Christopher Moore & Ian Corson Discuss The Griff
Q: Is there a specific reason you decided to make The Griff a comic book instead of a novel?
Chris: The story came to me, partially, in a dream, and it was so visual and action-based that I didn t think it was appropriate for a novel. Most of my novels are character based, and with The Griff, the characters were going to be secondary to the bigger action. Initially I thought it would be appropriate for a film, which is where Ian came in.
Ian: After we d written the original screenplay, Chris and I talked about the idea of one day turning this into a graphic novel. Soon after, the comic book publishers reached out to Chris to write for them, so then The Griff graphic novel became a possibility.
Q: What was the process like working with each other?
Chris: We work together pretty well, I think. I think we both have a very practical approach to the work and can just get it done without infinite discussion of details. I ve been in the room when other screenwriters are working together and it seems like they waste a lot of time hashing out every single element of the script, every line, and it s excruciating. With Ian and me it s like, Okay, you kill all these sons-a-bitches, and I ll write the next scene where they clean the blood off their hands. Then we just do the work. Ian did most of the liaison with the artist because I was on deadline for my next novel, Sacre Bleu, although we consulted on the changes we asked for nearly every day by phone.
Ian: Before I met Chris, I was a big fan of his work. When he wanted to collaborate it was a little intimidating at first. I kinda felt like Danny DeVito stepping onto the basketball court with Michael Jordan. Luckily, those inhibitions disappeared pretty quickly and Chris and I fell into a comfortable work relationship. It was a lot of fun and I m proud of the end result.
Q: Who is your favorite character from The Griff?
Chris: My favorite character is Mo (short for Maureen), who is sort of a punky/gothy 20-something computer game designer with a snarky attitude. I like that even though she s never been in a life-and-death combat situation before, she understands strategy and weapons and she s not really afraid of anything. She s a great ad-hoc leader for the survivors and really was sort of the precursor for similar characters I would create for my vampire books and my novel, A Dirty Job, which is a comedy about Death.
Ian: I like Mo, too. It was a lot of fun to write for her, especially when she put Steve in his place. Steve is also a favorite character since he's a well-meaning doofus. It's probably a little too much information, but I can relate to him on some level. Plus we named him after Chris' goldfish at the time.
Q: As long as we're talking about comic books, if you could have any super power, what would it be?
Chris: I wouldn t mind Wolverine healing. And if you only had the healing thing, you wouldn t really be obligated to fight crime and stuff. Someone would be, Hey Chris, there s a super-villain on the Golden Gate bridge! And I d be like, Good luck with that, I can t even bench-press my weight. I m going to the library, where I have no fear at all of getting paper cuts.
Ian: Not sure about super powers, but Batman has some pretty awesome toys. He kinda wins in the car, boat and cave departments. He s also pretty good at kicking ass and apparently has no fear of heights. I wouldn t mind any of that but I d hate having to apply black makeup around my eyes for the mask. Guess you gotta give up something.
Parts of this conversation were taken from Comic Impact and Romantic Times.
A Look Inside The Griff
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