Hot off the heels of the release of his new book, AMERICAN VAMPIRE, which you can pick up here at THIRD EYE now, Scott Snyder was nice enough to take some time to speak to us about his new book, working with Stephen King, and his future comic projects. Check it out, folks, and make sure you pick up AMERICAN VAMPIRE, it's a great read!THIRD EYE STEVE: So, we already know your name's Scott Snyder, but how bout the quick rundown, where ya from, how old are you, and how long have you been writing?
SCOTT SNYDER: I'm 34, grew up in New York City, now live on Long Island with my wife, Jeanie, and son Jack Presley. I've pretty much been writing my whole life. I wanted to be a comic artist as a very young kid, tracing Jim Lee and Bernie Wrightson and McFarlane, but sometime in high school I just got more into the narrative part of storytelling. I ended up doing more straight ahead fiction in college and so I published a book of stories in 2006 from Dial/Random House called Voodoo Heart. Been a die-hard comic fan my whole life, and consider my comic influences as strong as my literary ones. So when the chance came to pitch to Marve land DC - after editors at both places noticed a story I wrote about a young man with super-powers for a book called Who Can Save Us Now? -an anthology of stories about new super-heroes by contemporary writers - I jumped at it. Luckily, things went well and now I'm writing comics alongside my other fiction. Never felt so lucky in my whole life, work-wise.
THIRD EYE STEVE: How would you sum up the story of American Vampire to readers?
SCOTT SNYDER: The concept of the series, and what makes it exciting to us, is that it's really centered on this notion of vampire evolution – the idea that vampires are physiological creatures that over time have evolved into different species, as the vampiric bloodline has hit different populations at different times throughout modern history. Skinner's explanation is: Sometimes, when the blood hits someone new, from somewhere new, it makes something new. The idea is that, every once in a while, the blood will randomly mutate and create a new bloodline that branches off into a different species of vampire with different attributes. There are vampires with different characteristics, different weaknesses, different looks and that kind of thing - species throughout history. The vampires we all know - the nocturnal, anemic, elegant sun-fearing breed are just one species. How that species came to be dominant is part of the secret of the series. More specifically, though, the series centers on this brand new species of vampire that's accidentally created in the American West, almost a kind of Vampire 2.0. He's stronger and has these unique characteristics that make him thrive in the sunlight and have different claws, different fangs and different abilities and weaknesses, which are mysterious in the first issues as well. This first American Vampire – a wild, sociopathic outlaw in life named Skinner Sweet – is the focus of Steve's story. My part is set in the 1920s, telling the tale of a struggling actress in the silent film industry named Peael Jones, who has a run-in with some members of the undead...
THIRD EYE STEVE: How long does the story intend to go on for? I really got the sense after reading the first issue, that there's a whole world of interesting ideas that could be explored.
SCOTT SNYDER: Thanks. It's ongoing so we hope to go at least to issue 76! We've got it plotted though about issue 30 right now. We want to explore different decades each cycle, moving back and forth, following the American bloodline and the main characters, while introducing new cast members each cycle, too. Explore the secret history of vampires and their evolution... I can't wait for people to see where we are now (I'm currently scripting issues for cycle 3).
THIRD EYE STEVE: Now, the writing process is shared between you and Stephen King, who is taking on what duties? A lot of the buzz behind the book has been the fact that this is King's first official time writing comics (outside of that Creepshow graphic novel, if I remember right), so is King scripting, and you're plotting the story?
SCOTT SNYDER: I handed him an outline for 1 issue (he was originally just going to write 1!) and the bible of the series, with the characters and all. So he started outlining and writing and then a few days in I got this email asking if he could expand, and I said of course, and then a week later came another email about expanding, and he ended up writing 5 full issues. We traded scripts a lot, gave editorial notes - we talked everyday during the couple months he was working on the series - he was intense. It was inspiring to watch (I have that Creepshow comic, by the way - I'm a huge Bernie Wrightson fan).
