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Bum Interviews:
The Dirk Manning Interview | NightmareWorld.com is a comic book horror portal, filled with independent artists and writers. It is under the umbrella of Golden Goat Studios. Best off all it's online content is free! Nightmareworld is branching out from the web and print works are starting to show up at my local comic store. I figured it was time to sit down with Nightmare World's creator/writer and get the full scoop.
*editor note - the images below are preview shots from upcoming NightmareWorld works.
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 | Don't Stop Dancing
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DJ Hello, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Welcome to the Shack. I am honored to have this opportunity. I am not the regular interviewer for Bumscorner. However when the idea started floating around the office of trying to contact you, I jumped at the chance. I am a big fan of your work and love your recent “Hungry Like the Wolf” series. That being said, lets jump right in.
D Manning Sweet! I’m ready! [cracking knuckles]
DJ Why publish online versus paper? Obviously it cuts down on overhead and costs, but do you find it is easier to tap into your “core” audience?
D Manning Yes and yes! lol
The reason I first went online with NIGHTMARE WORLD was because I simply DID NOT have the money to dump into self-publishing (at the time there were no quality affordable print-on-demand options like comixpress), and, on a similar note, I didn’t have the money to pay a bunch of artists to work on a full-length series or mini-series… and I didn’t feel it would be fair for me to make money on it if they weren’t making money on it. So, bottom line, NIGHTMARE WORLD will always be free on the internet at NightmareWorld.com. Over the last year we’ve really started moving into putting stuff into print – and the creators are all compensated as this happens – but we’re still not making a ton of money on this. At this point we’re all doing it for the love… and also to help keep this massive (and dare I say amazing) project going.
All of that aside, yeah, I have also found it’s a really neat way to interact with the readers. I still only hear from a small percentage of readers, but none the less, it’s still really fun for me to get to keep them informed on what’s going on every week via weekly “news” updates and such.
At this point the next step, regarding the internet, is continuing to spread the word about the site to more horror fans. I mean, I’m not trying to sound arrogant, but I think we have a pretty freakin’ solid amount of well-done horror comics at NightmareWorld.com … and I’d really like to tap into more and more members of that audience that still laments the demise of EC Comics.
DJ I noticed all your work is in an eight page short story format. Do you find any limitations to this format and what do you enjoy about this format?
D Manning A lot of people bug me about writing longer stories. Some people feel I’m limiting myself and/or that I’m not giving the stories enough room to breathe… while others just lament the fact that we don’t get to spend more time with these characters… but for the most part I see the eight-page format as more of a challenge than a hindrance. I for one *LOVE* short stories, and I feel they’re really a lost art. Guys like Harlan Ellison, Edgar Allan Poe and Ray Bradbury showed how much short stories can convey… but it seems that fewer and fewer people are using the form with any real success these days – especially in comics… and ESPECIALLY in horror/speculative fiction comics.
All of that being said, no, I don’t find the eight-page format a limitation… but I am looking forward to finally breaking into longer-form stories. Right now I have two more scripts to write and deliver and all fifty NightmareWorld.com stories will be done and in the hands of the artists… then I can go full-tilt into the bigger projects that have been brewing over the last year.
DJ Who would you notate as your influences and why?
D Manning Poe, Bradbury, and Ellison as well as Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, J. K. Rowling (yeah, I said it), Ayn Rand and William Shakespeare are all biggies from the literary world for me for various reasons.
As for comics, it all boils down to Alan Moore for me… although Garth Ennis, David Lampham, and Robert Kirkman also usually get my dollars. Oh… I don’t even need to mention EC Comics, do I?
Truthfully, though, the biggest influence on me has been The Twilight Zone. What great stuff! Rod Sterling was a genius and I’ll go to my grave saying this was the best television show of all time.
The ending of the film Time Bandits really did a number on me as a youth, too, and I can assure you I would not be the man I am today had I not been traumatized and fascinated by the ending of that bizarre flick. | |  | Frozen
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DJ When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
D Manning When I was little I liked to read more than I liked to play outside. When I got a little older my younger brothers would play with Legos and toys while I set-up these huge elaborate stories featuring all kinds of these monster figurines I collected.
Does that answer your question? ;) lol
DJ Have you previously done any work outside of the horror genre?
D Manning Is NIGHTMARE WORLD really horror? I mean, yeah, the name is a little creepy and all… but that’s still something I wrestle with quite a bit. I categorize it as “horror” for the same reason I categorize the band Tool as “heavy metal” – because it’s the closest thing that fits.
I’ve heard Harlan Ellison toss around the label “speculative fiction” quite a bit, and I sort of like that, but I doubt it will ever catch-on…
But I digress… lol
Getting to the meat of your question, yes, I have. I’ve been a practicing free-lance journalist for over ten years for scads of entertainment-based newspapers, magazines, and websites. I’ve also served as an editor here and there in brief stints…
DJ What attracts you to the horror genre?
D Manning It’s fun.
Next question?
No?
OK, fine…
I like horror because, at its core, good horror reminds us that we’re not as safe in the world as we like to think we are.
We all cross the street each day assuming that the people behind the steering wheel at the stop light is not going to run us over…
We all use the ATM machines assuming we’re not going to get jumped by thugs…
We all assume that we’re the rightful inheritors of the Earth at the top of the food chain…
But good horror will make us question our assumptions of safety – even if it’s just for a little bit…
DJ You have a wide mix of talent on your site. Where does the talent come from? Do you solicit the talent or does the talent solicit you?
D Manning I started NightmareWorld.com as a project where I could use to display my writing talents and the artists of GoldenGoatStudios.com could display their artistic ability… but as the series got bigger and bigger I had to start looking outside the studio for more artist to suit the various scripts I was writing. That’s always been a big thing for me – finding the right artist for the right script, or, conversely, writing the right script for a certain artist.
