SuperSearnold - Comic Book Reviews

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Today is Thursday, October 30th, 2008. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Are you interested in a comic book but not sure you want to shell out the cash? Let me know and I’ll review it for you - letting you know if it’s worth your hard earned money!

Today we’re doing something a little bit different. Before reading this, go back to yesterday’s entry and read my review of the free online preview of the upcoming Dabel Brothers comic book project Dog Eaters. Then, follow my recommendation and read said free preview on the Dog Eaters website:
http://www.dogeaters-manga.com/

Then come back here and check out my exclusive interview with Dog Eaters creator Malcolm Wong conducted via e-mail on 10/20/08. It’s important that you read the Special Bonus Section: The Story Behind Dog Eaters in the preview. There’s a lot of great information about how this project came about in there - and I didn’t want to repeat any questions. In fact, I would consider this interview a follow up to that special section. So go check that out and then check this out:

Searnold: Hi Malcolm. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me about this project.

Malcolm Wong: Thank YOU for the review, Searnold! You were right about the ink & amp; tones. The color really separates the figures from the background, especially the Roaches.

Searnold: Well the preview was great and I look forward to being able to review the actual comic book.

Malcolm Wong: Thanks for the kind words! We’re hoping the word gets out!

S: Well I hope this helps with that! Let’s go ahead and get straight into it - your concept for Dog Eaters was heavily influenced by your belief that the United States is destroying itself. What do you hope readers can take away from your story? Do you believe a comic book has the power to help improve the current state of our country?

MW: No, I don’t think a comic book has any power to improve the current state of our country. What a comic book might be able to do is direct our attention to the possibility that we are headed in the wrong direction. But the possibility that America is on a downward slide to a Rome-like collapse is just the premise for the backstory for DOG EATERS. Could it happen? Nah!! U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A. will always be number one! Seriously, though, I’m worried for the future. It could all start coming apart at any time and when it does, it could happen fast.

S: You have a “produced by” and “edited by” credit on the comic book. Can you talk to us about what exactly those titles mean and what sorts of responsibilities you had on this project?

MW: For Issue #0, the SDCC Exclusive which we handed out for free, I paid for pencils, inking & toning, and printing. And I coordinated the production.
For the 6 issues that will go on sale starting November 19th, I am paying for pencils, and color.
So I am a producer in that I am putting up money and coordinating production.

S: Can you tell us about the technical aspects of your collaboration with Sean J. Jordan. For example: Who was responsible for what? How frequently did the two of you get together and talk? Who had final say? Etc. Also - how did the two of you wind up on the project together (did you choose him or was he suggested by the Dabel Brothers?)

MW: Sean came to ScreenwritingExpo5 in L.A. with Matt Hansen, Les and Ernst Dabel. Sean was a key member of the Dabels at the time and a part of the team as such. I met him that one time and as this project developed we communicated by email, Skype, and phone. I live in Tokyo, so it is not really that feasible to meet.
Sean did the heavy lifting on the adaptation — converting the 118 pg movie screenplay into a 168 page graphic novel script. I went back over his work and did a lot of rewriting, but all within the structure that he had set up. It was a collaborative process and it was done very economically without conflict or argument.

S: How does your creative process differ between working in movies and working in comics?

MW: I think it could be similar, but comics of course, are much less complicated. I have worked as a director and producer in music videos in Japan, but I haven’t done any movies, so I can’t really say anything about the differences in process. But at some point in the future, I would love to be able say I know something about it as the goal is to get DOG EATERS produced as a movie.

S: In the special bonus section of the preview – The Story Behind Dog Eaters – you said, “the book will take longer to complete than originally expected.” About how long has this comic book taken to put together? How long did it take to finish adapting the script and then how long did it take for the artwork to get finished?

MW: It has been two years, almost to the day, that I won the award to get DOG EATERS adapted into a comic/graphic novel. And it’s interesting that even after all this time, we’re still going to have to scramble to make the deadlines to get this out on schedule! Guillermo A. Angel is the artist on this project, and as you can see for yourself, he’s doing a fantastic job. Doing a great job takes time and he has basically made DOG EATERS his life, for now.
Writing the screenplay probably took about two years with all the revisions and rewrites. Adapting the script was fast.
So all together, we’re talking about 5 years from start to finish.

