Geek Interview – Victor Gischler

Recently I had the chance to interview the author of Sally of the Wasteland, Victor Gischler. Dr. G and I go way back, to like the almost 90’s. I first met him at RSU in Oklahoma where he was my creative writing, and then later Fiction writing professor. I eventually left RSU to serve in the Army, then try my hand at professional stand-up, then a plethora of other fields before I found 8DAG. Dr. G left Oklahoma for Louisiana where his professional writing career has blossomed. He’s gone on to write for Marvel (see X-Men, Punisher, Deadpool Corps), as well as publish numerous books.

sally

Last week I DL’d Oyster, because it recently became available for Android, and the first 3 books I added to my reading list were Go-Go Girls Of The Apocalypse, Vampire a Go-Go, , and The Deputy. I was halfway through Go-Go Girls Of The Apocalypse when I received the email saying I could review Sally Of The Wasteland by Victor Gischler, and interview the author. It was like the universe wanted this to happen (or maybe the apocalypse is near and I’m receiving early warning from the nether). I reviewed the comic (see our review) and then I interviewed the author. Following is what was discussed.

 

8Dag: How did you get involved with Titan Comics?

VG: I was discussing SALLY with another publisher, and for whatever reason we seemed to be going around in circles and it just wasn’t working out.  I reached out to writer Rob Williams who is publishing his excellent ORDINARY with Titan and he introduced me to the chief editor Steve White.  Titan was receptive to SALLY right away, and we never looked back.  I’m extremely pleased.

 8Dag:  How were you paired up with Tazio Bettin?

VG: I was at the Sugar Pulp festival in Padova, Italy when Tazio approached me. He’d read my novel GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE and presented me with some illustrations he’d drawn which were scenes from the novel.  They were good!  Later, when I was wrapping up X-Men with Marvel and thinking it was time to try creator-owned, I remembered him and got in touch.  I’m glad I did!

 8Dag: What approach do you take to writing a comic? Do you create the entire scene with all the details or do you leave atmosphere and other details up to the artist?

VG: It’s different each time.  I try to give the artist all the information he/she needs to get the job done, but I’m, very open to suggestions.  I want to give the artist a fair chance to play to his/her strengths.

 8Dag: Where do you see Sally Of The Wasteland going? Is it an on-going or something shorter? Say 6-10 issues?

VG: It’s a five issue mini, but there’s already been some loose talk about doing another arc.  But with only one issue out so far, we just need to see how it goes.  But having spent so much time with Sally in my head, I think I would like to do some more.

 8Dag:  I loved the crawgators. Can we expect to see more animal mash-ups?

VG: Not “animal” per se, but yes, more crazy mutant action.  That’s really a big part of the B-movie vibe I’m going for.

 8Dag:  Would you say Sally’s world is anywhere near the world of Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse?

VG: In tone, yes.  The irreverence is similar.  But there’re no science-defying mutant monsters in Go-Go.

 8Dag:  What inspired Sally of the Wasteland? Other post-apocalyptic stories or comics? Louisiana? The idea of a tasty fried crawfish/gator treat?

VG: Just the idea of B-Movie monsters and that I still felt I wasn’t quite finished with the post-apocalypse genre after Go-Go.  I wanted to do something that I thought played to my strengths as a writer, and I think SALLY fits the bill.

 8Dag: Did anything or anyone inspire Sally the character?

VG: MY MOM.  (Sorry … that’s a Regular Show joke for my son.)

 8Dag: When writing a post-apocalyptic story is there anything you feel the need to draw attention to? Like, what are people doing about socks or nails or the lack of a twitter feed? I know I always wonder how people manage to raise children. Without population drop-off we have to assume they are still making babies at a steady rate (maybe even more steady if all the prophylactics are expired). But there is a constant need to escape danger or keep quiet to avoid being eaten.

VG: The short answer is that I don’t worry about any of that.  With SALLY, I am mostly living in the NOW of what the characters have going on right in front of their faces.  I think the concerns you raise would certainly be legitimate if I were writing a more serious Cormac McCarthy style post-apocalypse novel.  For SALLY I just pull it all out of my ass.

 8Dag: You seem to enjoy putting your characters through the ringer and Sally was naked being spied on by pirate cannibals during the last scene. Can we expect she will receive her really-really-hard and brutal knocks?

VG: No spoilers.  I don’t want to undermine any suspense.
Well Dr. Gischler it has been a fun  ride with Sally so far and I’m sure we all look forward to the next leg of the journey. If you haven’t already, check out Victor Gischler’s other work and obviously stay tuned as we follow Sally through the wasteland. You can follow Victor Gischler on twitter @victorgischler and find his work with Sally of the Wasteland through Titan-Comics.
As always feel free to comment below or @werewolforigin on twitter

About Eric bookout

Writer/Artist for X amount of years. Recently worked with people from IGN on a comic and studied writing under Victor Gischler of Marvel Comics at RSU in Oklahoma more X amount of years ago. Follow me @WerewolfOrigin on twitter
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