The Wolfman

Today marks the third anniversary of our werewolf western series HIGH MOON. To celebrate, Steve Ellis and I thought we’d take the time to share with you our top list of werewolves that have influenced, entertained, and inspired us over the years.

Starting with this classic:

6. The Wolf Man

SE: You can’t go wrong with this classic tale of innocent Larry Talbot, a poor bastard of a man, who gets caught up in circumstances that are out of his control. I saw this when I was younger – so I’m not sure how much it would still hold up though.

DG: This is a simple yet effective atmospheric masterpiece of horror. Lon Chaney Jr. plays his role to perfection. This is the foundation that all great werewolf movies should be built upon.

5. Werewolf / Being Human

DG: As a kid, I was forbidden from seeing this show on FOX – but that didn’t really stop me. I would totally watch it when my parents were asleep – it was so taboo. I look at this as one of the major influences of High Moon for me. It doesn’t hold up that well, but there is something about it that still sticks with me.

SE: This show made me understand that when you have a low-budget – using shadow was a great way to hide your lousy special effects. It reminds me of something else … what’s that show … on BBC?

Being Human

DG: BEING HUMAN?

SE: Oh my god – totally awesome show – oh my god! Sorry, Gallaher – that’s my pick for #5. Amazing show. Fantastic story. Chilling ambiance. Great characters.

DG: Fair enough.

4 .Werewolf: The Apocalypse

DG: In the early 90s, White Wolf created an intriguing and complex role-playing game, which let players take on the roles of lycanthropic warriors who were locked in a battle of spiritual corruption and urban devastation – a battle that was set to bring about the Apocalypse. This is the first RPG that I played that really focused on character development, personal growth, and complex struggles.

SE: It was a hell of a lot of fun to play too. I love the ideas they came up with – and I loved they way the werewolves looked, the way they behaved – and it was really unique at the time. This is really what got me into werewolves.

3. Werewolf by Night

DG: When I think of comic book werewolves, Jack Russell is always at the top of the list. My first experience with Werewolf By Night was through Power Record’s CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF book and record set. The creepy music, the overwrought voiceovers, and the dynamic art really had a dramatic influence on my poor five-year old mind.

SE: You know it’s funny – I only read a few issues of this, but it doesn’t stick with me the same way it does with you. But – when Bill Sienkiewicz drew Moon Knight fighting Werewolf By Night – THAT was absolutely mind-blowing. I think it was in Issue #29 of the Moon Knight series. Amazing.

2. American Werewolf in London

DG: Despite the fact that you never see a “werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand walking through the streets of Soho in the rain” at any point in this film, it is still pretty damn amazing.

SE: John Landis and the spirited cast make one hell of a flick – with easily the most terrifying werewolf transformation scene ever committed to film. This is really one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen – it freaked the crap out of me. The special effects were really tremendous.

1. Dog Soldiers

Dog Soldiers

SE: Stomach-churning special effects and a unique twist on the werewolf design. This British film by Neil Marshall begins with a couple camping in the Scottish Highlands – and ends in utter bloodshed.

DG: You stole my stomach-churning joke, but yeah – this is probably my favorite werewolf film. Without a doubt. Scary. Haunting. Intense.

SE: Agreed.

DG: So there you have it … our choice for the top werewolves in entertainment — please be sure to check out some of these comics, films, and television shows this Halloween.

SE: Thanks for joining us.

High Moon

All this month, the creative team of High Moon has been celebrating its third anniversary of entertaining folks. Robot 666 is joining in the celebratory fun today by interviewing artist Steve Ellis. In this email info exchange we delve into the series moving away from ZUDA and growing its audiences through different digital platforms. While he was unable to go into details, I think fans of High Moon will be happy to learn there will some more Western horror in the High Moon creative team’s future.

If you’ve not read High Moon, at their blog the creators posted where to find High Moon: “The first three chapters of High Moon were collected last October by DC Comics. You can order the print collection through your local area comic book shop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Borders.

The entire series is also available digitally through Comixology’ Comics or DC Comics apps for the iPhone and iPad Operating System. You can also download the issues from here – and read them on your computer or import them them into your ipad or iphone. The first issue is free — and every additional issue is just 99 cents!

And finally, for those of you savvy comic reading gamers our there — HIGH MOON is also available through the DIGITAL COMICS store on the Playstation Network for your PSP.”

Added bonus at the end of this interview, instead of answering a question, Ellis asks the readers a question.

Tim O’Shea: This month marks the third anniversary of High Moon. Looking back at the past three years, what have been some of the high points for you?

Steve Ellis: The first high point was meeting David at NYCC and starting the whole process of collaboration and building the working friendship that we’ve built. The rewards of working in comics come in different forms, but the collaborative process is one of the greatest parts of it.

Other highlights include winning the first competition, which while everyone else seems to say was a foregone conclusion didn’t feel that way while we wee in the thick of it. The third major high point is getting to know the fans, building a visual style all my own and really finding an audience that responds to that vision.

