Kris Simon Has Issues! #4

The book SAVAGE by Steve Niles (Not Really) & Mike Mayhew

Jun 03, 2026

Step into the Wayback Machine with me as we go back 19 years and take a peek inside the inner workings of Shadowline, an imprint of independent comic book publisher Image Comics.

Amazing art by the one and only Nicole Goux. If you’re voting in the Eisners, give THIS PLACE KILLS ME a vote!

Welcome to the fourth installment of my series called ISSUES, where I grab a book off the spinner rack of comics I have edited throughout my career and tell the story behind them! If you care to read the first three, please feel free to subscribe:

Issue #1: Jane Wiedlin’s (of the Go-Go’s) Lady Robotika
Issue #2: Small Gods (the launch of Juan Ferreyra & Mahmud Asrar)
Issue #3: The Nick Spencer of It All (Existence 2.0, Shuddertown & Morning Glories)

This time, I have selected the book SAVAGE by Steve Niles (Not Really) and Mike Mayhew, released in October of 2008. October? Interesting.

Of course, it is no coincidence that I am choosing to write about a book drawn by Mike Mayhew at a time when Mike has decided to release a controversial manifesto about attending comic cons. Which hasn’t gone over well, to say the least. Feel free to read on about a book Mike co-created and earned very little (if any) money on. He was also the only one who really promoted it when it was released. 18-years-ago-Mike was a different guy. I guess sometimes this industry can really grind you down. A lesson for all of us.

I should start off by saying that my working relationship with Mike went relatively well. He even gave me a lovely recommendation on LinkedIn, without me even asking. I don’t think it’s still there because apparently those things expire. However, the book itself was rife with problems. I wouldn’t write about it otherwise!

Cool cover! I wonder if there is a story behind it.

Steve Niles first pitched the book to us at San Diego Comic Con in July of 2007. Honestly, all he really said to us was “It’s Bigfoot versus werewolves,” and he had Mike’s art attached to it. We were sold, greenlit it on the spot. And this is where things got really messy.

We scheduled it for June 2008, just about a year later, as we figured surely that was enough time to get three issues done (all Shadowline books were only three issues) and then launch it right ahead of the next year’s SDCC. We emailed Steve our plan and a contract, ready to lock it down.

Cut to five months later.

Emails to Steve have gone unanswered. Then, suddenly, in December, we get a rare, lone email from Steve letting us know that he’s not even the one writing the book. It’s being written by a guy named Jeff Frank, and Dan Wickline. Um, what? It was sort of a brush-off email, honestly. Incredibly brief. No contact emails included; no further information about why he wasn’t writing it himself. Two more weeks of silence (please refer to my past Substack: the comics industry runs on unanswered emails).

Thankfully, I had previously worked with Dan Wickline on ShadowHawk. I emailed Dan (copying Steve, mind you) and asked for Jeff and Mike’s contact info. This was the first time Dan had heard that we were attached to it; otherwise, he would have reached out! Dan claimed he was merely a spoke on the wheel and that it was Steve and Jeff’s show, but I was promptly given contact info and thus immediately reached out to Jeff Frank.

This is the response, and to say it caused internal chaos at the Shadowline office is an understatement:

This is Jeff, and Savage exploded out of my freaky mind. First off, I just want to put it out there that this is my first writing project ever so if I do not come off as a seasoned pro, I apologize. I have read the emails and am just waiting to talk to Steve before I say too much. I will say that even though I'm open to just about anything, the story really needs four issues. Also, I know Mike would really love a little more time on the project before a June release. The plan was to get the Previews cover (if that is still an option) for June or July and have the book come out 2 months later. The emails I received today were the first I've gotten from anybody at your office and am sorry for the lack of solid communication but I thought Dan had a good working relation with you so he was put in charge. I am really excited to step up and play a more active role, I'm just a little shy because this is my first time, so please be gentle..ha ha. I will talk to both Steve and Dan by early tomorrow and email you again afterwards.

Let’s break down what poor, sweet Jeff just did:

He told us the series would be four issues, not three.
He pushed the release date.
Asked for (assumed he was getting?) the cover of July Previews—which is pretty asinine.
Threw Dan Wickline under the bus.

I know you must be eager to see the email that was sent back; however, it was not from me, it was from Jim Valentino, and surprisingly, it was very restrained. And also dismissive. I mean, who the hell was this guy, anyway? That’s not the important part. The important part is Steve Niles's response to Jim when he mentioned he thought Steve was writing this series, only to find out Jeff and Dan were. Paraphrasing:

Steve says he absolutely told Jim at SDCC he was not writing this series, and the creative team has been the same since day one. He’s testy about it and says all of this confusion is Jim’s own doing (oh, boy).

Jim shoots back an even testier response, with a dig at how this could all have been resolved if someone had answered their emails sooner, finishing with a word-for-word recall of the conversation at SDCC. Then closes with a generous “But I’ve been known to have a Swiss-cheese memory.” Always give them an out. But really, would we have immediately greenlit a book by a first-time writer without even having a conversation around why Steve Niles was the one pitching it?

Steve takes the out, backs down, and also admits to having a bad memory. Lots of chaos at SDCC after all. Maybe he did drop the ball. He’ll do whatever he can to make the project happen. It’ll be worth it, promise.

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With all of that resolved, we’re moving forward. The first three scripts are written already. They land in my inbox… along with a very lengthy email of concern from Mike Mayhew. Jim wants to show a monster on the cover of the first issue, and none of the monsters appear until issue 3 (thereby solving the mystery of why Jeff really needed four issues to tell this story). Mike doesn’t want to spoil the reveal. He’s spent a lot of time on the designs. Jim thinks it’s bad marketing to hold back what the book is about; competition is fierce. Also, what the hell is happening in the first three issues anyway if there are no monsters?! Obviously, as you can see, we settled on a close-up of the monster’s mouth. If I recall correctly, this was my idea of a compromise. You can’t tell which monster it is, so there’s no spoiler. Everyone was happy.

However, what ensued from that point forward could only be described as a creative team that functioned like children, with Jim and me acting as their parents. Newbie Jeff freaked out about the art regularly and would email Jim at all hours without copying anyone. You can imagine how well that went over. Those emails would be forwarded to me, and then I would have to discuss them with Mike to figure out how to handle them. Dan Wickline was the hero of the scripts. Without Dan, none of this would have worked. I will forever sing his praises.

Frank didn’t even know how to do a written interview. He proudly emailed me and stated that since I was sending the answers on to the outlet, clearly his answers were great and I had no notes, to which I replied, “No, they weren’t great, but I tweaked them so that they were. When asked about your plans for the future, it's NEVER a good idea to go on and on about your hopes and dreams.”

Frank also almost used his comp copies for a signing at his local comic book shop. I found out about it by chance when he asked when his copies would arrive. He was immediately bombarded with emails telling him that the whole point of store signings was to get the store to order copies of the book!

In the end, Savage #1 sold out, the other three issues did okay, and a trade came out. But it was not a hit by any stretch. They did not get the cover of Previews, and the book ended up being released in October.

In 2013 the movie rights were sold. So I guess the moral of this story is, if you’re a first-time writer with a great log line, find a well-established creator to pitch your book to a publisher, slap his name on the cover, and get a script doctor. Pull a little switch-a-roo, and Bob’s your uncle, as the saying goes! Right?

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