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Email Interview with Gary Reed
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How did a professor from Henry Ford Community College ends up doing graphic comic novels? What were your influences?
Actually I started the other way around. I got married young and worked full time to put my wife through school (University of Michigan) and I went to school at night, Henry Ford, in fact. After getting my associate’s, I attended Eastern and about the same time, I opened a used bookstore. I added comics to the store to attract kids and they really took off. It was a time of incredible changes where comics moved into much more sophisticated storytelling and moved away from just doing the genre of superheroes. By the time I got my Masters in Biology from EMU (Eastern Michigan University), I had four stores.
From my activities of the stores, I branched into publishing and from there, writing. I actually got interested in writing from my time at Henry Ford Community College as I entered the Francis Barrett writing scholarship in the hopes that I could pay for the next semester. I was quite surprised when I won and I think it gave me confidence to pursue my writing.
The publishing took over and occupied my time for over a decade and I was a very prolific writer. I did mostly biographical, historical, and literary works as that’s what interested me I wrote comics and books on The Russian Revolution, True Spies, the Zulu Wars, El Cid, famous artists such as Alfonse Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley, Frederick Remington, and others.
When I closing up the publishing, I started thinking of my degree which I hadn’t used for quite awhile and applied for an opening at HFCC. I think that was 2001. Once I started teaching, I really enjoyed it and decided to get totally out of publishing and delve more into teaching while at the same time, continuing my writing. I had a few long term projects at that time such as adapting horror classics for Penguin Books and found that I could balance them both.
As far as my influences, I don’t think I had any single influence. I was affected by the movement that occurred in the comics field with the type of work being put out by Alan Moore such as V for Vendetta, From Hell, and Watchmen. Neil Gaiman was doing the very sophisticated Sandman then and Frank Miller was entering his new phase of work with Sin City and 300. It was a time that seemed like comics were maturing into becoming a viable medium for an incredible array of different work.
Tell us a little bit about Deadworld, Saint Germaine, Renfield, Raven Chronicles, and Baker Street
Baker Street was my first real success and it was the first comic type work that I did. It centered on an alternative world where World War II never happened and so the social changes that came as a result of not having that war didn’t occur. England was a monarchy and technology was slow in developing. The lead character was an ex-drug addict kicked off the police force. However, she was a brilliant investigator and she represented a female Sherlock Holmes. So, it was a mystery interlaced with the punk subculture that dominated London at that time. Punks and Sherlock Holmes…how can you go wrong with that? It was co-created and illustrated by Guy Davis who just won the Eisner Award for being the best artist in comics.
Renfield is the story of the bug eating insane prophet from Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. I always thought there was a lot more to Renfield than the novel revealed so this was an opportunity to reach into his mind and see what was happening. It is essentially a story of madness. You have this upstanding citizen who becomes crazed due to the visions he has. He is being promised immortality if he can understand what it is he must do. I saw it as a man facing the idea that his messiah has actually arrived. But of course, Renfield discovers the true nature of Dracula and then he must make a choice on whether to accept immortality or not. Although not an adaptation of Stoker’s novel in any way, it does sort of fill in all the holes from the original novel. I was proud when Northern Illinois University started using Renfield in their literature classes.
Saint Germaine tells the tale of an immortal who has walked the Earth since the beginning. He takes the memory of those who are dying so actually, his memories are more an amalgam of all those thoughts he took. In the present day, he starts to question if there is any purpose of going on and contemplates ending his long life. I loved doing this storyline as it allowed me to venture into just about any time period as well as into literary works.
Raven Chronicles gave me a chance to tap into the more scientific side as it deals with a group of paranormal investigators. They investigate all kinds of claims and they don’t always find an answer. I use the group as a link to some of my other books as they appear throughout many of the other titles. They were also the lead investigators in The Red Diaries, a conspiracy book dealing with the assassination of JFK and how that tied into Marilyn Monroe’s death.
