Closing the Box Part One: An Interview with David Gallaher and Steve Ellis.

Today the final chapter of comixology’s groundbreaking digital series Box 13 brings the series to an expolsive conclusion. To celebrate We’ll be looking back at both the orginal series and The Pandora Process!  Today we’re brining you the first part of an exclusive interview with the criminal masterminds behind Box 13 writer David Gallaher and artist Steve Ellis. In this first interview the guys we’re nice enough to talk about some of their earlier work leading up to Box 13 and their award-winning digital comic High Moon from DC Comics Zuda imprint. Check out the interview below:

First off, with High Moon, having become a main stay on comiXology, what are your thoughts on the past years you’ve spent working on the project. How did it begin in the first place? Where do you think it will go?

Steve Ellis: High Moon has been a fantastic ride. From a creative standpoint it’s been probably the most freeing of the projects I’ve worked on and the response from readers has been tremendous. David Gallaher brought his idea for High Moon to me originally and I thought it was brilliant from the start. I’m looking forward to the future stories we’ll get to tell with the characters. The world of High Moon is a vibrant and scary one and we still have a lot of stories to tell.

David Gallaher: HIGH MOON is an epic tale that brings a unique flavor to DC Comics and to the old west. It’s been seven years since I first started working on the projects and five years since I first started talking to DC about it. In that time … well, as Steve mentioned, we have plenty of stories to tell … and new stories are constantly forming — from Tristan’s origin to the Macgregor Legacy to the mysterious nature of Red … plus obviously, much much more.

Winning the Harvey Award must have also been a big turning point in your careers, can you describe how your work has been effected since then?

SE: The Harvey was a great honor. Having a jury of your peers pick your book out from the multitude fo web comics is no small honor. As for work, I think it’s given our collaboration more legitimacy when we approach people with new things.

DG: It was very flattering. It has also pushed us to work harder.

For those that may be unfamiliar with High Moon, it is a Western Horror Comic, pitting cowboy’s against werewolf’s and vampires. What would you say were some of your influences for the project?

DG: The aren’t vampires, they are were-bats – which is in keeping with many of my influences for the project. I grew up south of the Mason Dixon line and was raised in an old Civil War town. The rustic, dirty, spooky look and feel for the book came from my upbrining. Batcaves, shotguns, cattle fields – it was all just a part of growing up. There’s also a very strong mythological element.

SE: Yes, Celtic and Norse mythology, mostly. And the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone.

Originally High Moon was a part of the Zuda Comics imprint distributed through DC comics. Now that the original initiative behind Zuda is no more, what are your thoughts?

SE: Zuda was a great experiment and a great experience. It brought a sense of community to the webcomics world. It opened the doors for a lot of new talent and brought about some excellent projects. I’m sad to see Zuda go, but I understand the need to redefine DC’s online presence. There are a lot of new people who have moved into the mainstream industry from Zuda.

DG: It is sad to see everything change, but I think there are a lot of great lessons that DC and comics creators can learn and the comic industry braces for the growth of digital comics.

Stepping back in time a little further, David you were one of the writers featured in Moonstone Books Vampire The Masquerade 2: Blood & Shadows back in 2003, based off the popular White Wolf role-playing game, what was it like taking on the World of Darkness back then?

DG: Wow. I wrote that story almost ten years ago … that feels odd to say, but yeah … it was certainly interesting to play around in the World of Darkness. Steve’s had far more experience in their world than I have, since he drew the artwork that appeared in both the games and in Moonstone’s graphic novels.

So does that make you  guys  gamers? and if so what do you play?

SE: I play Call of Cthulu these days, but I used to play a little bit of everything and even created my own role-playing game StudperPowers with Fred Van Lente, Jamal Igle, Ryan Dunlevy and others.

DG: I also play Call of Cthulu from time to time. D&D too. But, I am most fond of the Palladium games – things like TMNT, Nightbane, and Robotech.

Awesome guys!

We’ll be back with more from Gallaher and Ellis later this week as we discuss the team’s adventures in the world of print as well as some of their upcoming projects. In the meantime get caught up on Box 13 and Box 13: The Pandora Process which is available absolutly FREE! in the webstore and comics app.