EXCLUSIVE: George Wassil talks COMICS and OH, HELL

While at the COMIKAZE Expo I was fortunate enough to meet with some exceptional people, like George Wassil.

We talked all about his creator owned property and his experiences thus far with the comic community.

Scroll on to see what this talent had to say!

UTF: So where did the idea for Oh, Hell come from?

George Wassil: Actually, Oh, Hell was created about 20 years ago. I wrote a screen play with a fellow, Michael Connell. He’s a well-respected music editor in the business. As a matter of fact, he’s working on a Nicole Kidman film now. The last one he did was Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie.

Michael and I, we had kind of developed this world. The screenplay went nowhere, and so we put it away and about two and a half years ago, I took an extension course up at UCLA. I got this email, and it said, “Brand new course writing for the sequential arts.” My wife was tired of me sitting around the house, so she said, “Go do something.” So, I went in and took the class with Nunzio DeFilippis.

And one day, he was passing out these random assignments. He said, “And yours is to write something for a 15-year-old girl.” The day before it was due, I was sitting at my desk and I had nothing. And I went, “Oh hell, this is terrible.” And then it hit me. Take the world that Michael Connell and I had created, then put a 15-year-old girl into it …

We were able to bring in some romance, the pure conflicts, the bullying issues, a popular girl, all of those kinds of things. Mash it all up, talked to Michael and he said, “Run with it.” And here we are with Oh, Hell.

UTF: Could you tell me about the artists that are working on it?

George Wassil: I feel like I put together a really, good creative team. Dave Hamann on the art and Michael Birkhofer is the colorist. He’s freelanced, and done a number of other things. Last book he was on was I believe was Dark Swan, and Michael Birkhofer, from Hi-Fi, and about three weeks ago, DC dumped work on him. That’s really nice to see.

Both of these guys fell in love with the story, and I’m just thrilled. As a writer, you spend hours in a room by yourself, other than these characters that are rumbling around in your mind, talking to you. It’s exciting to see something that you created come to life, and David and Michael have just done a wonderful job for it.

UTF: Well, that would be my next question. How does it feel to actually hold a comic book that you, yourself wrote?

George Wassil: I think I was telling your earlier, I wrote as a kind of a hobby for 20 years. Nothing was ever produced. You kind of get this feeling of, “What’s it all for?” I’m never able to sit still long enough to write a novel, so I was excited to find this medium. And I wish I had found it 20 years ago, because once you and the artist get on the same page, it’s easy. And it was simple with David. He got it right off the bat.

As we close out I want to thank Mr. George Wassil for the chance to talk. It was a pleasure and I can’t wait to read more Oh, Hell in the future.

But what did you guys think of the interview? Sound off with your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!