All-ages comics are often pretty rare breeds, which is a shame in my opinion. An all-ages story is a spectacular achievement in my book, as creating a story that works for people of many different ages is far more difficult than creating one that works for just one age. Or at least in my estimation that’s the case.
So when one is announced, I have a hard time not taking notice, especially when it’s one that looks as good as what writer Michael Stock and artist Sina Grace have in “Penny Dora and the Wishing Box“, a new series at Image that takes an idea we’re familiar with but turns it on its head in charming, inviting fashion. Eager to learn more, I spoke with Stock about the book over the past week, and we talked about how the book came together, the influence of his daughter Nico, how he became a fan of comics, Grace’s impact on the story as an artist, and much more. You can find that conversation below.
Additionally, as an early review, I got a chance to read an advance copy of “Penny Dora”, and trust me when I say this is a book that does all-ages well. Fun, imaginative and just a little creepy, this book will appeal to readers of all shapes and sizes (especially with Grace’s fantastic art), and I hope you give it a chance when it drops in November. Keep an eye on it as it approaches by following both Michael and Sina on Twitter, and look for more on this book as release approaches.
I learned how to read with comics! My mom was a grade school teacher and convinced that books with words AND pictures were the best way to learn. And comics were cheap when I was a kid. So it was easier to buy a stack at a time with your weekly allowance.
One of the small towns near the farm where I grew up in Nebraska had a pharmacy that sold comics. So a lot of my Saturday mornings were spent sitting on the dirty tile floor there reading all the books I wasn’t going to buy before walking out with the books I did feel were worth my allowance — typically, “X-Men”, “New Mutants”, “Daredevil”… they also had one of those old school spinners full of dusty old paperbacks and that was where I made the Saturday score of all time (at least I thought so at age 8): a handful of those Pocket Paperbacks reprinting the Marvel Silver Age stuff: “FF”, “Spider-Man”, “Hulk”, “Avengers”, “Dr. Strange”… God only knows how long they were sitting there before I walked out with them.
Anyway, I’ve been reading comics since then. I’m a lifer. And now I’m the father of a 2nd generation comics fan: my daughter Nico. She’s 13 now and has been reading comics since she was 6 or 7. She’s also a fan of all the great Marvel Silver Age stuff I loved as a kid (not to mention EVERYTHING Archie). This has definitely been one of my favorite parts of fatherhood, getting to share with her all of my childhood favorites; and now, in turn, her sharing with me all of her contemporary comics faves — like “Tiny Titans”, “Courtney Crumrin”, “Coraline” and, most recently, that great new “Ms. Marvel” book.
What made you want to try your hand with your own story in “Penny Dora”?
I taught undergrad courses on comic books at CalArts for several years before getting laid off a year-and-a-half back due to budget cuts. I decided this was some kind of sign that I’d done enough talking about comics and it was time for me to start writing some.
“Penny Dora” is actually the 3rd book I’ve written. And my first all-ages book. (The first couple comics I wrote aren’t out yet. One, a crime/noir book, and the other a pre-apocalyptic horror book, are both being illustrated right now).
The first issue of “Penny Dora” is basically an adaptation of a story that my daughter wrote when she was 8 (!) about a little girl who discovers a mysterious old box on her front step the day before Christmas…a box with the power to grant wishes. Nico read the story on my KXLU radio show one Thursday afternoon. And since then I’ve gotten a number of calls about it from listeners wondering ‘whatever happened to that little girl and her weird Wishing Box?’
Continued belowOne of those calls came last winter, shortly after Nico had given me “Coraline” and “Courtney Crumrin” to read. I started thinking about what a great set up her short story would be for a comic series — a sort of modern fairytale based on the idea of Pandora’s Box being entrusted to child.
Well, I’ve definitely run with it in terms of writing the actual story (after basically adapting her short story as the 1st issue). But as far as building the world of “Penny Dora”, this has definitely been a father/daughter project from the very beginning!
My typical writing day starts right after I drop Nico off at school at 8:25 in the morning and wraps when she gets out of school, which, these days, tends to be around 5:30 (now that she’s doing all these middle-school afterschool programs: writing, art, dance, drum lessons, etc). So a lot of times on the drive home I’ll tell her the next part of the story I was working while she was in school that day. She usually responds with some ‘what if’s’ or ‘whattabout’s’. Like, ‘What if this happened…?’ or ‘Whattabout having Penny Dora wish for…?’ A lot of times she will come up with some funny little bit or line so then I’ll try to add that in. I recently started work on the 2nd arc of the book, which focuses on the origins of the Wishing Box, so lately a lot of our drivetime/dinnertime conversation have centered on the previous keepers of the box, and the rest of Pandora’s Daughters…
And actually Nico will be getting the ‘based on a story written by Nico Ludwig-Stock (age 8)” credit in each and every book! AND there are plans for her to do an alternate cover at some point (as she is a very promising artist as well).
Besides Coraline and Courtney Crumrin, what would you say are the biggest influences on this book?