Last but not least, being nominated and winning the Harvey Awards. There is nothing more flattering than to be acknowledged by your peers for the work you’ve been dong. So often comic artists work in a vacuum, only interacting with the biz on Wednesday when you go to the shop. Having your work chosen for an award by your peers is an excellent reward, and makes all the studio work even more worthwhile.

O’Shea: How daunting is it for the series to be moving on, with the end of ZUDA as an entity?

Ellis: I don’t know if I would describe it as daunting, it’s really exciting. Watching how well High Moon has done with the new audiences it’s found on the iPhone and PSP has given me more belief in the digital format these digital format and that when we come back with the new material we’ll have an even bigger audience waiting for it. I will miss Zuda for its community of fans though. I think that was one of the highlights of that format. The direct interaction with the fans. It seemed that every day people were coming to the site, reading and commenting and having conversations about the story points, giving their opinions on the weekly events in the comic and really being a part of the series. I think Zuda fostered a wonderful group of fans and contributors and I think in some ways the comics industry is a bit less for its end.

O’Shea: Did you know Drawbridge was going to post some interpretations of the HIGH MOON characters or was that a complete surprise?

Ellis: That was truly awesome. Simon Fraser, who arranges the drawbridge blog, dropped it on me the day they were going to do that as the topic. They put out a new topic everyday on Drawbridge and most days I can’t get my head together to do a piece for it. By the time I figure out a piece I want to do, it’s already the next day. So when Simon told me they were doing High Moon, I found out that morning. It was all I could do to get a piece in there. I have a couple of Drawbridge sketches sitting in my drawer because I was too busy to get them done.

The Drawbridge guys and girls are a fantastic bunch of creators, and it’s really an honor that they’ve asked me to contribute.

O’Shea: What else are you working on?

Ellis: Well, David, Scott and I are still producing the thriller comic, BOX 13, and after some interesting meetings we had at NYCC 20, it seems we’re going to have a lot of new and interesting projects with High Moon coming up.

Plus, there looks like there will some more Western horror in our future very soon.

O’Shea: In a recent tweet of yours, you acknowledged that films sometimes serve as inspiration for your comics. What films influenced High Moon?

Ellis: Oh wow … the first season of High Moon was influenced by Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. Films like The Good, the Bad & The Ugly, High Plains Drifter, The Italian version of Django is also great visual influence on High Moon especially for Mac’s tartan. The widescreen format of High Moon was made for the western. You can get those nice long “pans” across that mimic those long epic shots in Leone films. Not to use pretentious film words, but with High Moon I really tried to keep the same sense of mise en scène from the Leone world.

As the comics have been moving forward, Conroy has moved across the ocean to Victorian England and new influences have come in to play. For visual style I’ve been looking at films like the recent Frankenstein (by Kenneth Branagh, not my favorite film, but the set designs are great), as well as The Prestige, From Hell and other films of that era.

Strangely enough, I haven’t really delved into many monster films for this one, mostly because I don’t want my monsters to be too influenced by other peoples work.

O’Shea: In what ways have you and collaborator David Gallaher helped each other to evolve/improve as storytellers?

Ellis: David and I have spent countless hours sitting in my studio, or in the local coffee shops going over our projects panel-by-panel, page-to-page. It’s a very different work relationship than the traditional comic model. We both have a lot of say in what the other guy is doing. David will sometimes have a very specific vision for how he wants a scene to visually play out and I will have changes or additions to story points and storytelling.

I’ve really learned a lot about story structure and developing character and putting characters through their paces. When we begin working we tend to start with a solid outline, but as the story builds and as we develop pages and the drawing/writing process has begun, there is a lot of back and forth, and frequently the stories take on a life of their own. The final product still has the themes and high points of the outline but the details have often changed somewhat. Usually, when I’m done with a season, I have to immediately go back and read it again because I feel like every season is a journey and by the time I’ve gotten to the end I’ve forgotten where I began.

O’Shea: How has the 31 Days of High Moon gone so far?

Ellis: It’s been great, we’ve been talking to a lot of fans and putting up new art and things from the series and the repines has been fantastic. It’s great to see the outpouring of support we’ve gotten for the book and the continuation of the series.

O’Shea: Were you able to generate a great deal of interest and fun with the High Moon print you all offered at NYCC?

Ellis: The print was a great success. Every one who saw it was really excited about it. I haven’t worked on High Moon in a while, so pulling out The High Moon color palette and going crazy with the ink was great fun. I’m really looking forward to sinking my teeth into the next storyline.

O’Shea: When did you first realize how much enjoyment you got out of drawing monsters (as evidenced by High Moon, as well as your How-To book, Scream)?

Ellis: I’ve always been the “scary” kid, though, I think I really figured out that I was good at drawing monsters when I started working for White Wolf games on their Vampire the Masquerade line.

Monsters are just a blast to draw. I went to the morgue and studied anatomy in college and would come home after drawing cadavers and twist the anatomy into weird freaks of nature in my sketchbooks. Also, I love to look through books of animals and those crazy deep-sea creatures for inspiration. There’s nothing like big teeth, claws, fangs and weird anatomy to excite the imagination.

