By Rebecca Kaplan — Arie Kaplan — check out his webpage here — is a screenwriter for television, comic books, videogames, and transmedia. As a comic book writer, Arie has written stories for Archie Comics, Bongo Comics (Bart Simpson, Simpsons Tree House of Horror), DC Comics (Looney Tunes, DC Universe Holiday Special), IDW Publishing (Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer, Star Wars Adventures), Mad Magazine, Papercutz (Tales from the Crypt), United Plankton Pictures (SpongeBob Comics), and many, many more. He’s also an author of multiple books for readers of all ages, including From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (2008), The Official Stormtrooper Training Manual (2017), and The Loki Little Golden Book (2021).

Over the past few weeks, I had the privilege of speaking with prolific writer Arie Kaplan over the phone and by e-mail about the breadth of his work, both inside and outside of the comics industry. Our discussions touched on Arie's OGN Frankie and the Dragon, the legacy of Bongo Comics, why everyone in the industry reads the DC Holiday Special, and the importance of Jewish representation in media, as well as his work on The Simpsons, Archie, and so much more.

INTERVIEW: Arie Kaplan

Frankie and the Dragon

REBECCA KAPLAN: I loved the instructions at the beginning of Frankie and the Dragon on “How to Read a Graphic Novel.” I think people assume it's common knowledge how to read a comic when it’s not, so that is a great addition, especially for young readers. What inspired you to include it? What benefit can experienced-comic readers get from going back to basics/ad fontes?

ARIE KAPLAN: Recently, I wrote three original graphic novels for kids. They are: Frankie and the Dragon (illustrated by Cesar Samaneigo), Trevor, the Very Best Giant (illustrated by Miguel Diaz), and The Troll Under Puzzlefoot Bridge (illustrated by Alex Lopez). All three of these OGNs were published by Capstone on January 1, 2021. These [three] books are part of Capstone’s “Mythical Creatures” line of graphic novels, and these graphic novels are not connected in any way, except that each of them deals with a magical creature of some sort. (Dragons, giants, and trolls, respectively.) 

I can’t actually take credit for the “How to Read a Graphic Novel” instructions [in the "Mythical Creatures" line of graphic novels], because those were the Capstone editors’ ideas. Those “HtRaGN” instructions are included in the other two “Mythical Creatures” books I wrote for Capstone (The Troll Under Puzzlefoot Bridge and Trevor, the Very Best Giant), as well as Frankie and the Dragon. 

And to answer your other question: I think that by going back to basics, experienced comic readers can remember what they enjoyed about comics when they were children. They can remember what drew them to this art form in the first place. They can re-live that excitement. When I look at some of the “all-ages” comics I read as a kid, when I revisit those stories as an adult, and that makes me remember why I fell in love with comics to begin with. Those are the comics that made me want to be a comic book writer when I grew up. 

REBECCA: In our last conversation, you said that Frankie and the Dragon was a personal story, and in The Beat interview you mention that it is a tribute to your daughter Aviya. Tell me about the fish? j/k What role did your daughter play in the creative process?

ARIE: Yes, Frankie and the Dragon was a very personal project for me. It might be the most personal project I’ve worked on (so far), in all my years as a comic book writer/graphic novelist. And that’s because the main character, Frankie Marble, is based on my daughter Aviya. Like Frankie, Aviya is Black. Like Frankie, Aviya wears glasses. And like Frankie, Aviya is an introverted bookworm who loves to draw. Also, like Frankie, Aviya wears her hair in a “pineapple” hairstyle, at least sometimes.

As to your question about what role my daughter played in the creative process: When I was writing Frankie and the Dragon, Aviya looked over the script, to see what the story was about. She definitely knew that the lead character was based on her, and she was very excited about that. She told me which lines of dialogue were her favorites, and which scenes were her favorites. Which she always does whenever she reads one of my comic book scripts. Her feedback is very helpful, especially since I write a lot of comic book stories that are specifically geared towards children. 