S: After Jim Mercurio – the Screenwriting Expo contest coordinator – suggested that you may not want to accept the Dabel Brothers Award, you said that you would later “wonder what exactly he knew or thought he knew.” What exactly did you wonder? Have you had further conversations with Jim about this matter?

MW: Yeah, it was kind of mysterious because he kind of pulled me aside as they were closing the party in the pool area at the hotel and told me I had won the Dabel award. DB had given the award the previous year but because the writer wanted an advance — he made his wish known through a lawyer — his book never got off the ground. I asked him, “Why?” because the reason I entered this script contest was the possibility of getting this made into a graphic novel. He sort of shrugged and said that maybe I would want to do it myself. Yeah, right.
I have communicated with Jim quite a few times since and his most fervent hope (slight exaggeration) is that DOG EATERS gets published.

S: In your mind – how exactly did “The Die Off” occur? Is this going to be explained in detail in the course of the series?

MW: Bevan and Tracy talk about the “Die Off” in the screenplay, but for purposes of brevity, it is not discussed in the comic/graphic novel.
I see the “Die Off” happening as a chain reaction starting with economic collapse, war, disease, and famine. The social structure breaks down and it’s every man for himself. In Tokyo, if the food supply is cut off, the only way to survive will be cannibalism. I’m not joking. There is not enough food to sustain 30 million people in this urban cityscape. Even if you have a farm that could sustain you and your family, all your hard work to cultivate your land and take care of your livestock can be taken away with a man with a gun. So you have to have a gun. And that’s when all hell breaks loose.

S: In The Story Behind Dog Eaters, you said, “Guillermo drew Rebecca from imagination based on what we imagined her healing and spiritual powers to be.” Are there going to be some supernatural elements coming into play in this story?

MW: Very little. Rebecca has a vision for the clan and she has healing powers, but this is not a supernatural tale.

S: The character description for Tommy says, “Though Tommy is being groomed to take Lamont’s place as chief of the tribe, he is not concerned with being a leader just yet - his father is at the height of his powers, and it will be years before Tommy will have to take over.” That sounds like a spoiler to me - are we going to see something unfortunate happen to Lamont?

Lawyer: Your honor, that’s pure conjecture! Objection!
Judge: Sustained.

S: What was your inspiration for these characters’ unique names?

MW: That’s a good question. Some of the names changed during the writing and rewriting process of the screenplay. I’m not being evasive here — I just can’t really remember.

S: You teased us by saying that you based the physical designs for Tommy, Bevan, and Stevie on real actors. I really want to know if I’m right so – who were those designs based on? And did you have those actors in your head at all when you were first conceptualizing the characters?

MW: I’m not going to divulge that secret! But I’ll give you another hint. We also looked at rock stars.

S: If you had the chance to do the entire project again from scratch – all the way back to the moment you first conceived of the Dog Eaters screenplay – what would you change or do differently?

MW: I can’t answer that until this project has run its entire course. There are still a lot of steps for DOG EATERS to take. Steps I want DOG EATERS to take. Much like you evaluate someone’s life, I won’t know or be able to speculate on the decisions I’ve made until it’s over. You don’t know if it was successful or not until the final tally is in. But so far, so good.

S: Well I think that about wraps it up. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to do this interview.

MW: Thank YOU Searnold! I’d like to say that you are a good, perceptive reader and really wring the most out of the words that are on the page. Many people just skim and ask questions that are already answered. Be sure to let me know the links to your site and I’ll post on MySpace and www.dogeaters-manga.com.

And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this exclusive interview. If you haven’t yet - be sure to go to the Dog Eaters website and check out that free preview. And make sure to ask your comic book retailer if they’ll be carrying Dog Eaters when it gets released on November 19th!

That’s it for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time. And don’t forget to let me know if there are any comic books that you’d like me to review for you - I take requests!
-Searnold, SuperSearnold@yahoo.com, myspace.com/SuperSearnold

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