Monsters have always been a great way to deal with often real issues in a fun, scary, but not “real” way. I think Monsters often personify something we don’t like about ourselves or the world around us and play on our primal instincts. In movies and comics in the past monsters have been used as metaphors for social issues and personal fears. Just look at the way George Romero uses zombies to deal with race, religion and consumerism. The Werewolves in High Moon represent different things to the different characters that interact with or are them. For Mac, the Werewolf inside him represents his fear of losing control, whereas Conroy is more at home with his monster within. He accepts it and uses it, rather than trying to suppress it. For Bell, the monster he becomes is a dark reflection of his gentlemanly self.

Writing and illustrating Scream: Draw Classic Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Monsters and More, was a fantastic way to share my love of monsters with students who like to draw. Drawing monsters well can be tough, because you need to be able to draw the real world and represent that well enough so that when you twist the world into a monster, its still as realistic and well drawn as when you draw “real life” things.

O’Shea: You’ve been answering all these questions, now you get a chance: What would you like to ask your fans?

Ellis: I want to do a special High Moon piece for the end of the month; so, I guess I’d like to ask them what monster they want Conroy to be confronting on that piece.

Also, I’d like to thank all the fans of High Moon who supported us through the competition and really became a part of what made High Moon great for us and to let them know that more is coming.

Gallaher occupies a unique role as a creator whose popularity is based primarily on his online comics output, with his print work coming to catch up. The writer has a long history with the online work, going back to interning at Marvel’s interactive department in the late 1990s and being a advertising copywriter for several years. While his comics come out on the bleeding edge of comics formats, his instincts owe more to comics’ pulpy roots.

Chris Arrant: Let’s do an easy one, first – what are you working on today?

David Gallaher: This morning, I’m laying out the rest of Box 13: The Pandora Process, which is being illustrated by Steve Ellis and is being published digitally by comiXology. Steve and I also have another project we’re working on that we’re really excited about. It’s got what I refer to as the “new project smell.” Like  High Moon, it plays to our pulp roots – and I think it’ll be equally as vast.

And at some point this week, we’ll start our preparation for the New York Comic Con and discuss what’s next for High Moon.

Arrant: Although you’ve been doing comics for several years, it was your online work like High Moon at Zuda and Box 13 at comiXology that really put you on the map. What do you think of how the Internet changed your career like that?

Gallaher: What do I think? Well, I think it’s kinda great, honestly. I mean, technically, I started my professional career in digital comics with Marvel Interactive in ’99, so I think going back to those roots was really a huge part of why I am where I am today. You are right – I did have several years of traditional print comics under my belt – and while I don’t want to say that I struggled in that market, I did find it a difficult place to attract the sort of audience I was interested in reaching. So, I looked for different places to experiment a bit – places like Zuda and comiXology – and so far those have been great avenues for my work. Moving forward, I hope to develop more projects that move in that direction.

Arrant: Over at Marvel you’ve done two stories, both focused on the Russian superhero team the Winter Guard. Why are you drawn to them so much? Is it the characters, or their country?

Gallaher: Actually, it’s the creator. While he didn’t technically create the Winter Guard, the team was directly inspired by the work Bill Mantlo did with the Soviet Super-Soldiers in the ’80s. I have always been a big fan of his work – and wanted to create a project that played around with some obscure characters while raising awareness of Bill’s current condition, which I talk about a little on my website. Beyond that, though, it was a great opportunity to move these characters out of the faded shadow of Communism and into a bold, more heroic future. I’m enthralled by Russia and by the incredible array of Russian characters in the Marvel Universe – Kraven, Rhino, Chameleon, Black Widow, Omega Red – and I wanted to shine a light on that side of the world. And it was a blast! I got to use the Agents of Atlas, I had Ursa Major punch an undead dinosaur in the face, and I brought back the Dire Wraiths – that to me was a lot of fun. But, at the end of the day, the book was really for Bill Mantlo and everything he inspired in me.

I also owe a big thanks to Jeph Loeb, who brought these characters out of obscurity.

Arrant: Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Gallaher: If you had asked me that question five years ago, I certainly wouldn’t have said that I expected to be writing comics full-time. In April of 2005, my body was breaking down at a severe pace – where I was having eight to nine seizures a week – and where literally every day, I was wondering if it’d be my last. So, five years ago, I certainly didn’t think I’d be where I am today.

With that in mind, I have no idea where I’ll be in five years. The key for me is to keep moving forward. I want to keep my creative team employed telling the kind of stories that we want to tell with as much creative freedom as possible. Basically, the goal is to keep writing comics and new projects until I can’t write anymore.

Arrant: For years, you worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency. How did your work there affect your writing?

