Steve Niles

Infobox Comics creator


imagesize = 200px
caption = Steve Niles at the 2007 Scream Awards
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1965|06|21
location = Jackson Township, New Jersey
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = American
area = Writer
alias =
notable works = "30 Days of Night"
""
awards =
website = http://www.steveniles.com

Steve Niles (born June 21, 1965 in Jackson, New Jersey) is an American comic book author and novelist.

He is credited among other contemporary writers as bringing horror comics back to prominence,Fact|date=July 2007 authoring such works as "30 Days of Night", its sequel, "Dark Days" (IDW Publishing), and "" (Dark Horse Comics) with frequent artist collaborator Ben Templesmith.

Biography

Steve Niles was raised in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, working in several comic book stores and recording for bands "Gray Matter" and "Three" for the Dischord Records label in the 1980s and 1990s. He often credited late night television horror host, Count Gore De Vol, as an early influence - in 2004 Count Gore wrote the introduction to the graphic Novel "Aleister Arcane," which was about a horror host.

Niles' start in the comics industry began with the formation of his self publishing company, Arcane Comix. He then wrote several titles for Fantaco/Tundra in the early 1990s. Niles has published, edited, and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics, and has also worked for Disney and Todd McFarlane Productions where Niles wrote for "Kiss Magazine" before collaborating on "Hellspawn" with noted illustrator Ashley Wood after Brian Michael Bendis's departure.

After optioning "30 Days of Night" in Hollywood, Niles formed a joint venture production company, Creep International, with 90s rocker and film director Rob Zombie. This project has produced two works to date: "The Nail" (with Nat Jones) through Dark Horse, and "Bigfoot" (with Richard Corben) through IDW Publishing. Upon placing that venture on hiatus, he then formed another similar company with actor Thomas Jane with the intention of bringing his "Criminal Macabre" character Cal MacDonald to the big screen after conflict with the studio, MGM that had optioned it. Niles and Jane also co-wrote the ill fated and yet to be completed "Bad Planet" (Image) with artists Lewis Larosa and Tim Bradstreet.

Niles has recently moved to work on corporate properties at Marvel and DC Comics; in 2006, he collaborated with artist Scott Hampton on a Batman miniseries "Gotham County Line". In 2006, Niles wrote another miniseries that reinvents Steve Ditko's vintage character Creeper with DC artist Justiniano. He is currently creating a new DC character with artist Scott Hampton, named Simon Dark. Dark is a vigilante hero with elements of the Frankenstein mythos. [ [http://www.steveniles.com/news/2007/07/09/presenting%E2%80%A6simon-dark "Introducing... Simon Dark"] ]

In October 2007, Steve recorded an introduction to the Washington, D.C.'s horror fest, The Spooky Movie Film Festival, in honor of opening night host, Count Gore De Vol, who was being honored for his 35 years in Washington, D.C. Posters for 30 Days of Night were given out, including one signed by Niles. [ [http://www.nbc4.com/dcscene/14293020/detail.html?treets=dc&tml=dc_dcscene&ts=T&tmi=dc_dcscene_1_11150110122007 "Grindhouse-Themed Double Feature To Kick-Off Spooky Movie Film Festival"] ]

Steve recently wrote a story for the "DC Infinite Halloween Special" called "Strange Cargo". Narrated by Poison Ivy, the story tells of Superman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen uncovering zombies in a cargo tank owned by Lex Luthor. Superman kills most of them, but takes the rest and puts them on the moon.

Recently a twelve part Batman comic series entitled "Batman : Gotham After Midnight" has begun, written by Steve Niles with art by Kelley Jones. He has also written a graphic novel for Zune called "The Lost Ones" with various artists [ [http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080718-NilesLostOnes.html Steve Niles on The Lost Ones Graphic Novel] , Newsarama, July 18, 2008] and "City of Dust" for Radical Comics. [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=1065&disp=table Preview: City of Dust: A Philip Khrome Story #1] , Comic Book Resources] [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18273 Steve Niles on "City of Dust"] , Comic Book Resources, September 30, 2008]

Adaptations

"30 Days of Night" has been developed into a major motion picture, with Sam Raimi as producer. Other comics he has written that have been optioned for film include "Criminal Macabre", "In the Blood" and "Wake the Dead". "Variety" have reported that "Wake the Dead" will be the next to enter production with Jay Russell in the directors chair. [ [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117986701.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=steve+niles+wake+the+dead Russell ready to helm 'Dead'] , "Variety", June 1, 2008]

Bibliography

*"Richard Matheson's I Am Legend" (with Elman Brown, IDW Publishing, 1991)
*"30 Days of Night" (with Ben Templesmith, IDW Publishing, 2002)
*"" (with Ben Templesmith, Dark Horse Comics and IDW Publishing, 2003)
*"Dark Days" (with Ben Templesmith, IDW Publishing, 2003)
*"Hellspawn" #'s 11-16 (with Ben Templesmith, Image Comics, 2003)
*"Remains" (with Kieron Dwyer, IDW Publishing, 2004)
*"Wake the Dead" (with Chee, IDW Publishing, 2004) [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16697 Steve Niles talks “Wake the Dead” Film] , Comic Book Resources, June 5, 2008]
*"Bigfoot" (IDW Publishing, 2005) [ [http://www.idwpublishing.com/titles/bigfoot.shtml IDW Publishing ] ]
*"Giant Monster" (3-issue prestige format mini-series, Boom! Studios, 2005) [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12797 “Giant Monster” Daily from CBR & Boom!] , Comic Book Resources, March 30, 2008]
*"" (with Fox Atomic Comics, 2007)
*"Simon Dark" (DC Comics, 2007-2008)
*"Cthulhu Tales" (with Chee, Shane Oakley, Boom! Studios, 2008, ongoing, first tpb December 2008, ISBN 1934506516) [ [http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/120187655350299.htm We Are But Ants: Mark Waid & Steve Niles Talk Lovecraft] , Comics Bulletin, February 1, 2008]
*"Dead, She Said" (with Bernie Wrightson, IDW Publishing, 2008-ongoing)
*"The Lost Ones" (with art by Gary Panter, Dr. Revolt, Kime Buzzelli, and Morning Breath, graphic novel, Zune, 2008) [ [http://www.zune-arts.net/lost The Lost Ones] at Zune Arts (requires flash)]
*"Epilogue" (with Kyle Hotz, IDW Publishing, 2008-ongoing)
*"City of Dust" (with Zid, Radical Comics, 2008-ongoing)

Notes

References

*gcdb|type=writer|search=Steve+Niles|title=Steve Niles
*comicbookdb|type=creator|id=2209|title=Steve Niles
* [http://www.comics-db.com/comics/search.cgi?query=Steve%20Niles&bool=and&substring=1 Steve Niles] at the Big Comic Book DataBase
*imdb name|0632051|Steve Niles

External links

*official|http://www.steveniles.com
* [http://www.raw-studios.com/ Raw Studios]
* [http://www.thomasjane.com/badplanet/ Bad Planet]

Interviews

* [http://www.comicgeekspeak.com/episodes/comic_geek_speak-468.php 2007 Audio interview with Steve Niles on the Comic Geek Speak podcast]
* [http://www.cindycenter.com/SteveNilesFinal.mp3 2006 Podcast Interview with Steve Niles - cIndyCenter.com]
* [http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=17808&sectionId=2 Steve Niles Interview] at UGO
* [http://www.dreadcentral.com/index.php?name=Interviews&req=showcontent&id=4749 Interview] for 30 Days of Night at Dread Central