by the YMB Staff

YMB: Was it hard to nail down the voices of Tim's characters?

DREW EDWARDS: Very. Vlad more so than Cassie. I've known girls like Cassie, where is...Vlad is...well...Vlad. I was a fan of Hack/Slash prior to doing this, so that helped. But I made sure I had the ENTIRE run when I started doing this. I wanted to make sure it was right, since Tim trusted me with his characters.

YMB: If this is successful, would you do a sequel?

DREW EDWARDS: Oh hell yeah! I'd love to do another one. This time with Solomon and company in Cassie's world.

YMB: Have you built a relationship with Devil's Due from this?

DREW EDWARDS: Yes. Without giving away to much, we'll be saying A LOT more about this very soon. But the answer is a big, bold, steaming pile of yes.

YMB: Your favorite Halloween Man character?

DAVID BALDEON: I'm torn between Solomon Hitch the Halloween Man himself and Lucy. Sol is mad fun to draw, but Lucy is simply a pleasure. Aside of her being a hottie (which to me as a penciller is not that important), she as a character is in a place where a lot of different emotions and points of view have to be shown. Plus, intelligent characters are very fun to draw, the way they think through things, the way they analize... Can I call it a draw?

MARC LEWIS: I love Morlack! You know a guy is "Billy Bad Ass" when he feels perfectly safe and threatening in a pair of slippers and a bathrobe!

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Drew's put the spotlight onto Nicko a little more in some of the scripts I've read recently, and I'm becoming more and more fond of him, but I'd be lying if my answer was anything other than MAN-GOAT. Now and forever, The Power of a Man-Sized Goat is what I need.

DREW EDWARDS: Lucy. She's the heart of the comic.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Solomon is awesome in his appearance and character, such a great visual appeal to him... and I also like Lucy alot. It's like they are meant to be together, and you really can't separate the two. Lucy is based on Drew's wife, Jami, and he really writes her great, and you get a sense with his stories that he is really really in love with her.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I really dig Lucy and Morlack... I think both of them are quirky and interesting and I think Man-Goat is very lovable.

YMB: Your favorite Hack/Slash character?

DAVID BALDEON: No contest here, Cassie Hack herself. She is tough as nails, she is smart, she takes no crap from nobody... But is ready to be amazed and shocked and a bit overwhelmed by what she is going through in the strange world she is in during the crossover. I found that about her while drawing, and thought it made her a very likeable character, and absolutely made sense with what I've read of her. Hopefully, I'd have been able to translate that into the actual drawing. But yeah, she absolutely won me over.

MARC LEWIS: Vlad, or more appropriately Cassie's responses to Vlad. They're like Penn & Teller except one doesn't talk much...wait that doesn't work :D

DREW EDWARDS: Vlad. Ironically, the harder of the two to write.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: I've just been rereading all my Hack/Slash back issues, and I've got to say Vlad. Cassie is deep and complex, and I especially love when she lets that show, but Vlad's speech patterns and reactions to common things make him an unexpected joy in so many moments.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Cassie. Her look is very cool, her attitude is cool .... and she is the more emotional of her and Vlad, which means she comes off as a deeper character with alot of past issues and mental stability things that can be brought up and built upon. I really enjoy reading tragic characters in fiction, because they are the most flawed and interesting.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Cassie and Lisa... Lisa is the sweet girl we've all known. Cassie is so rough around the edges that you have to love her.

YMB: Was this any different than working on a more straightforward storyline?

DAVID BALDEON: Not really. At the end of the day, it comes to the fact that things happen and you have to tell them in a manner it is understood by the reader. Maybe the timing is a bit different because there's a lot of comedy in there, but all in all it is simply one story to tell. Of course there are "technical" differences, but they're just that: technique, mechanism.

MARC LEWIS: No. My job as colorist is to set the mood. The script almost always tells you the type of mood you're to bring.

DREW EDWARDS: Speaking only for myself, yes it was. Because for one, you have to make it an "event" without leaning to hard on what everyone thinks an "event comic" is. Plus I was writing Tim's characters, which of course was a new challenge.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: We probably went through more drafts on this than most other scripts, trying to get the characters to line up perfectly. On top of that, Cassie and Vlad are Tim's toys, and we have to give them back to him in the same condition they were in when we borrowed them - whereas with the regular Halloween Man cast, I can suggest that Drew put them through all kinds of crap.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Not really. Some of my favorite comics are crossovers.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I think it was. Certainly figuring out how to work characters as reality based as Vlad and Cassie into Solar City.

