Interview with Acclaimed Vampire Whisperer, David Doub.

Greetings Comic Natives, today we have a special guest, David Doub. Who is this David person you ask? Well, only the acclaimed vampire whisper himself; the writer and publisher of the fast growing book called Dusk. The book centers arround the Vampire genre; which has gained a resurgence in the mainstream as of late. So, I thought it fit to dig through the independent archive pool and fish out a vampire expert; which I’ve found here in David. He comes from a very unique background as a writer and I think you will find his origins just as interesting as the characters he creates. Well without further delay let’s get this interview rockin’

  

 

ComicPrivy: What were your plans regarding the publishing of your book(s), especially Dusk?

David Doub: When I first got into publishing, it was to publish my own books. But as I worked on getting my books out, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve wanted to share that knowledge with others. So now I’m fully embracing my role as a publisher and I’m publishing other people’s work as well. The next book I’ll have coming out will be a Manga from Malaysia and there are several other books in the pipeline. So my current goal for Dusk Comics is to get out some good books to readers, regardless if they’re written by me or not.

David Doub Vampire writer, DUSK.

ComicPrivy: What were some of the most challenging aspect you discovered regarding the publishing process?

David Doub: Learning. You come in with all these preconceived ideas and plans and you have to learn to adjust to the reality of the situation. It takes some ego to think you go into making your own book and that’s healthy, but then you have to learn to keep that in check and admit you’re wrong. There’s a lot of things a person doesn’t know about making a book until you do it, so you have to be ready to learn a damn lot to get it right. It’s daunting but worth it in the end.

ComicPrivy: David, enlighten us a bit. How did your fascination with comics begin and how you became involved in the  industry?

David Doub:I think a lot had to do with the Marvel Handbooks. I would sit there and just read all these complicated rich histories of heroes and villains and it just engaged my imagination in such a way that I was hooked. I’ve been a reader ever since.

Now how I got involved with the Comic Book Industry is a tad bit sad. At first I was dabbling in making comics because I had responsibilities in my life to take care of first; like a wife and a mortgage. But then my wife passed away due to a complication with medicine and I realized how short life really is. So if I had to start over, I might have started doing things I really cared about, like comics. Lesson learned, now I make comics for a living.

ComicPrivy: What were some of your first projects, any fond memories?

David Doub: The first thing I ever got published was a 20 page story for a print anthology for the website DrunkDuck.Com (long before they were bought out by Platinum Comics). Then I got a one shot of Dusk through the British Publisher, Warpton. After that I went through Ambrosia Publishing, but they closed down before I got the book out. So I took all the publishing secrets I learned and set out on my own.

ComicPrivy: How did you come up with the idea for Dusk? By the way the book  seems like a fascinating take on vampire/human relationships.

David Doub: Well first I’m just a big vampire fan. Love reading about vampires to watching vampire stuff. All the way from Lost Boys to the BBC show Ultraviolet. But a lot of Dusk came from running Vampire Live Action Roleplaying. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s basically improv theater where you act out your parts with no script, just the character concept to guide you. For conventions, a lot of the character stuff is pre-written so I was spending a lot of time writing all these character concepts and histories. With all that hard work I figured why not transition into doing whole stories. And since comics are my favorite and I went with that format over any other.

ComicPrivy: What do you enjoy most about creating comic books? What is it about the medium that makes you want to tell your stories in this format?

David Doub: Seriously, All of it. I love the writing. I love getting the art back from the artist or inker. I love seeing it in print. I am in love with making comics. It’s better than sex 😛

ComicPrivy: “Making comics is better than sex.” David, your words not mine – but I can’t blame you; the process is all engaging and I’ve become lost in the creative process many times.  Now, Marketing is essential to succeeding in this business, what are your plans for promoting and marketing Dusk?

David Doub: What aren’t my plans for marketing and promotion would be the easier answer. With the internet, there is so many options in getting your name out there, that it’s hard to keep track of them all more or less actually utilize all those opportunities. That is a downside as well because with so many other people using everything to get their message out, it’s hard not to get lost in the flood of promotion sometimes.

But I do everything from conventions, store appearances, talking to distributors, reviews, interviews, guest blog posts, ads, Facebook, Twitter, ect, ect. Some days I can totally do nothing but promotion and not touch on actual comic production work.

ComicPrivy: What other projects do you have coming down the bloodline? What can we expect to see, from the creative team of Dusk?

David Doub: I have a public domain superhero book coming out. It’s based on an old Nedor Comics hero where it’s basically about a bored blonde debutante who fights crime. It’s going to be called Mystery Masque Comics. The original name was going to be Miss Masque, but AC Comics own the trademark to that name, so I had to change it. They were very nice about the whole thing, so I bring it up as a cautionary tale for other creators. When you think you’re done with research, check again.

ComicPrivy:  Don’t keep us in suspense, give us a glimmer as to what these projects have in store for us.

David Doub: Mystery Masque Comics is about a character name Diana Adams. In my version she has a condition where she it literally addicted to adrenaline so she goes out and does risking thinks just to feel that rush. At the start of the book she is committing adultery just to risk her marriage to feel more adrenaline. As the story moves a long she involves herself in a coworker/friend’s problem with a loan shark and all devolves from there to where she it crime fighting just so she has a moral justification on how she gets her fix.

Community Question: What changes do you see happening in the comic industry, and how do you see it affecting the independent creator.

David Doub: Of course everyone is saying digital is the way to go at this point, but I think that is still too early to tell. There’s no standardization yet for comics online, so it’s too disorganized for anyone to truly capitalize on it. Considering no one ever planned on the Direct Market to become the way it is, I totally expect something unexpected to come in a be the new dominate form of comics in the future. It just makes that hard to predict.

There is one thing my printer is doing, that I like and I’m curious to see if it catches on. Its’ basically a giant kiosk, like say a Vending Machine, where it will let you select from thousands of digital files and will print out a fully printed and bound book right there on the spot for you. I think that is a great way to combine digital with print.

ComicPrivy: Any additional details you want your blood thirst ridden  fans to know about your book.

David Doub: Beside the obvious “Buy the Book” pitch. Dusk is a labor of love for me. Not to get too weird, but it’s my little baby going out to into the world. There are pieces of me in this book so it’s sort of fractured reflection of me. So I hope you enjoyed it, because I know I did.

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