Frank LaPerch and Eve: Vampire Diva

In an industry chockfull of bloodsuckers, the vampire genre has been a main staple of comic books since its inception. In December, Arcana Comics releases Eve: Vampire Diva, a vampire comic book that takes the genre on a completely different turn. Lighter in tone than the gothic horror of most vampire stories, Eve combines a contemporary phenomenon to the mix: reality television.

JXM sat down with the book's writer and creator, Frank LaPerch. With his debut comic set to hit stands, we discussed the book and his future plans as a writer.

JXM: In a medium full of vampire stories like Blade, Anita Blake, and 30 Days of Night, what sets Eve: Vampire Diva apart from the rest?

Frank: Eve is a completely different character from any of the above. The only common denominator is that Eve will have vampires and werewolves running around her universe. In Eve's world, there are witches, werewolves, vampires and all sorts of others, but she's not out to kill them all. The whole supernatural world is guided by a governing body called "The Council" and there are rules to be followed.

Eve is probably closer to Blade, simply because she IS a vampire and she battles other vampires. The main difference is that Blade is not an aging female pop star in the Hollywood eye! Also, Eve's world is a bit more political than Blade's.

In addition, the story of Eve also has a fairly frequent dose of character driven and situational comedy that, to my knowledge, isn't as prevalent in other books. Although I have to say that Eve is NOT a spoof of the genre in any way, but instead entertains on more than one level.

I mean, it's Eve: Vampire Diva. How many other vampire divas have there been? When's the last time Vampirella had a #1 single? (laughs)

No, Eve is one of a kind.

JXM: What inspired you to create Eve: Vampire Diva?

Frank: 100% my wife, and it was part request and part a challenge. And as anyone married knows, this is the way a spouse gets you to do things. But creating Eve was a heck of a lot more fun than taking out the garbage!

From the start I wanted a female lead that would be more than eye candy. The dichotomy of her life as a Hollywood Diva and a vampire warrior seemed to just create so many springboards for stories.

I then thought of our real world and how some female stars are accused of countless plastic surgeries and it got me thinking. What if they weren't getting plastic surgery? What if they were aging really gracefully for other reasons? The life of a celebrity isn't necessarily too exciting, so she'd certainly have to be a vampire WARRIOR and fight this whole other world that the rest of us do not see.

JXM: Solicitations say the story will follow "a reality TV star - Eve." Does that mean the narrative will be similar to a reality show like Cops or American Idol?

Frank: No, it will be a third person account with occasional glimpses into Eve's inner thoughts that comics are perfect for. You will see her try to balance her life as a "Vampire Warrior" on a mission for "The Council" and her life as a Hollywood personality. The complications are often embarrassing for her... but humourous to the reader!

You won't be seeing just what the TV viewer would see. Instead, you will also see her actual life; how much of it is spent trying to ditch those pesky cameras, which she's not always successful at, and the embarrassing headlines that ensue!

JXM: Comedy is a path not many writers take for a gothic horror genre. What can we expect from the humour? Will it be satirical or slapstick?

Frank: This story isn't really gothic horror, but it's not an outright comedy either. I always thought the most entertaining works were those that blended the best of all genres. I would ask myself, "Why does the humour in a horror movie HAVE to be bad?" Granted, sometimes the cheesiness of the humour is why some of us like the movie, but I always wondered why there couldn't be a witty bit worthy of Seinfeld right smack in the middle of a story about a werewolf?

As far as the type of humour in Eve goes, you'll see some satirical as well as character driven and situational humour. There will be the occasional slapstick or broad humour moments, but most of it will derive from the characters and their situations. Having Eve hide her private life and come up with excuses for her absences is fertile ground and I think this first mini-series is only the tip of the iceberg as far as Eve's problems.

JXM: Eve seems to have a sarcastic wit and bubbly personality. What else can you tell us about the character?

