TOBIN: Write all the time. Write so much that you will not have a social life. Also, get to know a lot of people in the industry, because connections help. I'm fully aware that those two hints seem dichotomous, but, tough---truth is truth. You have to do both. Also, love what you're doing, because you probably won't make much (any) money for a long time. Lastly, have a pony. Ponies are nice.
AA: What can you tell us about your latest indy piece, Freckled Face, Bony Knees?
TOBIN: I was reading a book on neurobiology and became interested in a section of the brain called the Penfield Homunculus. It’s where your brain registers the sense of touch, and the area itself is a more-or-less scale model of your entire body. Freckled Face, Bony Knees, is about a young woman named Annah who believes her own Penfield Homunculus was removed by a mad scientist father, and that he used it to create Annah’s long lost sister---a sister who stole Annah’s sense of touch, as well as her higher emotions. The entire graphic novel runs through a gamut of narrators, from Annah herself, a girlfriend, a would-be boyfriend, a store clerk, a part time magician, even a dog and a pigeon, all discussing if Annah’s claim is true, or if Annah’s admittedly messed up psyche is caused by her parent’s nasty divorce---a divorce that went final on the same day Annah claims her homunculus was stolen.
The artist for the graphic novel is Colleen Coover (who, as luck would have it, is also my wife) and we finished the bulk of the work on this book some months ago, and have been doing the finishes whenever we have a chance to slide away from our other projects. We’ll likely choose a smaller publisher for the work, as it’s important for me not to lose touch with my indy comics roots.
AA: I’ve noticed you are writing a young adult prose piece based on the Banana Sunday series. How is prose different from comic writing for you?
TOBIN: First off, it’s harder. The toolbox of a novelist is necessarily larger than the toolbox of a comic book writer. Novelists cannot depend on artists to carry or convey any parts of the story. And certain banes, like word or plot repetition, are harder to avoid when writing novels. That said, one problem of comic book writing (that I’ve been fairly lucky to avoid) is that artists don’t always translate your scripts properly. Being a comic book writer means that EVERYTHING you write will be translated from one language, script language, into another language, meaning art language. Artists can place stress on a visual which I don’t personally feel is important, or take away visual stress from areas that I think are key. When I’m working on my Banana Sunday novel, if I want something on the page, then I put it there, and if I don’t want it, then it ain’t going in. Period. Comics don’t quite work that way.
AA: A lot of your work has been geared towards a younger audience. What has been the appeal to write in that medium? Do you have plans on moving in a different direction?
TOBIN: Some of it has been that it’s just worked that way, but it’s not a path I’m fighting against. The appeal of writing for a younger audience is that there’s a greater sense of wonder. My characters always retain their senses of humor, which I’ve long felt is problematic in parts of the industry, though at least not as rampantly as a few years back. A character with one emotion, be that a grim resolution, or an explosive sense of humor for that matter, becomes flat. Also, I actually don’t gear myself for any one age group; I write what I enjoy, and while a lot of younger readers seem to enjoy it along with me, a good deal of my audience is older as well. As for moving in other directions…sure. In fact, the Banana Sunday novel isn’t the only novel where I’m spending my time: there’s another one at the “1st draft” stage, and it deals with more traditionally mature themes.
AA: What would your dream assignment in the world of comics be?
TOBIN: Ridiculous, impossible, stuff. Team up with Jack Kirby for an issue of Fantastic Four. Write a Conan book fully illustrated by Frank Frazetta. Really, though, in the realm of possibility, I'm doing what I want to be doing. How many guys would love to write a "chock full of ladies" story illustrated by Colleen Coover? And that's what the upcoming King Size Spider-Man Summer Special is! And I’m all the time getting to work with Spidey, and the Hulk, and freakin' Captain America. I'm loving it all. I suppose I'm one of those guys whose dream job in the world of comics is simply to work in the world of comics. And that’s what I do.
Thanks!