YMB: Seems like this has a lot of parody elements. Is that a good thing? Bad thing?

DAVID BALDEON: Not necessarily bad, nor good. I'm a believer of Things Done Properly, and I'd go with a well crafted parody rather than with a clumsy serious drama any day of the week. I really think comedy (and inside that there's parody) is a tremendously serious thing, and in no way a lesser genre. So as long as the parody is well and honestly handled, as is the case, it's great.

MARC LEWIS: Oh, it's such a GOOD thing! There were many times that I would bust out laughing while working on this!

DREW EDWARDS: Good thing. Easily, a good thing. For one, it's a very light layer of parody and it's done out of love rather than malice. Which I think is where all the best spoofs come from.
And secondly, the goofiness of it, is part of what makes it different. Like I've said elsewhere, this is like is Mel Brooks and Michael Bay teamed up to make a splatter movie.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: It's loving parody, mixed in with a healthy amount of tribute and homage, and Halloween man has a long tradition of all of those. Like Doctor Who, Halloween Man is best when its roots are showing.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I think it's part of the overall charm of the story. Halloween Man stories usually poke fun at traditional archetypes and elements of either movies and comics or both. I think it makes the whole things really fun and tongue-in-cheek, while still allowing the core of the story to be these two characters from different universes mixing it up with each other and then later on helping each other out. The whole crossing of universes sort of calls for the parody in a way.

BRIAN CROWLEY:It fits well with the satiric elements of both franchises... I think in retrospect some trimming could have been done... but the best steaks have a bit of fat on them.

YMB: What are the stylistic differences between Hack/Slash and Halloween Man?

DAVID BALDEON: Tough one... They obviously come from the same type of background and influences. I'd say they have the same kind of difference that the Coen Bros. and Sam Raimi have. Both come from the same place, but the Coens add a certain pinch of dark, brooding humour whereas Raimi chooses Tex Avery. And both end up being awesomely cool.

MARC LEWIS: Hack/Slash has always seemed darker in tone to me than Halloween Man. Halloween Man, at its heart, is a love story. (at least that's my opinion)

DREW EDWARDS: Well, for one my characters are a little older. Cassie and Vlad, to me...read like they're barely out of their teenaged years. Solomon and company are a bit older and are more in that adult place. I mean they're both "young" characters but when you how they interact, Solomon certainly takes on the "older brother" role.

As far as the two comics themselves go, Hack/Slash almost totally references 70's and 80's slasher films. Whereas with Halloween Man you have elements of Hammer, Universal, 50's sci-horror, silver age comics, etc. I mean we look at the slasher genre too, but I don't think we're as deeply rooted in that as Tim's world. Halloween Man has that retro-cool thing going on.

Having said all that, I think Halloween Man is the sort of thing most Hack/Slash fans would enjoy if they gave it a chance.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: The world of Hack/Slash skews a lot closer to our world than Halloween Man does - or at least, on the surface. I'm going to take David's Coens/Raimi idea and go one step geekier - Halloween Man is the Robert Rodriguez to Hack/Slash's Tarantino. Some of the influences are the same, but Halloween Man is a couple of steps further away from the real world.

(Of course, that comparison makes this story either Grindhouse or From Dusk 'Til Dawn, which I'd be quite happy with... or possibly half of Four Rooms. Oh. )

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Halloween Man may be a little more light-hearted, and Hack/Slash more dark. As far as the story goes, it seems to me (from what I have read), Cassie hunts monsters because she feels it's her mission and duty, and Solomon seems to have most of the time been dragged or forced into the situations. Sort of the reluctant hero, yet honorable and heroic.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Primarily the fact that Hack/Slash is very much set in "reality" where as Halloween Man is set deeply in a really wonderful and rich fantasy world. Halloween Man is day glo... Hack/Slash leans towards almost noir.

YMB: How are they the same?