Frank: She's conflicted on every level - mortal and supernatural. Here is someone who is in Hollywood where it's almost a given you're pretending to be something you're not... but who's hiding the kind of secret she is?

Her obsession with being liked by the mortals in her Hollywood role speaks to the fact that maybe she identifies with the mortals more than the supernatural beings in her other life.

JXM: Ash Jackson's art from Eve has a distinct anime influence. Are you interested in anime? Does it compliment your writing?

Frank: Ash's art is the perfect compliment to the type of story we're doing. His dynamic style captures both the comedy and facial expressions needed, as well as the action. It takes a very special artist to handle the action of a story like this and yet be able to draw the intimate moments.

Ash nails the character moments. Since the story has elements of comedy alongside big frightening action, it was important to work with someone with his skills.

What was extra special to me is that I love a clean animation cell look. The Iron Giant movie art, for instance, is beautiful to me because of its simplicity. It's a stylized look that is on its own level.

As far as other anime, I'm a fan but a true newbie. I recently watched Appleseed and the new Robotech movie. The great thing about anime is that it has a great wealth of material that's as good as some of our big budget Hollywood productions... sometimes better. I wish the U.S. produced as much high quality animation.

JXM: What are your ultimate goals for this project?

Frank: To rule the comic book world or at least make enough money to complete my weather-making machine! But since neither of those are going to happen any time soon, my realistic goal is to get Eve's name out there as well as my own and Ash's. Building a career or having any measure of success in comics doesn't happen overnight, so I'm looking at what is hopefully a well-received step in the right direction.

Heck, it's just a dream come true to have a character I helped create be out and available to the public. That is just indescribably cool.

JXM: What initially inspired you to write comic books?

Frank: The same thing that inspired me to write at all and that's just to tell stories about people, regular or supernatural. I'll get an idea about a person, a "what if?" moment or just a funny bit, and I'll have to write it down and develop it. To ignore it is impossible.

While I'm writing that story, I'm living it. I can't very well go out and fight vampires, but while I'm creating that story I AM doing the things I write. Once I realized the opportunity the internet provided for networking with artists and being able to produce works that were like the ones I read, I knew I had to try this. How could I not?

I've always been intrigued by the nature of novels versus comics. It always bothered me, as a comic fan, that the general public incorrectly views them as "kiddie-fare". Most comics are aimed at that 16 and up market, which goes on to include the high school kid, the college kid, as well as the accountant, doctor, father, husband, mother or wife. It's not just the comic book guy from The Simpsons or a bunch of children on the playground!

JXM: Are there any other mediums, aside from comic books, that you aspire to write for?

Frank: Novels and/or short stories without a doubt. With a novel you are in control of that finished product and it's not merely a blueprint for a movie that might never get made the way a screenplay is. Although, I would be interested in adapting some of my comic book work or other novels as screenplays if the opportunity presented itself. I hope to work on these projects some more, once I get my feet wet in the comic book world.

JXM: Aside from Eve, are there any other interesting projects you're working on at the moment, in or outside of comics?

Frank: Yes. I'm writing what will hopefully be my next few comic projects. I think the next immediate one will be a series called Demon's Trail. It's about lawyer, Harry Fitzgerald, whose latest client is Ian Hunter, a man accused of assaulting an elderly woman. Ian's defense is that he is a Demon Hunter and that the woman was harboring the evil spirit of the demon, Grimdale. Unfortunately, for Harry, he realizes all too soon that for once he might have a client who's telling the truth!

I'm also putting the finishing touches on a novel entitled The G.N.A.T. It's a character that would be at home alongside Eve, but it's being done as a novel and hopefully I'll adapt it as a comic in the near future.

The quick summary would be: An alcoholic/slacker reporter, a terrorist operation in Mexico, a top secret winged jet pack and some mutated monsters that wouldn't be out of place on the Isle of Doctor Moreau.

Oh yeah, somewhere in there is a bit of a love story, but nothing too mushy.