Anyway, after the Frankie and the Dragon script was approved, my editor sent me concept drawings of the characters, drawn by the book’s artist, Cesar Samaneigo, who’s extremely talented. When those concept drawings came in, I showed them to my daughter. She was very happy that now there were drawings of Frankie that you could see. Now she could put a face to a name, so to speak. And she was thrilled that Frankie did indeed look like her. It’s one thing to read a description of Frankie in the art notes and stage directions (or panel descriptions) within the script. But it’s entirely another thing to see a drawing of the character. It makes the character seem more real, more fully realized. When the rough thumbnail sketches of the artwork came in, I showed those to Aviya. And when the finished color art came in, I showed that to her as well. In other words, I tried to involve her as much as possible in the creative process. And when the finished art came in, she helped me proofread the word balloons, the narrative captions, and the thought balloons, to make sure that there were no typos. In fact, she caught a few typos that I had missed. And it’s a good thing she caught them, because we were able to correct them before the book was published. It would’ve been very embarrassing if nobody had caught them and the book had typos in it! So I owe the fact that the book is free of typos to my daughter. 

But also, I thought that it was important to show Aviya every step of how a graphic novel is made. That way, when Aviya becomes an adult, if she should decide to become an author, a comic book writer, a book editor, a graphic novelist, or a comic book editor, she’ll already know what goes into creating a graphic novel. She’ll have some insight into what the process of publishing a comic book is like. It won’t be this vague, amorphous thing in her head. And that will give her an advantage should she decide to pursue a career in the comics industry as an adult.

REBECCA: In regards to young comic creators and writers who want to break into the industry, what advice do you have for people trying to break into comics? 

ARIE: Make press contacts, and build networks for that stuff. I learned that lesson the hard way on my first book, which was Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! (2006). For my second book, From Krakow to Krypton (2008), I had amassed a number of press contacts from my first book (and that really helped me) because so much of getting a book out there, at least in my experience, is convincing the general-public that the book exists.

It's also important to familiarize yourself with the material. For example, you might be surprised to know that when I was first writing Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! and From Krakow to Krypton, I had to interview Stan Lee for both of those books, and some other legendary Marvel people, and I knew nothing about Marvel at the time. I grew up mostly reading DC Comics, and like a few Spider-Man and X-Men comics, but mostly it was DC. And so, I had to familiarize myself with Marvel, and give myself a crash course in [the publisher] and there's a lot of stuff there! It’s ridiculous, and like getting people at a comic book store to try to help you out on that is like an exercise in futility because they're so condescending about it, like, “Oh, you don’t know who Thanos is okayyyy. How much time you got?” Like okayyyyy, whatever.

REBECCA: I worked at a comic shop. I totally get it.

ARIE: Yeah, me too. When I was 16, I worked at a comic book store in Houston, Texas. I don't remember what it was called. I’d have to go back into my notes. But the guy that ran it – and I’m not making this up – he was very sleazy and sketchy. His name was Bogus. I'm not kidding. My dad was so wary of him because my dad would sometimes drive me to work. And he was right to be worried this guy was very sketchy, but like, I couldn't believe his name was Bogus: it literally means phony.

Monsters, Mascots, and Menorahs

Learn more about Arie's holiday stories in "Monsters, Mascots, and Menorahs," including "Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring," which was first printed in The Simpsons Winter Wingding #3 in November 2008, and is one of my new favorites from Arie. 

REBECCA: We are big fans of Bongo Comics in our house – many of our favorite creators got their start there – and you wrote comics for them. How did you first get involved with Bongo?

ARIE: I first met Bill Morrison (my first editor at Bongo) at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con, I believe. I corresponded with him for several months after that, sending him writing samples and asking whether he needed writers for any of the Bongo titles. Then in (I believe) the spring or summer of 2008, he told me that there was an open writing slot for The Simpsons Winter Wingding, which was the annual winter holiday special that Bongo used to publish every year around Thanksgiving. It would have Christmas-themed stories, and sometimes Hanukkah-themed (and New Year’s Eve-themed) Simpsons comic book stories. Anyway, I pitched him three winter holiday-themed stories, one of which was “Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring.” That’s the one he liked the best, and “Not a (Green, Slimy)…” became the first story I wrote for Bongo. That kicked off a nearly decade-long relationship with Bongo, during which time I wrote several other stories for them. I wrote most of my Bongo stories for Bart Simpson Comics, but occasionally I’d write a story for one of the holiday specials like Treehouse of Horror (Bongo’s annual Halloween-themed comic). Bill Morrison and Terry Delegeane edited the first few stories I wrote for Bongo, and then when Bill left, Nathan Kane was my editor. I had a fantastic time working with all three of them. And I’m only using the past tense here because Bongo Comics went out of business a few years ago. If it hadn’t, I’m sure I’d still be working with all of the folks at Bongo.