In many ways, this book, which is based on a story my daughter wrote when she was 8, has become a story about her entering adolescence. (Sina picked up on this as soon as he read the script, and decided to model Penny on Nico, from looks to clothes.) As such, the influences on the book really reflect the comics we’ve read together over the years. Like “Little Nemo In Slumberland”, for example, which we spent almost 2 years reading; every night a few strips right before bed when she was 5 or so and just learning to read, with me reading the male characters, and her the female characters & narration. Some of the warmth & lightheartedness is inspired directly by the great John Stanley books of the 1950s: “Little Lulu, Tubby, Nancy & Sluggo”. The reprints of that stuff was timed just perfectly with Nico’s early childhood, so we both read literally all those stories we could get our hands on. (When I started teaching the History Of Comics course at CalArts I let Nico select the “Little Lulu” stories which I assigned as a counterpoint to the EC books when we covered the 1950s.) Also, there’s a number of times in the script so far where I make references to “Little Lulu” for Sina to check out.
Two of the other big influences on “Penny Dora” are “The Sandman” and of course “Lord Of The Rings”. The effect of the box is not unlike the effect of the Ring in the Tolkien books (which I read over and over and over from teendom to twentysomething).
And I’m sure a steady stream of Buffy and X-Files episodes doesn’t hurt either! (Nico is seeing X-Files for the first time, and I’m seeing Buffy for the first time!)
“Penny Dora” is basically an updated re-telling of the myth of Pandora’s Box. Except this time around, the box has been entrusted to a girl of 10. One of the first things we are going to see her learn is that being the keeper of the Wishing Box is less about getting all the things she ever dreamed of and more about keeping it out of the wrong hands. And, what we will eventually find out in the 2nd arc of the book (where we meet Kira, the teenage Goth Girl who gave her the Wishing Box) is that Penny will only have the box until she turns 15, then it’s her turn to find the next suitable protector of the box.
Continued belowWhat in your mind makes it stand out among other books both at Image and in comics in general?
Well, most obviously, “Penny Dora” is one of just a tiny handful of all-ages books at Image — along with “Howtoons” (which started last month) and “Oddly Normal” (which debuts this month). So it does really stand out at Image right now.
But last winter at the Image Expo Eric Stephenson mentioned how he’d love to do more all-ages books at Image, so hopefully this is the beginning of a bigger trend — and one that both Marvel and DC pick up on as well.
As far as it standing out in comics in general?? Well, my daughter said I should tell you it DEFINITELY does (she suggested the ALL CAPS there). Nico is quick to point out that there just aren’t enough comics out there for her and her friends — comics with teenage girl heroes written for teenagers. “Most of the ‘kids books’ are for LITTLE kids,” she points out. So, while “Tiny Titans” was great 3 years ago, and she still enjoys it now, it’s comics like “Ms. Marvel” or “The Runaways” OR the great YA graphic novels out there by Raina Telgemeier, Jen Wang and Hope Larson that she and her friends read and trade and re-read again and again.
Sina Grace is a favorite of ours over at Multiversity, and I have to say, I was stunned by just how perfect his art was for an all-ages comic like “Penny Dora”. When you were thinking of artists for this project, what stood out about Sina’s work, and what do you think makes him such a great fit for a storybook style comic like this?
When I first read “Burn The Orphanage” I was really struck by this sort of childish sprit that marks all the characterizations that Sina drew. It sort of reminded me of Matt Wagner’s earliest work on Mage with the unbounded spirit and impish energy of some of the characters. Of course “B.T.O” is also very violent and ripe with mature subject matter…so I remember when I first brought the idea up of him drawing “Penny Dora”, I was like, “I know this sounds really crazy, but would you ever be into drawing a kids’ book??” Of course what I didn’t know at the time was that he already HAD drawn a kids book for Amber Benson (not to mention a slew of covers for Boom books like “Adventure Time”, “Regular Show”, “Bee & Puppycat” and so on!).
And YES. Sina’s art IS amazing!! And yeah, his art really is THE perfect fit for the book!
I’m glad you’d already tuned into the otherworldly feel of the world of “Penny Dora” on the 2nd page! Those mailboxes are our first hint that this is not exactly the sunny southern California you may know (or at least have heard of). This is a world where a Wishing Box has been passed on from one generation of young girls to the next for a long, long time. So there’s bound to be some of these little hints that the world has been rewished, reimagined and remade in these little ways throughout the book.
Sina will be happy to hear how much you liked that part! I know he really put a lotta thought into that page (and the really amazing 1st page). Those were the last 2 he finished on the 1st issue!
I’m not going to say the book is scary, but there’s definitely a certain level of creepiness to the box and Penny’s initial interactions to it. Tonally speaking, how do you balance that creepy intrigue with a lighthearted feel for audiences of a certain age?
Continued belowThere definitely is a level of creepiness that runs throughout the book. The sort of storybook narration definitely contributes to that. But also serves to give the reader a safe distance from the creepiness at times, too. So a lot of that delicate balancing is done via that.
But the humor is there all along too, from the wry stuff to outright slapstick by the time the 4th issue hits and the Southern California suburban town of Cuesta Verde has been transformed into the kingdom of Princess Elizabeth (aka formerly Penny’s best friend who she loaned the box to overnite in issue #3). Eep, shoulda said SPOILER ALERT there first, I guess…sorry!
Anyway, I think it’s this balance that makes “Penny Dora” truly for ALL AGES. It’s like a starter book for horror fans. Like what you should read before “The Sandman”, “Swamp Thing” and “Sweet Tooth”.
I’m seeing this interest awaken before my eyes with Nico. Film/TV-wise it started with the classic Universal monster movies, then segued into Outer Limits and Twilight Zone, and is now moving into X-Files and Buffy. With comics it’s been “Coraline”, “Courtney Crumrin”, “Amulet”, and most recently that amazing Archie/zombie book, “Afterlife With Archie”.