Gallaher: Some of my favorite writers worked as advertising copywriters – Terry Gilliam, for instance. And, having spent the years working in that field myself I can tell you firsthand that it fundamentally changed the way I felt about writing. No longer was I writing when I “felt inspired” — now I was obligated to write every day for 50 hours a week, whether it was excellent or excrement. It gave me the discipline I needed to go further with my career. Of course, I also learned something else critically important and that’s “simplicity sells” – and that’s the one lesson I try to keep in mind when I’m writing any project.

Arrant: Prior to all that you interned at Marvel in the late ’90s. What was it like then?

Gallaher: Interning at Marvel was an amazing experience. I could spend hours talking about how that experience shaped me as a comics creator. I met amazing people, did some work I’m still very proud of, and I learned firsthand how awesome comics could be. Conversely, I also learned how wretched the industry could be, too. At the time, Marvel was undergoing some dramatic changes, doing their best to crawl out of the hole that their bankruptcy left them in. There was a great deal of confusion about what role Interactive should play in Marvel’s development. I saw friends get let go, fired, and whole departments get restructured. It was a challenging time, but, as I said, I learned a lot. It was a tremendous experience that opened a lot of doors for me and my career.

Arrant: What’s the big comic you want to do next?

Gallaher: When you say BIG comic, what do you mean? I mean, I certainly want to do more Winter Guard comics – and maybe one day a neo-noir Dan Garrett Blue Beetle series, but in terms of Batman, Wolverine, or Superman? I’m not sure. I don’t really think that way. I mean, I love those characters — but they seemed pretty locked up for a while. In the meantime, I’m going to keep developing new content, exploring new formats, finding new models of collaboration, working with innovative publishers, and pushing new ideas forward. If nothing else — it will certainly be an adventure.

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

Well bust my buttons, if it isn’t time for another round of What Are You Reading, where we talk about all the comics, books and other reading matter we’re currently engrossed in. Our guest this week is High Moon co-creator and writer David Gallaher, who’s been blogging with us at Robot 6 all this past week.

David has quite a list of titles to pour over, so let’s get to it. Click on the link below to get started.

Spider-Man 2099

Tom Bondurant: I’ve been re-reading Spider-Man 2099, but now I have a strange compulsion to pick up “Hush”….

So far I’ve gotten through the first twelve issues of Spider-Man 2099, all of which which were written by Peter David, pencilled by Rick Leonardi, and inked by Al Williamson. For a book designed to launch an entire imprint, build a new Marvel future, and piggyback on the considerable goodwill of Marvel’s best-known character, it stands on its own quite well. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel like Spider-Man, because there’s enough humor and swashbuckling to make Miguel O’Hara a credible Spider-successor. It’s a handsome package too, with Williamson’s inks complementing Leonardi’s pencils nicely. David also juggles a growing cast efficiently, for example using villains like Venture and the 2099 Vulture for world-building. He’s just introduced the Net Prophet on the last issue of #12, and I know the NP is supposed to be a familiar Marvel character, but I can’t remember who — and don’t tell me, I want to see if I can figure it out!

Man, I’m writing about Donna Troy a lot these days! I even watched bits of “Cougar Town” (during “Glee’s” commercial breaks) to test my theory about her and Courteney Cox. Anyway, Blackest Night: Titans #2 is probably the most tasteless superhero comic I’ve read in a while, as well as one of the more ridiculous. Written by J.T. Krul and drawn by Ed Benes (with some inks from Scott Williams), its centerpiece is Donna’s confrontation with the Black Lantern versions of her late husband and infant son (who were killed off-panel over ten years ago). What’s tasteless is having baby Robbie half-decomposed. What’s ridiculously over-the-top is having baby Robbie fly around attacking Donna. Sure it’s horrific, and sure that’s the point, but baby Robbie didn’t have to look so … dead. (In fact, Black Lantern Jade looked pretty healthy.) Blackest Night can get along fine without a dead baby, so it could have either made Robbie look more presentable, or hidden him in the shadows with his condition implied. It’s too bad, because as it happens, Benes’ work here is some of his best. It’s moody and scary when it needs to be, and dynamic where appropriate. Terra’s hinder still gets some undue attention, but at this point that’s to be expected.

Finally, I did like this week’s Justice League of America 80-Page Giant, a clever riff on the venerable JLA format which finds our heroes paired up and cast randomly through time. It’s by a veritable horde of writers and artists, so some chapters come off better than others. Basically, each pair of Leaguers teams up with a classic DC character from the particular time period. I liked Green Arrow and Firestorm teaming up with the Bride to fight Ra’s Al Ghul in World War II, as well as Steel and Wonder Woman as pirates fighting Starro. Sadly, I get the feeling that these kinds of stories only get done in these special-format issues because they’re too “retro” and throwbacky for the cool kids who read the regular JLA book. That’s a
shame, because (as I get tired of saying) the regular JLA book could use a little structure, retro though it may be.

Batman and the Outsiders

Tim O’Shea: I bought/read/own the original Batman and the Outsiders when they were published back in the early 1980s. But I still could not resist the urge to snag a used Showcase edition that collects the first 19 issues of the series (plus a few crossovers here and there). Why? Because it’s nice to see Jim Aparo’s art in pure black and white. For me, I think Aparo will always be my favorite Batman artist. Also, this was an era in Batman comics where the tragic bastard actually smiled once and a rare while.