REBECCA: I laughed so hard at: “Fetch the blender we received last Pon Farr Day!” Do you have a favorite gag in this issue?

ARIE: Thanks! And I’m glad you caught the “Pon Farr” reference. It seemed like I should put a Star Trek reference somewhere in that story, since Kang and Kodos seem like the sort of silly aliens you’d see on Star Trek (The Original Series) in the 1960s. (BTW, you probably already know this, Rebecca, but it’s possible your readers don’t: Kang is not only the name of one of the Simpsons aliens. It’s also the name of one of the Klingons on Star Trek. So I figured that putting a Star Trek reference in this Simpsons story would feel very appropriate.) Anyway, one of my favorite sight gags in that story is the Kang menorah you see in the end of the story. Or is it a Kodos menorah? Anyway, that gag was something I put in the stage directions (aka panel descriptions) in the script, that you should see a menorah shaped like Kang (or Kodos) with the tentacles as candle-holders. The penciler, Phil Ortiz, did an amazing job with that gag, and with all the gags in the story. I’m kind of amazed that a Kang (or Kodos) menorah hasn’t actually been manufactured as official Simpsons merchandise. I know I’d buy one! Wouldn’t you? 

REBECCA: After reading "Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring," I want to know: What was your Hanukkah mascot? 

ARIE: Well, the “Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring” story is only slightly semi-autobiographical, because the idea for the story sort of came from the fact that when I was a kid, I thought it was odd that there were all of these Christmas mascots like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, but there are no Hanukkah mascots. So I wrote a story (for Simpsons Winter Wingding #3 in 2008, which is where the “Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring” story first appeared) where Krusty the Clown tries to create his own Hanukkah mascot. Except that because he’s Krusty, he does it for very selfish reasons, and everything about it goes haywire (again, because he’s Krusty). I guess as a comedy writer, I relate to Krusty, because I think every comedian and comedy writer is secretly worried that one day they’ll end up like Krusty. Krusty the Clown is the ultimate show business cautionary tale. I look at Krusty and I think, “There but for the grace of God go I.” But honestly, I think that Flipper the Hanukkah Turtle, the Hanukkah mascot that I came up with in that “Not a (Green, Slimy)…” story, is a pretty decent mascot. I’d watch an animated TV special starring Flipper the Hanukkah Turtle. Wouldn’t you? 

On another note, a Hanukkah-themed story that IS very autobiographical is the Superman story "Man of Snow," which I wrote for the DC Universe Holiday Special in 2009 (a year after I wrote the “Not a (Green, Slimy)..." story). In fact, my middle name is "Yosef."

REBECCA: So then, let me ask, in 2009’s DC Universe Holiday Special, you penned “Man of Snow,” with pencils by Nick Runge, inks by Gabe Eltaeb, colors by Ulises Arreola, and letters by Travis Lanham, aka the “Snolem” story, when do you plan on bringing on the second coming of the golem to comics?

ARIE: I did some work for Papercutz several years ago, and Jim Salicrup had a great idea for me as far as this whole golem thing. I pitched him a golem story for Tales From the Crypt, because I was writing Tales From the Crypt at that time, and it looked like my golem story was going to happen, but it didn’t end up happening because the series got cancelled. But at the time, I had some story meetings with him over the phone where we talked about my goals for the story and plotted it out and everything. He gave me notes on it, and he was like, “This is what you should do, Arie. You should write a golem story for every publisher you ever worked for, and that way you'll get known as the ‘golem guy,’” and I thought to myself, “Holy shit, that's a good idea.” 

