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For 25 years, R.L.
Stine has written his still-popularGoosebumpsseries.
Credit: Marvel; Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Now, hes trying something a little different with MarvelsMan-Thing, the prolificFear Streetauthors first ever comic book.
[So] hes this beast who is mostly animal.
But that wont be the only thing readers of the first five issues will encounter.
Stine has also written short Chamber of Chills stories that will featured at the back of each issue.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Were you a big comic book reader?R.L.
STINE:When I was a kid, I was a comic book freak.
Everyone always says, What books did you read when you were a kid?
I say, None!
I loved comic books.
I had this character, Super Stooge, who was the worlds dumbest superhero.
He would fly headfirst into brick buildings.
And I drew these little things and would bring them to school and pass them around.
And everyone said, You cant draw.
And they were right, I couldnt draw.
I had no talent.
So I had to write.
Anyway, here I am, writing a comic book.
I just loved them.
They were gruesome, horrible, bloody comics.
And the art was amazing.
All those guys went on to do MAD comics, and then MAD magazine.
These comics were a big influence on me because they were very scary and very dark.
And they always had funny twist endings.
I do that in my books.
Ive never done a comic book before.
This is my first one ever.
And then I thought, Gee, I have this opportunity.
So Marvel sent me a list of characters they werent using and said, Pick one youd like.
So I picked the ugliest character they ever had.
Hes a hideous swamp monster, and Ive always loved Swamp Monsters.
I actually did aGoosebumpslast year called, Here Comes the Shaggedy and it was about a swamp monster.
So thats the one I picked.
Is that why it spoke to you?
It sounded like something youd write?
[Laughs] It just sounded like good basic horror.
Youre in the swamp!
Ive never actually seen the swamp, but its basic horror.
In the old books, this creature couldnt even talk.
I made him talk so he could be sarcastic and I could make it funnier.
I always like to make things funnier.
So thats why it starts out in Burbank and hes at the studio and they say, Im sorry.
You scare the kids.
Were using everyone else, but we cant use you in the movie.
And then they even refuse to fly him home.
Its kind of a disgrace.
[Laughs] I thought it was funny.
Did you use your recent experience with theGoosebumpsmovie to do that?No.
You know, Ive written so much, I took this as a whole separate project.
Everything I have is the same balance.
Its not just scary, its also funny.
Its always that balance.
The comic has the same thing as the movie.
They captured it in the movie.
Everything is out of order.
Giant snakes are all over the place, and the wrong animals are in the swamp.
So he goes to find a character called Old Father, who controls the swamp.
He keeps order and keeps chaos away.
So there could be chaos in the whole world.
And Man-Thing thinks, Why me?
Why do I have to go rescue him?
And thats basically the through-story.
How was it working with German Peralta?Comics are weird to me.
The whole process is strange.
[But] hes wonderful.
I love the art and what he did.
But I just didnt understand.
I would write a script, and send it to him.
And he does pencil sketches, and I see these.
They say, How are these?
You say, Well, they look nice.
Meanwhile, there are no words on it!
For me, thats very bizarre.
Im looking at this thing, it keeps coming back to me and back to me.
But for me, it was a little strange way to work.
[But] it was fun to do something different.
[Laughs] I always make everything up.
Someone one wanted me to be on a panel talking about researching books.
I said, I cant be on it.
Ive never done it.
I just write a plot.
I do an outline.
And I plan everything out first.
But Im all plot-driven.
But I never have anything I want to say.Goosebumpsbooks have no messages.
The only message is, Run away!
They have no morals.
Theyre all for entertainment.
This comic book is the same way.
Its to get kids reading.
I just wanted it to be fun and very fast and I wanted to make it funny.
I wanted to change the character a bit.
What are you reading right now?I read mostly mysteries and thrillers.
I have a friend, a wonderful Irish writer, Sebastian Barry.
He just won the Costa Book Award in England for his new novel calledDays Gone By.Its an amazing book.
I just finished that.
Do you think youd write more comics after this?Well, they have to ask me.
[Laughs] Ill be waiting by the phone.
I would love to.
You know, Im horrible at writing descriptions.
Thats why my books are mostly dialogue.
So that works really well for me with comic books.
Because the artist does all the scene setting.
The writer doesnt have to do that.
That was fun for me.
MarvelsMan-Thing#1 is currently available for purchase online and in comic book stores.
you might read the first few pages below:
