I don’t know when Dirk Manning sleeps. Between his own comic writing with projects from RSVP: E.S.P. and London After Midnight and Nightmare World (to name a few) to his comic how-to column to his role as publisher with Source Point Press, the man is the definition of someone who lives and breathes the four-colored medium, in words and action. He recently kicked off a Kickstarter to bring to life another tale from the aforementioned Nightmare World. With Frog Sweat, Manning is exploring two characters in a tale that he describes as “Pulp Fiction meets Lovecraftian body horror in the bayou.”
That description alone should hook anyone.
Illustrated by Les Lindon Garner and Colin Johnson–Manning’s collaborators on the graphic novel Homestead–this is clearly a labor of love for the creator and, as with all of his work, that love will come through in the story’s craftsmanship.
I spoke with Dirk Manning recently about the idea behind Frog Sweat, how it spins off of Nightmare World, the Kickstarter itself, how it feels to revisit the world of our protagonists, and his favorite part of working on the project. I’ve e-known Dirk for some years now and I’ve seen him turn out excellence time again in whatever endeavor he pursues. Frog Sweat looks like it poses no danger of ending that streak.
FreakSugar: Before we get into Frog Sweat, for folks who might not be familiar with the series, what can you tell us about Nightmare World?
Dirk Manning: Frog Sweat is, first and foremost, a brand new 100+ page story, but as the title reveals, it also serves as a sequel – or perhaps epilogue – to Nightmare World.
Nightmare World was not only my first comic series that I started in the early 2000’s, but was also one of the first fully realized online comic series. It is an anthology of 52 stand-alone horror stories, each a different genre of horror, written by me, drawn by a different artist or art team. What makes Nightmare World so special, though, is that over the course of the whole series (most recently collected into the omnibus graphic novel Nightmare World: The Complete Collection by Source Point Press) is that all the stand-alone stories weave into one giant story. It’s what has long made Nightmare World so special and beloved even two decades later.
FS: What is the idea behind Frog Sweat, a continuation of a story from the previous Nightmare World?
DM: Frog Sweat is, at its core, Pulp Fiction meets Lovecraftian body horror in the bayou. It’s a very dark and dread-laden story that follows two characters from Nightmare World whose story was originally left a little open-ended. In the Nightmare World story “The Guns of Love Disastrous” the two characters Bridget and Johnny decide to leave the mafia life behind and go on the lam… and I’ve always wanted to tell the story of what happened to them next, and now – two decades later – I’m finally doing so not as a traditional eight-page Nightmare World story, but rather a 110+ page stand alone original graphic novel, because this story deserves that kind of exploration.
FS: How would you describe Bridget and Johnny and where they find themselves in this tale?
DM: That’s a great question! Honestly, they find themselves in the throes of freedom – or at least the perception of it. As they see it, they’re free of the mafia lifestyle, free of their former crime boss, and – so they think – in a safe place. Spoiler: Where they land is NOT a safe place. At all. [laughs]
FS: You say in the Kickstarter write-up that you never had any intention of revisiting Nightmare World. Why now?
DM: It’s not that I’m opposed to telling stories in the “Nightmare World Universe,” as Tales of Mr. Rhee, which is a spin-off of Nightmare World that just released its sixth volume earlier this year. That being said, though, I also never envisioned directly returning to Nightmare World because – even though there was this one last story I always wanted to tell – I wasn’t sure I could ever tell it the way I wanted or have it illustrated the way I knew it would need to be.
Well, after illustrator Les Lindon Garner joined me for our Native American werewolf western Homestead (which went on to be nominated in the Ringo Awards for “Best Original Graphic Novel of the Year”) I knew that he could tap into the Wrighton/Totlenben vibes this story needed visually, and that I was to a point where I could tap into an “elevated horror” kind of dread-laden body horror necessary to also do Frog Sweat justice. At that point, I couldn’t start the project fast enough… [laughs]
FS: Following up on that, does this make you want to explore more stories in that shared universe idea?
DM: Honestly, almost didn’t announce that this was a Nightmare World story, with the original intent of just letting Nightmare World readers realise when they started reading it “Hey… that’s Bridget and Johnny!” This is my 23rd year as a published writer, and I have more than 20 creator owned graphic novels to my name, so I didn’t want people to get the impression that I felt like I had to go back to my first comic series, you know?
As I was prepping for the launch of the book, though, I was talking to a trusted friend of mine about all of this – specifically about how Frog Sweat was going to be a “stealth sequel” to Nightmare World, and he looked at me and said “Nightmare World is an evergreen title for you that’s still beloved by all kinds of readers – why would you not just tell people you’re returning to it one last time so they can get excited about it right along with you?”
When I realized I didn’t have a good answer for him, well, that was that and the book title officially became Nightmare World presents Frog Sweat. Like I said, this is a story I’ve always wanted to tell, and I came to realize what a privilege it is to be in a position where I can return to my debut comic series twenty years later for one final, massive, dread-laden story of bayou body horror.
