Resident writer, Secretia, gets a sneak-peek into the fantastical world of the comicbook man and finds out what drives someone to leave their regular job and embark on the lonely path of a storyteller.

Dan Schaffer claims to come from an average background, working class, divorced parents, and an A-level education. So how did he end up writing and illustrating the new Sirius hit series, DOGWITCH? “It’s a hit?” says Schaffer. “But, I haven’t really started hey. Why aren’t I rich?”

“Seriously though, I never received any real art training, and had lots and lots of different jobs between leaving school and writing DOGWITCH. Sprinkle in some years of insanity and stupidity and that would probably explain why I’m such an old bastard to be entering the comics field. I really wanted to do this when I was eighteen but jobs, booze, people and booze just got in the way for along time ."

“I wanted to tells stories while hiding behind the pictures, and draw pictures while hiding behind the words. Sirius told me they’d like to publish DOGWITCH in June 2002, so I’ve officially been doing this nine months. To be honest, I can’t stop thinking up weird stuff and it seems a good a way as any to get it out. I could writ a book but me grammar ain’t what it oughta be,” he laughs.

You say you never really had any formal training. How did you learn your techniques? Is there plenty of information for you to study off your own back?

“There are some helpful books out there. The Burn Hogarth anatomy series is very good. There’s a book called “The Art of Comic Book Inking” by Gary Martin that pinpoints the key elements of inking. Will Eisner’s “Comics and Sequential Art” is essential reading. Basically, I just started drawing, and when I got stuck, I’d go read a book, or pick up a comic and see how somebody else did it. Then I’d come back with my newly acquired knowledge, apply it, and continue until I got stuck again. I used to get stuck every two or three minutes. Now it’s every two or three weeks.”

“If I had to chose on, I’d pick on Brian Bolland. But I’ve studied many of the artists who produce precise, clean linework, so there’s a bit of Glenn Fabry, Ian Gibson and probably some Phil Jimenez in the mix too.”

“It follows the life of Violet Grimm. She’s an exiled witch and home moviemaker. She lives in a large house, deep in the woods, with only her toys (that are alive) and a video camera. As tales of bad sex and dangerous voodoo spread her infamy through the Banewoods, she captures the attention of a multitude of weirdos and resigns herself to what she believes is her predestined B-move lifestyle. Churning out schlock home videos for a berserk and hungry fan base in her pursuit of arcane knowledge, she makes observations on the physical and mental problems associated with dating demons, the homicidal nature of hero worship, and the dangers of invoking monsters from the abyss for sex magick.”

Whoa! This comic has a very dark style with all the references made to kinky sex, paganism, horror movies etc. Where do you get your source material? Are your roots in the Gothic subculture, paganism or fetish?

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? I’ve encountered some people from these walks of life so it’s probably just rubbed off on me. I was a big horror movie fan as a youngster, back before video had any certification, so I saw all the good nasty one. They must’ve twisted my fragile little mind. That and all the porn and oiuja boards, maybe.”

“I didn’t think about that at the time. In fact, the first review I read proudly stated: ‘This about as goth as it gets’ and I thought, ‘Oh, so it’s a goth book?’ I am pretty dense, really. I’m just a slave to the muses. Target audiences and demographics didn’t come into my mind until afterwards. When I wrote DOGWITCH I was still trying to impress Sirius, the readership cam later. For the record, I’m very pleased with the demographic. From what I can tell, it’s made up of goths, pagans, and fetish freaks with the odd lawyer, teacher, and writer chucked in for good measure.”

So would you say you’re reacting against mainstream culture? Voicing that it usually shuns? Like, “I’m lonely” or “I’m sad”?

“Nice, question, cheeky. I don’t profess to know anything about a woman’s feelings. But then, I don’t know anything about a man’s feeling either. I was raised in a female household by strong-headed women and, understanding aside, that’s left me with enough respect to feel I can attempt to write genuinely from Violet’s perspective. I know what she feels, at least.”

“Visually, she looks like my girlfriend, Jen. She’s got the cheeky smile and Marvel eyebrows for it. Violet’s attitude may be a combination of Jen’s no-bullshit, sarcastic approach to everything and my perverse need to turn it all on its head and make it freaky.”

“Possibly. It’s the idea that you’re no longer obliged to choose one thing from a pick ‘n’ mix culture of fifteen minute religions and fashions. It’s the idea that you can step back and utilize it all. It’s where you go when you no longer give a fuck. It’s me in that sense.” He pauses. “But I don’t do magic tricks.”

Historically, comic books have had a strong make hero-type lead character. Recently, however, there have been more and more stories dipping into darker/more fantastical subjects with female lead characters and anti-heres etc. Where do you feel DOGWITCH fits in with this picture?

“I think that the autonomous, confident, self-justified female protagonist figure has been creeping its way to the front for a while now. Xena, Buffy, Tank Girl, Samantha Jones (from Sex and the City) Ripley (from the Alien movies). There’s no new ground being broken here. Just a different angle. A more obvious one, probably, as Violet brandishes what I would class as a strictly female potency!”

“You mean you get it?” he laughs. “A lot of it is pretty obvious and taken at face value, but I think some of the subtleties may be getting overlooked. Maybe they’re too subtle.  Maybe they’re not funny. Maybe they’re not there.”

“I’ve got some art duties on some issues of Poison Elves for Sirius. There are some guest writing gigs with a couple of magazines coming up, but nothing really solid yet. I’m not chasing anything as I can barely keep up with what I’m doing now. I’m planning on getting a cup of tea in a minute, though.”