Unfortunately, it did not end up happening, but he was like, "write a golem story for Dark Horse, write a golem story for IDW," because I was working for all these different publishers at the time. It’s a good idea, it's hard to make it happen though because when you pitch a bunch of ideas to a comic book editor, you never know which ones are going to agree with them.

REBECCA: I would love to hear more about your experience writing a story for the DC Holiday Special '09.

ARIE: When I wrote that “Man of Snow” story, I got a phone call from Mark Waid. Although I met him at a comic book convention before, and we had some mutual friends, I didn't expect to just get a phone call from him. I was like, “Oh, Hi. How you doing? What's up? And he's like, “I read your ‘Man of Snow’ story.” I was like, “Really?” And he's like, “Arie, everyone in the industry reads the DC Holiday Special.” So, I thought, “Oh, holy, holy.” So, we talked about doing this Muppet comic together, which never actually happened. It was very frustrating because it almost happened. This was going to happen at BOOM! Studios because, at least at the time, Mark Waid was the Editor-in-Chief there, and they really, really liked it, but it never happened. It was going to be a Muppet comic mini-series, you know, maybe someday?

(More) Golems, Diversity, and Comics

REBECCA: Marvel’s (Purple) Golem, a forgotten hero based on the Jewish myth and one of my obsessive comic book interests, first appeared in Strange Tales #174 by Len Wein and John Buscema. Why did it take until the 1970s for the Golem to appear at Marvel Comics?

ARIE: I have theories as to why there were starting to be more golem stories in comic books in the 1970s. I started to see acknowledgments that there are actual minorities in America in American comics, like you can have Black characters, and you can have LGBTQ characters, and you can have Indigenous characters, and you can have openly Jewish characters; whereas before, anything Jewish was sub-textual – that’s my theory as to why you first started to see the word "golem" in a few comics in the 70s, you know. It was in the wake of a new branch of scholarship on the Holocaust that happened in the 1960s, and just honestly, everything: the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement, the women's rights movement, and like people starting to assert themselves, saying, “I'm proud to be who I am. I derive strength from who I am. It's nothing to be ashamed of; it's something to be proud of.” And so, you start seeing that more in the Jewish community too, and that worked its way into comics, I think as well.

REBECCA: Sometimes this Jew (me) doesn't ask questions, he kvetches. So, I was kvetching about an episode in the first season of Harley Quinn on HBO Max… but the response from Arie, who wrote Harley at Bat!, made me look further into the joke in the episode, and personally, I'm glad that I did.

ARIE: To be completely forthright about it, Rebecca, it takes a lot to offend me because I'm trained as a comedy writer. I've written for different TV shows, and most of the comic books that I've written are comedic in some way or another. When you're doing stand up and writing for different comedians, whether it's on television or on the stand-up circuit, you find you have a pretty-thick skin as far as being offended by stuff. And so, it takes a lot to offend me as far as stuff like that, and I am a grandchild of Holocaust survivors. I don't know if the oven burning jokes would have offended me personally. 

I can understand that they would offend other people. I can certainly understand that, but also it is that sort of thing where Harley Quinn is that kind of show and announces itself as that kind of show from the first line of dialogue, episode – where it's just like take no prisoners. We're going to try and offend everybody. We’re equal opportunity assholes, and that's clearly what the show runners have announced, like in big bold letters from the very beginning. But it's one of those things where the Holocaust itself is unfortunately the most transformative event of like 20th century Jewish life. It would be great if it wasn't, it'd be great if it didn't happen, but it did and it is, and it is a big constant dialogue that Jews keep having with themselves, as far as, like, in what way is it okay to talk about the Holocaust, you know?

REBECCA: Can you talk about that more? What role do contemporary post-Shoah comics play in society?

