ALLIE, Scott

PERSONAL: Married.

ADDRESSES: Office—Dark Horse Comics, 10956 Southeast Main St., Milwaukie, OR 97222. E-mail—scott@scottallie.com.

CAREER: Comic book editor, writer, and publisher. Former technical director at a theater; affiliated with Glimmer Train Stories (magazine); self-published comic books through Aiiie! Comics; Dark Horse Comics, Milwaukie, OR, editor, writer, and publisher, 1994—.

WRITINGS:

Tilazeus Meets the Messiah, illustrated by Herb Apon and Steve Willhite, Aiiie! Comics, 1996.

(Adapter) Planet of the Apes, illustrated by Davidé Fabri, Christian Dalla Vecchia, Christopher Ivy, Dave Stewart, and Pat Brosseau, edited by Phil Amara, Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2001.

(Adapter) Shinobi: The Rise of Hotsuma, illustrated by Paco Medina, edited by Rich Young, Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2002.

The Devil's Footprints, Volume 1 (originally published in comic-book form), Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2003, 2003..

The Devil's Footprints, Volume 2 (graphic novel; originally published in comic-book form), Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2005.

Author and illustrator, with others, of comic-book series, including "Sick Smiles," Aii! Comics, 1994-95; "Dark Horse Presents:," 1998, 2000; "Titan AE," Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2000; "Star Wars Tales," Dark Horse Comics, 2002; "Scorpion King," Dark Horse, 2002; and "Star Wars: Empire," Dark Horse, 2002.

editor:

Tom Fassbender, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Creatures of Habit, Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2002.

(And contributor) Reveal, illustrated by Paul Lee, Brian Horton, and David Stewart, Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2002.

(With Matt Dryer) Hellboy: Weird Tales (series), Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2003—.

(And contributor) The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings: Eight Uncanny Tales of Spirit Manifestations, Apparitions, and Otherworldly Horrors—Told in Words and Pictures illustrated by Paul Lee, Brian Horton, and David Stewart), Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2003.

(With Matt Dryer) Hellboy Junior, Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2004.

The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2004.

B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories ("Hellboy" series), Dark Horse (Milwaukie, OR), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Scott Allie, who has written a number of comic-book series of his own, may be best known for his work as an editor at Dark Horse Comics. "I want people who like horror comics to know that Dark Horse is the place to go for fun, sophisticated horror," he explained to Silver Bullet Comic Books online interviewer Craig Lemon. Indeed, critics have often found and praised those qualities in the horror anthologies Allie has edited for Dark Horse. B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories, a set of five stories set in the "Hellboy" universe, "brims with respect for readers' intelligence," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, while another Publishers Weekly contributor called The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft "an anthology in which the parts actually support each other." The latter work spans the range of opinions about witches in American culture, with some stories viewing them as evil beings and others looking at the modern Wicca religion in a positive light.

Another comic anthology edited by Allie, Reveal even includes "The Dream and the Lie of Franco," a comic by famous artist Pablo Picasso. "I was in Venice on my honeymoon and saw that piece at the Guggenheim," Allie told Mike Jozic of the Silver Bullet Comic Books Web site. "I had to get the rights from the Guggenheim and from the Picasso estate, but in the end it was neither all that hard or even terribly expensive."

Allie's best-known work as an author may be The Devil's Footprints, an original tale set in his hometown of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The town is home to an actual "devil's footprint," where, according to the legend, the devil came to earth during colonial times, was chased by a visiting preacher, and jumped off the steeple of the church. When he landed on a large stone, he left a permanent footprint there. Allie's tale centers on Brandon Waite, a young man who followed his father's interest for dabbling in magic. However, after his father dies and other family members begin to develop mysterious ailments, Brandon learns that his father was doing more than just "dabbling." Brandon is doing his best to solve the mystery and tame the demons that his father seems to have unleashed, but his efforts to protect those closest to him—his girlfriend, his older brother, and his sister-in-law, who suffers a miscarriage because of the curse, falter because, in addition to trying to protect them from the demons, he is also trying to protect them from knowing the truth about the evil around them. Allie's story is "capably told," Steve Raiteri wrote in Library Journal, "and recommended for fans of the genre."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, February 1, 2004, Ray Olson, reviews of Weird Tales, The Devil's Footprints, and The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings: Eight Uncanny Tales of Spirit Manifestations, Apparitions, and Otherworldly Horrors—Told in Words and Pictures, p. 958.

Library Journal, May 1, 2004, Steve Raiteri, review of The Devil's Footprints, Volume 1, p. 91.

Publishers Weekly, July 26, 2004, review of The Dark

Horse Book of Witchcraft, p. 41; September 13, 2004, review of B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories, p. 60.

online

British Broadcasting Corporation Web site, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ (November 3, 2004), "Scott Allie: Buffy Editor at Dark Horse Comics."

Dark Horse Web site, http://www.darkhorse.com/ (November 3, 2004), "Scott Allie"; "Scott Allie Talks about Drawing on Your Nightmares."

Jazma Online, http://www.jazmaonline.com/ (November 3, 2004), Richard Vasseur, interview with Allie.

Scott Allie Home Page, http://www.scottallie.com (November 3, 2004).

Silver Bullet Comics Web site, http://www.silverbulletcomics.com/ (November 3, 2004), Craig Lemon, "Dark Horse Horror: Walking in Devil's Footprints"; Mike Jozic, "Scott Allie: Secrets to Reveal"; Brandon Thomas, "Dark Horse Confidential: Scott Allie Walks in 'The Devil's Footprints.'"

Strange-Haven.com, http://www.strange-haven.com/ (November 3, 2004), Chris Arrant, "Giving Readers Hell: Scott Allie Talks DH's Hellboy Plans."

Watcher's Web, http://websites.cable.ntl.com/~fraxis/ (November 3, 2004), Richard Morgan, interview with Allie.*