Submitted by: Full Moon
The Werewolf Cafe interviews writer Stephen L. Antczak about his work on the new comic book "Nightwolf":
The Werewolf Cafe: Hello Stephen, first of all, thank you so much for doing this interview for The Werewolf Cafe website. I read through issue #0 and #1 of "Nightwolf" and Davey is a very complicated character with quite the werewolf curse, it's a very interesting story so far. Are you a werewolf comic book, book or movie fan yourself?
S. L. A.: Not indiscriminantly. I really liked the movie "Wolf" a lot, with
Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. I also liked "Ginger Snaps"; I thought
it was brilliant. Beyond that, I never really got into the werewolf comic
book characters of Marvel or DC, I thought they were uninspired.
The W. C.: When you write, are you influenced by any werewolf legends,
stories, movies, books, comics, actors or etc.?
S. L. A.: Except for "Wolf", which really did open my eyes to a new way of
looking at the werewolf, I would say no. I'm more influenced by things
outside of the realm of werewolves.
The W. C.: Now issue #1 part is part of an initial 5 part mini-series titled "NightWolf: The Price". Will there be another mini-series after this one?
S. L. A.: Actually, my company, VLE Comics, will begin a monthly, full
color Nightwolf series, which will be broken up into story arcs as well
as ongoing storylines. We hope to debut it by Comic Con in San Diego at
the latest.
The W. C.: What months are the issues planned to be out in comic book stores?
S. L. A.: #2 should hit this month, September, #3 in November, #4 in
January, and #5 in March.
The W. C.: Nice artwork in the comic by artist Nick Marinkovich. How does everything work out regarding being part of a writer and artist team?
S. L. A.: I write the script and email it to Nick, and he does the art.
The key thing is establishing characters...what they look like, etc. He
did character studies and sent them to me, and there was a little back
and forth until we nailed it. For example, I felt Kip, Davey's younger
brother, looked a little too old in #0, so I asked Nick to fix that for
#1.
The W. C.: When did you originally come up with the concept of the story and start writing "Nightwolf"? Are you enjoying seeing your comic book out there in print now? How has the response been so far?
S. L. A.: Well, I came up with a character called Nightwolf back in the
1970s as a kid. He was just one of a hundred or so characters I came up
with. It wasn't until later that I made him a werewolf. I wrote it
originally as a screenplay in 1996, got some interest in Hollywood but
was told there needed to be a comic book if anyone in Hollywood was
going to be really interested. I love having the comic out there, it is
hugely gratifying that it has been so well received so far, considering
it just came out. Great reviews, the fans really seem to dig it. Being
a fan myself, going back to the mid-1970s, I feel like I know what fans
want.
The W. C.: Any interesting or fun stories you can share with us as they
relate to the "Nightwolf" comic?
S. L. A.: At Chicago Wizard World I walked into a sports bar after the
con for some dinner, wearing my Nightwolf t-shirt, which is just the
logo (without the name Nightwolf), and someone pointed to me and yelled:
"Nightwolf!" That was cool.
The W. C.: What upcoming conventions can people can find you at?
S. L. A.: Dragon Con is my home town con, so I go every year. We'll have
a table in the Small Press area at NY Comic Con, maybe Mega Con in
Orlando, Heroes Con in Charlotte, Comic Con International in San Diego,
probably Chicago again. We'll also be at Necronomicon in Tampa in
October, which is more of a general sci-fi convention. I might try
Archon in St. Louis, I hear that one's fun. If we can swing it, we'll
try to go to Baltimore, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Seattle, too.
The W. C.: Do you have a website or websites where people can keep up with "Nightwolf"?
S. L. A.: www.VLEComics.com, and there's also a Nightwolf mySpace.
The W. C.: Here's a question from one of the Forum Members on The Werewolf Cafe site, he wanted to know: "Will Nightwolf always have trouble controlling his wolf form?"
S. L. A.: Maybe, maybe not! I intend to play with that as the series
progresses and the character evolves.
The W. C.: Thank you so much for your time and we wish you much success with "Nightwolf".
S. L. A.: Thanks!