Official Press Release

Legendary comic book artist Bernie Wrightson (Swamp Thing, Frankenstein) is returning to full penciling and inking duties on a comic book for the first time is over two decades. Wrightson has joined writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) to create a noir horror miniseries entitled Dead, She Said.

IDW Publishing also unveiled a stunning trailer produced by Hazmat Studios for the series, which debuts in comic shops on May 21.

Dead She Said tells the story of Detective Coogan, who wakes up on the wrong side of the bullet, and finds that he’s… dead. And now he has to find out who killed him, how he’s still alive, and just how to put the pieces (pieces which include giant ants) together to solve his own murder. The first issue of this new miniseries mixes horror and noir into a tightly wound nightmare of twists and turns.

”It’s great to work with two true masters of their craft on a project like this,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Publisher/Editor-in-Chief. “Bernie’s work has been inspirational for decades to horror fans like Niles and me, and a new-school horror writer like Niles blends perfectly with Bernie’s amazing linework.”

Dead, She Said #1, a 32-page, $3.99 comic book, will be in stores on May 21, 2008.

About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. As a leader in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry including: television’s #1 prime time series CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Paramount’s Star Trek; Fox’s Angel; Hasbro’s The Transformers, and the BBC’s Doctor Who. IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. In April 2008, IDW released Michael Recycle, the first title from its new children’s book imprint, Worthwhile Books. More information about the company can be found at http://www.idwpublishing.com.

About Bernie Wrightson
Noted for his horror illustrations, Wrightson helped revamp the horror comic in the 1970s, bringing a modern sensibility to it. Among his career highpoints were co-creating the Swamp Thing character for DC Comics and adapting classic horror tales for Warren Publications.
Wrightson spent seven years drawing approximately 50 detailed pen-and-ink illustrations to accompany an edition of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, which the artist considers among his most personal work. He also drew the poster for the Stephen King-penned horror film Creepshow, and illustrated the comic book adaptation of the film. This led to several other collaborations with King, including illustrations for the novella Cycle of the Werewolf, and the restored edition of King’s apocalyptic horror epic, The Stand. Wrightson’s credits also include album covers for a number of bands, including Meat Loaf.

Official Press Release

ZUNE ARTS TO RELEASE GRAPHIC NOVEL
WRITTEN BY CELEBRATED AUTHOR STEVE NILES
“The Lost Ones” To Be Released June 2008 in
Collector’s and Paperback Editions

Zune Arts, the program that aims to bring the best creative minds together to collaborate on inspiring works of art, is producing a graphic novel titled “The Lost Ones” written by Steve Niles, author of 30 Days of Night. “The Lost Ones” chronicles the adventures of Duncan, Roxy, Rasheed and Cynthia, who leave their Earth and are swept up in an epic intergalactic adventure. A different graphic artist will illustrate each of the four chapters, creating a genre-bending take on visual storytelling.

The novel’s four artists - Dr Revolt, an original member of the historic New York City graffiti crew The Rolling Thunder Writers, Gary Panter, an illustrator known for his surreal and raw style, Morning Breath, Brooklyn-based art and design duo, and emerging painter/fashion designer Kime Buzzelli - each bring a remarkable and unique drawing style to the project.

“The Lost Ones” gives us the chance to extend the Zune Arts platform by tapping into new genres and audiences,” said Rob Schaltenbrand, Zune Arts Brand Manager. “We’re excited to work with such a talented group of artists and storytellers to bring this project to life”

Zune Arts is a program that offers emerging and established artists a unique collaboration opportunity and platform to share their work with a broader audience. At the heart of Zune Arts are ideas about friendship, sharing, connecting and discovery that serve as both a guide for artists’ work and an ethic for the art that’s produced through this program.

For more information on Zune Arts, visit www.zune-arts.net

Comicon.com’s “The Pulse” recently interviewed Steve about his career, how he ended up making a name for himself in the “creator-owned” arena before he worked for Marvel and DC on their characters, his working relationship with his various artist collaborators, information on his upcoming projects and more.

Although Niles might have been very frustrated twenty years ago trying to break in, now the talented writer is busy working on dozens of creator owned properties in comics, television and film. That goal he had to work for the mainstream on icons is also a reality. Niles has already worked with the Dark Knight Detective in the pages of Batman: Gotham County Line, but now he and Kelley Jones are taking Batman back to his ’70s roots, by showing him and his city after dark, in the pages of Batman: Gotham After Midnight.

And it’s all because he never gave up on his dreams. However, he told THE PULSE that his new “status” is kind of unbelievable. “You never get used to people suddenly saying ‘yes’ after 20 years,” Niles admitted. “I’m at the point now where I actually have to turn down work. It’s crazy.”

Niles likened his current workload to a circus juggling act. At any given point in time, the creator seems to be working on four or five projects. Right now, just in the comic book field, he’s working on the aforementioned Batman County Line, Simon Dark, Criminal Macabre and a few IDW projects.

“I pounded the doors at DC and Marvel for a long time,” Niles recalled. “Finally, I just resigned myself that if they don’t want to hire me, I’ll do creator-owned stuff. I kind of had no choice. As much as I hated it at the time, now I own more of my own creations than a lot of comic writers. It sort of worked out for me. But I’m so happy with DC now. They have really embraced me and welcomed me. I’ve got to do all these weird little things. We were all so surprised when Simon Dark took off. People really enjoyed The Creeper. Plus, Batman: Gotham After Midnight with Kelley Jones is so beautiful. Anyone who loves Batman will just be knocked out by this stuff. He’s really hitting a home run here.”