ARIE: Before the pandemic, I did a ton of lectures. I still do a few virtual lectures these days, but not as many as when I did them live (obviously). I prefer to do the lectures live whenever possible because it’s a lot of fun engaging with a live audience. I usually do lectures on pop culture related topics, and a lot of the time from a Jewish perspective, like “The History of Jews in the Comic Book Industry,” or “The History of Jews in Television and Feature Film,” or even “The History of Jews in the Video Game Industry.” And one of my lectures is “Depiction of the Holocaust in Film and Television,” specifically in science fiction and fantasy television shows and movies, like the X-Men films, The Twilight Zone series, and various iterations of Star Trek, and it's one of those situations where a lot of the clips that I show are – depending on who you are – rather controversial. If you show a clip just talking about [the Holocaust] to an audience, it can make some people angry. Like, The Producers, the Mel Brooks movie, it's considered this beloved cultural artifact today, but when it came out and for a very long time after that, a lot of Jews were very offended. 

REBECCA: That's funny. I grew up singing The Producers… almost every morning. 

ARIE: You see! But that’s the thing! Where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at The Producers, in which Mel Brooks makes jokes about the Holocaust? He's not punching down. He's not saying that the Jews were worthy of ridicule. Clearly, he's making fun of the Nazis, and that’s something that Mel Brooks tends to do in his work… period. In Blazing Saddles, he's not making fun of the Black people, he's making fun of the racist white people, and that's very clear if you watch that film. Still, there are Jewish people out there that are offended by The Producers, and its various iterations: the original movie from 1967, or the one from the early 2000s with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, or the stage version, which also had Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick! So, some people are offended by [The Producers], or there are some people who are offended by Harley Quinn. 

Did you know Harley Quinn is Jewish? She's one of my favorite characters. I was just watching The Suicide Squad. You have to put a lot of emphasis on the word "the" when you say it, so that you're not talking about David Ayer's Suicide Squad (2016). But, I love the James Gunn movie. It points to why screenwriters have so much fun writing Harley Quinn as a character. Anyway, the thing is that it's this constant dialogue, and there never seems to be a definite answer as far as in what way is it acceptable to talk about the Holocaust in a comedic way. You know what I'm saying?

I am a grandchild of Holocaust survivors. When I saw X-Men: First Class, I found it an incredibly moving and depiction of Magneto as a survivor, and in a lot of ways, I found it pretty empowering. Now, I'm not a survivor myself. I'm too young to be one. However, as a descendant of survivors, and as someone who has grown up knowing a lot about my family members who didn't survive, because I had a lot of family members who were murdered during the Holocaust. I don't know, it's hard for me not to think about that when I'm watching something like X-Men: First Class.

REBECCA: Yeah, I've always found media really cathartic in that way.

ARIE: Yeah, me too. I think, honestly, like, X-Men: First Class is constantly on television and the various HBOs. It was on the other day, and they were showing the scene - it's a scene I show myself as a lecturer at various places. The scene in which Michael Fassbender is the young Magneto, and he walks into that bar in Argentina and confronts those two dudes who used to be Nazis at the camp where was a prisoner and then, he shoots them. It's not that straightforward, he kind of like, totally messes with them a little bit at first in that he asks them what they did for a living in Germany and one of them says that he was a pig farmer and the other one says that he was a tailor, I think. It's very mundane and non-threatening, you know, like a tailor. Then, they're like, "What's your name?" And [Magento's] like, "Oh, I didn't have a name. I had a number; it was given to me by pig farmers and tailors." Then, they know like, "Oh shit, the jig is up and this guy knows who we are, and he's probably going to try and get revenge." And of course he does. But when he does, they try to shoot him. And you know, he's Magneto so he uses his powers to make the bartender shoot the two of them – I believe it's something like that – and I find that scene incredibly cathartic, like you were saying, and very empowering.

Arie Kaplan Interview: Even MORE Comics

REBECCA: You also wrote a two-part comic story for Archie Comics, titled “Archie Is History” that appeared in Archie & Friends #132 & #133. What was the inspiration for the Festival of Living History? 

