CB: HI Robert Rodi and Dan Dougherty thanks for talking to us
RR: Our pleasure.
DD: Thanks for having us.
CB: Could you tell us a bit about yourselves?
RR: I’m a comics writer, novelist, memoirist, and musician, which means I’m tired a lot of the time. My comics résumé includes my creator-owned series Codename: Knockout, which is now being collected by Vertigo, and a number of Marvel series, including Elektra, Rogue, Tomb of Dracula, and a whoooole lotta Thor, starting with Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers on up to The Deviants Saga, whose first issue is out now.
DD: I’m a comics writer and illustrator, and a musician. I write and illustrate the comic strip Beardo, featured in the Southtown Star and Daily Illini newspapers. I’ve illustrated the zombie series Rotten, the graphic novel The Apocalypse Plan and the comic book Bob Howard: Plumber of the Unknown. I also co-write and illustrate the web comic Newton’s Law.
CB: I understand that you two are currently working on a new graphic novel called Sea Monster, can you tell us about it?
RR: My band, 7th Kind, released a concept album called Sea Monster last year, in which all the tunes use science-fiction imagery and themes to comment on the human condition—outer space as a metaphor for inner space, you get it. We joked that it was the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist. Then I thought, Why not do the comics adaptation of that movie? I think in the 21st century, any successful project is going to have to be multimedia, in some way. So here we are.
CB: Robert how did Dan get involved with Sea Monster?
RR: There’s a Facebook community for Chicago comics creators and Dan and I are both members. I wanted a Chicago artist for this project (that way I could promote it to local press as a kind of trifecta—Chicago band/Chicago writer/Chicago artist) so I put out some feelers to see if anyone would be interested. Dan was, and I must say I can’t imagine anyone else doing it now; he’s really made it his own. And also, by bizarre coincidence Dan is a member of a band too, the Workhorse Kings. So he absolutely gets how rock-and-roll this whole thing is.
CB: Dan what did you think when you heard the story of Sea Monster?
DD: That I wish I would’ve thought of it! As an illustrator, having the end of the world and an alien race in the story is like giving a kid the key to the toy store. But the real appeal with any good story is its humanity, and this one has it in spades. I found myself relating to the protagonist, which is hard to admit because he’s a frustrated character whose very search for inner peace is the thing that’s keeping him from attaining it. I don’t think I’m the only one who can relate to that.
CB: I believe it’s based on a movie of the same name, does that mean the script of the movie is finished?
RR: The script is finished in my head. Does that count?…Nah, didn’t think so. Anyway, as I said, the film doesn’t actually exist, so it’s all a bit meta. Which is part of its appeal, I think.
CB: Can you talk us through the development of the Sea Monster movie and the graphic novel?
RR: What I wanted to do was some ground-level science fiction—something based in our current geopolitical moment. In Sea Monster, the world is on the brink of an immense ecological collapse; meanwhile a peaceful race of aliens, the Krinati, have arrived as refugees from a planet where the same thing has happened. They point to a way out—a way for Earth to turn things around before it’s too late. Of course we Earthlings don’t like being told what to do, especially by lizard people, so everything goes to hell anyway. Lots of 2012-type destruction. But but but…we have a hero, and he has a secret even he doesn’t fully comprehend. His “sea monster,” he calls it. And it’s tied directly to the fate of the Earth. Okay, gonna stop talking now before I stumble into a thicket of spoilers.
CB: Dan for the graphic novel, how would you describe the visuals?
DD: I think you can get a sense of my style from the visuals, but I think one word that comes to mind for this particular project is “sprawling.” Robert came to me with very concrete ideas about this world, which was really appealing to me because I like to treat the background like a main character in itself. And this character is being strangled by over-population, infested with aliens, cut into with sinkholes, and warped with spiritual ideas. I want to show as much of that as possible.
CB: Robert for the Sea Monster graphic novel how much of the story have you written?
RR: We’re going to be serializing this as a web comic on the 7th Kind website and collecting it into two or three limited-edition single issues along the way (for Kickstarter donors ONLY) before we publish it as a graphic novel. I’ve written most of the first issue.
CB: Dan who are your comic book influences?
Eddie Campbell has always been a favorite of mine, I admire his career and attitude. When I was getting my footing in comics, I would really look at Bill Watterson, Paul Pope, Mike Allred and John Romita Jr a lot. Recently, I’ve made a point to pick up whatever the Brubaker/Phillips team is up to. Someone even found an old “Lowlife” for me, an early Brubaker read that made me feel like I had his diary in my hands. And of course, every time I come home I wonder if Ed Brubaker has rummaged through my place trying to find where I hid it.
CB: Robert is Sea Monster anything like any other comic project you have worked on so far?
