Sandy King and John Carpenter launched Storm King Comics through their production company Storm King Productions.
The comic book publishing division has released a growing line of horror titles since 2012.
How is it having so many plates spinning and culminating at once?
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Sandy King Carpenter:I think that weve never really had it any differently.
Weve always had our hands in so much stuff.
John has always done music,hes always done the soundtracksto his movies.
In a way weve always had a lot of things going.
I wanted to talk about the breadth of titles published through Storm King Comics.
Youve got everything fromTales for a HalloweeNighttoStorm Kids, appealing to a variety of age groups.
How is it curating a growing line of comic book titles?
They kind of grew holistically.
First we hadAsylumand it was a deal where wed learn from the conventions.
We didnt have anything from John in the comic shops onHalloweenand thats howTales for a HalloweeNightstarted.
It was really well-received and it won awards.
Like I told you, its a problem when we win awards.
[laughs] Other writers and artists came up and went Why didnt you ask me?
and I said Well, you didnt get drunk in San Diego and we were on a deadline!
Thats howTales for a HalloweeNightstarted.
Every year, in time for New York and for Halloween, we do the anthology.
Thats howTales of Science Fictionstarted.
We wanted to do graphic novel standalones that had some good horror stories and that becameNight Terrors.
Itll go right over their heads because its not their experience at the time.
I had writers like Steve Niles and Louise Simonson doing it.
We dont talk down to kids, but we do whats age-appropriate to their fears.
[laughs]
But they want to be in with all the other kids on Halloween.
They want to feel like theyre part of the pack.
That becomes something where theyre around and they dont get deprived and theyre part of the party.
How do we empower them?
Bad things happen in life, but what are the tools for getting out of it?
How do you feel strong?
Thats how we got things likeThe Grimms Town Terror Tales, which is like a modern-dayHansel & Gretel.
They become empowered and can handle the situation, its an empowerment.
We have another one calledFetchwhich is brilliant and based on Greek mythology.
Its about a little girl whose dog has died and she is determined to get him back.
She has to take care of him as a cause bigger than herself.
There are cool things that allow these kids to feel empowered.
Horror is such a diverse and diffused genre.
What it needs to have is the story within the stories.Horroris an allegorical medium.
I go out and find the writers and rope them in.
They all pretty much get that were telling bigger stories.
My thing is Why do you want to write this story?
What is it that youre trying to say?
What are you saying about society?
What are you saying as we look inside ourselves?
What point should I get from reading this story?
How are you looking at the world and saying with this book?
Thats the thing that I look for.
I dont want to see a rubber-stamped story.
What do you look for in writers and artists, like Steve Niles, of30 Days of Nightfame?
Sometimes, with the writer, theyve got a really good relationship with an artist.
We broke him into comics and I knew he was a great storyteller.
Amanda Deibert was known more for comedy, but comedy and horror have a great deal in common.
So lets open up that Pandoras Box and see where she can go with that.
Im always looking for whos a great writer of any kind who should be in comics.
You have worked in television and film extensively.
What do you find creatively fulfilling about working within the comic book medium?
The people we work with, its fun!
Its not expensive to write a comic of any story.
If I see a story first and go Whoa, this is really cool!
and hand it to John and his first response is either Whoa!
or Oh, fuck!
I know weve got it.
My first allegiance is to the comic book rather than to make them franchises.
If somehow a studio sees something, I leave the IP in the hands of the creators.
Sometimes the creator is me.
Most of the time, they have 100% of the IP.
What the deal is, between the artist and other writers, is up to them.
More power to the writer.
What are the big, new comic book titles that Storm King Productions is putting out and promoting now?
Our first title forDark & TwistedisDeath Mask.
I think its a really awesome story with really great characters and that one is just out now.
Weve also got this years edition ofTales for a HalloweeNight, its the ninth volume out.
Those are the two that were really pumping right now.
Weve also got Dennis Caleros bookInterference Pattern, he wrote it and drew it and its beautiful!
ItsThe Right Stuffgone wrong, its gorgeous!
