Interview: Halloween Man Celebrating 20th!
“Halloween Man” a 21st Century Beauty and the Beast story that brings together the most amazing aspects of horror, superheroes, and science fiction. Meet Solomon Hitch, the Halloween Man himself — a misunderstood monster with the power of the horror movie sequel, a heart of gold, and a taste for living flesh — and his lady love Lucy Chaplin, the world’s most glamorous mad scientist. With his friends by his side, he just might smash evil, save the world — and maybe even save his soul!
C4S set out to interview the man of the hour, the creator of the Halloween Man, Drew Edwards as Halloween Man celebrates its 20th!!!
Q: SO Drew, what has you hot and flustered these days? How is 2020 where you are?
A: It feels kind of weird saying this, because I know this has not been a good year for so many people, but personally 2020 has been pretty good, outside of a few Covid-related scheduling issues with our winter releases. But we’ve been back on track since then, including releasing our 20th anniversary special entitled “Beyond October” which is issue 25 of the ongoing series. We have another issue coming out the last week of October called “Halloween Man vs. the Mummy” which is a monster-mashing good time.
So, as far as being flustered, I was nominated for a Ringo Award in the Best Writer category. Which I am still in shock about.
Q: I know creating comics all these years has been an outlet for you, but is there something else beside Halloween Man and Lucy, that gets your escapism going?
A: My wife Jamie is an extremely talented singer and musician. One of the great joys in my life is watching her play with her band Danger*Cakes, whose various members have become like family to me. Needless to say, I really miss live music.
I’m also a massive horror and sci-fi movie buff, which probably surprises no-one. I even take part in a weekly review podcast with some friends called the Castle of Horror Podcast.
Q: It is almost that season… How do you handle Halloween? Can you show me some pictures of years past?
A: Halloween is always a bit tricky in our household. Because of my wife’s band and because of the comic, we’re often very busy people during the month of October. So, the double-edged sword is that the more successful we’ve become, the less time we have for a more leisurely spooky season.
Because of this, we’ve created an annual tradition we’ve named “Cuddle-Ween” where we will unplug for a day, typically one before Halloween. We’ll watch horror movies, and normally we’ll bake a fresh pumpkin pie.
Typically on the actual day of Halloween I’ll emcee a live show with Jamie’s band. Which again, is always a treat for me.
Of course on slower years we hit up a few costume parties. At times Jamie pulls off some AMAZING costumes.
Q:And with 2020 has trick or treating been canceled yet? How is Covid affecting the celebrations over there?
A: As an adult with no kids yet, I don’t have the full scoop on trick or treating. But it does seem like people are going to attempt alternative versions of the various traditions this year. Halloween is easily the second (if not first) most popular holiday here in the States. And I think it’s an important release valve of pressure when it falls on an election year. So while I don’t think many of the large, full-scale gatherings, people will find ways to celebrate. Even if it’s just carving a jack-o-lantern and watching horror movies.
I know personally, it kept me from going forward with our original plans for a Halloween Man 20th anniversary event. We intended on having a big costume party with a Lucy Chaplin themed fashion show and rock ‘n’ roll bands. Instead we’re doing an online event on October 30th with various creators and Q&A sessions. It’s different from what I envisioned but it’s still going to be great because I’ll get to see several people who I rarely get to see in person because they live in other countries. For example the amazing Nicola Scott is going to be calling in all the way from Australia. So, this will still feel very special.
Get tickets for free: www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-man-20th-anniversary-qa-tickets-125044817415
Q: So you are ramping up a new seasonal comic with your crew… can you tell me something about the creative crew involved?
A: As previously stated, we’ve got two releases this month. Go big or go home right? “Beyond October” the official 20th anniversary issue is an old-school jam issue with a whole gang of artists involved. The interiors are provided by John Sowder, Jason Wilson, Paulo Hernandez, Evan Quiring, Max Young, John Gholson, Andrea Montano, Joey Muerto, and Sergio Calvet. And the stunning cover was lovingly rendered by Nicola Scott, who took the time out of her busy schedule to do it.