FS: If a reader isn’t familiar with the original Nightmare World, is this Frog Sweat book pretty user-friendly?
DM: 100%. Readers will know everything they need to know after the first page, in four panels and eight words. This is a direct sequel to a Nightmare World story, but it’s also a completely stand-alone story. My opinion in all comics is that continuity should be additive, not a requirement.
FS: What’s your collaboration been like with Les Lindon Garner and Colin Johnson? The early art is stunning!
DM: They’re absolutely crushing it, aren’t they? [laughs]
After we all did Homestead together, I knew it was just a matter of time before we’d work together again. The work they’re doing on this book is completely immersive – especially as the characters enter the bayou and we start to see the horrors this village and the villagers are hiding.
FS: You call this story a spiritual successor to Homestead. Can you elaborate on that?
DM: Homestead was a gorgeously illustrated and very emotionally investing horror story and, not to put too fine a point on it, but the fact that it’s a horror graphic novel that was nominated for “Best Graphic Novel of the Year” in the Ringo Awards pretty clearly speaks to how good that graphic novel is. Well, with Frog Sweat we’re now reuniting telling a story that’s even more emotionally investing, more horrific, and I daresay even more gorgeously illustrated, as we’ve all upped our game across the board in the last few years.
FS: What has been your favorite part of writing Frog Sweat and re-entering the Nightmare World universe?
DM: I’m a big, big fan of very dark and dreadful horror movies such as Hereditary, Bring Her Back, Possession, Let the Right One In, and even Martyrs. That being said, I think that type of vibe is very hard to capture in the comic book medium, with Junji Ito perhaps being the notable exception… so those were the vibes I was going for on this one as I returned to Nightmare World, because I knew if I was coming back, I had to make it very special.
And that being said, it’s been a blast to revisit this world directly one last time. What a privilege it is to be able to return not just twenty years later, but with twenty years of experience to show how dark of a stand-alone body horror story I can now tell.
FS: What can you tell us about the Kickstarter itself?
DM: This campaign is the only way readers – or retailers at the retailer pledge – will be able to get the Kickstarter Exclusive Hardcover Edition of the book as well as some of the other extras… and I’m continuing to offer FREE U.S. SHIPPING on this campaign. What you see is what you pay – with the possible exception of taxes. That’s something that’s very important to me: You pay what you see and that’s that. It’s my way to pay it forward to my backers, and as a result Frog Sweat hit its funding goal in twelve hours and as we’re talking right now we’ve already unlocked five Stretch Goals at www.NightmareWorld.com and counting, including a surprise Halloween Stretch Goal.
We’re now closing in on a frog skin style cover wrap for the Kickstarter Exclusive Hardcover Edition, which is what I’m really hoping for.
FS: What are you reading right now?
DM: Prose-wise I finally read the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book and, yeah, I’m already ready for more. The hype is well-earned, which was a pleasant surprise. Comics-wise, I just picked-up the latest H.P. Lovecraft adaption by Gou Tanabe, which is a deluxe hardcover edition with gilded pages and a ribbon bookmark. I see you, Dark Horse! [laughs]
I also have More WeightL A Salem Story by Ben Wickey near the top of my holiday reading list, and as Publisher of Source Point Press I’m of course reading all sorts of great graphic novels in the genres of horror, speculative fiction, and pulp from an amazing line-up of creators. By the end of our first year we’ll have put out 39 creator-owned graphic novels through Source Point Press… but that’s a conversation for another time. [laughs]
FS: Do you have any other projects coming down the pike you’d like to discuss?
DM: I’ve vowed to take the winter months “off the road” so I can finish writing Hope Volume 3 as my next creator-owned graphic novel, but between then and now I will have one or two non-creator-owned titles coming out from a very cool publisher. Very cool… with a capital V. I can’t say more, even through we’re friends, but that’s not to say I can’t drop hints if you’re paying close attention to what I just said… [laughs]
FS: If you had a final pitch for the Frog Sweat Kickstarter, what would it be?
DM: If you’re a fan of dark, beautifully illustrated, Lovecraftian body-horror, get yourself the Kickstarter Exclusive Hardcover of Frog Sweat at www.NightmareWorld.com today to help us get to the frog skin style cover wrap on the hardcover, at least. You don’t have to have read Nightmare World to pick-up and read this new book, but if you’re a completist, there’s a “Welcome to my Nightmare” pledge level that gets you both the Frog Seat and Nightmare World: The Complete Collection all at one bundled price, pay what you see, with free U.S. shipping. I daresay it’s the best deal in creator-owned horror comics, as long as you’re not afraid of things getting really dark, slimy, and moist.
The Kickstarter for Frog Sweat has already hit its initial funding goal, with several stretch goals already unlocked. With 15 days left in the campaign as of press time, now is the time to get in on the supernatural action!