ARIE: It was inspired by the Festival of Living Art in the Gilmore Girls episode titled (wait for it) “The Festival of Living Art.” Before the pandemic, I used to travel all over the U.S. (and sometimes to other countries as well) giving lectures on various pop culture-related topics like comic book history or film history, or the history of animation. Or I’d give a talk about my writing career, what it’s like to be a freelance writer, that sort of thing. During the pandemic, I’ve been giving my lectures virtually. Anyway, back when I was going on in-person speaking engagements, I’d be put up at these very nice hotels. And if it was a hotel in the U.S., they’d probably have Gilmore Girls reruns on some channel at some point in the day, because the show’s been in syndication for a long time. And that’s how I got addicted to Gilmore Girls, by watching it in these hotel rooms either right before or right after my speaking gigs. And as far as I know, a Festival of Living History isn’t an already-established thing, it’s just something I made up for that Archie story. But I wish it was a real thing, because I’d certainly go to it! And when you think about it, Riverdale in the Archie stories is a small provincial town inhabited by a cast of quirky, loveable characters. And Stars Hollow on Gilmore Girls is also a small provincial town inhabited by a cast of quirky, loveable characters. So they have that in common. Although, who’s the “Betty Cooper” of Stars Hollow? Rory Gilmore, I guess? They do have a similar personality…

REBECCA: As a kid, my dog was named after Kira Nerys, and I know you are a BIG Star Trek fan. So, I have to ask, are there any specific DS9 story that you'd want to write?

ARIE: Not that I want to talk about yet. Let's put it this way: I do have ideas for [DS9 stories] because I've become addicted to the show. It's such a fun show. The characters are amazing, even the side characters and recurring characters are great. I will say that my one big pet peeve with the series is Grilka, the woman who marries Quark, because she only appears twice. I would love it if she appeared way more often than that. But you see, I would love it if they did more with that character: she's great, and obviously, the actor playing her had so much fun with that role. Certainly in terms of female characters on Star Trek, at the time, that show was way better than like TNG, you know?

My daughter and I were watching the movie Star Trek: First Contact the other day – I have to say that because there's also an episode of TNG, I think, that's called "First Contact," so I want to make the differentiation – and there's the Alfre Woodard character Lily. So, the day after [we watched the movie] I said, "Let's go watch Star Trek," and my daughter's like, "Can we watch another Lily episode?" And, I was like, "Oh, I'm sorry Lily was only in that one movie," and she got really upset because Lily is a great character.

REBECCA: Is there any specific property or type of project that’s on your bucket list? 

ARIE: Oh yeah, a lot of the Marvel stuff. I've written a bunch of Marvel children's books, and don't get me wrong I really enjoy writing that stuff, and I take it very seriously, like Marvel's Little Golden Books are honestly a labor of love, I put a lot of effort into making them the best children's book stories that I can. I have a lot of fun writing those, and I'm very proud of the work I did on them. However, I'd love to write some Marvel comic book stories that are actually in the Marvel universe that are done in comic book format.

There’s a laundry list of Marvel and DC characters I’d like to take a crack at. Here’s a partial list: Spider-Man, Monica Rambeau, Howard the Duck, Deadpool, Gwenpool, MODOK, Throg (Thor when he gets turned into a frog), Fin Fang Foom, Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men (but a very specific lineup of X-Men), Spider-Ham, Bizarro Superman, Doctor Fate, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Zatanna, Mr. Miracle, the Omega Men, Bat Mite, Plastic Man, Jonah Hex, Martian Manhunter, Bumblebee, Blue Devil, ‘Mazing Man (Google him!), G.I. Robot, the Green Lantern Corps, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Also, the Legion of Super-Pets. And the “Loki gator” from the Disney Plus series Loki, if he ever gets his own comic book series. 

As far as non-Marvel or DC properties go, I’d also like to write some Star Trek stories for IDW, especially since I wrote a Star Wars story for them a while back, as well as a Speed Racer miniseries for them. So, I would like to write some Star Trek stories, specifically stories set during the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Discovery. (I have so many ideas for Quark and Odo stories, you wouldn’t believe it.) And given my background as a television comedy writer, if they ever start publishing any Lower Decks comics, I’d really enjoy writing at least one issue of that series. 