The books I’m most known for at the moment are the Deadworld books. I’ve done a number of them and to put it simply, they’re set in a world over-run by zombies. I know that sounds like so much of what else is out there but Deadworld has been around for over 20 years so it was one of the first. I also tend to focus more on the human survivors and instead of just having zombie splatter, I want to see how humanity will treat itself…how people will deal with other people. In the latest book, Slaughterhouse, a group of scientists have set up a testing facility to experiment with people by injecting them with HIV, Leprosy, cancer, etc. in order to see if they can transfer these diseases to zombies that eat the test subjects. It’s an ethical dilemma for the scientists as they have to look at sacrificing the few to save the entire species. Deadworld also has quite a bit of attention because of the recent announcement that it’s been signed up for a film. Not much I can say at this point except that David Hayter, who wrote the first two X-Men films and the Watchmen movie is doing the script on Deadworld.
What are the main themes of your work?
I’ve been labeled a sophisticated writer and I guess that means I don’t do the straight out action and adventure tales. I like complex characters and stay away from the two sides of complete good and complete evil, my characters are usually a bit of both. I really don’t think of my work as horror although quite a few people do but the horror I do is more psychological horror. I rather deal with the horrific things that mankind can do rather than throw in a monster. But to be able to sum up my themes would be impossible since each project is completely different.
You said you outgrew superheroes, but out of curiosity, who were some of your favorite and why?
I loved superhero comics as a kid. But even then, I liked the more realistic one. I was never a fan of Superman. I liked things that may have touched on the superheroish aspects but were more firmly grounded in science. My favorites were Adam Strange, Challengers of the Unknown, the Doom Patrol, and others. I like war comics like Blackhawk, Sgt. Rock, Haunted Tank, and others. I did have some superhero favorites and these were characters like Ant Man, Dr. Midnight, Hour Man, the Spectre, and others.
Alan Moore's Watchmen broke the superhero concept, and was recently adapted for the big screen earlier this year as a near-three hour epic. The response was mixed from critics and moviegoers, but what about you? What's your opinion?
I saw the movie and liked it a lot. My wife saw it with me and she didn’t like it. I think the problem with the movie was that it stayed too close to the graphic novel and so people who read it first, could pick up all the little nuances that happened. But it could be a bit confusing to new viewers, especially since so much of the ancillary material was taken out. I also liked the new ending in the movie and thought it was better than the original ending in the graphic novel.
Near the end of the Great Depression came Superman and Batman. Wolverine and The Punisher premiered in the middle of the Vietnam War during the rise of the anti-hero. Don't you think that the world still need superheroes, especially during this Great Recession, where the economy is faltering, people are struggling to get by, Detroit is getting a bad name by the media with one scandal after another with stories of political and police corruption?
I think the idea of superheroes representing hope like it was with Superman and Batman wouldn’t work today. That’s why the anti-hero appeared later. People are much more skeptical and cynical today, and I have to say, with good reason. I don’t think heroes can exist in today’s world to influence society…I think they’re more like to represent society instead. Heroes today aren’t going to be leaders, they’re more like to be mirrors.
Vampires are the newest craze with Twilight, True Blood, and now The Vampire Diaries. Have any plans on making your claim -- or shoud I say, stake -- on this?
Well, I did the Renfield saga and along with the Dracula adaptation I did for Penguin, which pretty much filled up my vampire quota. I did do another vampire story about the Van Helsing family and their long legacy in fighting the creatures of the night and that was the Helsing book. It explores the sacrifices the Van Helsings have made to pursue this century long war and why.
Do your family -- especially your daughters -- get involved in your work and have the last say on it?
My daughters don’t read all my stuff, only what interests them. With the movie news about Deadworld, they’re excited about that and anxious to see how that develops. It does surprise them when they find out someone reads my stuff. I think there’s a disconnect between their dad and the author. My wife doesn’t read my stuff. I don’t think she wants to know what’s inside of my head.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m wrapping up Sin Eternal which is a return to Dante’s Inferno but updated for today’s world. I have the Subversives coming out in the spring which takes a look at rebels, spies, traitors, etc. from historical times. After that, I have a mystery set in the early 1900’s in New Orleans. Plus, I have a couple biology related books in the early stages.
For more information on Gary Reed, go to his official website at www.garyreed.net. You can also email him at reedgar@gmail.com.
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