DAVID BALDEON: That's half answered in the previous question. They come from the same place in a way. Maybe saying they're brothers might be too much, but they certainly are cousins. So there's the family likeness.

MARC LEWIS: Um, I'd like to use my lifeline and pass this one to Drew.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, they're both cut from the same cloth at the end of the day. They play on the concepts of the genre. And hardcore fans will pick up on all of the references. Like I said, Hack/Slash fans should find a lot to enjoy.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS:
Both Cassie and Solomon are tragic characters. Neither of the two characters asked for the horrible things that happened to them and now they are sort of still finding their purpose and place in the world.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Both have characters with troubled origins that are fighting a monster within. Both are loners with a surrogete support system built around them.

YMB: Would you like to work on a straight Hack/Slash story?

DAVID BALDEON: Hell yeah!

MARC LEWIS: LOVE TO!

DREW EDWARDS: No. I wouldn't want to step on Tim's toes. It's his baby. Cassie and Vlad are wonderful characters though.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: You mean, how many people would I kill to be involved? I'd say at least a dozen.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I would enjoy working on Cassie again, yeah. Both Vlad and her are visually appealing characters.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I have worked on straight Hack/Slash stories as a letterer... someday I'd love to write or illustrate a oneshot.

YMB: Hack/Slash is slated to be a movie from Rogue Pictures. Any thoughts on casting?

DAVID BALDEON: I know there's a lot of talk about Megan Fox (Tim, if you're reading this: I'm an experienced storyboarded and would be glad to be involved in that one if needed... That's probably the closest I'll ever get to be to Megan Fox!). Megan is a great choice, but my personal model to draw Cass has been Sharleen Spiteri, the lead singer for Texas. And I'd go with Tim Robbins for Vlad.

MARC LEWIS: Two words: Ellen Page. She would be perfect for Cassie.

DREW EDWARDS: Cassie should be played by an unknown. I know a lot of people keep saying Megan Fox and I see that. But Fox looks a tad to "cheerleadery." Cassie needs to seem like she could kick your ass and can't think of any young actresses that can pull off that hat trick.

(Don't kill me Tim.)

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I suppose Megan Fox (Transformers), Anne Hathaway (Get Smart), and Jennifer Morrison (House) would be my top picks for Cassie right now. I know they may be older than Cassie, but there's this show called Smallville.... Actors and actresses can believably play younger people within about 10 years.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Megan Fox, Megan Fox, Megan Fox as Cassie. She's interested and it seems like perfect casting... Her or Kat Dennings as Cassie. Michael Clarke Duncan as Vlad would be awesome.
Or Kane Hodder or some big dude with a voice over by a better actor.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: There needs to be some. It would make the movie a lot more interesting.

Megan Fox would work very nicely as Cassie. Ellen Page has the look, and could pull it off, as does Kat Dennings. If I've got to add a name that the others haven't already mentioned though, I'd go for Gemma Arterton, although she'd have to go back to her St Trinian's look.

I don't see many complaints about that one, though..
For Vlad, it depends just how deep into the prosthetics thing they decide to go, and how big they want him to be.

Knowing that David's Cassie is based on Sharleen Spiteri just makes me love her all the more. Him too.

BRIAN CROWLEY: Gemma who?

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Arterton.

BRIAN CROWLEY: she'd be great!

YMB: What other comic book/movie properties would you like to see crossing over with Halloween Man?

DAVID BALDEON: Needless to say, I'd LOVE to see (and draw) an Army of Darkness/Halloween Man crossover!

MARC LEWIS: Army of Darkness would make for a fun mix. Marvel Zombies would be wonderfully ironic!

DREW EDWARDS: My dream is Jason vs. Solomon. I even have a story line dreamed up. Another good one would be Hellboy I suppose.
You could easily do a Fantastic Four crossover where they team up to take out the Marvel Zombies.

But I'll go out of left field and say Dr. Who. Solomon fighting Daleks would kick ass.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Anyone that's interested. Hopefully at some point we'll be in the position to do other properties the favour that Tim has done us. For existing properties, hmmm. The obvious choices are things like Hellboy, Supernatural or Buffy/Angel, and I'd love to mix Halloween Man in with the cast of Middleman sometime, but for a leftfield choice, how about something like Blue Monday?

