We spoke with Harold Sipe about the project.

The Big Bad Wolf: Tell us about the comic, Screamland.

Harold Sipe: In the age of computer animation and actors practicing their crafts to green screen, where will the real-life monsters go? This book looks at the creatures haunting the twilight of fame.

The book supposes that instead of make-up effects or rubber suits, all movie monsters are real. They lived really well in the heyday of the monster movie, but now the screen work just isn't coming their way anymore.

The intervening years are filled with TV appearances, bad folk music albums, comic conventions and dot-com schemes.

When Screamland opens, the cast is offered a new movie "Monsterhunter 3000," a live-action adaptation of manga title. The mini-series follows each monster as they get the offer and ponder what a return to that life means to each of them.

The Big Bad Wolf: Can you give us a brief bio of some of the main cast?

Harold Sipe: Hector (series artist Hector Casanova) and I really liked the idea of a clique of classic and iconic monsters, a dark rat pack of sorts. The main players are: Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Carl London who is a Werewolf (or THE Werewolf as he would be quick to tell you), and The Mummy.

Frank is living in a small condo in Palm Springs, broke and drinking the days away.

Carl is barnstorming comics and sci-fi conventions in the Midwest, seeing more of hotel bars than the convention floors.

The Mummy is, well, I can't say too much about that other than he is addressed in issue two.

Dracula is the only one who is still working in film. He has far more of a timeless quality about him than, say, a guy wrapped in bandages. So, he has a hard time understanding the self-pity and self-loathing the others are feeling. He is like the overachieving brother or the smug guy at your high school reunion.

The other main character is Andrea Silverman, the guys' agent. Her grandfather had founded the talent agency representing "unique" clients. As the monster films started to take a downturn, she moved the focus of the agency to young actors, WB-types. She started out as a bit player in the book, but her role has really grown. She is easily the most sympathetic and likable character in the book. Her role just seemed to grow the more I wrote.

The Big Bad Wolf: What other monsters will we show up in Screamland?

Harold Sipe: Tons of monsters turn up. They generally are all over the book doing jobs that out-of-work actors typically take. One of my favorites is a monster based on the old school Japanese monster films. He sort of "Godzilla"-like, only like my height, 6 foot tall or so. So he still stomps on little cardboard Tokyo, and the director can look him in the eye. He is part of my favorite punch line in issue one.

The Big Bad Wolf: How did you come up with the idea for this?

Harold Sipe: I lived in LA for a number of years. I had to be worst fit for that town of anyone that had ever lived there. I had lived all over the country, but nothing prepared me for Southern California. It's really hard to talk about LA without just spouting clichés, from where I sit: everything people say about LA is true.

On one level, the book is me reflecting on my time out west. On another level, there is a reason we keep returning to these monsters and these ideas. I remember as a kid I sat up late and saw Nosferatu on Public TV, I was 4 or 5 at the time. WAY too young to see that movie. I still have nightmares about vampires. I think now we see "friendly" renderings of these monsters on Halloween decorations and in commercials, but these ideas can be terrifying. There is a horrifying undercurrent to say Dracula and vampires, the undead, any of it. So the idea of exploring that with a different sort of horror story, life in Hollywood, really appealed to me.


The Big Bad Wolf: Would you be willing to put out more issues of Screamland in the future?

Harold Sipe: Hector and I have had a blast working these five issues. It has been such an amazing experience. I had originally started Screamland as a prose short story, and then it became a novella of sorts. The format just never seemed right to me, and it wasn't until my friend Matt Fraction suggested I try writing it as a comic that it came together. The advantage of all that rewriting is that there is a wealth of material to pull from. We see each of the characters in different time periods, so that opens up a wide range of follow-ups that we could do. If there is an audience, I would love to revisit this book.

The Big Bad Wolf: Do you have a website or MySpace page where fans can check out more info?

Harold Sipe: There will be a website the closer we get to the release of the book, however we are on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/screamlandcomic

We will be posting art for upcoming issues, pin-ups, and short stories starting in late-January '08.

The Big Bad Wolf: When is the first issue due out?

Harold Sipe: The first issue will be in your friendly neighbor comic shop on March 12 from Image Comics.

The Big Bad Wolf: What is the cover price?

Harold Sipe: The cover price is 2.99 for thirty-two full color pages.

The Big Bad Wolf: In closing, what would you like to say to the fans about this book?

Harold Sipe: This book looks amazing. Hector Casanova is painting this book, and I think his art is something really special and unique in comics. Hector is one of those artists that people will be talking about for years. Check out his website - http://www.hectorcasanova.net and see for yourself. The best part? He is getting better with every issue.

The Big Bad Wolf: Thank you for your time, Harold. Keep us posted on SCREAMLAND.

Talk about the SCREAMLAND Interview.