IMAGE COMICS: Jason, I like the color palette you use for the book, especially how you transition from using one dominant color to another. Can you tell us a little bit about why you chose to use this technique for this story? How'd you come up with it in the first place?
JASON ADAM KATZENSTEIN: The goal was to use color to reflect Skye's point of view. When her world gets intense, the colors match!
Steve and I wanted to find a look we hadn't seen in a comic before, and there was a lot of trial and error. I love creating style "rules," and what we settled on was two contrasting colors, line art that is dark but never black, white highlights, and zip-a-tone dots. Once I had that visual language, I saw how far I could push things: in moments of terror what colors does the world become? What about comedy? And so on. It was also a great way to make each scene into its own visual and emotional world within the context of the larger story.
IC: Steven, CAMP MIDNIGHT is an all-ages graphic novel based around monsters and summer camp. How long has this idea been percolating for you?
STEVEN T. SEAGLE: I saw the Miyazaki film SPIRITED AWAY when it came out in 2001 and I really loved it. That night I started thinking about what a script for a Miyazaki-style film might be like if I told the story. I thought of a human girl at a summer camp for monsters and jotted down a few notes. I then set it aside while I waited to find the right artist for the story. Thirteen years later, my actor buddy Daryl Sabara (who was the "kid" in Spy Kids and was eaten alive in The Green Inferno) showed up to our weekly writer's group with his friend Jason in tow. Jason sat and drew all day at the group. Once I saw his work, I knew I'd found my perfect collaborator for CAMP MIDNIGHT.
IC: What made you want to publish it as a graphic novel, rather than serialize it?
SEAGLE: As part of MAN OF ACTION, I've had a hand in creating a lot of cool things for kids—Ben 10, Big Hero 6, Generator Rex—but I didn't really have any comic books apporpriate for our kid-to-tween-aged fans. CAMP MIDNIGHT is kind of a done-in-one story, so I thought it made more sense to put out a single, thick, manga-sized book than a lot of smaller chapters.
CAMP MIDNIGHT is available this Wednesday.