Review Fix Exclusive: James Aquilone Talks Kolchak: The Night Stalker – 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel

Review Fix chats with James Aquilone, who discusses his imprint’s recently released Kolchak: The Night Stalker series and what looks like a super busy 2023.

Review Fix: What inspired this comic?

James Aquilone: I was looking for an idea for my first comic book project, and when I realized that the 50th anniversary of Kolchak: The Night Stalker was coming up, I knew I had something. So I contacted Moonstone Books with my idea for an anthology, they gave me the go-ahead, and we launched the Kickstarter last January, on the 50th anniversary. In the end, we topped $100,000 and we’re still selling a ton of comics.

Review Fix: What did it take for this to be realized? What was the journey like?

Aquilone: Several things. Moonstone Books had to say yes. Then the artists and writers had to say yes. Of course the Kickstarter backers had to show up. And then the real work of putting together the comics began. It was a ton of work and stress and problems, but amazingly it all worked out and we have a bunch of gorgeous books.

Review Fix: What makes this comic special?

Aquilone: Well, it’s Kolchak! For those not familiar, The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin, aired on ABC in 1972 and became the highest-rated TV movie of all time. A year later, a sequel, The Night Strangler,aired and it was a ratings hit, too. Both movies were written by horror legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man). In 1973, a TV series launched but it lasted only 20 episodes. Still, the show was incredibly influential and inspired The X-Files. McGavin even appeared on the series.

The 50th anniversary books feature some of the biggest comic book writers and artists — Steve Niles, Rodney Barnes, Jerry Ordway, Nancy A. Collins, J.K. Woodward, Gabriel Hardman, Kim Newman, Peter David, Juius Ohta, Colton Worley, Jonathan Maberry, and Tom Napolitano. Plus introductions by R.C. Matheson, the son of Richard Matheson, and James Rice, the son of Kolchak creator Jeff Rice.

We have several editions…a 48-page one-shot with a cover by Dan Brereton…a 188-page paperback with covers by Colton Worley, Jerry Ordway and J.K. Woodward…and a 248-page deluxe hardcover that adds 10 prose stories.

Review Fix: Who do you think will dig it the most?

Aquilone: Kolchak fans will love it. But if you’re into Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural or The X-Files, you’ll love it, too. Do yourself a favor and watch Kolchak — and then you’re going to want to grab these comics.

Review Fix: What are your goals for it?

Aquilone: Well, we’ve already made well over $100,000 with the books, so now I want to see some awards and sequels!

Review Fix: What makes this property such a special one for you?

Aquilone: I’ve been a Kolchak fan for many years. It was extremely cool to be able to put these books together and get to write a Kolchak story as well. Like Carl Kolchak, I’m a journalist, so it was great to bring my dayjob and comics work together.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Aquilone: 2023 is going to be extremely busy. My Shakespeare Unleashed prose anthology and comic book will come out in a few months. The two books consist of horror stories based on Shakespeare’s plays and are the follow-ups to my Classic Monsters Unleashed anthology.

I was recently named the head of Crystal Lake Publishing’s new comic book division, so with that and my own publishing company, Monstrous Books, I have several prose and comic book projects coming out this year. But I can’t talk about most of them right now.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Aquilone: Thanks for the interview, Patrick. I’m a big fan of your work!

Review Fix: Where can people get more of you?

Aquilone: You can pick up my books through Monstrousbooks.com

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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