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I think Doom Patrol would be a good fit, and frankly, because I love both, I'd like dibs on being part of drawing it. Doom Patrol has the mad scientist, the Frankenstein guy in a robot body, the "Invisible Man" motif, and the 50-foot woman. I mean, c'mon... the series to me (as Arnold Drake and Bruno did it) always came off as a homage to the old monster movies.... and things like monster movies are what inspired Drew to create Solomon Hitch. Seems perfect.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I think that Hellboy, Angel, Buffy, Xombie and many others from Marvel or DC would work well.
Drew and Tim both love Savage Dragon and I think that would be awesome.

YMB: Favorite horror comics?

DAVID BALDEON: Hands down, Robert Kirkman's The Walkind Dead

MARC LEWIS: Halloween Man of course.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: As the token Englishman, I have to say Hellblazer and Moore's Swamp Thing at this stage. Some of the Wildstorm Friday the 13th books were pretty good, and there's this little known book you might have heard of called Hack/Slash?

DREW EDWARDS: Modern or old?
I love old EC stuff and Marvel's bronze age monster comics.
Now days I groove to Loaded Bible, Black Forrest, and Wicked West.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Other than these two, no.
I read a Swamp Thing when I was a kid, and Superman/Aliens (cool art by Kevin Nowlan), but I don't think I really have anything in my collection that qualifies as a straight-up horror comic.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Hellboy, BPRD... beyond that it varies.

YMB: Where would you like to see Halloween Man in five years?

DAVID BALDEON: That's easy. On print, side to side with all the previously mentioned titles and playing the outsider, mad fun part in the horror comics universe.

MARC LEWIS: Published by a major publisher and I wouldn't complain if I was still coloring it.

DREW EDWARDS: On toys ,lunch boxes, and on Adult Swim of course.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Over the last five years, the quality Drew's writing has come on in leaps and bounds (there's a wealth of incredible scripts that most people have yet to see that will blow you away), so I'd like to see that reflected in audience size. Over the next five years, I'd like to see us in print regularly from a name publisher, at the very least in talks for a trip to the big or even small screen. By that time, I'd like to have the full cast in action figure form on my shelf, and I'd like Drew to be making the money he so rightly deserves for all the work he's put into this book over the years.

I'd like some money too, please.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: With a ongoing printed series, toyline, and a big-budget movie in the works. An animated DVD would be cool to see.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Animated series, Action figures, movie in the works, maybe a sucessful DDP series bookending Hack/Slash.

YMB: Would you like to plug any other projects you have going on?

DAVID BALDEON: Not ready yet.

MARC LEWIS: No.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, next weekend I'm hosting 24 Hour Comic Day at Cheesecake and Crime here in Vegas. Join the insanity.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Just this one for now.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Oh yeah. I have a great comic called WANNABEZ that I have been doing with Brant W. Fowler. I am the penciler and inker, and Brant is the creator, writer and letterer. It's a humor and action book about people who think they've been granted superpowers by radioactivity from a meteor shower in New England. They see strings of coincidences as proof of powers and they run around dressed up in outfits trying to fight crime. The underlying theme is about believing in yourself and being more than you are. Our website is www.wannabez.com and among plenty to see there, we have a bunch of pictures up from our booth at Mid-Ohio Con where Wannabez #0 debuted. We have been getting the issues out to some retailers, and look to hopefully have issue #1 out by Christmas.

Other than that, people can also check out my website www.scottdmsimmons.com for more information on other projects like Global Comic Jam, Deadly Cinema, and things that will be coming up very soon for my own creations in December.... and of course, WANNABEZ and HALLOWEEN MAN!

BRIAN CROWLEY:I've done some work in the Halloween Man trade that should be coming from DDP soon. I did lettering and pinup in Loaded Bible that's in that trade that everyone should grab and then I'm doing work for Tom Stillwell's Honor Brigade and a book we're working on together called "Underneath" which is top secret, and then hopefully in mid 2009 "Hamster Rage" will begin at HamsterRage.com, weekly webcomic deal.

YMB: Do you you think comics will survive the current economic crisis?

DAVID BALDEON: I do. They've been caught in a better place than they were 5 or 10 years ago. They're going to suffer, like eveyone else, but they'll come through.

