In this week’s Zuda Weekly, we’ve got an interview with April’s winning team – ELDRITCH!’s writer Aaron Alexovich and artist Drew Rausch. Both are veterans of the industry that hit it big with their original and high quality Zuda entry thist past month, and for their efforts they won what ended up being possibly the last Zuda competition ever.
This was both a hotly contested showdown as well as a very publicized one given the huge changes that Zuda will be undergoing. Check out the interview, where I talk with the two creators about their work on ELDRITCH!, how they pulled out the big win, and about the controversial changes Zuda is undergoing, after the jump.
How did the two of you decide to get into the world of comics?
Drew Rausch: I’ve been a comic geek since I was wee kid. The idea of telling stories has always been appealing. So when I started to get into art, the medium just seemed like the perfect fit.
Aaron Alexovich: I’ve always wanted to be a cartoonist of one kind of another. My father worked in animation, so I kind of grew up in that world. (The thought of NOT drawing for a living is sort of terrifying, to be honest.) I’m not sure why I settled on comics, specifically… Maybe it’s the control. I worked as a character designer in animation for a while, and it was kind of frustrating to have just one little piece of the machine to play with. In comics, you control the whole contraption.
You’ve both been around in the world of comics for a while. When did you decide it was about time you collaborated?
DR: I was introduced to Aaron’s work back when I saw the first issue Serenity Rose, and I was instantly a fan. I’ve always admired his abilities not only as an artist, but also as a writer. The guy just has a way to make a world come alive. Once there was a gap in my schedule, it seemed like good time to ask him if he wanted to collaborate on something. He showed me this pitch he had submitted to DC’S Minx imprint that had never came to be. I think it was called “Firebreather” at the time. I took one look at the character designs he had done, and said in all caps (to emulate the screaming) “WE MUST DO THIS!”
AA: I’ve done a lot of drawing for other writers, and I’ve done a lot of drawing from my own scripts, but I’ve never had another artist work from my scripts. But I’ve always wanted to. Drew asked if I had anything that might work for him, and ELDRITCH! immediately popped into my brain.
How did you develop Eldritch?
AA: It started as a pitch for DC’s MINX line of books for teen girls, actually. For some reason they decided man-eating babies and tentacle monsters didn’t fit the mood they were going for over there…
DR: I came late into the game, so most of the hard work was already done. I just put my own spin on what Aaron had come up with.
What influences did you look to while you were putting this concept together?
AA: I honestly can’t remember… It was a long time ago now. I know I was really getting into the “skeptic” community at the time, and reading about famous ghost and psychic debunkers like The Amazing Randi, Michael Shermer, Joe Nickell, Harry Houdini. I guess I just wanted to do something about the clash between science and the supernatural. With a tattoo of Charles Darwin in a bathysphere.
DR: There was a pretty large learning curve with ELDRITCH!. I spent a good chunk of time adjusting to the size of the page, looking at other Zuda strips to see how they went about designing the page without sacrificing dynamics for storytelling. We definitely wanted to strike a good balance.
Aaron’s work influenced me a lot, as well. You have to admit, he has a certain organic way to just make a page exciting. Working with him put me in a more “animation” way of thinking, which is really exciting!
Continued belowOnce you had the idea cultivated, why did you decide that you wanted to take it to Zuda Comics? What is it about Zuda that was appealing?
AA: That’s all Drew. He has friends there who were telling him it was a good environment, so I figured I’d trust his instincts and go along with it. I’ve worked with other arms of the DC Comics octopus in the past, and they’ve always treated me well.
DR: I’m the one to blame for this one. A few friends of mine (*cough* David Gallaher *cough*) had nudged me on the path of Zuda, suggesting that I enter the competition, but it was never the right time. That changed last year when I was fortunate enough to have Ron Perazza look at my portfolio. After talking to Ron, I really got a great insight into Zuda and was really impressed with how they treated creators. Then things just fell into place after that.
You won in what looked like one of the closest competitions in Zuda’s history. What do you think pushed you over the top and carried you to victory?
DR: We couldn’t have done this without the tidal wave of support form our fans, friends and family. Although I’m sure the month long constant screaming in unison of “VOTE! FAVE RATE! COMMENT!” over every social network we could think of contributed to our victory somehow.
AA: I have no idea. I know our fans brought a tremendous lot of passion to it, though. The amount of effort people put into spreading the word about ELDRITCH! was just staggering. I knew we had some amazing fans out there, but I was flat-out FLOORED by the enthusiasm level for our little 8-pager. We really owe them something special now…
Were you surprised to have such a huge response to your comic?
DR: Yeah, I was pretty shocked. If you had told me when this was all said and done, we would have had over 100k views and over 1000 favorites; I would have hit you with a pie and called you silly. It was really just mind blowing.
Where do you see Eldritch going next, and how much of the series do you have plotted out already?
DR: ELDRITCH! has some serious legs… er… tentacles, as I see it. Hopefully, it’ll be around for a very long time.
AA: Yeah, I outlined the first ELDRITCH! story several YEARS ago, so all it needs now are a few tweaks and it should be ready to go. Part of the original Minx pitch involved suggesting ideas for additional books in the series, so there’s a LOT of material for future Anya n’ Owen adventures floating around. All of it science vs. the supernatural.
Your victory has to be one of the most publicized in recent memory because you also happen to be the last winner of the original configuration of the Zuda competition process. What’s your take on the big change?
DR: I think it’s a great thing. Every brilliant idea has to grow and evolve sometime. I’ll be very interested to see how things play out. On the one had, the editors will have more of a hand in picking the comics, but on the other the beauty of the competition was it gave you a month to build a readership. With that gone, new comics will basically be going in cold, so there’s a new challenge. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing the new talent.
AA: I wouldn’t wish this level of stomach-twisting competition stress on ANY artist. But at the same time, it was an incredible thing to see how the competition energized our fans. I really feel like Drew and I and all our fans and friends went through a WAR together… That’s a potent thing that can really bring folks together. The next group of Zuda creators won’t have quite the same experience.
You had a lot of big support in the comic community for Eldritch, with people like Jhonen Vasquez and David Gallaher touting your comic throughout the whole month. Was that surprising, and how much do you think that helped take you to the top?
Continued belowDR: I was really humbled by the sheer amount of support from people in the industry. It just tickled me when people who I’ve looked up to for so long rallied and called out to their fans to help us. It kept me going. I felt that I didn’t want to let these guys down.
I’m probably going to have to bring a lot of “thank you” cupcakes to SDCC this year.
AA: Well, I wouldn’t say it was “surprising,” no. I’ve known Jhonen for 10 years now, and I think Drew’s known David for even longer, so it’s not like they swooped in out of nowhere. But at the same time, none of the people who supported us would’ve done so if they didn’t genuinely believe in our work. It means a lot to me that those guys cared enough to help us get the word out.
Is there anything else you’re working on besides Eldritch?
DR: I just completed a comic that serves as a Prequel for SHREK 4 for Dreamworks and Ape Entertainment. Right now, I’m working on finishing up a HAUNTED MANSION story for SLG and getting started on the 3rd volume of SULLENGREY, which I hope to bring to the web first. I’m really excited to get into ELDRITCH! You are going to love what we have planned.
AA: Yes! The second volume of my horror/comedy series Serenity Rose was published (in color!) by SLG back in January, and I should have volume three up and running on my website this Fall. Serenity Rose is about a horrifically shy but massively powerful little witch who lives in a supernatural tourist trap, and I can’t wait to dive back into her story!