Chris Mautner: WW Norton was kind enough to send me a copy of Crumb’s Genesis adaptation. I only got it in the mail yesterday, so I haven’t had much of a chance to delve into it yet. It looks beautiful though. I hope to have a proper review of the book up soon.

I spent most of the past week or so reading an advance copy of I Will Not Write an Uncensored, Unauthorized History of the Simpsons by John Ortved. As the title so coyly suggests, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the popular animated show, and apparently there was a lot more bad blood amongst the creators and writers than one would initially imagine. The book is especially harsh towards producer James L. Brooks, who comes off as selfish and cruel at times, and Matt Groening, whose contribution to the show seems to have started and stopped with those initial Tracy Ullman shorts. It’s one of those “oral history” type books, and Groening and a few significant others don’t really contribute directly to Ortved’s history (apart from the occasional old magazine interview). Still, for Simpsons fans, those of us that still have fond memories of the show anyway, it’s probably a must read. It should be out in stores in a week or so.

Matt Maxwell: FANTASTIC FOUR VISIONARIES: JOHN BYRNE v.1
Someone reminded me of these in a twitter conversation recently and I was inspired to revisit these.  While they’re not written in a fashion that we’re used to today, they’re as good as I remembered them.  And it’s pretty amazing to know that John Byrne not only pencilled these stories, but wrote them and inked them, all on a monthly schedule like clockwork.  The stories themselves don’t show it, either.  They’re all engaging, and remarkably solid and dense.  Most of them are actually one-shots, where everything is wrapped up in 22 pages, which makes for a satisfying read.  Sure, by our standards, they’re overwritten, but they’re filled with imagination as well.  It may not be the Lee/Kirby FF, but it is an entertaining read nonetheless.

BLOOM COUNTY ARCHIVES v.1
I couldn’t resist, as this was one of three comics I was able to follow from beginning to end.  And as Berkeley Breathed was right there signing them at the IDW booth, I took the opportunity and ran with it.  Though i suppose this is cheating, as it’s “What I’m About to Read”, not really what I’m reading.  Just yet anyways.

Domo

Brigid Alverson: I had pretty low expectations for Domo: The Manga. I never found the character very appealing — he’s one-dimensional and lacks the quirkiness of a lot of Japanese cartoon mascots. But Tokyopop played this one pretty well. Domo is the mascot for Japan’s NHK network and stars in a series of 30-second animated shorts there. Writer Clint Bickham chose a similar format for the book, with a series of very short stories, every one of which could be summed up as: Domo finds something cool and gets carried away, to the annoyance of his friends. The storytelling is almost wordless, which means the art has to be very good, and it is; Tokyopop picked some veteran global manga artists to illustrate the book. There’s not much depth to it, but it’s simple, bright, and funny, very good for what it is—a kids’ book.

I wish I could find Meg Cabot and Jinky Coronado’s Avalon High manga trilogy as likable. The problem with this set, the latest volume of which just came out, is that the manga are based on a set of prose novels with a fairly complicated back story (American teenagers are reincarnations of King Arthur and his court), so the whole first volume is recap. Coronado’s drawing style is a bit heavy-handed — her figures all seem very solid and fleshy—which also weighs the books down a bit.

Red Plains, on the other hand, is a comic for grownups. It’s a western, something I don’t see a lot of, and the first story arc is about ranchers vs. settlers, a classic theme. I really enjoy Noel Tuazon’s loose, brushy inking style in the first arc, Range War, and I like Larry Watts’s tighter work in the later arcs as well. I’m still getting a feel for the story, and Tuazon’s art is so loose that it’s hard to tell the characters apart, but Caryn Tate’s solid, spare writing is keeping me hooked.

New Warriors Classic, Vol. 1

David Gallaher: On the print side of things, I’ve spent most of the last three weeks reading all of the back issues from The Official Handbook of The Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition. I’ve always been a Marvel handbook junkie and I love having the opportunity to go back and re-visit all of these characters. Among my favorites, of course, are the old BOOK OF THE DEAD volumes. As much as I like reading the newer Marvel handbooks, for my money, these are still the best

Besides refreshing my old Marvel Lore, I’ve been really enjoying the trade of NEW WARRIORS CLASSIC Vol 1 – and I can’t wait for VOL 2! Almost twenty years later, Fabian Nicieza’s writing is still crisp as ever and Mark Bagley’s pencils are dynamic, interesting, and engaging.

Speaking of the New Warriors, NOVA always tops my reading list. Several folks have often cited that Nova is a rip-off of GREEN LANTERN, but that’s not a connection I tend to make [as I see far more of Doc Smith's LENSMAN in NOVA]. Richard Rider is simply one guy trying to do his best with the situation life has handed him. Over the course of the last ten years, Nova has gone from being a a bit of a joke – to being one of Marvel’s stellar heroes. Abnett and Lanning are doing amazing things with this book. Pick up a copy of the series – and I think you’ll agree. [Also, as a totally geeky aside, if my calculations are correct, NOVA will be approaching his 100th cumulative issue in about 17 more issues - which is around the time of his 35th anniversary as a character!]

