Quick Look: Robert A. Multari’s Lone Wolf comics aim to create a universe

Quick Look: Robert A. Multari’s Lone Wolf comics aim to create a universe

Being born a werewolf has its drawbacks, surprisingly

That’s the premise of Night Wolf, the ongoing series from Robert A Multari’s and his Lone Wolf Comics independent publishing company. At Motor City Comic Con this year, Multari was showcasing several of his current projects, and the concept behind this particular comic stuck out at me. “It’s about a kid who realizes he’s been born a werewolf. While that may seem cool at first, it actually comes with a lot of pressure and responsibility,” he tells me.

That responsibility part comes from the millennia-old war between werewolves and vampires (and other things that would typically fall into the horror monster genre). But, this isn’t necessarily a horror book — it’s sort of a mix between the arcane and the heroic. And it takes place just outside of Pittsburgh, where he’s from, so that he can keep things grounded and familiar. Multari tells me that his hopes are for this book (and its spin-off, Snow Paw) are to be part of a growing shared universe in which different characters and genre are tapped into. He’s already developed over 50 characters, which run from the dark and mystic to the cape & cowl, that appear in each other’s books. Building a shared world can be tough, but Multari’s been working on that world since he was in his teens. He tells me that comics helped him through his ADD and Dyslexia, and creating all these characters and stories kept him focused. And, moving an IP from just comics into other aspects can be just as daunting a task.

“I want my daughter to be able to read these books. Or at least these characters. It’s like, ‘this is what my dad made!’ but maybe not as dark.” Multari tells me that he’s already developing a kids book based on these properties that should arrive in the Fall. Juggling all of this work could be difficult, and running a startup self-publisher just as hard, but he’s in high spirits. “We just finished our Kickstarter for issue #7 of Night Wolf, and we smashed the goal.”

You can find out more about Robert A. Multari and his Lone Wolf Comics at lonewolfcomics.com. Photo taken at Motor City Comic Con 2023.