I’ve found most of the artists I work with through DigitalWebbing.com, although I’ve been lucky enough to also have a few very talented artists contact me. | |  | Tales of Mr. Rhee
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DJ The recent “Hungry Like the Wolf” story you ran at NightmareWorld.com is definately the most unusual horror stories I have read in a while. Where did the inspiration come from? Why stick figures?
D Manning That story came about because of my intense desire to work on a story with my friend Stacie Ponder. Stacie is a wonderful horror blogger as well as a fantastic stick-artist *AND* inker (see the Bloodrayne comic for proof!)… but we could never seem to get anything together.
Well, she came down to kick it with me at a horror convention several months ago to help promote her new comic “They Won’t Stay Dead!” – a stick figure zombie epic in sixteen pages. When I read the comic I laughed so hard I cried… and it made me want to work with her more than ever.
That night she suggested that we do a stick figure NIGHTMARE WORLD story together… and I was terrified. I wasn’t sure the fans would “get” it… mainly because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it off. Then she showed me a little pic of a stick-figure wolfman… and I started to get more tempted. Finally, she told me that she wanted to do a bit where we see this ordinary stickman turn into a wolfman stick man (a la Lon Chaney) and I was SOLD. I knew then that I had to push myself and find a way to make it happen… which, with Stacie’s help and input, I did… and the results speak for themselves.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” was one of the most challenging stories to write, but it was also one of the most rewarding. That three-panel transformation scene *STILL* makes me laugh. Heck, I’m laughing thinking about it even as I type this! lol
DJ Your newest story, “Just Another Victim”, seems to have a real film noir feel to it. This is such a departure from “Wolf.” How did this come about and what can we expect in this series?
D Manning Interestingly enough, the catalyst of this story is incredibly similar to that of “Wolf.” My friend J. Christopher Greulich wanted to get some of his sequential work out there and I wanted to work with him… so we finally sat down and talked about what kind of story we would do. J. Christopher is a huge fan of the old pulp stories/heroes of the 1930’s, and he suggested a story in that vein. Again, I was initially a bit nervous because I already did a superhero story at NightmareWorld.com, and one of the golden rules of the series is that no two stories deal with the same genre/topic. (Sure, you could generalize this rule in an attempt to prove me wrong, but I view each story as a separate and individual representation of various aspects of horror and/or speculative fiction.)
Considering this, the challenge for me was coming-up with a pulp/noir hero story that didn’t read just like the previous superhero story “There’s No Home for You Here” or say the same thing as the former. I thought about it a bit and finally came-up with a hook/theme I was happy with, and the rest is now history in the making. We’ve actually had this particular story done for months, so I’m glad we’re finally getting to run it online.
Oh, and just for the record, this is the same case with the manga story Carrie Curtis of 9thElsewhere.com is illustrating for #40 in June, too. It’s looking like #41 is going to be the barbarian story, and, again, it’s the same thing: Jason Jam loves barbarians.
You noticing a pattern here? lol
When developing the stories for NightmareWorld.com, I will not finalize it and give it to an artist until I find the right artist for the script. Or, in some cases I will go to an artist I like and ask them what they’re itching to draw and go from there…
This not only keeps both of us (me and the artist) fresh and engaged, but it also results in the best possible stories for the readers!
DJ I recently read that one of your vices is occult books. Any favorites you’d like to mention or talk about with us?
D Manning The series I’ve been jonesing on the most for the last year is this twenty-four volume series from the 1970’s called Man, Myth, and Magic. To say it’s amazing would be a gross understatement. I also have a book on numerology floating around my office somewhere that has some really interesting bits in it… | |  | Therapy
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DJ What does Dirk Manning do for fun? When you’re not writing and working on business, how do you cut loose?
D Manning Um… this *is* what I do for fun. lol
When my wife manages to drag me away from the computer and my work I enjoy taking in the occasional flick, watching very limited amounts of television, and reading. I’m also an active martial arts instructor and student and I can’t wait to get back to training after a recent hiatus.
DJ What does the future hold for you, Nightmareworld.com, and Golden Goat Studios?
D Manning Although I’m a member of GoldenGoatStudios.com in great standing, our esteemed Head Goat Ray Dillon is the one who ultimately makes all the decisions there… although I have been known to kick-in my opinion on plenty of subjects… lol
As for NightmareWorld.com, I’m extremely excited to announce that we’ll be starting a second series at the site that will be running at the rate of a page a week every TUESDAY starting on June 6th. (That’ll be 6-6-06 for those of you who have been living under a rock this year… lol) This new series, titled Tales of Mr. Rhee, will be written by me, illustrated by Josh Ross, grey-scaled in a smooth black-and-white movie style by Austin McKinley and beautifully lettered by our main man James Reddington. Tales of Mr. Rhee is going to be giving readers what they’ve been asking me about for so long now… a continuing series featuring a central lead character! He’s a “paranormal troubleshooter” and, well, let’s just say that readers of NIGHTMARE WORLD should really find this right up their alley.
That aside, as I previously mentioned, we’re going to be wrapping-up the current NIGHTMARE WORLD series at #50 right around next summer. Tales of Mr. Rhee will be going well past that, though, and I’m already actively planning a new series that will be taking that coveted Thursday slot.
All of that aside, don’t be too surprised when you see NIGHTMARE WORLD also leap into print this year in a big way as well. ;)
DJ
Well we will definitely look forward to that...Well Dirk, I'd like to thank you for taking time out of you day to speak with us. We will continue to root for you and Nightmare World and we wish you all the best. |
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Updated Saturday, May 13, 2006 Written by DJ |
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