She Wolf - An Interview with Creator Rich Tommaso
Interview Conducted by Paul Fiander
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The tale of the Werewolf has been at the heart of narrative culture for a large patch of time. From Films to books and comics no stoned seems to have been upturned. However every now and then we get a fresh take on the genre and She Wolf is just that.
We took some time to pose a few questions to creator Rich Tommaso to find out a little more about the series. |
Story By: Rich Tommaso
Art By: Rich Tommaso Cover By: Rich Tommaso Published: November 16, 2016 Diamond ID: AUG160702 |
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Hi Rich,
Many thanks for taking some time out to answer our array of questions. 
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1. Where did your inspiration for She Wolf come from?
I've always loved werewolves and I'm always disappointed when they're given such small parts in fantasy/monster movies, comic books, or novels. It was just a matter of coming up with something interesting to do with them. Once I thought about my High School years and trying to hide your vices (drinking, smoking, sex, etc.) from your parents, I felt like I had a perfect place to work from. 2. You are the sole creator of the series, how do you go about the task of making each issue? I always start with sketches and then, once I've outlined the story, I type up a fairly tight script. But since I write for myself I don't bother with the whole PAGE ONE, PANEL ONE way of writing. Instead, to make sure everything will fit neatly into a 24 page space, I do two passes of thumbnails until everything looks like it works nicely and that it's an interesting issue for me to draw. The first pass on thumbs is always a dull, by the numbers, grid-system version, that's why I do a second one-- to make it more dynamic or visually interesting than just a series of six-panel grid pages. I then try to pencil, letter, ink, and color one page every day. By sticking to that amount each day, at least five days a week, but sometimes it's more, I'm always able to make my deadlines. 3.The surreal aspect of the series is a definite highlight, where do the narrative tangents come from? It didn't start out as a surreal story. When I finished all four scripts for the first season of She Wolf, the story was very straight-forward. Much like you'd find in a typical, '80s-era werewolf movie. Then one night, a bizarre version--or, a sort-of re-shuffling of the story events--came to mind. So, I decided to ignore my original scripts for a moment and just sit up in bed and write out this new, dream-like version. I'd always wanted to write something surreal, but every time I tried to do just that the story would always come out forced or weird for the sake of being weird. I'd have pieces of interesting ideas, but they'd never amount to a whole story. This was the first time that I turned off my logical, straight-narrative thinking and allowed a series of strange images guide my hand, without ever questioning whether it would all make sense in the process. The next morning, it still made sense (to me, anyway) as a story, so I officially tossed out my original plans and decided to go with the surreal version. |
4) The Werewolf origin story you created changes your art style to a more Christian Iconography inspired form, was this difficult to do?
No, the Christian, or to be more specific, Roman Catholic ideals presented int he story blend perfectly with the werewolf monster. In almost every werewolf story, the human feels cursed by this evil power. Redemption is something you'll often find as a main theme in every werewolf story from the past. Usually they're ashamed of being these creatures, they try to restrain themselves from acting on their animal urges, and they pray to God for forgiveness. It works very well.
5. Gabby is a rather conflicted central figure for the book, is she created with anyone in mind?
No one specifically. My sister shares a few traits with her, the feeling of being invisible in the High School social setting is something both I've felt deeply and my brother felt as well. Oddball, awkward kids trying to fit in somehow. As far as her tastes in music and clothing go, those are based on some tough, metal head girls I went to school with. But, she's not as tough as her black clothing would suggest. Death Metal is just her way of trying to stand out and be noticed--to maybe shock people with.
No, the Christian, or to be more specific, Roman Catholic ideals presented int he story blend perfectly with the werewolf monster. In almost every werewolf story, the human feels cursed by this evil power. Redemption is something you'll often find as a main theme in every werewolf story from the past. Usually they're ashamed of being these creatures, they try to restrain themselves from acting on their animal urges, and they pray to God for forgiveness. It works very well.
5. Gabby is a rather conflicted central figure for the book, is she created with anyone in mind?
No one specifically. My sister shares a few traits with her, the feeling of being invisible in the High School social setting is something both I've felt deeply and my brother felt as well. Oddball, awkward kids trying to fit in somehow. As far as her tastes in music and clothing go, those are based on some tough, metal head girls I went to school with. But, she's not as tough as her black clothing would suggest. Death Metal is just her way of trying to stand out and be noticed--to maybe shock people with.
Preview of the first 6 pages of Issue #1
6. The series is steeped in 80's culture, what was your reasoning behind this setting?
It was when I went to High School, so that's when I was struggling to fit in, find an identity, and when I most felt out of place and completely ostracized. It's when I watched those great horror movies--like An American Werewolf In London, so growing up in the late seventies, early eighties makes sense for me to be writing about it. The horror genre in film was never bigger than in the early eighties--specifically that first year, 1980.
7. Your covers certainly feel unique, with the first being my favourite, do you decide on the image before or after the interior content is finished?
I wanted something eye-catching--and the best way to stand out on the comic shelves these days is to go with something simple. The stands are full of over-colored, over-lettered flashy, covers that everything seems to blend together and gets lost. It's assaulting to the eye to look at a wall of comic books these days. So, a simple backdrop with one or two objects in the foreground looks nice, neat, and definitely stands out. I tend to like book design more than comic book design for the most part.
8. If you were to be changed would you prefer to be a Werewolf or a Vampire?
A vampire seems better. I guess being a werewolf is only once in a blue moon (ha, ha), but you're not in your own mind. A vampire still has ahold his own senses at all times. Yeah, probably a vampire.
9. Do you know how long the series will be at this point?
So far, it's geared up to be 8 issues long, but if things go well, if sales hold up well, I'd like to have it run indefinitely.
10. She Wolf is scheduled to be back in January, is there anything else you are working on at the moment?
Just concentrating on Season Two of this for now. It's a lot of work!
Thank you very much for your time and luck with the series and beyond.
