Comic World News | Headlines

April 22, 2008:
CWN and the Grand Finale! -

February 4, 2008:
In Conclusion - David ends his CWN run with Tezuka's MW from Vertical

February 2, 2008:
Acting Like You Have Nothing to Prove -

February 2, 2008:
The Shoegazer Returns - A New Year Begins, And Our Narrator Makes A Pledge

January 30, 2008:
Tim's Reviews -

September 13, 2007:
Wizard World Chicago Loot, Part One - Stykman, Empty Chamber, the Ztarian Saga, and yes, Little Bunny Foo Foo

February 15, 2007:
I Come Not to Bury Nick Cage... - But to mourn the death of my punchline

November 20, 2006:
The End - Rich's last Chicks & Romance

November 8, 2006:
Joann Sfar's Klezmer - And a Front Racks Hiatus

October 4, 2006:
This Month's Guest: Dave Gibbons - From the pages of Elephantmen!

September 18, 2006:
Back in Berlin - or How I spent my summer

July 29, 2006:
KICKING UP A STORM - An interview with David Lloyd

June 19, 2006:
You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me. - Graeme looks at Spidey's "genies"

December 18, 2005:
Disappointed - Sad news for fans of Busiek's CONAN, Stephen King, and others

December 13, 2004:
JUSTICE UNPLUGGED 2 at last !!! - By Fabrice Sapolsky & Xavier Fournier

December 2, 2004:
THE TWELFTH AND FINAL STEP - Say it ain't so, Dan.

November 23, 2004:
The importance of editing -

September 29, 2004:
Mystery and Conundrum indeed! - Where in the world is Jason Pomerantz?

September 13, 2004:
Hello and Goodbye and Hello Again - Change is in the air at CWN and it smells sweet.

August 12, 2004:
The Rise of the Web Toon - New Business Model or Dumb Luck?

July 30, 2004:
The Name Says it All... - Spin Doctors revamp Boomerang.

July 27, 2004:
Bigger Isn't Always Better -

June 8, 2004:
Pre-emptive Strike: MoCCA Arts Festival - Looking forward to the con, rather than looking back at it

The Layer Method
Our top Secret time-saving technique for creating and merging balloons and tails in Illustrator.

Friday, September 3, 2010

CWN's Where Are They Now?

We catch up with co-founder and former EiC Dan Wickline

There have been a few changes here at Comic World News since we first opened our doors. Columnists have come and gone, and so have editorial staff and founders. We thought it would be fun to catch up with some former CWN folks and see what they�re up to these days, and who more appropriate to kick things off with than CWN�s co-founder and original Editor-in-Chief Dan Wickline?

One of the things that first drew me to this site was Dan�s old Twelve-Step Program column in which he outlined not only the process behind creating a comic book, but also his strategy for breaking into the comics business. It�s a strategy that�s served him well, so I asked him to fill us in on how his creative career is going.

Michael May (MM): You and Steve Niles just finished up 30 Days of Night: Dead Space. How did that collaboration come about?

Dan Wickline (DW): Steve and I were chatting in instant messenger about his Bloodsucker Tales story and how he was doing a scene with an autopsy. He was trying to figure out what organs a vampire would and wouldn�t need. I suggested the lungs would be superfluous since vampires can exist underground and in coffins. I then joked that they would make great astronauts� next thing I know we had a story and an artist attached.

MM: Can you walk us through the process of working with Steve on Dead Space? Who did what on the script?

DW: Well, the process was pretty unique I believe. The messenger I use keeps a transcript of your chat, so I took that and used it to write up a loose outline. Steve then took that outline and tweaked it some and then it went on to Milx to draw. When we got the pages back, I took a pass over them to do the dialogue and then Steve made a pass over that. About the only thing I can look at and say �that�s mine� or �that�s Steve�s� is the use of curse words� those are Steve�s, I swear mom!

MM: You've got a comic coming out from Cellar Door called I Am Spartacus. What can you tell us about that?

DW: I Am Spartacus is another project that happened without my really doing much. I wrote the script a couple years ago (while killing time at my day job) and hadn�t done much with it. A while latter I got contacted by Ilkka Lesonen asking if I had a script he could play with. I sent him Spartacus and really didn�t think about it again for a month or two. Suddenly I was getting emails from him with these amazing pages of art. When I had about twenty pages I took them to Comic-Con and showed Jade Dodge of Cellar Door and she immediately wanted to publish the book.

The book itself is a suspense/thriller. A major corporation is being sabotaged by what appears to be a homeless man with amazing abilities. Even more interesting is the acts of sabotage are all aimed at the company�s �less-than-legal� activities so the homeless man must have access to inside information. The head of security, Tiffany Munday, is brought in to hunt down Spartacus. She is unaware of the company�s criminal activities until she gets the case. From there the line between the good guys and the bad guys becomes very blurry.

MM: You're also a photographer. What's going on in that part of your creative life?

DW: I had my first photo book, Private Skin, published late last year by Mix-of-Pix (now available at Amazon.com). It�s a collection of 200 black & white glamour nudes I�ve shot over the last 10 years. I�m really proud of the work because not only does it show my work but the progression of that work as some of the photos are from early on to some I took just prior to publication. I�m starting on a new photo project now; combining my photography and writing. I�m going to do a series of noir style shoots and then write an accompanying story. Not sure if I�m working towards a second book or perhaps a website� we�ll see.

MM: Any other upcoming projects you want to tell us about?

DW: I have a few things that haven�t been officially announced yet so I can�t say much. Let�s just say I will be doing more horror and then a slide over to mystery/crime. Also, for those who remember The Conversation from a few years back; I will be doing a follow up to it that will be roughly a 100 page original graphic novel that will be half the cut & paste art and half brand new art from the likes of Tommy Castillo, Tone Rodriguez, Marat Mychaels, Sean Shaw, Ben Templesmith and many more� twenty artists in all. We have a publishing agreement in place but still need to finalize a few things.

And finally I�m one of the writers for ACTIONOPOLIS, a new series of children�s books that will be debuting in the next couple of months. My book, The St. Christopher�s Junior Mystery Detective League, probably won�t see print until 2007 though.

After this interview was conducted, Steve Niles announced that one of Dan�s upcoming projects includes another go at the 30 Days of Night universe. Solo. Congratulations to Dan on landing that gig.