Interviewee: Jeannine Acheson & Tom Sniegoski
Interviewer: Anthony Andujar Jr
Q1 Both of you have become quite the creative duo, collaborating on various projects with other publishers, most notably at Dynamite. Both of you have worked on Panthra, crafted the Vampiverse and the mini-series follow up, The Vamp. What is it about Vampirella that makes her unique to explore as a character?
JA: Vampirella is an amazing character! I think the thing that draws me to her is that she has such ‘staying power.’ She’s been around for such a long time, and never seems to age a day. And with the creation of the Vampiverse, there are so many other facets to her personality that we can uncover and explore.
TS: I love the duality of the character–the darkness and the light. There’s something cool about a hero that is kinda scary. There’s also that internal struggle within her, the struggle between the monstrous side of her personality, and the more human aspect. And she’s also the type of character that you can tell just about any type of story that you can think of, which makes writing her a joy.
Q2 Having established the multiverse within the Vampirella books, what were the challenges that carried over from Vampiverse?
JA: Challenges carrying over from the Vampiverse? There really weren’t any! Since the Vampiverse is our creation, we sort of get to tell the stories we want, and create the Vampirellas we want, without really having to be strictly beholden to the other Vampirella continuities that exist. So in that respect, telling this latest Vampirella story was only limited by our imaginations.
TS: Not to say that we abandon all aspects of Vampirella continuity . . . we hold onto certain parts and often twist them in such a way to make the story seem different and sometimes quite unusual.
Q3 Vampirella: Dark Reflections is a new entry in the multiversal mythos with the focus on Lilith, the daughter of Vampirella, as the lead protagonist. What made this iteration of Lilith the perfect choice as the lens character for this series? And what sets her apart from Vampirella?
JA: Lilith, to me, is the perfect choice for this series. As a daughter of a Vampirella from the Vampiverse, she’s kind of a ‘Vampirella-in-training.’ She’s a young, bright, and shiny Vampirella, the perfect juxtaposition of the Vampirella of the world Lilith visits in Dark Reflections.
TS: I love the freshness of the character Lilith, she’s young and excited and hasn’t been tainted by the evils of the universe like other Vampirellas have. And, the fact that this is a daughter of Vampirella, it means that she’s half human, her father being Adam VanHelsing. This adds some interesting twists to the character’s dynamic as well.
Q4 Lilith works for The Reality Corp, a multiversal investigative task force of sorts. What is the goal of The Reality Corp, and was this a longtime coming since Vampiverse?
JA: The goal of the Reality Corp. is to scan the fabric of the Vampiverse, searching for and fixing problems that may occur in any of the myriad threads of the fabric. Lilith, as a brand-new member of the Reality Corp., is eager to earn her stripes in her new position.
TS: We thought it would be really cool to have a Vampiverse equivalent to the Green Lantern Corp, with all sorts of different Vampirellas as agents of the Corp. It seemed like a natural progression of things, we have all these different realities with Vampirellas in all of them, it just seemed right that there would be a cosmic organization making sure that order was kept.
Q5 Thus far, both of you have gone from grand scale to small scale, focusing on characters such as The Vamp, and currently, Lilith. Will Dark Reflections open up the doors for another multiversal conflict?
TS: That’s the beauty of the Vampiverse, we think. We can pick and choose which characters are of interest to us, and take a deep dive into their stories. There are so many to choose from, and we’ve only just gotten started.
JA: We certainly have plans percolating for Lilith in the world she’s currently in, yes! And she may, or may not, be involved in other multiversal conflicts, depending on the future she chooses for herself at the end of the mini-series. I guess folks will just have to keep reading to find out!
Q6 Given that this is a Lilith centered story, are there plans to explore other characters within the Vampiverse? And is there a possibility that lilith will play a central role in things to come?
JA: We love the challenge of creating new and different Vampirellas, and weaving stories for each of them. We think of Lilith as the entryway for exploring the worlds in which all of the various Vampirellas exist.
TS: It’s interesting to look at the worlds and all the different Vampirellas of the Vampiverse through Lilith’s eyes. She’s the window for the reader to take these cool places and characters in.
Q7 One of the core creative members from the Vampiverse, Daniel Maine has returned to illustrate The Vamp. What has the creative process been like reuniting with Maine?
JA: It’s like old times working with Daniel! He is responsible for creating many of the iterations of Vampirella in the Vampiverse; he really knows the character(s) so well, he’s just incredible.
TS: We have no worry that our scripts will be visually misinterpreted, ever. He really does take what we give him and put an extra special spin on everything. Daniel is truly the best, and he makes us look good.
Q8 Given that Lilith is the protagonist of this series, what are some of the themes that the creative team wanted to explore?
JA: This is where the title of the mini-series–Dark Reflections–comes in. There are many traits of Vampirella and Lilith that are similar–being kind of like mother and daughter–but at the same time, the differences between them abound. We also wanted to explore the classic theme of light versus dark, so we hold the characters up to a mirror, and find that the Vampirella in this world is, sadly, in a much darker place than Lilith is.
Q9 Will there be another Vampirella series that you both will work on? Will readers get to see more Vampirella Strikes?
TS: Vampirella Strikes is finished for now, but there may be something new brewing that spins out of the storylines that I introduced in that title. Sorry to be cryptic, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy. As for more Vampiverse-inspired stories, we’re hopeful!
Q10 Is there any projects down the line that are on the horizon for readers to keep an eye on?
JA: Tom and I actually have a new comic coming out in July, called Soul Taker, with Mad Cave Studios! It’s a six-issue mini-series, and we can’t wait for folks to read it!
TS: And we have a number of special projects that we have in the pipeline, but we’re sworn to secrecy and if we told you about them, we’d have to kill you. Haha.
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher