An Interview with Ernst Dabel (President of Roaring Studios)
Recently I had the opportunity to interview Ernst Dabel, President of Roaring Studios.
Roaring Studios has already begun to make a name for themselves with their comic adaptation of George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight. Now, the focus is upon their upcoming adaptation of The Legend of Huma, which hits stores this January!
Raistlehoff: Ok, we'll start off with the basics. I don't want to exhaust you until later. :)
Ernst: Okay :)
Raistlehoff: Give us a little bit of background on yourself and how you came to be involved with Roaring Studios and Dragonlance. It's been quite awhile since Dragonlance has had a comic book associated with it. :)
Ernst: You're right about that...
My brother Les draws and I write so I told him that we should put our skills together to do a comic book and we did, but then later decided to do a studio instead.
We started off with George R.R. Martin's The Hedge Knight first, and when we went for Dragonlance and they saw the excellent work that we had done with The Hedge Knight they were more than happy to give us the possibility to work on The Legend of Huma.
Raistlehoff: You are President of Roaring Studios (if I have the right info). What does this entail besides sitting on your butt feeling important?
Ernst: LOL. Yes, I am the president of Roaring Studios (soon be changed to Dabel Brothers Production). I actually have no time to feel important at all. :)
Before any comic book goes out to be printed, I have to approve it and make sure that it is perfect so I have to do a lot of reading of the books to make sure that everything is okay.
Also I go through 100s of science fiction and fantasy boards in order to let fantasy fans know what it is that we are doing, answer questions, posting pictures, educating some people about the books so that they can go and check it out in the bookstores as well.
That definately sounds like a lot of work! Thankfully you aren't a kender, or you would have wandered off long ago. :) Lol, I'm definitely going blind from the glare of the computer staring at it for so long :) So when I go blind for good, I'll be off and running, lol
Raistlehoff: How long have you been a Dragonlance fan? A comic book fan? Any particular favorite comics or characters?
Ernst: I've been a Dragonlance fan ever since I read The Legend of Huma in the mid 1980s. A comic book fan ever since I was a little boy. I like Rennard, I won't say why so that I don't ruin it for those who didn't read the book yet. When I was a little boy, I liked Colossus :)
Raistlehoff: I grew up on comics too. But I haven't read anything in the last couple of years now! I'm not even sure what's worth reading these days, so Legend of Huma should be worth the wait. :)
Ernst: LOL, I have been reading alot, but mostly the novels that we are adapting, over and over again :)
Raistlehoff: Have you read a lot of Dragonlance novels and game material yourself then? Maybe the existing Dragonlance comics and graphic novels?
Ernst: I've read, besides Legend of Huma, Chronicles, Legends, War of Souls and various others. I read some of the game materials as well. No, I did not have a chance to read the existing Dragonlance comics. Just too busy :)
Raistlehoff: It sounds like you had quite a lot of time invested into this comic before you even started the comic itself. :)
Ernst: Yes, I am and have always been a Dragonlance fan ever since I first read The Legend of Huma.
Raistlehoff: You guys have done a great job promoting the upcoming comic. But the question remains, how are you guys fitting a story such as Legend of Huma into such a short comic series? 12 issues I think is the expected run? I'm not sure that 24 issues could do this book justice. :)
Ernst: Thank you for the compliment, my friend. We are trying very hard to promote The Legend of Huma 110%. It is 12 issues now, but if needs be we will make it longer.
Raistlehoff: Beyond the mandates laid down by Wizards of the Coast, like the fact that the minotaurs must have hooves, not feet, how did you go about the design process of all the characters?
Ernst: Well, first off we went carefully through the book and read it thoroughly then we got the opinions of the fans.
Raistlehoff: How many people have had a hand in the Legend of Huma comic so far? Artists? Writers? Has there been lots of input from Mr. Knaak?
Ernst: Mike Miller, Rael, Brian Augustin, Sean Jordan, Trampas Whiteman, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Richard Knaak... Yes there has bee lots of inputs from Mr. Knaak.
Raistlehoff: Is there any particular Dragonlance story, beyond Legend of Huma, Chronicles, or Legends, that you’d love to turn into a comic?
Ernst: We want to adapt the whole universe :-D
Raistlehoff: Great answer! :) How does an "Adventures of the Dragonlance Underground" comic sound then? :)
Ernst: LOL that sounds great :-D
Raistlehoff: I hope this poor kender hasn't bored you yet. Only a couple more to go. :)
Ernst: No, not at all, so far it's going really good :)
Raistlehoff: What does the future hold for Roaring Studios when it comes to Dragonlance? For the company in general? Any chance we'll see a brand spanking new Dragonlance story in comic form, rather than just adaptations?
Ernst: It's all possible, but it all depends on how much support that we get from the fans. :)
Raistlehoff: Any shameless plugs you'd like to drop in here while you have the chance?
Ernst: Did you know that The Legend of Huma was a birthday gift that my brother got for me. I had no idea what was going down, they just surprised me on my birthday. Lol, I guess that's what brothers are for.
Raistlehoff: Last question!
Ernst: Okay, I'm ready :)
Raistlehoff: You've been seen posting on a few Dragonlance forums, including the boards here on the Underground, under the handle "The_Khan". Why that handle? Do you have the insatiable urge to pillage and burn as your hoards rampage across the plains? :)
Ernst: :-D LOL Actually, although Ghengis Khan fought a tough battle to get to the top, but what he is known for is the fact that after the dust settled that he instated fair and just laws, he encouraged the arts and did a lot of things to create a peaceful civilization of what he had conquered but it is unfortunate that when people think of him they don't think about the good things that he did that made him great.
Raistlehoff: And there you have it!
Ernst and myself would like to take the opportunity to invite all to drop by the Roaring Studios website, as well as to check out some of the art from the comic if you haven't seen it already on the DLU message boards.
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