As much as Source Point Press publisher and prolific writer Dirk Manning loves the comic book medium, he describes himself as a horror guy who loves comics as opposed to being a comic book guy who loves horror.
“For my money, horror is the most fascinating genre because I believe it best speaks to the human condition by asking the question ‘What if?’ in a way more amplified than most others,” explained Manning. “For example, I’ve gone my whole life without ever encountering a werewolf, so I don’t have an innate fear of ever being attacked by one. However, what if a werewolf did appear and started chasing me and you in the woods? Or even a department store? What would happen then? What would I do? What would you do? To me, that’s the grounds for a very compelling story that would really show who we really are – and those are the types of stories that the best horror stories explore.”
Manning combined his love for both comics and horror to produce the graphic novel, “London After Midnight,” an adaptation of the 1927 silent horror film of the same name starring Hollywood legend Lon Chaney, alias the Man of a Thousand Faces, which has been lost for decades. The last known copy of the film was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire in Culver City, CA.
“Like most horror fans, I’ve been fascinated by that iconic image of Lon Chaney as the vampiric Man in the Beaver Hat since the first time I saw it, so to be able to finally bring that story back to life in an official graphic novel adaptation has been one of the biggest honors of my career to date,” said Manning, of Toledo, a Bowling Green State University alumnus.
Manning will sign copies of “London After Midnight” at the Monroe Comic Con in Monroe Sept. 12-13; Fantasticon Metro Detroit at the Oakland Expo Center in Waterford Township Sept. 27-28; Cinema Wasteland in Strongsville Oct. 3-5; the New York Comic Con at the Javits Center in New York City Oct. 9-12; the Akron Comicon in Cuyahoga Falls Nov. 8-9; and the Grand Rapids Comic Con at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids Nov. 14-16. More signings will be announced soon.
Manning spoke about how this project came about. For nearly two decades, he’s published his creator-owned titles through Source Point, which brought him celebrity clients that include Ferndale author/Michigan State University alumnus Josh Malerman (the adaptation of his debut novel “Bird Box” starred Oscar winner Sandra Bullock) and hip-hop duo Twiztid.
“George Vlahakis, the manager of Twiztid, respected all the work I did with them on their Source Point comic series, ‘Haunted High-Ons,’ and connected me with Ron Chaney (the great-grandson of Lon Chaney and the grandson of Lon Chaney, Jr.) of Chaney Entertainment about the possibility of bringing some of their properties to life as graphic novels. When I found out that ‘London After Midnight’ – arguably the most famous lost horror film of all time – was an option to adapt, we decided to start with that, given how many people have been waiting literally their whole lives to get to experience the story,” explained Manning.
It took several years to complete this adaptation, which was funded through Kickstarter. According to Manning, he and the rest of the creative team – including illustrator Joshua Ross – have collaborated before on previous projects, so everyone knew what to expect of one another.
The graphic novel contains dialogue just like a standard graphic novel, but it’s all based directly on the actual screenplay Chaney Entertainment provided Manning. Ron Chaney also approved every aspect of the graphic novel’s creation, including the line-art, the colors and the dialogue.
“Ron has been a great collaborative partner through the whole process,” said Manning. “It’s been an honor to get to know him professionally and also personally.”
Directed by Tod Browning – who directed 1931’s “Dracula” starring Bela Lugosi and has been called “the Edgar Allan Poe of cinema” – “London After Midnight” is based on Browning’s story called “The Hypnotist.” It is a horror/murder mystery. Chaney had dual roles: He played Scotland Yard inspector Edward C. Burke and the scary-looking Man in the Beaver Hat.
Prolific author Loren D. Estleman, of Whitmore Lake, may be known for the Amos Walker series of hardboiled private eye novels set in Detroit, but he also writes the adventures of Valentino, who searches for rare, lost films.
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“Valentino has been actively looking for ‘London After Midnight’ right along; encouraging rumors have come his way from time to time in the series, but they’ve all fizzled. He will persevere,” said Estleman. “He found Erich von Stroheim’s ‘Greed’ (1924’s silent psychological thriller) after all; and 1920’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ starring John Barrymore, thought lost when Valentino first appeared, is now available complete on video.”
Both Estleman and Manning spoke about the significance of “London After Midnight” and Chaney’s place in movie history.
“For many of us, the possibility of a newfound Chaney ranks right up there with the discovery of an unknown play by Shakespeare,” said Estleman. “His talent is unique in motion pictures. Had he lived, he’d have revolutionized the sound films as thoroughly as he did the silents. His genius for pantomime has never been equaled, and the makeup techniques he invented still hold up onscreen – unlike the CGI of just a few years ago and, undoubtedly, AI in a few years more. ‘London After Midnight,’ were it to reappear, should be restored, remastered and sent on tour to theaters in both hemispheres, so that new generations can know the magic of the silent cinema and the gift that is Lon Chaney.”
Estleman pointed out that Chaney was supposed play the titular vampire in “Dracula” and not Lugosi. However, Chaney died of lung cancer in 1930. He was 47.
“As iconic as Lugosi’s performance is in that film, should ‘London After Midnight’ resurface, I’d be eager to see just what the Man of a Thousand Faces brought to a vampiric part,” said Estleman. “Odds are it would set all the tropes we’ve come to associate with Dracula and the undead on an entirely different track. It’s appropriate that when MGM remade ‘London After Midnight’ in 1935 (as ‘Mark of the Vampire,’ also directed by Browning), Lugosi was cast in the Chaney role.”
“‘London After Midnight’ is largely regarded as the most famous ‘lost’ horror film of all time, due in large part to the creepy imagery of Lon Chaney as The Man in the Beaver Hat, who was also the first vampire in American cinema,” said Manning. “There’s a lot more to the story than meets the eye from the few existing stills… but to say any more would ruin the excitement of getting to experience the story firsthand via the graphic novel adaptation!”
Many people see comics and movies as interchangeable mediums, but working in both mediums will clearly demonstrate that there are major differences in how different they really are, according to Manning.
“Not to oversimplify it, but movies move, while comics are a static medium where movement and transitions exists forever unseen in the ‘gutters’ between the panels,” he said. “Combine this with the need to respect the economy of the page, the importance of pacing for page turns, and the space for dialogue per panel and you can start to appreciate what a balancing act transitioning from a film script to a comic book script to a finished graphic novel is!”
Visit DirkManning.com.