THIRD EYE STEVE: The tone of the first issue of American Vampire had this great kind of timelessness to it. The fact that the story is set in two far past time periods, but the characters all seem very human and easy to relate to, is a big strength, I feel. Are the periods of the '20s and the Old West ones that you enjoy to write in?
SCOTT SNYDER: Absolutely. I love the Old West for its mythological implications and I love the 20's for that end of an era of optimism feel. The Depression and war looming.
THIRD EYE STEVE: I'm a big horror buff as well as a comic fan, and upon reading American Vampire, was pretty happy to see a return to stories where vampires are blood-sucking predators. There's so many different interpretations of vampires in fiction and pop culture, that it's interesting to see how different authors portray them. In your opinion, what is the ultimate portrayal of the vampire? In my opinion, I got a real strong "Near Dark" kind of vibe from the way the vampire characters in American Vampire were portrayed.
SCOTT SNYDER: I think Near Dark is my favorite of all time, honestly, though the Lost Boys and Salem's Lot are up there too - because the vampires in those are scary - scary because they're your family and friends, your neighbors turned into evil, vicious versions of themselves. They're not scary because they're exotic - the opposite. They're scary because they're us.
THIRD EYE STEVE: How new are you to the field of writing comics? What other work have you done so far?
SCOTT SNYDER: I'm doing Iron Man Noir for Marvel - comes out in April/May. And I've done a Torch story and a Nation X story, but I'm still pretty green. Still learning.
THIRD EYE STEVE: For those of us who dig what you've done on American Vampire, what other published work do you have out there? I noticed there's a novel that's in the works.
SCOTT SNYDER: Thanks man. I have the book of shorts, Voodoo Heart, and I'm pitching some more things to Vertigo, but mostly I'm just focused on AV, keeping it as strong as possible for as long as possible. I'm going to work on the series until the summer, then work on this novel I'm working on.
THIRD EYE STEVE: What are some of your major writing influences?
SCOTT SNYDER: Stephen King, obviously, and lit.-wise I love George Saunders, Neil Gaiman, Elmore Leonard, Karen Russell, Kelly Link, Tobias Wolff, Rick Bass, Denis Johnson... So many. For comics I was lucky enough to come of age in the late 80's, so I still have my issues of comics like The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, Animal Man... It was a great time.
THIRD EYE STEVE: What's it like working on a story with a legend like Stephen King?
SCOTT SNYDER: It was amazing - he's a storytelling genius. Watching him work is humbling, both for his imagination and his work ethic. The thing that was most surprising, though, was the way he writes with such hunger and enthusiasm. I mean, he's Stephen King - he could phone it in and it'd be solid. But he never does that - here he worked and re-worked every page, and it made me realize that the man just loves storytelling, and when he has a story he likes, he writes like a hungry, exuberant writer right out of the gate.
THIRD EYE STEVE: What are some of your favorite comics you're reading right now?
SCOTT SNYDER: My favorite ongoing has to be Scalped. I'm in awe of what Jason does there. But Sweet Tooth, Unwritten, Irredeemable... But I'm a lifelong fan pf all the mainstays, too. Love what Geoff Johns is doing with Blackest Night, loving Siege. Hard to throw a rock without hitting a great series nowadays.
THIRD EYE STEVE: Do you have any other comics work coming out in the near future?
SCOTT SNYDER: Yes, I'm doing Iron Man Noir for Marvel - comes out in April/May. It re-imagines Tony as a 1930's adventurer - it's like IM Pulp.
THIRD EYE STEVE: If you had one thing to tell fans on why they should be reading American Vampire, what would that be?
SCOTT SNYDER: All I can say is that it's the book I've been dying to do for a long time, and I promise to go to the mat to make every issue worth the price of admission. And I want to hear what you think!
THIRD EYE STEVE: Thanks, Scott, we really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us here at Third Eye!
SCOTT SNYDER: My pleasure - I really hope to make it by there sometime soon and meet you in person!
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