Webcomics-wise, I’ve found myself really enjoying Cameron Stewart’s award-winning series Sin Titulo. It’s a moody, semi-autobiographical thriller — and Cameron’s storytelling is really at its peak here. And if you aren’t familiar with any of the other comics on Transmission X, you are really missing out on some extremely well-crafted comics!

Also, I following the work of my peers on Zuda. This week, in particular, I’ve found myself reading or re-reading Ilias Kyriazis’ MELODY, Andy Belanger’s BOTTLE OF AWESOME, and Kevin Colden’s I RULE THE NIGHT.

And, finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how Brad Guigar’s EVIL INC. series always manages to keep me entertained.

This weekend marks the coming of the  Harvest Moon,  the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox.

In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but this year it occurs in October just before hunting season.

This ominous moon also signals the debut the long-awaited fourth season of the werewolf epic – HIGH MOON!

Written by myself, illustrated by Steve Ellis, and lettered by Scott O. Brown, this season brings Macgregor to the streets of London where he must unravel a hidden family curse before it claims its next victim.

After this weekend’s update, you see new pages every Monday by sundown.

Later this month, Zuda Comics will celebrate its second anniversary as DC’s webcomics imprint. One of the people responsible for the success is Ron Perazza, Vice President of Creative Services.

Welcome Ron.

For starters, take a moment to tell our readers who you are.

Sure. I’m the Vice President of Creative Services for DC Comics – which doesn’t really do much to describe what I do every day. In a nutshell, I’m responsible for what can very, very loosely be described as “other.” Ha! It includes everything from custom publishing (like posters for the American Library Association or LEGO’s Bionicle Comics), creative for promotions and tie-ins based on DC Comics characters (like the BATMAN BEGINS DVD menu, the SUPERMAN RETURNS/PEPSI webcomic or the SMALLVILLE animated “content wraps”) and creation of marketing materials such as convention graphics, house ads or PREVIEWS. I also oversee DC Online, which includes all of our websites, of course, but also things like the audio/video & podcasts and I’m very involved with DC Comics’ talent search, which we do at conventions. On top of all of that, I run Zuda Comics – DC Comics’ webcomics imprint. It’s kind of never the same day twice.

For those who haven’t heard about Zuda Comics, what it is all about?

Zuda Comics is DC Comics’ webcomic imprint. Basically we’re publishing comics online and then later, once there’s enough material available, collecting them as graphic novels for traditional print distribution. We take open submissions – anyone can send us their ideas and samples – but we select what we’re going to publish in kind of a unique way. On the one hand we have a traditional editorially driven selection process where the Zuda Editors (Kwanza, Nika and I) simply read, review and select what we think would be good for the site. However, in addition to that we have a competition where we put the submissions online and let the users decide. The resulting catalog is a pretty interesting mix of genre and style but I think it’s been very effective so far.

Tell us about the selection process for the Zuda competition. How are competitors selected?

Well, as I mentioned above, anyone can send us anything – and they do. Our first pass is to weed out things that simply don’t meet our editorial standards or contain material that disqualifies the submission in some way; for example, if it contains someone else’s trademarked characters or doesn’t follow the technical specs. After that it’s a lot of reading. We read and review every submission and do our best to judge it on it’s own merit, not in comparison to something else. We’ll try and mix and match the submissions as they go online in order to keep each month diverse. That way it’s not a competition about which robot story is best or which mystery but, ideally, which story. Period.

What are SOME of you favorite Zuda entries that didn’t go on to win?

A comic that I often reference as one of the ones that I thought was really great, that users didn’t select but, fortunately, continued on it’s own outside of ZUDA is Sam & Lilah. I think Jim Dougan and Hyeondo Park are really talented and it would have made a great addition to the ZUDA catalog. That month the users picked THE BLACK CHERRY BOMBSHELLS – also a great comic but very, very different in tone, style and just about everything else. You can’t say the users got it “wrong” they just went a different way. The BOMBSHELLS has be great for the site but it’s good to know that in some small way we were able to help Jim & Hyeondo out and that they’re continuing to tell their story. It’s over ACT-I-VATE now.

Currently, Zuda’s catalog contains more than a handful of horror and science-fiction based titles. Why do you feel like these genres have been more prevalent than other genres – like superheroes, romance, or comedy?

That’s a good question. Both horror and science fiction are classic comic book/fantasy genres so I’m sure their popularity on ZUDA corresponds in some way to their popularity in general. I think there might be a bit of a snowball effect as well. Meaning, if you’ve got a few great horror series you’ll begin to gather an audience of fans of horror. Those fans are then the ones selecting the next winners. And so it goes. That’s not a bad thing because you’re appealing to your audience and giving them quality stories they connect with and care about. Our job, as editors, is to make sure that all of the comics get equal attention. We can do that in small ways, by simply creating promotions or ads to get readers interested in other stories, or in large ways by bringing in high quality comics from different genres; for example THE NIGHT OWLS or STREET CODE. It’s really win-win. You expand your audience and you expand your catalog at the same time.

