Right in time for Halloween is a brand-new graphic novel for the bug-fearing bunch.
Satan’s Swarm is the latest from artist Piotr Kowalski and writer Steve Niles, who is best known for his groundbreaking work on 30 Days of Night. And since Niles is no stranger to creating nightmares on the page, this newest work promises to deliver on that legacy and then some.
The tone of Satan’s Swarm draws from classic B-movies like The Swarm and Empire of the Ants while being lovingly described as a mix of Arachnophobia and Jurassic Park. With terrifying deaths and spine-chilling illustrations by Kowalski, Satan’s Swarm will infest your brain with horrors galore.
With Satan’s Swarm out now from Dark Horse, I got the chance to connect with Niles to answer a few vital questions. In this convo, Niles discusses everything from the project’s eerie inspirations to the creative partnership behind the book’s haunting artwork. He also shares how living on a ranch has changed his relationship with creepy crawlies (except perhaps rattlesnakes).
Get ready for a thrilling journey into a world where the bugs are bigger, the deaths are more brutal, and the terror never stops. Let’s dive in!
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
AIPT: Steve, nice to chat again — this is David Brooke. To start, I love the title. Did you have any other working titles, or did you start with this one?
Steve Niles: Hello again! Wish I could take credit for the title but that was Daniel’s idea. I had a few others, but nothing really caught the spirit of the book. Daniel made the suggestion and I loved it. Honestly, my original title was kind of boring.
AIPT: I’ve seen this described as Arachnophobia meets Jurassic Park, was that the original idea or did you start at another place?
SN: Sort of. I was going for the feel of those great/awful b-movies from the 70s, like The Swarm and Empire of the Ants, but those are two great films to be compared to, so I don’t mind a bit.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
AIPT: What made this work better as a graphic novel than a single-issue series?
SN: This way, it’s like a mini-movie, and I like that. I think it’s too small for a series, but it worked great as a one-shot OGN.
AIPT: Do bugs scare or freak you out, and if so, which one scares you the most?
Steve: It’s funny. I used to hate bugs and snakes and things like that, but I’ve been living on a ranch now for over a decade, and I’ve come to love and accept them with the possible exception of rattlesnakes. They suck. We have an Orb Weaver out back the size of a half-dollar, and I watch her hunt and build webs. The fear is gone.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
AIPT: How did you connect with Piotr on this project? Was it his work on All Eight Eyes?
SN: I’ve known Piotr for years. We did a 30 Days of Night project together years ago. When it came to Satan’s Swarm, I can’t think of a better artist for the job. Nobody does detail like Piotr. You can feel the bugs on you when you read. The art team did a fantastic job.
AIPT: There are some horrific deaths in this graphic novel. Do you find yourself trying to top yourself with deaths in horror? Were there any deaths left on the “cutting room floor,” as they say?
SN: I wanted a sense of escalation, so hopefully, each death is worse than the last. It’s a challenge after all these years of writing horror comics to come up with new deaths, but somehow, they just keep popping into my brain. I enjoy writing them.
AIPT: If Satan’s Swarm was a song, what would it be and why?
SN: “Boris the Spider” by The Who…for obvious reasons. It has the sounds of creepy crawly pests.
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