IDW's Garters & Ghouls comic chronicles The Thrum, a dark force churning under the twisted streets and elaborate architecture of Washington DC. The only thing that stands in its way is a group of outlandish geniuses known as The Society and their all-female squad of undead warriors, The Dead-Butantes.

We caught up with writer, Harold Sipe, to talk about Garters & Ghouls.

The Big Bad Wolf: How did you hook up with IDW to become the writer of this comic?

Harold Sipe: Jeff Webber, the editor of the piece, was familiar with the last book I did, Screamland at Image Comics. He thought that it had a very similar horror laced with humor vibe of the Garters & Ghouls game. Jeff also knew I had spent the last year producing video games for the casual market such as: Shutter Island and National Geographic’s Mystery of Cleopatra. This helped a quite a bit with working with the game’s narrative and back-story. I was asked to pitch and, thankfully, NAMCO really seemed to enjoy what I came up with.

The Big Bad Wolf: What can you tell us about Marie Dupois?

Harold Sipe: Marie is one of the main characters of the game and an undead member of a group known as the Dead-Butantes. A kind of kick-ass society circle endowed with preternatural fighting abilities that battle the forces of darkness. The Dead-Butantes are all women of society standing that have died before their time and have been brought back to become the front line against The Thrum, who is kinda the evil puppet master behind of all the occult goings-on.

Marie is a recently inducted member and has her own secret motivations for being with the group. A lot of her story is the focus of the game and I would encourage folks to download it as it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

The Big Bad Wolf: What do you find most interesting about writing her?

Harold Sipe: In speaking with the game’s designers one thing they were keen on doing was expanding the scope of the world of Garters & Ghouls, so many of the characters in the comic were created for the comic. Marie has a smaller but pivotal role in the story.

Garters & Ghouls is a mash up of steampunk and occult conspiracy all set against 19th Century Washington DC. So in the comic you’re introduced to several new characters that the reader would follow their path into the overall macabre world of the game.

The Big Bad Wolf: What other main characters will we be introduced to?

Harold Sipe: The comic opens on Iris Franhan being strong-armed into going ahead with her high society coming out party by her father, Frederic Farley Franhan. Iris is really reluctant to go ahead with it as she wants to break out of a lot of expectations that come with the whole society scene and live a very different life. Iris is the main character of the piece and the POV for the reader as she is thrust into the dark underbelly of battle between The Society and The Thrum.

Iris’ father, Frederic, is a prominent member of The Society. The Society was formed to prevent The Thrum from gaining a foothold or having an influence in Washington DC. They are a secret group that has influenced the architecture of the city to keep dark forces out and has been on the front lines against the supernatural for years.

As our story (and the game really) begin members of The Society have aged and in some cases have been replaced with new members that really lack the drive or the smarts of some of the original members. Some have just gotten old. When I was talking to the game designers they described The Society as the “League of Un- Extraordinary Gentleman.” A group of runners-up and also-rans in history, the last people you hope would be between you and actual evil.

Frederic is getting pretty long in the tooth and is now more focused on things like his daughter’s debutante ball than the dangers building up around him.

The Big Bad Wolf: What can you tell us about The Thrum?

Harold Sipe: The Thrum is mastermind behind this sort of siege of Washington DC. It has been twisting the will of leaders and the fates of societies for centuries. Though The Thrum is trapped deep within the Earth, its influence and will is carried out by a variety of monsters and ghouls.

The Big Bad Wolf: What types of monsters we will see in this title?

Harold Sipe: It really runs the gambit. If you want to see vampires, we got them. Werewolves, check. If you have been waiting to see zombies act as waiters at a high society event, then my friend, you have arrived with this comic.

The Big Bad Wolf: What can we expect in terms of blood and gore?

Harold Sipe: The comic is not all that gory. We wanted to make it as accessible as possible to fans of the game or just the casual reader on iTunes. We don’t skimp on the monster attack action however.

The Big Bad Wolf: Have you ever played the Garters & Ghouls video game?

Harold Sipe: I have and I think its great. I would agree with the majority of the reviews I have read that it has really has slick controls and is pretty addictive. The game also has a really rich story, which made it a real natural to be translated into comics.

The Big Bad Wolf: How has it been working with Kevin Mellon?

Harold Sipe: I have had the good fortune to know Kevin for years now and really considered myself lucky to have the chance to work with him on this. I think he is an “up-and-comer” that is really set to blow up in comics over the next couple of years. He can do high action and get the gritty horror vibe going.

The Big Bad Wolf: What has impressed you the most with Kevin Mellon’s artwork?

Harold Sipe: I have always admired Kevin’s art chops but two things really stuck out to me in working on this.

Kevin colored his own work here and it really makes the art come alive. He did a fantastic job on it. The other thing is just how thoughtful he was in his approach in making this a comic that is to be read on the iPhone or PSP. We talked a lot about that at the script stage and I think he found an approach that brings together elements of storyboarding and animation into comics storytelling. If you have an iPhone or PSP it is really a unique reading experience for these devices.

The Big Bad Wolf: Where can our readers find out more about Garters & Ghouls?

Harold Sipe: The game’s website has not only a TON of content on the story but videos and game art as well. Check it out at: http://www.gartersandghouls.com/

The Big Bad Wolf: In closing what would you like to say to our readers about Garters & Ghouls?

Harold Sipe: I’m really proud of the comic and how well I think we captured the feeling of the Garters & Ghouls game. Kevin and I were talking the other day and we have a ton of ideas for new installments. If you are a fan of the game or just found and enjoyed the comic, leave positive feedback on iTunes and tell a friend. We would love to do more.

The Big Bad Wolf: Thank you for your time, Harold. Best of luck with the Garters & Ghouls comic! Here is the link to the comic on iTunes: Garters & Ghouls iTunes comic

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