Is there any genre, in particular, you would like to see more of on Zuda?

I’m kind of a military history buff so for me personally I’d love to see a well told military comic. Something straightforward, well researched, fact based and compelling. I have no idea if that would be interesting to anyone else though! Generally speaking fantasy and action are great but I would love to something unexpected.

What is Zuda’s editorial policy? Are you guys really hands-on? Really hands-off? Or, somewhere in the middle?

It’s interesting because Kwanza, Nika and I each have very different interests and styles. Nika is our assistant editor and she’s very nuts-and-bolts. Very detail oriented. Where Kwanza, our editor, is much more big picture focused. The big idea. The essence. I tend to approach things very visually. I look at the character design, the camera angles, the storytelling and the rendering of the art itself. Kwanza comes at it from a writing and story point of view. I think the combination works out really well for us in that we’re able to cover a lot of bases by working as a team. It also lets us adjust to the particular working styles of the different creative teams. I think fostering that kind of flexibility at the editorial level is critical to adapting to the vast diversity of work we’re seeing come through the site.

Starting a new imprint isn’t always easy. As an editorial team, what have been your biggest successes? Was there a particular challenge that seemed difficult at first – but then turned out to be easier than you thought it would be?

I think our biggest success has been launching a successful imprint! I know there’s a lot of focus on the editorial and I think that’s natural but before we could put up a single page of a single story we needed the site itself. Our internal tech team, led by Dave McCullough, partnered with really talented people from IBM and some other contractors to put it all together. We spent months going through the most minute aspects of the site – what technology to use, what kind of hardware we’d need on the back end, navigation flow, information architecture, etc, etc. At the same time we’re working with Legal, with Publication Operations, Accounting, Budgeting, and so on. As a business it was all new. It needed to be flexible enough to grow but still capable of working within an existing structure in order to take advantage of those benefits. It’s was both vast and deep…and it’s ongoing. Making comics, well…that’s the fun part!

What have been some of the specific obstacles or challenges Zuda has faced? And, how have you overcome them?

There are always obstacles even if they’re just small, daily challenges. One of our recent challenges that I think we overcame successfully is making the jump from online to print. We didn’t want to just plop the pages in to a book. We wanted to really preserve the story and mirror the online reading experience as much as we could while still providing the reader with an enjoyable print experience. That’s why we went with the landscape format book, among other decisions. Having worked with us on the HIGH MOON collection you know first hand how much time and effort we collectively put into each and every screen in making sure the color was correct, the text was readable, and so on. It was challenging but in the end it was worth it.

In the recent site wide revision, Zuda added a mature content filter to the site. Does that mean that readers can expect to see adult content on the site soon?

From the beginning our goal with ZUDA was to work with new creators, new styles, new genres. To tell great stories. Because engineering a site like this is a long term process, we wanted to set up the potential for content that touches on potentially sensitive themes in the event we want to do so at some time in the future. At the same time we want to respect our users, giving them control over what they want to read – and what they don’t care to read. In that regard our recent upgrades are a next natural extension of what’s been planned from the beginning.

In the last several months, Zuda has received a fair bit of critical acclaim, first with BAYOU, which recently won five Glyph awards – and now several other strips are nominated for a handful of Harvey Awards – how does that feel?

Is that a real question? It feels great! It’s wonderful to receive recognition and critical acclaim! It’s also wonderful that the different creative teams have such an “all for one, one for all” attitude about the accolades as well. You should know this since you’re a part of that group, but it’s really great to see the support that the creators give each other. It sounds dopey but it really is kind of like a big family and when something good happens – like an award – it’s refreshing to see how all of the other creators rally around that moment.

Of course, with critical acclaim also comes criticism. Critics have often railed against Zuda on everything ranging from the contracts to the use of Flash as a comic app. How do you react to that?

In general my reaction has been to keep calm and try and convey that facts. I’m OK with having a difference of opinion; after all, this is comics – there’s no shortage of opinions. But I’ll admit it’s bothersome when criticism is based on false assumption and misinformation. The only sane way to counter that sort of criticism is by providing accurate, honest information and fact. To that end we try and be very open. We keep information about the competition and our contracts online, we maintain a feedback account on the site for questions and we actively encourage people to seek out others that can help them make decisions that are in their best interest. We try and remain approachable through things like our blog, Facebook, Twitter, at conventions, and so on. I think it’s also important to remember that people critique things because they care. That’s the common bond.

This month, HIGH MOON hits bookstores and comic shops – and in March, THE NIGHT OWLS is scheduled to drop. What is next on the publishing schedule?

