Although Howarth is best known for the adventures of Ron and Russ Post, bloodthirsty dimension-surfing assassins in the Philip K. Dick hallucinatory mode, he is proudest of his hard SF titles. "Konny & Czu" is a deep space series without humanoid characters, focusing on two extraterrestrial con artists that look like a large centipede and a bunch of rocks, while "Keif Llama: Xenotech" follows the adventures of a young woman hired by the galactic government as a "xenotech," a human trained to communicate with aliens.
You’ve been on the scene for awhile. How do you think science fiction -- comics, novels, the whole industry -- have changed since the 1970s?
As a whole, science fiction has been subjected to the same growth and maturity that most other genres of fiction have. Meanwhile, the lowest common denominator of science fiction has broken into the mainstream, amazing the public with concepts that true SF aficionados grew bored with 20 years ago. Attempts to produce "modern" SF tales tailored for mass market appeal have failed brutally -- one cannot be innovative and thought-provoking when the real goal is to make the production company rich.
Films still suffer from the same problems that plagued the movie industry back in the early part of this century -- the "writer" is still considered to be a totally unimportant part of the creative process. An example: the film version of Solaris was a brilliantly loyal translation of Lem's book that maintained a striking visual sense. It bombed. Why? Because it lacked car chases, blazing gunfire and sexy girls. Another example: "Star Wars: Episode 1" bombed because it ignored the impact the first three films had upon the mass market -- the public has seen enough flashy facades and now requires more depth and new content. Rehashing the old model bored the Star Wars fans as readily as the original "stories" bored the serious SF fan back in the 1980s. Everyone agreed it looked great, but was nothing but a old Kurosawa film at heart underneath the flashy curtain.
I'm avoiding the question again, aren't I? But I don't think so. Science fiction has evolved, not just as fiction gradually became fact (moon landing, household computers, clones), but as any medium of creative endeavor evolves. And, despite the medium, the "best" is often overlooked as it happens, only to be discovered when the rest of the market catches up. David Brin has written some awesomely great books, but most people only know of him because of the terrible hack-job Kevin Costner perpetrated on "The Postman." Meanwhile, big budget films like "Event Horizon" and "The Fifth Element" bombed in theaters because they attempted to deliver expensive flash laden with detailed thought-involving storylines.
What trends do you see emerging in science fiction in the next few years? Anything lumbering over the horizon now?
Alas, I fear the fact that "Star Wars: Episode 1" flashed through theaters faster than a vidiot's blink bodes ill for the genre in the mass market. The success of "The Blair Witch Project" is liable to supplant serious SF content for sometime. Books will continue to be published, and experience a minor success among the serious reader, but only the broader, more shallow ideas will see any financial success. As always, the best will be found near the bottom of the sales reports. With the way these things take so long to filter down to the public, cyber stuff should be entering public attention soon. Where "The Matrix" reached to the limits of that notion, you'll see a bunch of made-for-TV movies that barely scratch the surface but enthrall the average viewer.
After a long slow couple of decades, science fiction comics seem to be getting a second wind, although the end of DC's "Helix" imprint was a troubling sign. What do you see as the relationship between comics and science fiction?
Why did the Helix titles flounder while Dark Horses' "Terminator" and "Aliens" comics skyrocket with sales? It doesn't take an idiot to figure that one out. The former tried to further the merger of comics and SF, while the latter played to the established, tried-and-true but increasingly tedious formulas. Very few things that strive to break new ground succeed without a modicum of promotional support, something no company is liable to go for while they can pump funds into promoting the product that already sells like gold, and thereby really needs no advertising!
Your work is often praised for its attention to hard science -- your aliens are alien and obey their own internal biological and psychological rules, you apologize for taking artistic license with astronomy, and you use "NO SOUND" sound effects when things blow up in vacuum. What's exciting you in the world of science right now?
Actually, the small things fascinate me now in current science. Superconductors, the prospect of implanting tech into the brain. I'm annoyed by industry's dedication to produce products that are outmoded the week they hit the stands, and infuriated by the concept of throw-away products designed to last a year and never be repaired because the repairs’ll cost more than buying a new crappy model. I find TV an endless amusement, watching how slowly people and corporations are learning to unearth its true potential.
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