it’s just not for him:
“Twilight is for kids. It’s like us making out with cows. They’re food. Not for dating!”
During the Q&A, Wrightson and Niles not only reminisced about how they met and the projects they have collaborated on like Dead She Said but also addressed how the entertainment world really works, behind all the glamour to the nitty, gritty truth.
[audio:https://93dc15.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Making-Macabre-DCCMay2011.mp3|titles=Making-Macabre-DCCMay2011]
For your listening enjoyment, I’ve included the nearly forty-minute Q&A session here, but the recording is a bit tough to hear since the microphone volumes were so different between Bernie and Steve. Additionally, fans who asked questions were not miked at all so I’ve written out a summation of what was asked so you may follow along easily. Bernie is the first and loudest voice you hear on the recording. Steve is the quieter voice following but the volume does improve as the Q&A went on. Below is a summary of the highlights and fan questions covered:
– Wrightson and Niles talked at length about how the process of making movies in Hollywood. Many script writers have made a living off of unrealized scripts that never progress past the script stage. (begins at 6 minutes in)
– Vampire Polar Bears (just before the 10 minute mark) – Niles explained how there was one script for 30 Days of Night he wasn’t even allowed to read:
“Even with 30 Days of Night, I wrote the first draft. And then they brought in this guy to do the second draft…. And there’s one draft they won’t even let me read. And I was like ‘Well, why won’t you let me read it?’ [pauses for effect] The guy goes ‘Vampire polar bears.’ I don’t ever want to see that script! Ever!”
– Nile’s stories and comic Criminal Macabre is being adapted into a movie with Universal. (11minutes, 30 seconds in.) The studio hired yet another writer to do the screenplay instead of Niles. Niles has concluded:
“Something about LA does not think that comic book writers can be screenwriters.”
– Wrightson used an example he was told by Guillermo del Toro in the early stages of working on Hellboy to demonstrate how Hollywood doesn’t understand comic books. A producer had asked del Toro “Can we get rid of the big red guy?”
– No Vampire Bikini Party! (13 minutes in) Another producer wanted 30 Days of Night to be populated with women vampires “and pretty much naked”. Nile’s reaction:
“You are not turning this into Vampire Bikini Party!”
– Diamond Daywalkers (14 and a half minutes in) – Another example shared was a development executive who suggested “Vampires need motivation. How about if there’s a diamond underneath Barrow, Alaska that will turn them into Daywalkers?” The next day he was fired. But usually, the story is that this guy is now running the studio or something.
At 15 minutes in, the fan questions begin:
Fan Q to try to get more out of Wrightson and Niles about Frankenstein Alive, Alive! but is denied.
Fan Q on Mary Shelley’s perspective in the Frankenstein story.
Fan Q on how long does it take to come up with a comic from idea to being published. (18 minutes in).
Fan Q about a prequel for 30 Days of Night. (21 minutes in) Niles directs the fan to the X-Files 30 Days of Night crossover comic and reveals the intention to re-launch of 30 Days of Night monthly.
Fan Q on what project brought them the most satisfaction. (24 and a half minutes in). Niles talks about their collaboration on Dead She Said.
Fan Q about Niles expanding into novels. (27 and a half minutes in) Niles answers that his first “official” novel is due out in September or October, titled A World of Hurt with Simon & Schuster.
[Here’s the synopsis: Detective John Haven is an LA cop who lives by two rules; nice guys finish last, and honest people solve nothing. It was a hard lesson for him to learn, but once he allowed himself to swim with the sharks and take some questionable pick-up work on the side, he began to assemble a rock solid arrest and conviction rate…always walking a careful line between lawlessness and honor, but finding all too often, despite his heart, that his own anger is his worst enemy. Detective Haven deals with the harsh reality of the streets on a daily basis…but on the night of December 5, 2011, he steps into a crime scene like no other, and his world will never be the same. Haven’s rock-solid underworld network knows nothing. In fact, some are unusually silent, as if something has come to LA that frightens even the most hardened criminals and killers….]
2 Fan Q’s about work process – industry versus independent. Outlines versus post-its.
Fan Q about current projects. (31 minutes in) Wrightson responds that he’s working on Captain Stern and that he and Niles are working together on a Batman/Swamp Thing crossover.
Fan Q on advice they have for new writers trying to get published. (34 and a half minutes in) Niles recommends to print it yourself overseas with boat shipping to save money or print it on demand.
Fan Q about Nile’s opinion on Josh Harnett’s casting in 30 Days of Night, the movie. (37 minutes in) Niles “thought he did a great job.”
Now when you hear the recording, at one point Niles poses the question of if they are being caught on tape when they are recounting stories about Hollywood. Rest assured that I have gotten clearance from Niles to post this Q&A up!
This was a pretty laid back Q&A session, but it was really fun to hear Wrightson and Niles recount their Hollywood stories and their many different projects. These two have their fingers in so many awesome pots! What are you most excited for after reading this?
There’s more from Dallas Comic-Con! Keep your eyes peeled for my exclusive interview with Steve Niles coming soon.
