Steve Niles Answers Your Questions!

Hey everybody – last week we put the call out for any questions that you had for Mr. Steve Niles, and we got some great ones! So, in honor of the release of 28 Weeks Later, here we go:

1. What was it like working with start-up Fox Atomic Comics and being the first graphic novel to be released by the label?
Submitted by: Miki

>>I had a great experience working with Fox Atomic Comics. I’ve worked with a couple start-ups the last few years and more often then not it ends in disaster due to inexperience or whatever. Fox was totally professional, cool and accommodating and I’m honored to be part of their launch.

2. What do you feel makes 28 Days Later (the movie) so different from the rest of the "zombie genre"? What attracted you to do this story?
Submitted by: Keith

>>Okay, let’s talk about this whole zombie thing. I know a lot of people think of 28 Days Later as a zombie flick, but the one key difference is that the Infected in Days don’t die and then get back up. They get sick and rot until they fall apart. And they don’t eat folks they just beat them relentlessly. Starving to death and violent? Sounds like Naomi Campbell (Boooo! Get off the stage!!) What was the question? Oh yeah…what attracted me. Honestly? The chance to work with Fox and Lieb. Working from the concept created by Danny Boyle was just icing on the cake.

3. What did you set out to accomplish with the graphic novel?
Submitted by: Bob

>>Two things really; I wanted to create something that helped bridge the two films, but I also wanted to make sure I didn’t just regurgitate the original. I really wanted to make sure readers got something new that added to the movie experience and stood on it’s own at the same time.

4. What is your favorite part of the novel?
Submitted by: Jonathan
>>I have one for each artist actually. In Dennis’s, the shot of Warren holding he brain spattered fire extinguisher. In Diego’s I’m torn between the monkey attack and the blood vomit fountain. That sh*t is just so over the top and horrifying you gotta love it. In Nat’s…well I love everything Nat did but those survivor costumes were freakin’ perfect!


5. What are your thoughts on the current state of the comic book/graphic novel publishing industry, and do you (or how do you) see it changing over the next few years with movies based on stories (like Sin City and 300) doing so well in the box office?
Submitted by: No Name

>>The comic industry is struggling a bit. We’ve lost a lot of readers to videogames and a general lack of growth in the medium, but I think there are a lot of great things yet to happen. For as long as comics have been around it feels like people are just now looking beyond men-in-leotards and seeing the true potential and Hollywood’s sudden attention is just proof of that. I love comics so I’m thrilled that it is now being seen as a viable source for material. It certainly makes sense. For years Hollywood shopped only novels and a lot of good novels (Stephen King!) got shredded being filmed. There’s four movies in most novels so people wound up cutting and squeezing. Comics aren’t like that.


6. What are you working on now? What’s next?
Submitted by: Aces

>>30 Days of Night is going to be coming out this October so I’m working with IDW and Bill Sienkiewicz on a new, very different comic series called Beyond Barrow. I am also doing Criminal Macabre with Nick Stakal and City of Others with Bernie Wrightson. Both at Dark Horse. I also have projects coming with Steve Rude, Gris Grimly, Scott Hampton (Simon Dark for DC!), Ben Roman and Ashley Wood. I am extremely sleepy, but having way too much fun to slow down.

There we go! Thanks again to Steve, and be sure to check out 28 Weeks Later (in theaters everywhere NOW) and go buy the 28 Days Later: The Aftermath graphic novel.

Later