Halloween Man Special # aka Halloween Man vs. the Mummy on the other hand is brought to you by James Figueiredo on art, Matt Live on letters, and Natalee Glockzin on colors respectfully.
I’m very pleased to say both projects are beautiful to look at.
Q: And while you are at it, do tell me more about the projects themselves?
A: Even with the Pandemic drastically altering not just the entire world, including the comic industry…I knew there still could be no do-over for a 20th anniversary. That’s why I made sure that I’d roll out as many issues as I could prior to October. And I wanted to make sure that these October issues were among the best we’ve ever done.
The entire creative team busted their asses. Not only the artists but my art director April Guadiana, my editor Russell Hillman, and my wife Jamie, who acts as editor-in-chief these days. We put these issues under a microscope and the results are on the page. I’m very proud of both books.
Q: So where did these stories come from? Where did you get the idea from?
A: Beyond October really grew out of a desire to create a 20th anniversary issue that would work both as a standalone story that new fans can enjoy but also offer up some status quo changes for longtime readers. The villain of the piece is Frau Perchta, who comes to us from Germanic folklore and is a winter witch associated with Christmas. Every year it seems like Christmas creeps closer and closer into the Halloween season, so the idea of making that conflict more literal just tickled me, I reckon.
With Halloween Man vs. the Mummy it’s a little more straightforward. While the issue does add to the mythology of Halloween Man, it’s more of an excuse to see cool creatures tussle. But it’s got vampires, mummies, and more. So each page packs a lot of Halloween season punch.
Q: What are your future plans right now, creatively speaking?
A: Most immediately we have a multi-issue arc we’ve been building towards for some time. It’s called Entropy and it’s the most apocalyptic Halloween Man story ever. Because of Covid there were some shifts around with the creative team but we’re now plugging along wth the very talented Jason Wilson doing the art and monster master Matt Frank delivering the cover for the first chapter.
Further down the pipeline we have a two-part story starring Bella Donna, a character that’s really come into her own in terms of popularity, a third Lucy special, and a cryptozoology-themed adventure for Halloween Man. 2021 is going to have some fun stuff.
Q: Are you still self-publishing or are you planning to step into the game of crowdfunding?
A: I’ve successfully crowdfunded two projects on IndieGoGo– most recently our two-part dinosaur epic, the Valentine’s Day that Time Forgot. I’ve certainly debated dipping my toes into other forms of crowdfunding like Patreon. But to be completely honest, I have clinical levels of anxiety and I find a lot of the day-to-day life during a crowdfund to be extremely stressful. So if I’m able, I’ll often prefer to raise the money some other way, like through a grant or something.
Q: I do remember some TPB’s I have, which are smaller sized? What was your idea behind those small sizes?
A: The small-sized trade paperbacks were a result of me being very successful at Anime Conventions over cons geared towards western-style comic books. So, when the bulk of my fanbase had manga on their bookshelves, when I focused on the printing I wanted to make sure their Halloween Man books were well matched in terms of size. These days I tend to offer both sizes at conventions.
Q: How do you work? Do you have a desk or mancave you can show?
A: I haven’t had a home office in years. Prior to the pandemic I just tended to work in the living room. In this new normal we’re living in, I actually tend to work outside. My wife has become quite the gardener and our courtyard is a beautiful place to write in. My happy place is the days when it’s just kind of overcast and sprinkling. I can hang out just out of the way enough to write in the rain.. Perfect atmosphere for writing Halloween Man.
Q: Any final thoughts you might wanna share, with me rambling I might have missed an idea or 2 🙂
A: If you’ve never read Halloween Man, now is a great time to jump in. Comixology has the entire universe on sale until November 9th. When it comes to indie comics we need all of the fans we can get. So please, jump on in y’all.
https://www.comixology.com/Sugar-Skull-Media/comics-publisher/5811-0
About the Author
Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".
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