I've been writing my own comics for a few years now and guys like Steve Niles keep me doing it when nobody else seems to care. He wrote a little vampire comic called 30 Days Of Night, maybe you've heard of it? Steve was just another struggling comic geek before he made it big and now he's able to write his own ticket. Even being a big deal in Hollywood and on the comic scene Steve was kind enough to sit down with CraveOnline and do an interview!!
CraveOnline: So what's going on in the world of Steve Niles?
Steve Niles: Work, work and more work. This weekend I'm working of Batman: Gotham After Midnight, Criminal Macabre: Cellblock 666 and a new Bernie Wrightson series for IDW called Dead She Said.
CraveOnline: This many years later does is still surprise you the impact of 30 Days Of Night? Why do you think that is?
Steve Niles: I'm constantly shocked. It was just a little vampire comic and then it exploded. I think people were just looking for a fresh approach and I guess they see that in 30 Days of Night. Works for me and Ben.
CraveOnline: So much of the book was cut out of the movie, why? Did it bum you out at all?
Steve Niles: Yeah, I was bummed at first, but then I learned that it's all about compromise so I (and Slade) gave up some stuff like the opening of the comic to make sure we got the ending we wanted. In the end I know we got the best movie we could. There were a couple producers, one in particular, who wanted to change everything. I know you didn't like the movie, but believe me, it took a lot of fighting to get what was up there.
CraveOnline: With all of the sequels and continuations, did you ever reach a point where you just wanted to put an end to the 30 Days story?
Steve Niles: I know the ending but I doubt I'll ever reach it. In my mind the first three books 30 Days, Dark days and Return to Barrow are main stories. After that it's more like the 30 Days soap opera which can go on forever as long as the excitement is there.
CraveOnline: How did Simon Dark come about?
Steve Niles: DC asked if I wanted to create something and I did. I came up with this weird Franken-kid who doesn't have a clue who he is and lives in Gotham.
CraveOnline: Where did you get the idea for Simon Dark's interesting look?
Steve Niles: The main sources were masked used to buffer the pian of burn victims. Everything else Scott came up with.
CraveOnline: As an old school Batman fan I must know, With Simon Dark existing in Gotham City, will he ever cross paths with the Dark Knight?
Steve Niles: Maybe, maybe not. The only way Simon Dark can survive on the book is by sales and sales are good for Simon (great in my mind) but DC wants it to do better or Simon Dark will be canceled. I'm sure if we chucked Bats in there, we'd sell more but I want to avoid that if I can. Batman is such a strong character. He tends to take over books. I put him in a Creeper series I did and he almost took that one over.
Available Feeds:
Subscribe to the CraveOnline.com Comics RSS feed now!