Little plug for yourself there, huh? We work out our print publication schedule as the online series’ progress based on the individual artist or creative teams delivery schedules. It’s somewhat flexible, within the obvious limits around the time required to solicit, design, produce, print & ship the book. Given that giant caveat, BAYOU Vol. 2 would follow THE NIGHT OWLS. That should take us through the middle of 2010. We’re looking to do one book per “span.” In the book market a span is four months so there are three spans per year.

Besides the sales of print copies of BAYOU, HIGH MOON, [etc.], are there other plans to eventually monetize Zuda (subscription fees, advertising, merchandise, etc.)?

I look at ZUDA as a long game. It’s an investment in the future. Our primary goal is to work with talented people, tell the kinds of stories that we’re not telling with our other imprints and take advantage of the web as a storytelling medium and delivery method. Using our existing infrastructure to extend that into the print world and beyond, where possible, is a natural fit. We have absolutely no plans to turn ZUDA into a subscription site. I think it’s important that users can get to the comics quickly, jumping through as few hoops as possible. Once they’re there they should have as unobstructed an experience as possible. That’s why “full screen” mode even blocks out the advertisements. Focusing too much on the quick hit or quick sale is a bad idea, in my mind. We shouldn’t put the cart before the horse. It’s critical to remember that people come to the site because of the comics. If the comics are good and if the readers are invested in those stories…well, success will follow.

In addition to your work with DC and Zuda, you use your Twitter account to actively encourage readers to ‘make comics’ – by providing them with resources, tools, and insights to help them hone their craft. What was the genesis of that?

It was a confluence of things, really. Partly because I’m online pretty much all the time. Partly because I do the Talent Search presentations at conventions and the portfolio reviews that follow. Partly because I’ve led a pretty odd life in comics, being exposed to a number of diverse areas of the business. However, the actual moment that I started posting comments and advice was the direct result of a question about webcomics that someone tweeted to CB Cebulski, Marvel’s Talent Scout. CB and I are friends and so he knew what I was doing over at DC with ZUDA. He prompted me to respond to the question and it just took off from there. Generally speaking I think social media gives us a unique opportunity to connect with other creators and fans in ways that were impossible five or ten years ago. Since comics are collaborative by nature, connecting with people just makes sense. If in the course of my career I’ve learned something and I can pass that on to someone else, helping that person become better at whatever it is they’re trying to do…why wouldn’t I do that?

For what it’s worth…

CB Cebulski [on Twitter]
Ron Perazza [on Twitter]

…and the hashtag is #makecomics

Be forewarned, this is my personal Twitter account and not a company account! In addition to comics you’ll get talk about football, food, video games and all sorts of other random nonsense. If you’re interested in just following the company you should follow: Zuda, DC Nation, Vertigo, Wildstorm, and CMX

How did you learn to be an editor? Were there specific editors who mentored you? Or, was this just a result of being in the industry for a while and learning while on the job?

I was lucky enough to start my career in comics as an Assistant Art Director for Marvel Trading Cards and Game Cards. This was in the heyday of trading cards and because of a complete fluke of corporate licensing we had the rights to create both Marvel and DC Comics cards. As a result I got to work with some of the greatest creators in comics, from both of the major publishing companies, old and new. That kind of contact and experience is invaluable. I got to learn about their styles, creative processes, tools, methods, schedules – everything. Having just come out of art school (I have degree in Illustration/Art History) I was like a sponge, soaking up everything I could learn. Another side benefit of trading cards was that I very quickly became steeped in comic fact. Significant issue numbers, specific powers and abilities, character histories, storylines, relationships, etc. That top down, big picture view of things was fantastic for seeing what made sense and what didn’t from a story point of view.

On top of all of that there were two people in specific that had a lot of faith in me and my abilities when I was first entering comics. In retrospect it’s hard to believe they trusted me with as much responsibility as they did but I’m extremely grateful. The first is Bill Jemas. He was the guy that brought me into comics and gave me my first job. I know Bill gets bashed a lot but he’s an incredibly smart guy and was always really good to me. The other is Dan Buckley. Dan was my immediate boss at the time. The great thing about Dan was his sense of teamwork, relying on the strengths of the individual to do what they do best. He also has a tremendous respect for creators and characters and I think that’s extremely important. Since then I’ve worked with a lot of great folk and it would be impossible to list all of them and how they’ve influenced me over the years but I think it’s important to know that good information can come from everywhere, from anyone. You have to remain open enough to harvest it all but decisive enough to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Finally, what parting advice would you give an aspiring creator who was interested in submitting to Zuda?

Don’t be a jerk. Nobody likes that guy. Don’t be a kiss ass. Nobody respects that guy.
Don’t be two-faced. Nobody believes that guy.

Above all else – don’t be all hype and no substance.

Thank you, Ron.

To read, vote, or create with Zuda Comics, head to their website at www.zudacomics.com.

"High Moon," Season 3

I very nearly missed this: High Moon, the engrossing supernatural Western by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, kicked off its third season today at DC’s Zuda Comics. (I named the webcomic as one of my favorite titles of 2008.) DC will release a printed collection of High Moon in October.