Well, we missed Halloween by a few days, but better late than never!
We’ve got scripts this week from Mr. 30 Days of Night himself, Steve Niles!
I’d imagine by this point you’re all quite familiar with the 30 Days of Night plot, but if for some reason you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so, the high concept is: Vampires descend upon an Alaska town during the 30 days in which the northern region receives no sunlight. It really is a masterwork of horror and if you haven’t read the comic, I highly recommend it. Ben Templesmith’s art is perfectly moody and beautifully expressive.
You might be a little less familiar with Criminal Macabre, which is the two-fisted, pulp/horror adventures of anti-hero, Cal McDonald. A bit of a noir take on Vampires/Goblins/Zombies etc. Cal has been published both in comic and novel format– one of which, Guns, Drugs, and Monsters is a personal favorite of mine.
Both are issue #1′s, so if you haven’t happened to read either, it might make for a unique experience to read the script first, then search out the Trades/Single issues to give those a read.
Interesting note about the scripts: They appear to be written in Final Draft– which I know a number of comic writers use. Final Draft, for the uninitiated, is a screenplay-friendly word processor. I’ll have an article down the line on the “tools of the trade”, but I just thought it was quickly worth mentioning.
Here’s Steve on the difference between writing a comic and writing a screenplay:
When I write comics I wear a cape. But seriously, there are many, many differences. Like writing a novel compared to a screenplay, comics give me a whole new set of tools to play with. With comics I can have any budget I like. If I want 10 million zombies to march then all I have to do is talk the artist off a ledge instead of beg for billions from a studio.
30 Days of Night
Criminal Macabre
Pick up the trades by clicking on the images!
Back later this week with a little update– and next week, oh man, next week. It’ll be a good one!