MARC LEWIS: I actually think we'll see an influx of consumers. When times get hard people tend to retreat into entertainment.

DREW EDWARDS: If we can get prices down, I think the economic crisis could end up be fairly good for comics. They're still a relatively cheap form of entertainment after all. Now, more than ever people need escapism.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Not all of them. Titles will die, maybe even some of the smaller publishers will go down, but comics overall will survive. They've lasted so long and through so much, I'm pretty damn sure they're unkillable.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Seeing how they got a big boost early on with the superhero boom in the 30's and 40's when the Depression was going on, I'd say yes. Comics are by and large still "cheap entertainment" (man, I mean look at the cost of going to the movies!), and sequential storytelling has been around since paintings on cave walls. The days of Image-style market speculation are long gone, but the serious collectors, the fans, and the kids will always be there looking for a floppy, a trade, or a webcomic to help them healthfully escape the real world for a bit.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I don't know... it's going to be really bad and I think several companies are going to fall to it, if it gets any worse. I'm willing to bet aside from the big four (DC,Marvel, Dark Horse, Image) only 5 other "big" companies at best remain by March. I really hope I'm wrong, but the tremors are just starting.

YMB: How do online comics like Halloween Man factor into that?

DAVID BALDEON: Heavily. The web has changed everything and will continue to do so. Printed comics will go on existing, of course, but the chance to publish and promote comic books for almost nothing is going to help the industry (and the indies, and the authors, and pretty much everyone else involved) a lot. Web comics will probably be one of the few that can see this crisis as a chance to grow, improve, expand and claim for a position of honor in the bussiness.

MARC LEWIS: I honestly don't know.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, they're free for one. You can't beat that. I think you'll see more stuff like Zuda over the next few things. The big boys will start to see the value in it and we'll no longer be the ghetto of the industry. But it's going to be a slow process.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Again, not everything will make it. Those most likely to make it are those where the creators put their heart and soul in, and where you can see and feel that on every page - and going on that, Halloween Man will last forever.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Right now, Halloween Man comics are free to view.... so it isn't a factor. Even if someone can't view at home, they can see it at a library, a friend's house, or well... haha, work when the boss isn't looking. Don't get in trouble!

BRIAN CROWLEY:I don't know. They say Entertainment thrives in recessions and down economies... but how that would affect a webcomic... I just don't know...
Paper publishing is going to be dead soon as a whole with the exception of books... at least by 2012. So hopefully that will work out for Halloween Man as they have homefield advantage with HM on the web... and certainly with Hack/Slash as they've done this crossover and that really sexy Suicide Girls crossover online. I mean Cassie as a Suicide Girl was HOT!

YMB: Who do you see Halloween Man or Cassie Hack voting for?

DAVID BALDEON: Jonathon 'The Impaler' Sharkey, of the The Vampires, Witches, and Pagans Party.

MARC LEWIS: Um, Phone a Friend please.

DREW EDWARDS: Solomon is an independent and Cassie doesn't vote.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: They will follow their hearts, and vote for the candidate that they feel represents their interests, that will best serve their country, as everyone should. However, one of the key elements of a secret ballot is that it's a secret, so I'm afraid I can't tell you who it will be.

Of course, it also depends who is running in their respective universes. I know IDW has the rights to Obama and McCain - would they be up for a crossover?

DREW EDWARDS: Halloween Man vs. Sarah Palin has a nice ring to it. Now that's really scary.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: The only comics characters that ever really seemed to have it clear and out in the open were Green Arrow and Hawkman... maybe even Hal Jordan. I think only Drew and Tim could tell you for sure about Cassie and Solomon.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Solomon is in "Texas" but Solar City seems progressive so I think even though the conservatives have him surrounded the HM gang votes Obama.
I don't think Cassie or Vlad vote... but if they did vote, they're liberal and would both vote Obama.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, the world Halloween Man takes place is very much an alternate reality. So Obama and McCain might not even be running there. Also, keep in mind they'd be coming off of 8 years of Vincent Price as President, not Dubya.

Read the Hack/Slash & Halloween Man crossover "Hackoween" here.

Read the first part of the interview here.