Dara Naraghi was born in Tehran, Iran, but has lived most of his life in America. He splits his writing time between self-published comics from his own Ferret Press imprint, and short stories for various anthologies. He is most proud of his book BIGCITYBLUES, which he describes as, "Slice of life meets the fringes of the superhero world". BIGCITYBLUES has garnered praise from the likes of Matt Wagner, Steven Grant, and Cinescape magazine. Naraghi currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he is a founding member of the comic creators collective known as Panel.

BIG NEWS:

Three separate projects are currently occupying my time. I'm helping to put the finishing touches on the fourth volume of the themed anthology published with my partners in crime in the Panel collective. It's titled PANEL: HOME, and is set to debut at the end of November at the Mid-Ohio comic convention. The theme this time around is - you guessed it - "home", and we've all interpreted it in wildly different ways. My contribution is a story ostensibly about the Iran/Iraq war, and it features fantastic art by Steve Black.

Next, I've got a short horror story for the third issue of APE OMNIBUS, a new anthology published by fellow small pressers, Ape Entertainment. It's a slightly different twist on the ubiquitous serial killer story, and is being illustrated in inkwash by Steven Spenser Ledford. As with all my stories, I do the lettering as well, which takes up more time but affords me the luxury of doing rewrites on the fly to take full advantage of the finished artwork and layout.

And finally, I'm producing a small "art book" featuring illustrations from a wide variety of artists from different backgrounds. Graphic designers, fine arts practitioners, comic book illustrators... they're all in there. The working title is LITTLE ART BOOK: HYBRID, and it will be published through my own Ferret Press imprint. Target date is end of November.

Oh, I also have a feature article on three medical illustrators coming out in about a month in the Ohio State University Alumni Magazine. So, I guess that's four projects. Apparently counting isn't one of my strong points.

BIG BUSINESS:

Like most comic creators, I've been a comic fan for many, many years. Plus, I had always enjoyed writing, and felt that I had some good stories to tell. So the desire to create a work in the medium I've enjoyed since childhood (I grew up on Tintin comics translated into Farsi) developed quite naturally. Of course, there's also a bonus thrill that's inherent in creating comics, which is seeing your words brought to life by a variety of great artists. For a writer, it's a wonderful two-for-one deal: first you get the creative rush that comes from crafting a story out of the void, and then you get to rediscover your creation when it's interpreted by an artist.

BIG TROUBLE:

Time. Sweet, elusive time. Time is the single biggest challenge I face when it comes to making comics. There are so many stories, so many different projects I'd like to work on, but there's never enough time. Once I factor out time spent at my day job, time with my girlfriend, time with my friends, and time doing the day-to-day stuff of life, it doesn't leave much left for writing. And as a self-publisher, it's doubly frustrating because there are a lot of administrative, "non-creative" tasks to tend to: maintaining contact lists, writing press releases and solicitation copy, dealing with printers and distributors, etc.

BIG SPENDER:

I'd imagine I'm one of the lucky ones, because I have a pretty good day job that affords me the opportunity to self-publish. And what's more, I actually like my day job (well, ok, not all of the time), so I can afford to come home and switch into creative mode instead of stressing out about money or idiotic co-workers. My goal so far has been to try and break even with all my publishing expenses. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm doing OK. The dream is to one day make money doing this. Ah, a boy can dream, can't he?

BIG AMBITION:

If money and time weren't limiting factors, I'd want to work full time at growing Ferret Press into a self-sustaining publishing house. I know many innovative writers and inspired artists that deserve to have their work seen by a larger audience, and I'd love to be the publisher that affords them that opportunity.

On the writing side, I'd like to be able to finally develop and write the several graphic novels I have floating in my head. I don't have any desire to write a monthly book for Marvel or DC, but to be honest, the thought of doing a one-shot here and a limited series there is appealing. I grew up with many of their iconic characters, and I imagine it would be fun to play in their sandbox for an afternoon. But I'd like to spend most of my days building my own dream house.

BIG UP:

My tastes tend to fly back and forth all over the spectrum. I suppose it's not too original to admit my holy trinity of comic creators are the old stalwarts Moore, Miller, and Gaiman. Let's see, who else... Matt Wagner's GRENDEL, Tim Truman's SCOUT, Brian Azzarello's 100 BULLETS, Craig Thompson's GOODBYE, CHUNKY RICE. Almost anything by Paul Pope. Jeff Smith's BONE was a fantastic series, and Serpieri's DRUUNA graphic albums for the sheer artistic pleasure. John G.'s WHEELCHAIR RIOT zines for their crazy punk energy. And my fellow Panel member Tom Williams. He recently drew NO DEAD TIME, a graphic novel from Oni, and it's killer work.

A new creator I recently came across is Rebecca Dart, who did a graphic album called RABBIT HEAD. It's one of those books that's so inventive, so ingenious, and uses the comics medium so masterfully that it makes me absolutely, positively jealous.

BIG TIME:

My ambition is to one day write a series that has the same kind of emotional resonance with readers as JM DeMatteis and John J Muth's MOONSHADOW did with me. That book is my all time favorite comic series, ever. It's about as close as you can get to sequential art perfection.

In the meantime, I'm already looking ahead to the next volume of our PANEL anthology, and starting work on a new set of BIGCITYBLUES stories. Plus I'm slowly working on a trilogy of graphic novels which are wholly unrelated, yet share a common bond. Something to do with photographs.

Then there's GOD'S ACRE, a webcomic I'm writing with Scott Lambridis, featuring a young brother and sister and a certain mysterious graveyard they frequent. The artwork is by Angie Needels, who is doing it as a mix of maquettes and painted art.

BIG FINISH:

From an egotistical standpoint, I'd love to have several graphic novels on bookstores shelves and in library collections. But ultimately, I'd like to be remembered simply as a good storyteller.

BIG DEAL:

The best place to preview my works and buy the different books is on my website. Ferret Press books are also available through the Westfield catalog, and to retailers through Cold Cut Distribution and FM International. Also, we have a group blog at http://www.ferretpress.com/weblog, where you'll find our daily musings on comics, the creative process, politics, the web, and life in general.

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