Thursday, November 3, 2011

LBCC 2011: Steve Niles Is One HOT Writer!

As Red Dot Diva's arduous search for compliant minions continues (their first task is to build a teleporter machine, oh curious ones), she was unable to partake in any effective stalking at the recent Long Beach Comic Convention (LBCC) 2011.

Instead, @theReal_Rebel, her Twitter pal based in Los Angeles, was there to represent Red Dot Diva's pervy intentions. And she cleverly managed to grab hold of frightmaster Steve Niles for an interview.

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You can tell that Steve Niles is one hot writer.

And not just due to his impersonation of the Devil (see pic on left).
(Red Dot Diva: OHhhhhh MYyyyy...... nom nom nom...)

His table at LBCC attracted a sizeable crowd and had the aura of that which fans usually reserve for the rock stars of the comic book world -- the artists.

Public recognition of Niles as the creator, along with artist Ben Templesmith, of 30 Days Of Night, marks a new tier in his versatile career. The graphic novel and subsequent movie adaptation - probably running right now on HBO or your local cable channel - is a horror story set in Barrow, Alaska where vampires come out during one sunless month to openly feed upon the living.

Success might seem "overnight" to those unaware of Nile's work in multiple-genres and media platforms over the years. Equally at home writing Pixar / Disney's light-hearted “Toy Story” web series adventures, to taking Batman across the line in “Batman: Gotham County Line” to creating an original vigilante character and graphic novel for DC Comics' “Simon Dark”. Then returning back to his own original works in and out of the horror genre.

In realm of horror, Niles' creative works include: “Aleister Arcane”, “Criminal Macabre”, and “Remains”. Niles then deftly moved to the delightful "Mystery Society”, a sci-fi romantic-comedy-adventure reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and from there to the pathos of “Freaks of the Heartland”. With his versatility in various genres, Niles is a writer whom one would find difficult to pigeon-hole. But when I met this warm, funny guy, I could see where the dark imaginings and spritely good humor flow from - his heart.

theReal_Rebel: Steve Niles, you're a very upbeat and happy guy. How is it that you write Horror?
Steve Niles: I've actually found that most of the horror guys I know are are generally pretty happy, upbeat guys. Because we get it all out of our system. I get to write all this stuff, do horrible things to people. At least, that's my theory. Then you meet some guy at Disney who draws Tinkerbell and they're like the meanest people in the world. I really think there is something to it. All the horror people, Clive Barker, Guillermo del Toro, some of the nicest guys you'd ever meet.

the Real_Rebel: So there's no inciting series of events like those in Stephen King's life that put you on the path to write horror. Just general pent up anger and subconscious anxieties...
Steve Niles: We get a lot of this out of our system. It's no small thing that we get to do this for a living. I should be happy. I get to write comic, movies, video games books for a living.

the Real_Rebel: I believe, from what I've been reading on the web, you are one of the most adapted authors in trans-media (comics to films, tv, games).
Steve Niles: I don't know if I'm one of the most adapted, but I've had pretty good luck.

the Real_Rebel: What is your favorite piece of work to-date?
Steve Niles: 30 Days Of Night”. We had the largest budget we ever got. It was a theatrical success and David Slade is a good director and made a good horror movie. That's all I wanted.

the Real_Rebel: Of your work outside the horror genre, I was a big fan of your sci-fi romantic-comedy-adventure "Mystery Society. Now that was a romantic comedy I would actually pay to see in a theater. It was charming and funny and totally unexpected in every way and the art was beautiful. I was disappointed it isn't continuing. I wanted more.
Steve Niles: I did too. It was supposed to be an ongoing series and unfortunately not enough people ordered it....
the Real_Rebel: Or knew about it.
Steve Niles: ... so unfortunately they had to cancel it. I based it on Nick and Nora from "The Thin Man series I loved when I was a kid. In most fiction, it's always about couples who are in trouble, I just wanted to do something where they're a happy couple.

the Real_Rebel: I also enjoyed the other character's you created...
Steve Niles: ... the Robot Jules Verne and the hunt for Edgar Allan Poe's Skull. It seems its gotten more popular now that its canceled.

the Real_Rebel: The other graphic novel I particularly enjoyed was "Freaks of the Heartland. I hear its also is to be adapted into a film.
Steve Niles: David Gordon Green has the rights to it now and we're just trying to figure out how...its so hard to get anything made these days (in film). Last time I talked to David we're still trying to find financing, but that's still up in the air.

the Real_Rebel: Do you have a preference of platforms, would you be up for TV if asked?
Steve Niles: You know, you can away with a lot more in TV these days than in movies anyway. So I would have absolutely no problem with that. I'm looking into a lot more television stuff. "Remains is going to be a TV movie coming out in December.

the Real_Rebel: Anything new to announce?
Steve Niles: Well, I have "Crime and Terror with Scott Morse and this is going to be an on going series. Scott is an amazing artist and we're teaming up on all these short form stories. And this just came out collecting all mine and Bernie's (illustrator Bernie Wrightson ) stuff in black and white. ("The Monstrous Collection, see pic on left)

the Real_Rebel: Well, thank you for your time.
Steve Niles: Thank you

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A big thank you to the Real_Rebel: for this blog contribution!

And do visit Steve Niles' official website, or stalk him on Twitter!

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