Monday 4 February 2013

Questions for Creators #2 - The Accelerators

Questions for Creators #2 - The Accelerators

By Kevin Muzzell

 
*The Accelerators is an upcoming comic series by writer Ronnie Porto, illustrator Gavin Smith, colorist Tim Yates.


Question #1

How excited are you to know that a vast majority of comic book fans have embraced your new upcoming series 'The Accelerators'?

Ronnie Porto (Creator/Writer of The Accelerators): It's addictive - once you have a few comic book fans on your side, you want all of them! Seriously, though, it's been amazing to see so much Accelerators enthusiasm in people. It makes us feel like we're doing something right.

Adam Miller, Publisher, Blue Juice Comics (Layout Editor of The Accelerators): Very. It's quite an honor to jump into a new medium feet first and come up with something that has people excited. This is also a first for us to actually have bonafide fans. For the most part in the film business, unless you're making multi-million dollar features, it's pretty hard to get recognized.

Thomas Mumme, Publisher, Blue Juice Comics (Editor of The Accelerators): It’s really great to hear that "a vast majority of comic book fans have embraced The Accelerators." We’re comic book fans too, so it’s important to us to do the medium and the fans justice and the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive. You never know what people are really thinking, though, so to hear you say that is really humbling and exciting.

Question #2

With the many different comic book series that are being published these days, do you at all feel intimidated by 'The Big Two' and the many other publishers?

Ronnie: Not intimidated, exactly, but you definitely worry about whether your book will find its audience. For any new comic, even one published by the Big Two, there's always the chance that you'll let your book out into the world and it will just sort of get lost in constant barrage of pop culture. All you can do is put together the best team possible, and make sure that when you do get the chance to show your work, you've got something great to show.

Adam: In everything we do, we strive to be our best, so DC & Marvel were our "bar" so to speak and we decided where to go from there. The really nice thing about comics is with a little time and effort (and money), you really can produce a high quality product that holds it's own within the industry.

Tom: "Bar" is the right word. We’re fans of The Big Two, so a lot of the decisions we made were based on what "The Big Two" does. Not necessarily the creative decisions, those are left up to the team, but whenever we were stuck on a business decision we would always ask, "what would Marvel do," or "what does DC do?" The biggest example is the paper stock. A lot of indie comics print a thicker paper stock and an even thicker cover because it might help them stand out, whereas we wanted to look at home on the rack right next to the Big Two. Overall, though, to answer your question, I’m very happy that there are so many publishers out there these days. It’s great to see so many creative outlets for everyone. As for us, we’ve been working hard to try and give people the best book we can and promote is as best we can, but once we let it out in the world, it’s up to the fans to decide if it sinks or swims.

Question #3

So far you've come a long way from "lets make a comic book", a thought that many have but never pursue, to actually being able to hold in your hands a book of your creation. Regardless of the price and stress, is the payoff worth it?

Adam: Absolutely! There is a tremendous satisfaction to completing a book that you're proud of. We've assembled a great team and just working with them alone is a great reward. Every time something new comes, be it a script, a new set of pencils, inks, colors, whatever ... it's like Christmas. You tend to get hungry for that and want more. But to finally hold that book in your hand and say to someone, "Here, check this out!", well, it's just awesome.

Ronnie: Of course it feels great to flip through the first preview copy of your own comic, so great that you're tempted to just stop there and not even sell it. But what's the point of making this thing if nobody else gets to read it, right? Ultimately seeing that first issue brought to life only inspires you to go further, to push harder with the next issue, to top yourself. It's funny how things like cost and stress can actually motivate you to do more and better than you would have if there were no stakes attached.

Tom: We come from the film/TV world where everything takes forever and by the time you finally get to the final cut, you’re just so exhausted crossing the finish line you don’t really get a chance to enjoy it. Making this comic book, however, has been a serious of "giddy" moments, from seeing the first pieces of art, to seeing Walt’s first cover drawing, to getting distribution through Diamond, it’s one giddy moment after another, and nothing topped seeing it all come together when holding that issue #1 in my hands.

Question #4

I've long followed your speakings on 'ISellComics!', SMODCO internet radio show. Would you say it's the most successful of your advertising; i.e. Facebook, Twitter, BlueJuiceComics.com, etc.?

Ronnie: Every bit helps, but 'I Sell Comics!' has been the biggest gateway by far for getting 'The Accelerators' out into the world. If the book is a success, Mike and Ming will deserve a huge amount of credit. They basically just gave us a microphone and said "Here you go, now just prove that your comic is awesome!" It was as if they just handed us their entire fan base - a dream scenario for a new independent comic.

Adam: All of the above. In this day and age there are so many avenues to get your product out there, you have to take advantage of everyone. And then of course each one drives people to the other. It's really been quite an interesting dynamic to see how everything fits together.

Tom: Hands down, without Mike and Ming we wouldn’t have anywhere near the buzz we’ve generated. The best part was how excited they were along the way, we kept waiting for them to be sick of us, but they were involved and going through the whole process of learning how to make a comic with us, so they let us keep talking. Facebook has been a good way to keep people up to date and interested while we’re not able to do the podcasts and the response on FB has been phenomenal.