RR: It’s most like 4 Horsemen, a Vertigo miniseries I did with Esad Ribic that was similarly apocalyptic; but Sea Monster is much bigger in scope—I wanted to really go widescreen. Also Sea Monster is my first plunge into straight-ahead science fiction, which is strange because I’m such an aficionado. The Philip K. Dick influence will be pretty obvious.
CB: I understand that fans can help make the graphic novel happen via a Kickstarter project, can you tell us more?
RR: We’re using Kickstarter to raise the funds to produce Sea Monster, and we’re offering people who donate a whole range of wicked incentives, including copies of the first issue, T-shirts, and CDs, all the way up to Dan’s original art and, at the top, co-publisher status.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221008422/sea-monster-the-graphic-novel
CB: Is it too early to ask what feedback you have gotten so far on the graphic novel?
RR: It’s been pretty much positive across the board; same for the CD. I think we have the makings of a brand, here.
DD: My wife – the authority on all things everywhere always – thinks the first three pages I’ve drawn look pretty good. So I think we have a winner.
CB: What is the coolest reward available for the Sea Monster project?
RR: That’s a hard call; we have some pretty great ones. The limited-edition comics we’re offering will have special covers that will never be reprinted (not even in the graphic novel). Another award earns you a role as a character in Sea Monster, using your actual name and likeness. Another one, for a higher donation level, gets you my services as a scriptwriter for an 8-page comics story, featuring your own original characters if you like. There’s just a lot of excellent stuff on our incentives list. And I’m considering adding one or two more, as ideas strike me.
CB: Dan how long does it take to create a page for Sea Monster?
DD: About a day, depending on the page. I’m using ink washes for this project, but oddly enough that’s the shortest part of the process. My excitement creating this world means that most of the process is preparing; sketching out the conceptual designs for things, getting the right angle in certain panels. The further we get into this, the more these ideas will be established, and then watch out!
CB: What are your thoughts on the comic book industry at the moment?
RR: This is an interesting time not just for comics, but for publishing in general—hell, for the whole concept of print. The landscape is changing, and with increasing velocity. Five years from now, the way we think about comics will probably be radically different from how we think today. It’s a tumultuous time, but it’s also loaded with opportunities, if you’re up for the challenge.
DD: I’m coming from a different angle than Robert is, but I feel exactly the same way. You know how certain eras do the heavy lifting to set the tone for an industry, and then a new era comes in and everything’s running so smoothly they wonder what all the fuss was about? We’re the new heavy lifters.
CB: Do you read Digital comics?
RR: I just got my first pad and am jumping in feet first. But I’ve been reading books digitally for a while now (published a few that way, too) so this seems like a natural progression.
DD: When we introduced Newton’s Law and Beardo as web comics, I checked out a lot of web comics and web comics sites. I can already feel my future grandchildren/grandrobots roll their eyes with contempt as I say this: I really enjoy books.
CB: Was the experience like in creating the soundtrack for the Sea Monster movie?
RR: 7th Kind is a progressive rock band with a five-man horn section, so we’re kind of a hybrid between, say, Radiohead-type alt rock and fusion jazz. All of our tunes are like miniature movie soundtracks in themselves, so when we put them together it’s kinda epic. I think we’ll probably be doing this for every album we record from now on—treating it like a film score and doing a graphic novel to accompany it.
CB: Do you have any other comic or graphic novel project that you are working on?
RR: I’ve got Thor: The Deviants Saga at Marvel, a Kirby: Genesis spinoff at Dynamite (Dragonsbane), and I just shook hands on a new creator-owned project for another publisher that I can’t talk about yet. But it’ll be historical adventure and will very likely debut as a web comic. I’m pretty stoked.
DD: I’m working on finishing the third volume of my comic Beardo, as well as wrapping up the Newton’s Law story so we can collect it into a graphic novel. Another Kickstarter project: Haunting Tales of Horrorbles is about to begin production, which will be fun because it’s monster stories in an EC Comics format. The writer of that book (Rafael Nieves) and I will also be adding to our Bob Howard: Plumber of the Unknown series soon.
CB: Will we ever see the Sea Monster movie released?
RR: Possibly. But we may have to do the video game, action figures, and trading cards first.
DD: Don’t forget the animated series and the soda endorsements.
CB: Any message to the ComicBuzz readers?
RR: Go to kickstarter.com, check out Sea Monster under the Comics projects, watch our pitch video, drool over a few of Dan’s finished pages, read more about the story, and scope the killah rewards we’re offering to people who join our team. We’d love to have you on board for this very, very wild ride.
DD: I am thrilled to be a part of this project, and I hope you see what I’m seeing when you go to the Kickstarter page. We need your support, and – once you see this book in action – I think you’ll enjoy being a part of making Sea Monster happen.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221008422/sea-monster-the-graphic-novel
http://www.bobhoward.blogspot.com/
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/garrettanderson/newtonslaw/series.php
We would like to thank Robert and Dan for taking the time and talking to Comicbuzz
