Interview | Sean Dulaney
During C2E2, Kara and Matt sat down with (stood up, wrangled, it’s all the same) with some great COMIXOLOGY SUBMIT creators to talk about their books, their process, and what they read themselves. Since these interviews were done on the fly and in the heat of the con, we also transcribed these interviews. Some parts of the interview have been abridged for maximum hilarity. Enjoy our interview with F. Stein’s Sean Dulaney!
Matt: Who would you want consulting on a case that you need help with better than “Frankenstein.” What made you want to make this book?
Sean: It started with “Digital Webbing Presents” anthology back in the early 2000’s. It was really a chance for a lot of creators on the Digital Webbing forums who wanted to break into comics to give something out there.
With artists, you could always show pages but we have a lot of writers on the boards. You can’t just go up and say, “Here’s my idea Mr. Publisher, take it.”
They want to see stuff done and created. They want to see you do the work and the anthology was an opportunity for that and we have a lot of artists, a lot of writers go on and get published work through Marvel, DC, through Image.
Ryan Stegman and Ryan Ottley, those are just two of the artists that came through. Mahmud Asrar is working on Marvel books now. A lot of artists have moved on and a few writers have as well.
Matt: What is Digital Webbing anyway?
Sean: It started out as one of the old news sites back in the day. The forum is still there and it’s basically a message board forum where aspiring creators can meet each other, talk to each other, post their work, and get peer critiques.
It’s one of those situations where you can show it to your family and they’ll jump, “Oh that’s so nice, you’re so smart, you’re so talented,” and in my mind it could be complete crap.
This way, you get the input from your fellow creators and a lot of pros who are on the board as well at that time. They still are and they get on and will tell you, “This is what you’re doing right. This is what you’re doing wrong.”
Your grandmother doesn’t know anything about anatomy. Like I said, from that came what was supposed to be a one issue anthology, they wound up going about 36 issues, while people graduated to the big leagues from it.
F. Stein was one of the features in the book. I submitted it in September of 2001, and we showed up in the 50th issue, which was a Halloween issue ‑‑ Eric Powell did a Goon cover. It was a great launch, but it was one four‑page story. Ed Dukeshire, the editor, liked it, so, "OK. Good concept. What’s next?”
Kara: Ha!
Sean: Yeah, I didn’t think that far ahead. I wrote another story, continuing from that point where it cut off, told the origin of “F. Stein, Consulting Detective”.
Matt: You had to finish it.
Sean: Yes, that was also part of the mind‑set everyone has, like, “OK, I will give you this great preview of a great story, and you will hire me to write it.” Now I need to tell the whole story.
I concluded the mystery that we started in the first story, and a story that finished up in issue eight of Digital Webbing. F. Stein, Consulting Detective, now available on comiXology for only 99 cents, is the collected version.
I call it “my George Lucas version,” because I didn’t have the files. Basically, I found the artist for the story in number eight and completely re‑lettered that. I had art files for the story in issue one or in issue five of Digital Webbing…
Matt: Part 2 was missing?
Sean: No, part 2 was found by Ian. It is the original origin of F. Stein that is in the book, but it remastered part 1 based on the principle that surely I am a better writer now than I was in 2001/2002.
Matt: The backstory was probably my favorite issue, because it told a story about a realistic guy. He’s taller than most people, and he’s got eyes for someone but someone else does, too It gets him in trouble, and he gets blamed for her death. That creates the townspeople to go after him.
Sean: The principle is, yes, every legend has a basis and truth. When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, there was a Frankenstein castle, and there was a scientist trying to find the secret of eternal life. He wound up poisoning himself.
In this case, he managed to save this poor teenage victim of Acromegalia. He’s still alive, and he’s solving crimes, and consulting the government.
Kara: Were you a long‑time fan of Frankenstein as just a story?
Sean: As a story, one of the earliest movies I remember going to see, and I’m showing my showing age here. My mother took me to see “Young Frankenstein.”
Matt: Great movie. Classic.
Sean: I’m three, four years old, and Peter Boyle is my Frankenstein.
Matt: You went to see that in theaters as a three‑year old??
Sean: Yes.
Matt: Holy smokes.
Kara: My goodness.
Sean: They were very lax at the Karma Theater.
Matt: I have a four‑year old and I dread the first time we take him into a movie theatre, he’ll get bored every 10 minutes, and we’ll have to leave. [Editor’s Note: I love my son very much.]
Sean: At the time, Disney was, basically every two months, re‑releasing the old stuff. It’s like, “Well, we’ll take him to see one ‘Winnie the Pooh.’ We’ll take him to see 'The Aristocats.’ We’ll take him to see Young Frankenstein. OK, I think we have a problem.”
Matt: When you were growing up, what were the things in comics that you sought out?
Sean: One of the first comics, I remember I had a cousin who left one of the early DC Tarzans. Some of the earliest comics remember were “Superboy, and the Legion,” “Richie Rich, and Jackie Jokers.” I look back at those now going, [makes amazing facial expression] . I stayed in state atomics then after this.
Matt: I don’t think that happened.
Sean: The Joe Kubert Tarzan. The part of why I love Tarzan is because of the Joe Kubert stuff.
Matt: No doubt.
Sean: Yeah. I grew up and I’ve talked about this with some other people, I grew up on a lot of the 70s, early 80s DC stuff. A lot of stuff doesn’t get along well like Freedom Fighters, Secret Society, Super Felons, even the Batman family stuff. I love the Don Newton Batman, first one Superman and things like that.
That’s been one of the cool things about living close to Metropolis, because I do the Superman celebration every year in June. I’ve got to meet a lot of the guys that are still around that I grew up reading.
I got to meet George Perez, guys that at a time situation like this, yeah they were intimidated, because it’s like I’m trying to be a professional. I don’t want to be all super fanboy and here it’s like, “Oh they’re just one table over.”
Matt: Easy access.
Sean: Easy access and easy conversation!
Matt: What are some books that you read now? Are there any specific titles you seek out?
Sean: I still go back to a lot of the old stuff. I basically read a lot of my friend’s stuff. If either one of the Ryan’s is on the book, I’ll pick it up.
I do still read “Invincible”. I was falling in one of the Spider-Man stuff when Ryan Stegman was on. Tony Lee, I love too “Doctor Who” stuff and “Star Trek”. I like the first half. Like I said, follow my friends. But no, that’s really the main thing.
I have tried to follow some of the DC stuff, the Multiversity stuff. I’m enjoying the “Earth 2; World’s End”. I was following that fairly regularly. I did tend to fall behind but getting caught up, and I am proud of enjoying that story. It’s new gods, its variation of the over few heroes, which that stuff I loved.
Matt: I appreciate taking the time out. I really do hope people check it out, F. Stein, because they’re not going to find that anywhere else.
Sean: Yes, we are working on a pros project with F. Stein now, and hopefully there will be more some comics. There’s some more comiXology Submit stuff coming up, that one book is right now in the approval process. Another I will be submitting this coming week.
Matt: I hope that there’s a resurgence in the desire for F. Stein as a detective because we need him.