Question #5

For writer, Ronnie Porto; What kind of mind-set do you have in preparation for writing an issue of 'The Accelerators'? Do you have a particular influence on your writing?

Ronnie: I can tell you this: like Tom and the other guys at Blue Juice Comics, my first love is the movies, and 'The Accelerators' spends a lot of time referencing and riffing on action and science fiction films from the 80s (so far we've managed to sneak a 'Die Hard' quote into every issue). I'm the kind of writer who wants as many influences as possible, and there's a glorious tradition of time-travel stories that I am constantly digging back through as I think about the rules of the world and how the characters will react to the impossible things that are happening to them. For me, the goal is to pay respect to the genre while adding something new to it at the same time.

Tom: There is also a lot of bourbon involved.

Question #6

For editor, Thomas Mumme; What kind of curve-balls are thrown your way when receiving a 'finished' script/page/issue? So far, have you needed to go back and drastically change anything, or has it been a true collaboration from the start?

Tom: It sounds cliche, but it has been a true collaboration from the start. From Ronnie, to Gavin (Smith, pencils/Inks), to Tim (Yates, colors), to Crank (Letters), to Adam, Jeremy, Mike, and myself at Blue Juice, we have all seemed to be on the same page from the beginning. I think it starts with the relationship that Ronnie and I have had for the past several years. We told him from the beginning that this was his story and that our job was to help bring it to life. So we send him notes and suggestions on how we think things can be better; some he takes, some he doesn’t, but ultimately, it’s his story. I haven’t had to use an "editor veto power" yet (not that I’m saying I would) because everything has been open, the communication has been great. An example: When we were working out the outline for the first 6-issue arc and figuring out the script for Issue #1, we originally had 4 main characters (Alexa, Spatz, Bertram, and Eve). Ronnie wanted to drop Eve for creative reasons and we were all against it. We fought him off for a draft or two and he still didn’t feel it was working with 4 characters, and was adamant about losing Eve. We told him, write a draft without her and we’ll see. He cranked out the next draft in no time flat because he says it was much easier to write without trying to cram Eve into the story. We read the draft and unanimously thought, "Eve who?" and we never looked back. I always wonder if Eve will show up in a future arc. Also, when we were working out our contract with Gavin, one thing you need to discuss is "redraws." He was worried that since we were a new company that we may have too many notes and not know what we wanted and that he would have to do extra work. But Ronnie’s scripts are so tight and visual that Gavin has knocked it out of the park with a very small amount of redraws. The best thing for me as the editor, is that everyone has been so nice. That’s what has made this whole process fun for me. I think we’re just all happy to be creating something that we can all get behind.

Question #7

A fan's reception can go many ways. Is there a devious twist somewhere in the story-arc of 'The Accelerators' that will catch readers off-gaurd, making them think there's something much bigger awaiting in the future...or past?

Ronnie: Only time will tell!

Adam: Yes, it's in issue #4, page 12.

Tom: He’s only kidding...or is he, stay tuned? We definitely want to keep it fresh, fun and exciting. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the world we’ve created and follow along with us.

The Accelerators #1 Preview Copy Review




I was fortunate enough to be in contact with 'The Accelerators', via Facebook, and asked them if they would consider being part of the 'Questions for Creators' article, as part of FineLineInk's News column (finelineink.ca). And with a positive response, they agreed. On top of that, they wanted to send me a preview copy of 'The Accelerators' #1 issue. At this point I was ecstatic! And I thank all of them very much! As a small bonus to the article, I thought it would be a cool idea to add my own review on the issue. And here it is;

"It's an understatement to say that I was excited to receive a Preview Copy of 'The Accelerators' #1. I was extremely excited! From first opening that wonderful cover, which Walt Flanagan (Comic Book Men) did a fantastic job on, I knew this was going to be a thrilling ride. And I was right! At first glance you notice some great storytelling with just the illustrations themselves. Gavin Smith's pencils/inks, I thought, were very fitting and compelling to a story of this structure. I enjoyed the panel layouts. Even with a full page in front of me, the anticipation still continues between each illustration, making me think, "what's gonna happen nex-ohh!" And that's what reading comics is about; keeping you on the edge, then realizing there's more to come on the next page.

What really made this story 'POP', aside from the fantastic story, was Tim Yates' colors. Altogether, the pencils/inks and the colors combined, made me feel as though a true collaboration was taking place. I'd say that from pencils/inks, colors, letters, editing, etc. that the 'Accelerators' creative team has missed nothing, leaving no stone unturned. And the result of that is a book with great potential. But what gets the gold medal, in my opinion, is the story as a whole. Ronnie Porto delivers an awesome script that's almost...too perfect? But maybe that's just my overly-excited fanboy opinion. But in truth, from start to finish I really enjoyed reading this number one issue of 'The Accelerators' and I anticipate the entire world being able to enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks, 'Accelerators', and the best of luck to you and your upcoming comic book series 'The Accelerators'!"

-Kevin Muzzell