Part one of the interview is online here.

Official Press Release

Marc Patten of Destination Entertainment said, “Shortly after I began publicity for my new sci-fi fantasy adventure series entitled, Khrome with art by Marlin Shoop and Mark Sparacio, a fellow creator brought it to my attention that Radical Comics was producing a series with the same name. I contacted creator Steve Niles to see if we could work something out, and he couldn’t have been nicer.” Marc went to say, “they agreed to give me back the title Khrome leaving me free and clear to continue using the name I’d created over ten years ago. Radical is producing top quality comics that will put them on the entertainment map. I can’t wait to read them.”

Set in the not too distant future where imagination is discouraged and religion is outlawed, Radical Comics offers a preview of Steve Niles’ City of Dust in the Free Comic Book Day Imaginary #1. However, when folks open up Imaginary #1, they will see the book under its previous title, Khrome.

“The reason for the change is simple,” explains, Barry Levine, Radical’s President and Publisher. “Shortly after going to press, Steve Niles contacted me and informed me that someone named Marc Patten had developed his own, different project which also went by the name, Khrome. We both agreed in keeping Philip Khrome as the name for the main character, but would change the title to respect Marc’s work. When Steve came back to me with the new title, City of Dust, I immediately loved it. It fit the theme of the story perfectly.”

Steve Niles adds, “I strongly believe in creator rights, as does Radical, and when push came to shove doing the right thing outweighed anything else. As soon as I heard about the other book I phoned Dave and Barry and we all agreed to change the name. There was no hesitation and I knew I was working with good people.”

Set for release in September, 2008 and to be listed in the July edition of Diamond Previews, City of Dust is written by Steve Niles with artwork by Zid of Imaginary Friends Studios and published by Radical Comics. The sci-fi series from the dark mind of the creator of 30 Days of Night comes a story set in the aftermath of our world’s collapse. Records show the Earth once known was consumed by religious wars spurred by the suppression of free thought and where creative expression is now viewed as the rot and infestation of the mind. This chilling vision of the future unveils a world where the police now patrol for crimes of the imagination, or Mind Crimes as their called. Those beliefs, along with any tales of false heroes, idols or gods, are illegal. The world is anew and so the enemy adapts. Special detective Philip Khrome doesn’t enforce Imagination, instead he works in homicide; that’s where the action is, and he has seen it all before. But criminals evolve and the world is forever changing. When a killing spree hits his department, Khrome finds himself face to face with a perpetrator who has merged reality with superstition. The world everyone is accustomed to is flipped upside down and everything is no longer what it seems.

About Radical Publishing

Radical Publishing is founded by Barry Levine (Producer for Rogue Pictures Blood on the Tracks, and Executive Producer for the in development Warner Brothers Rex Mundi movie, written by JIM UHLS starring JOHNNY DEPP and Universal Picture’s R.I.P.D), his protégé Jesse Berger, and longtime writer and publisher David Elliott (Atomeka Press and Tundra Publishing).

Radical Publishing is bringing the best in writing, storytelling and fully-painted cover and interior artwork to the global comic book market by prominent international talents such as Yoshitaka Amano, John Bolton, Luis Royo, Jim Steranko, Steve Niles, Ian Edginton, Steve Moore, Sam Sarkar, Stjepan Sejic, Dave Wilkins, Steve Pugh, James Heffron, Tomm Coker, Clayton Crain, Bill Sienkiewicz, Weta Workshop, Imaginary Friends Studios, and many more.

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.

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.

Comic Book Resources recently went over the last year of Steve Niles projects with Steve himself, looking at the “30 Days of Night” movie experience, Steve’s various comic book projects and what 2008 holds in store for him and his fans.

Niles’s most visible project of 2007 was the feature film adaptation of his and Ben Templesmith’s “30 Days of Night,” which brought the creator attention beyond the comics-reading audience. “A couple years ago I set up at a Fangoria con with IDW Publishing and we maybe sold one copy of the ‘Dawn of the Dead’ comic I did,” Steve Niles told CBR News. “The last time I went to a Fango show, I had lines of people buying, reading, and getting comics signed, so I think we do have a spill-over [from the ’30 Days of Night Movie’] and are getting new readers. To me, that’s the most important thing we need to accomplish as an industry. If we keep selling to the same 100 thousand readers, eventually they move on and we need another generation to come in. So far, knock wood, I seem to be crossing over thanks to the film.”

The full article is available here.

Steve sat down recently with CBR, along with Mark Waid, to talk about BOOM! Studios’ new “Cthulu Tales” ongoing comic series.

Niles and Waid had already been discussing work for BOOM!’s “Zombie Tales” anthology when the writer was asked to contribute to “Cthulhu Tales.” “In comics you’re either a Batman guy or a Superman guy. [In horror], I always felt there was the Poe and the Lovecraft,” Niles said. “And I’ve always been a Poe guy my whole life. So I’ve always leaned more towards him. But I’ve always enjoyed Lovecraft, so this was kind of a chance to sort of tackle the other side.

“I pulled all my old Lovecraft books off the shelves and just read ‘Call of Cthulhu’ and a few other things like that to get back into it,” Niles continued. “When you think of Lovecraft, it has such a particular vibe, so I just sort of crammed on Lovecraft and started writing stuff. And I’m working on my second [story] right now.”

You can read the entire article here!