Broken Frontier

No, it’s not about unusual culinary habits. Rather, Dog Eaters is a new 6-issue mini-series from Dabel Bros. Publishing that centers on a Mad Max style future and a family’s desperate attempts to stay alive amidst the madness.

The genesis of this series belongs to writer Malcolm Wong who won a screen writing competition, the prize of which included a comic adaptation by Dabel Bros. In Wong’s own words, he began work on the original screenplay at a time when he was “totally disgusted with what was going on in the USA,” in regards to celebrity obsession, politics and its stance on war. Wong began thinking about humanity’s future and came up with the pessimistic setting focused on the adventures of the Black Dog Clan.

The Clan live in a brutal world, 175 years after the Die Off, which killed 90% of the earth’s population, making barbarism the new order of the day and allowing chaos to reign supreme. The only people remaining are those with the skills to live off the land, or prisoners trapped in hi-tech facilities who have only survived via in-breeding.

The series premieres in November.

BROKEN FRONTIER: You’ve studied sculpture and directed music videos in Japan. Now you’re moving into comics via screen writing. Are there any similarities between all of these different creative pursuits?

MALCOLM WONG: I think there are some mysterious aesthetic proportions which guide and bind all creative expression (maybe at the highest, purest level) but for me, the different "art" forms exercise different facets of myself:  I also blow glass and make music.  In the collaborative arts like video, and in the case of Dog Eaters, the comic, where I'm working with people like artist, Guillermo A. Angel, the publisher, the letterer, and colorists --communication is important for scheduling, motivating, marketing, and planning.  I am basically producing this project and social skills definitely enter into the equation.

BF: Was it hard working with Sean J Jordan adapting your screenplay to the comic format, and did the end product vary considerably from your initial script?

MW: It was very easy working with Sean, we got along great.  He did the heavy lifting in terms of re-formatting the 118-page screenplay into a 168 (now it's 169) page graphic novel.  I went back into it and revised and
re-wrote visuals and dialog, but the structure he created stayed intact.
Events in the story were simplified and characters were combined or eliminated for the comic script, but it is essentially the same story told in a different media.

BF: Dog Eaters had an unusual route to publication didn’t it? Care to explain it?

MW: Dog Eaters was originally a spec script.  Living in Tokyo, I'm isolated from Hollywood and like unknown screenwriters everywhere (even in L.A.), I'm always looking for access, a way in.  It's a struggle to just get your material read!  I was on the web one day (alright, everyday) and saw the script contest at the Screenwriting Expo and entered online -- a very easy process of filling out a form and uploading your script.  I promptly forgot about it until I started getting emails informing me that I was a quarter-finalist, then a semi-finalist, then a finalist in their contest.  It was kinda exciting.  Dog Eaters ended up winning 3 awards, one of the awards was the Dabel Brothers.  They would adapt a script of their choice to be a comic mini-series and graphic novel.

BF: Was working with artist Guillermo A. Angel similar to working on a film, in the way you visualize concepts, costumes, pacing, etc.?

MW: I haven't worked on a film yet, but I imagine that at the production and wardrobe design stage it is very similar -- drawings are done and submitted for approval.  Before Guillermo got started, I supplied images of trucks, military vehicles, WW II bomber turrets for the command semis.  I sent him photos of different landscapes.  We discussed the Black Dog Clan attire as being inspired by Ameri-Indian and South American Indian and suggested combinations.  It was very collaborative . Once Guillermo got a feel for the world, I let him take off with it and would only make small suggestions to direct the art.

Pacing is determined by the script and what would be camera angles and shots in a film become panels in a comic or graphic novel.  In a way, this comic is a very detailed storyboard and hopefully, people will read this and want to see this as a movie.

BF: Dog Eaters has a pretty pessimistic premise for its setting, but is there still hope in its story?

MW: Without giving away too much, I would say, "Sure!"  Generally, I struggle to write happy endings, but recently I've seen a few movies with downer endings and maybe it's because the U.S. is struggling, but I'm thinking, "You know, happy endings are that bad after all!"

BF: Do you have a new love for comic books now?

MW: I do.  And there is a lot of great stuff out there.

BF: Would you like to work in the comics field again?

MW: I'm mentally preparing for it in case I get another opportunity.  It is a fantastic privilege to be able to get published and I would love to do it again.  I heard second-hand that Del Rey is interested in a sequel to Dog Eaters, so I'm thinking about that story and structure, this time from the perspective of a 6-part mini-series in addition to writing it as a feature screenplay.

A trailer and 16 page preview of Dog Eaters is available at www.dogeaters-manga.com.