Also, I’d love to write a Conan the Barbarian comic book story. Or more accurately, multipleConan the Barbarian comic book stories. I have some ideas for Conan stories, and actually, there was one of them that I was supposed to write. I wrote a "Sailor Steve Costigan" story in Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #9 for Dark Horse Comics because Sailor Steve Costigan is a Robert E. Howard character, and Robert E. Howard is the creator of Conan, of course. At the time, Dark Horse had the license to all of the Robert E. Howard characters: Conan, Kull of Atlantis, Sailor Steve Costigan, and all that stuff. So, when I wrote a "Sailor Steve Costigan" story, I also wrote a pitch for a Conan story, and the editor [Patrick Thorpe] really liked it, and the Robert E. Howard estate [known as the Robert E. Howard Foundation] really liked it. I was about to get started working on [the tie-in story], and then, the title I was writing it for got cancelled. And then, not too long after that, all of the Robert E. Howard stuff got moved over to Marvel Comics. So, at some point, I'd love to write a Conan story because it's something I came very, very close to.

REBECCA: Is there anything else you would like to add? Please feel free to plug anything too!

ARIE: Thanks for asking! There actually are a few things I’d like to plug. In 2020, I wrote three Little Golden Books for Penguin Random House, and all three of them came out in 2021. 

One of them is the Loki Little Golden Book, which is illustrated by Hollie Mengert. It’s a story about Loki (the Marvel Comics version of Loki). And it’s a story about a prank Loki pulls on Thor, which gets WAY out of hand. 

The other two Little Golden Books I wrote which came out in 2021 are the SING Little Golden Book – which is an adaptation of the first movie in the SING animated film franchise – and Mr. DNA’s Book of Dinosaurs. Mr. DNA’s Book of Dinosaurs was illustrated by Paul Daviz. The SING Little Golden Book was illustrated by Elsa Chang. 

All three books – the Loki Little Golden Book, Mr. DNA’s Book of Dinosaurs, and the SING Little Golden Book – are available now.

I’ve also written a Batman children’s book called Swamped by Croc, which will be published by Penguin Random House in January of 2022. In Swamped by Croc, Batman faces off against Croc, a fearsome criminal with scaly skin who comic book fans might know as “Killer Croc.” But since this is a book for very young kids, we simply call him “Croc,” because the word “Killer” doesn’t really belong in a children’s storybook. Swamped by Croc was illustrated by Gabriella Matta. 

But not all of my recent projects are children’s books. As you probably know, I’m also a screenwriter for video games. Currently, I’m writing the scripts for a mobile game called eQuoo: The Next Generation: Lodestar. The game is a complete, top-to-bottom relaunch of a game called eQuoo, which came out a few years ago. PsycApps, the company behind both versions of eQuoo, uses gamification and psychology to help people maintain their mental health. 

In early 2020, Silja Litvin, the founder and CEO of PsycApps, brought me on board to write this “Next Gen” version of the game. And I’ve been working on it ever since. eQuoo: The Next Generation is currently available on Google Play and the iOs App Store.

Here’s something else I’d like to plug: recently, I wrote a short story. It's called “Previously On ‘Time Sock: The Sock That Travels Through Time,'” and it was published last month in the August 2021 issue of Defenestration, a literary magazine dedicated to humor. “Previously On ‘Time Sock’…” is a story that parodies some of the more ridiculous, convoluted science fiction-themed TV shows from the 1970s and 1980s, especially shows that were produced by Glen Larson (e.g. Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Knight Rider). But “Previously On ‘Time Sock’…” isn’t a parody of a specific show; just the type of science fiction TV show that used to be quite common on television, 40 or 50 years ago. You can read it here: http://www.defenestrationmag.net/2021/08/previously-on-time-sock-the-sock-that-travels-through-time-by-arie-kaplan/

And finally, I’m currently working on a few OTHER upcoming projects, but I can’t say what those projects are right now. But hopefully they’ll be announced soon. Keep checking my website, www.ariekaplan.com, for more news and updates on my latest projects. 

Read more conversations with comic book creators!

Rebecca Kaplan has a Master of Science in Criminology and Juris Doctor. To the disappointment of her law school, she’s really a geek at heart and would rather have a cup of coffee with Captain Janeway than any non-fiction person. You can find her writing at Marvel Blog and in Double Challenge: Being LGBTQ and a Minority, which she co-authored with her wife, Avery Kaplan.