Category Archives: interview
The Comic Stop Exclusive – Andy Burns Talks To Dracula: The Company of Monsters’ Kurt Busiek
A comic book that started off in print and then moved online? Isn’t it usually the other way around? Typically yes, but there’s very little that’s typical about legendary comic writer Kurt Busiek’s Dracula: The Company of Monsters, a modern day story that brings the world’s most notorious vampire into a most unsavoury place – the corporate world. After completing its print run, BOOM! Studios has now transformed the series, created by Busiek, scripted by Daryl Gregory and illustrated by Scott Godlewski, into a free web comic, updated daily here. I was lucky enough to be able to ask Kurt some questions about the series, its roots and inspirations, his thoughts on digital comics and much more via email, which I now present for your perusal.
Andy Burns: Thanks for talking to Biff Bam Pop, Kurt. First off, I wanted to ask about how you came up with the original story for Dracula:The Company of Monsters?
Kurt Busiek: It started with me being fascinated with the historical Dracula, who was, let’s face it, a serious badass. He was a patriot, fighting the Turks most of his life to try to keep his country free, but he wasn’t a traditional nobleman — he kept his nobles in line by brutal and uncompromising methods, too. They didn’t call him Vlad the Impaler for fun.
But the common people of Wallachia considered him a hero, and he’s still a folk hero in Romania. Part of that is because a lot of what we know about him came from his enemies, and part came from the fact that he took pretty good care of the peasants. So he’s a monster to some and a hero to others, and that’s interesting right there. On top of that, he got turned into literature’s greatest villain by Bram Stoker, which makes him even more interesting — a villain, a monster, a hero, all at once.
In thinking about how to bring him to the present day, I started thinking about corporations, and the feudal system, and how they’re similar and how they’re not. In some ways, there’s a lot more freedom, but in others there’s a lot more insecurity. So what would happen if Dracula was revived today, in the belly of a large corporation that perhaps wasn’t as nice to its rank and file as they might be — and it pissed Dracula off?
The monster side, the vampire side, the folk hero side — it brings it all together and pits Dracula against corporate greed and callousness. It gives him a modern monster to fight, so that all of his facets can come out.
That’s how it started — the rest was just figuring out how to play that out.
The Comic Stop Exclusive Interview: Andy Burns Talks To This Haunted World’s Mark Powers
Back in October I was combing through comiXology one Wednesday, looking at the various new releases when I came across an interesting title called This Haunted World. The short description of the title was compelling and the price was right – only 99 cents. As a reader, I’m often willing to take a risk with a new title, especially when it’s cheaper than a cup of coffee. As it stands, the first issue of This Haunted World (a digital exclusive from Sea Lion Books) was well worth it. A supernatural story, great artwork – I was hooked. On that note, today we’ve got an exclusive interview with writer/co-creator Mark Powers, who talks about where his story came from, its ties to real life events and the world of digital comics.
Severed’s Scott Tuft Speaks – A Biff Bam Pop Exclusive Interview
When it comes to great horror titles currently out there, Image Comics’ Severed tops the list. Expertly written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft and illustrated by Atilla Futaki, Servered is the story of 12-year old Jack, who has run away from home and is searching for his long-lost biological father, musician J.P. Brakeman. Along the way he meets up with Sam, a homeless girl in boys clothing. In the meantime, we’re also introduced to a psychopathic killer who is after Jack as well.
If you’re looking for blood and guts, Severed isn’t for you. The beauty and the strength of the story is that it isn’t in a rush to scare you, which makes those creepy and tense moments offered in each issue resonant strongly. I was lucky enough to talk to Severed writer Scott Tuft via email about the series, what inspired it, slow burn horror and his relationship with his longtime friend Scott Snyder.
Like this:
The Comic Stop: Andy Burns Talks To Joshua Williamson About Xenoholics #1
Xenoholics #1
Written by: Joshua Williamson
Illustrated by: Seth Damoose
Image Comics
The truth is out there. And it’s also in shops and online this week, with the debut of Xenoholics from Image Comics. Written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Seth Damoose, it’s the story of a support group for people who believe they were abducted my aliens. Xenoholics is laugh outloud funny, but has a smart and subtle hint of tension throughout its first issue – imagine if you were abducted by aliens and nobody believed you? The first issue also happens to have a fantastic final page that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in any alien story, comic or film. You’ll have to read it to see what I’m talking about, though.
Joshua Williamson was kind enough to talk to Biff Bam Pop via email about Xenoholics, working with Seth Damoose and much more.
A Biff Bam Pop! Exclusive Interview: JW Ward talks with The Unwritten’s Mike Carey Part Two
If you missed part one of the Biff Bam Pop! exclusive interview with Mike Carey, writer of the Felix Castor novels, X-Men: Legacy and Vertigo’s Lucifer, you missed quite a treat. To catch up, click here.
In part two, Mike Carey describes the evolution of his latest Vertigo series The Unwritten, his creative process and what else is coming from him in the very near future.
Oh, and spoilers on. Better safe than sorry…
