A Horror Yearbook Quickie Interview With: Tim Seeley
Comic Book: HACK/SLASH – Available Now at Your Local Comic Shop
Interviewer - Mike Fish
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HORROR YEARBOOK: What’s up my man?
TIM SEELEY: Just doin’ an interview with Mike Fish while my girlfriend practices her burlesque routine in the living room. When you date an actress, you could be distracted from doing interviews at anytime by anything from a Shakespeare monologue to a booty dance to a Ramones song.
HORROR YEARBOOK: You’re the writer and series creator of a very popular comic book amongst horror fans entitled HACK/SLASH. What brought about such an interesting name for the book?
TIM SEELEY: Actually, I totally cheated. I had come up with the premise of the book, and I was trying to think of a name for it. I grabbed a beer, turned on the tube, and this new show (at the time) called NIP/TUCK came on. I decided to steal their /, and HACK/SLASH was born.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Do people ever get confused with the popular TokyoPop .hack anime and video games?
TIM SEELEY: Yes. They do. And it sucks. Gail Simone told me a friend had recommended she check out Hack/Slash and she was kinda like ‘Oh…sure thanksm but no thanks” ’because she’s not much of an anime fan. Thankfully someone later cleared her up. But, yeah, it happens. I still have no idea what .hack is, so no one ever tell me. I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with slashers, or hot girls in fishnets.
HORROR YEARBOOK: HACK/SLASH features an unlikely duo of innocently sexy Cassie Hack and the big man-child brute, Vlad hunting down killers and tearing up the scene with their addictive charm. What was your inspiration for them?
TIM SEELEY: Cassie is sort of an amalgam of all the “dangerous” girls I‘d met at the time. Beautiful, sexy, but kind of intense and possibly a little crazy. My attempt was to make a female character that both men and women would like…she had to be someone you wanted to know, or wanted to be, or maybe, that you actually WERE. VLAD is meant to be Cassie’s opposite and also someone she fully relates to. He’s also sort of meant to be a “good slasher”…what Jason Voorhees might have been if he wasn’t so damn angry all the time.
HORROR YEARBOOK: You’ve had quite a few one shots before the regular series. What made you finally decide to say the number “2” and just keep counting in an ongoing monthly series?
TIM SEELEY: It’s probably mostly because I’m a crazy idiot with “number 2” for brains. Heh…why did I take on this workload?!! But, I guess I felt like the only way to really show people I was committed to the characters was to dive in, give them ongoing storylines, supporting characters, and a monthly dose of something you can’t really get in other comics.
HORROR YEARBOOK: What are some of your favorite horror films? There’s a definite 80’s influence in your bad guys, especially with those wacky demon worshippers in the hairband, Acid Washed.
TIM SEELEY: Yeah, after the Acid Washed story, I think it’s probably obvious that I loved the movie Trick ‘R Treat, the best damn heavy metal slasher flick ever. In general I love Halloween, Terror Firmer (from Troma), Dawn of the Dead (the original), My Bloody Valentine, Reanimator, Hellraiser… I got a LONG list o’ faves. I haven’t seen a lot of recent horror movies that I loved…Nightmare Man was pretty fun, and hey, Cloverfield was pretty cool.
HORROR YEARBOOK: What makes you decide when it’s time to draw and when it’s time to write? Because you tend to dabble in both areas pretty evenly.
TIM SEELEY: Devil’s Due hired me as staff illustrator six years ago, so basically, I’ll draw whatever Josh tells me to draw…except pictures of him naked because that’s just not cool. But in general, drawing pays the bills, and writing keeps me sane. So, I draw
HORROR YEARBOOK: Now that Fangoria Comics is dead, are we still going to see the killer crossover with Mark Kidwell’s BUMP characters?
TIM SEELEY: Yeah, we’re gonna run the story in the ongoing series, with a few tweaks so it fits, in issues 12-13.
HORROR YEARBOOK: HACK/SLASH is scheduled to be on the big screen soon, courtesy of Rogue Pictures. Can you shed a little light on that, maybe a tentative release date?
TIM SEELEY: Well, at least for now, there’s that writer’s strike, so any production will start AFTER that’s over. Everyone still bandies about SPRING 2009. So, keep up the anticipation! It’ll happen!!
HORROR YEARBOOK: Is it true that scream queen, Tiffany Shepis, wants to play the role of Cassie Hack? I’d want her to. She’s sexy.
TIM SEELEY: She may have mentioned it once or twice. In the intro to the volume 2 trade. But, yeah, Tiff is sexy. She’s even SEXIER in person. She’ll make you forget to swallow. Hell, she’s hot enough to make you forget to CHEW. Tiff is welcome to play Cassie in my dreams all night long,
HORROR YEARBOOK: How do you feel about the comparisons to Cassie Hack and the snarky Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)?
TIM SEELEY: I figure it can only be a good thing. People seem to like that Buffy. I can assure everyone I didn’t intend to rip off Buffy. To this date, the only Buffy I’ve seen is the original movie and a musical episode. But, yeah, I think Mr. Whedon and I got the idea from the same sources…too many horror movies. He just managed to do it before me and a lot more successfully.
HORROR YEARBOOK: You do know that Horror Yearbook nominated HACK/SLASH as the best book on Free Comic Book Day last year, right? It was my first HACK/SLASH story too and very refreshing from the zombie-plagued market.
TIM SEELEY: Why thank you! I nominated you for Best Last Name Derived from Aquatic Life.
HORROR YEARBOOK: It barely beat out The Umbrella Academy, which was a fun and quite surprising treat from My Chemical Romance rocker, Gerard Way.
TIM SEELEY: I hear that’s good. All I know is that My Chemical Romance and its fans annoy me. But, apparently the man can write a mean comic book.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Before we go, are there any dream projects you’d want to work on? I can see you blasting the doors off Marvel’s X-Factor or hell, D.C. Comics Batman… or dare I say, Wonder Woman, cuz of the whole maturation theme you got so elegantly structured with Cassie Hack. You know… just throwing it out there…
TIM SEELEY: Yeah, but would DC appreciate my all lesbian, hot tub Wonder Woman story? Or my all gay, hot tub Batman story? I mean, I’m a one-trick pony. It’s hot tub stories or nothing at all.
HORROR YEARBOOK: We look forward to reading your book every month, Tim, so keep kicking ass on those fun stories with Cassie and Vlad!
TIM SEELEY: Thanks Mike. Will do. And you keep reviewing the shit out of movies and comics. And good luck against Joe Manatee in the contest I nominated you for.
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