Steve was among several big name comic book creators that CBR interviewed this past weekend at the Los Angeles Festival of Books “Comix Strip.” During the panel Comics: Superheroes of the Page & Screen, Steve, Jeph Loeb and Mike Mignola discussed the current rise in comics to the big screen.

With his comic “30 Days of Night,” Steve Niles helped revitalize the horror genre in comics, and last year the writer saw the book adapted for the big screen. Hollywood has long been trying to adapt Niles’ “Criminal Macabre,” and the writer said the process has been fraught with problems. “All these are tough sells,” Niles said. “Even ‘30 Days,’ which they bought thinking, ‘Oh, brilliant concept,’ they immediately tried to change it.”

Cal MacDonald, the protagonist in “Criminal Macabre,” is a modern day update of old-school private detectives like Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade. Many of MacDonald’s predecessor’s struggled with alcoholism, and MacDonald himself is a recovering junkie. “Every time I go to the studio, they’re like, ‘Okay, so we just get rid of all the drugs, give him a fedora and a trenchcoat,’” Niles said. “They don’t get that it’s a flawed character, and it’s a negative thing in his life. I’m not doing ‘Cheech And Chong.’” Niles said it’s always nerve-wracking bringing a creator-owned project to a studio, because one runs the risk of losing the core of one’s story to Hollywood commercialism.

The complete article is available for reading here.

Steve was recently interviewed on CNN regarding the Universal/Dark Horse Comics deal. One piece focuses on Steve and other Dark Horse creators who have maintained ownership of their creations while working with the publisher, and the other focuses more on the developmental deal itself and it’s pros and cons.

It’s a change of pace, but guardian.co.uk has an interview up with Steve about his iPod, and technology in general.

What’s the most expensive piece of technology you’ve ever owned?
I bought a remote-controlled robot — this is back in the 80s, people — and my girlfriend at the time made me return it because I used the rent money. It was cool though. I programmed it to deliver a cocktail to my roommate.

Mac or PC?
PC for almost 20 years. Now I’m on Mac and my blood pressure is much lower, thank you.

The complete interview is online here.

Steve’s Criminal Macabre: The Trouble With Brains featuring art by Kyle Hotz is currently being featured on MySpace Comics. The entire story is online and free to read as a part of issue #9 of MySpace/Dark Horse Presents. Next month’s issue #10 will feature another Cal McDonald adventure, so be sure to check back!

Newsarama’s Steve Ekstrom has an interview up with Steve Niles wherein the two Steves talk about “Gotham After Midnight,” Steve’s first big, mainstream DC project. Steve discusses his approach to the 12 issue Batman maxi series, the story’s place in DC’s continuity, working with Kelley Jones and more

SN: Yes, a different villain per book—and you can probably figure that each two to three issues may even have a slight mini-arc to them with one overriding story over the entire 12 issues. I really want this to be the kind of Batman book that, if by some chance somebody who isn’t that familiar with the character in the comics wants to pick up a Batman comic, these folks could pick up issue #3 and get a story. And then, hopefully, they’ll want to go back and get #1 and 2 and then go back and get #4 when it comes out.

You know, when I was a little kid, I didn’t know comics came out every week—so, it was like whenever I could beg my parents to take me somewhere with a spinner rack. I’d usually grab one of those old giant-sized editions of Batman that I’d keep rolled up in my hand for the next two months and I’d read it over and over. Those old stories were so re-readable because there was so much going on in them!

NRAMA: You don’t think comics are as re-readable today?

SN: [pause] How do I put this without coming off wrong…I just feel like some of the current attitudes for writing comics are a little more geared towards the writing of something like a television show like Lost than actual comic books themselves. Lost, to me, is a soap opera—and in soap operas they stretch things out.

NRAMA: You mean the trend of decompression and storytelling…

SN: Exactly. You know like when soap operas can delay two people’s lips touching for a week.

The complete interview is available here.