Zuda Weekly: Interview with The Night Owls’ Bobby and Peter Timony

This week on Zuda Weekly, we have an interview with the creators of Zuda Comics second instant winner The Night Owls – Bobby and Peter Timony. The brothers just wrapped up the first volume of the title, which will see the release of the print copy on March 9th of this year. It’s a throwback of a title, reading more like a Sunday comic strip, yet is filled with hilarity, brilliant characterization, and just great craftsmanship.

If the concept of a brilliant detective, an independent woman with a ton of moxie, and a gargoyle acting as the world’s most preeminnt supernatural detective agency sounds interesting to you, don’t miss this title. I loved it so much I had t read the whole run in one sitting.

Thanks to Zuda and the Brothers Timony for the opportunity for this interview. Hope you all enjoy the interview – it’s after the jump.

Our interviews typically start with an old Warren Ellis line from his Come In Alone series at Comic Book Resources. Why comics? How did you decide to pursue a career in comics?

BT: I think my answer here will be similar to most people’s answer. A career in comics starts with a love of comics. I don’t need to explain the appeal of comics to this crowd. I think they know. For me, making my own comics was a favorite pass time. Peter and I had school desks in our room and we’d hole up with a stack of paper and a big box of pens and markers. Mom used to plead with us to get out more. “Don’t you want to stay out late with your friends and get in trouble? I won’t mind.”

PT: Even though Bobby and I used to write and draw our own comics as far back as we can remember, our love of comics was really born when we were around 10 years old. Our house burned down. Mom asked us what kind of stuff we lost in the fire, and we mentioned a stack of comic books we had, it was maybe about a dozen comics. Mom went out and bought us a big box full of comics. We were hooked ever since.

How did you get involved with Zuda Comics?

BT: I heard about Zuda online somewhere the summer before it launched, and it sounded like a good opportunity, so I started kicking some ideas around. When I heard they were going to have a launch party in NYC, I hurried to get my comic done in time. While I was working on page 7, I realized I had no page 8, so Peter stepped up and provided for me a nice one page gag. He then wrote the next story arc while I drew it.

I finished it and brought it to the launch party, where Richard Bruning took a look at it and encouraged me to submit it electronically. When I got home, that’s what I did.

PT: I would also add that we did a 24 Hour Comic event in NYC, and one of the other participants was Dan Goldman, from ACT-I-VATE. He reminded us about Zuda and told us they were only a couple weeks away from launching, so if we wanted to get something done, we should do it fast. Thanks, Dan! Also, the $250 page rate that Zuda offers was a big incentive.

The Night Owls was only the second instant winner at Zuda Comics. How did it feel to achieve that?

BT: My mind was blown. I got an email from Kwanza asking if I’d like to be an instant winner. In my mind, I always knew that was a possibility, but I figured it was such a remote one that I hadn’t given it much thought. I would have been happy to just get into the competition.

I went through my old emails, and here’s the actual reply I sent back to Kwanza:

Instant winner?!?! Holey Moley!!!
I’d love to work with you guys!

PT: Bobby called me up to tell me about the win, and it was very exciting. We had prepared Night Owls before they launched, so we weren’t sure what kind of comics they were looking for. When they did launch, I couldn’t help but notice that none of the comics took the same approach we did, and that made me a little nervous.

What opportunities has working with Zuda provided you that you weren’t able to get elsewhere as creators?

BT: Before Zuda, I didn’t know anybody else in the comics industry. I think the best thing Zuda provided me with was an entirely new network of peers, friends and drinking buddies. (And that wasn’t even in the contract!)

PT: We have book coming out in March. Before Zuda, that just didn’t seem to be in the cards. If you ask me, Zuda is the best way for an aspiring comic creator to get a foot in the door today.

The Night Owls is an absolutely brilliant creation. It’s fairly simple yet has a lot of hidden depth to it, has incredibly rich characters, and deals with a lot of dark subjects without losing its heart or warm nature. Plus, it has one of the best female characters in comics today and successfully pulls off a Gargoyle as a lead character. How exactly did you create this title? What inspired this story?

BT: Thank you! Most of the credit belongs to Peter, who wrote every page from 8 on. I provided the sandbox, and Peter built the castle.

The inspiration for the Night Owls came from a Harold Lloyd movie called “Speedy”. It was shot on location in New York in the 1920s and featured Harold Lloyd as a taxi driver. We’re treated to some great scenes on the subway, in coney island and Yankee Stadium, where Harold picks up Babe Ruth!

At the time I was trying to come up with an idea for a comics class I was taking at the SVA, and I decided I’d set it there, in New York in the 20s. The rest was built up from there. I thought if I was going to set it here, I’d need a scrappy flapper. Then I’d need something for her to do, and the idea just built up into the Night Owls.

PT: Bobby provided the ground work, the three main characters, the time and location, as well as the light hearted comedic vibe of the strip. It was fun to take these characters and run with them. At the time we won, we had a plan for Season one, ending with the cliffhanger on page 60. The idea was to tell a bunch of short stories that together told a larger story, and to end on a cliff-hanger just in case they wanted more. Once we got the contract, I started plotting out the next two seasons, even though Zuda doesn’t guarantee a contract extension. With the next two seasons, I wanted to develop the main characters more. Season Two went into Mindy’s back-story a bit and had Ernie finally realizing his feelings for her. Season 3 was all about Ernie’s jealousy when Mindy started dating Bill.

Ernest Baxter, supernatural detective extraordinaire is a hell of a lead and very well developed one at that. How did you develop him as a character, and did you have a good idea as to where you were going to take him from the beginning? If and when the next volume starts, will we get more into how he became the preeminent supernatural detective of the world?

BT: Ernest started with Harold Lloyd as my inspiration. I gave him the same round glasses. As I sketched him, his character just kind of suggested itself as I drew.

I was looking for someone who’d be a good foil for my scrappy flapper, and the shy bookworm seemed to fit the bill. Of course, he needed to carry his own weight and be an asset to the team as well, so he became the leading expert in his field. His backstory as presented in seasons 1-3 was a little half baked at first. I had this notion that he could only go out at night because he was allergic to sunlight, but I realized that given the nature of the story, people would suspect or assume he was some kind of vampire. I wanted to reward that suspicion with an alternate explanation, but not make him a vampire, since that would be too obvious. I also had this image in my head of them being chased through the streets by a cyclops. I talked it over with Peter and we came up with the whole “Big Owl” arc based on those initial thoughts.

There’s much more to Ernie’s backstory we haven’t touched on yet, including a bizarre event in Ernie’s youth that gave him his drive to know all there was to know about the supernatural.

PT: What I like about Ernie is that he is an expert in his field, and also very courageous when he needs to be, but is painfully shy and humble. He doesn’t know how great he can be, and isn’t even aware that he is a leader, though he obviously is. If we return for a fourth season, we will learn about what started Ernie down this path, and how it continues. Eventually we would see Ernie becoming a very powerful wizard, though not from any kind of lust for power, but out of necessity. If the only way to save the day is to become the world’s foremost sorcerer, then that is what he will do. Of course, once he has that kind of power, it is his love for Mindy and his friendship with Roscoe that must keep him grounded.

It’s easy to label Mindy Markus as the breakout character of the series. She’s almost a character unstuck from time, embracing modern sensibilities (and looks) but way back in 1926. Plus, she’s a scrapper and adorable. With so many creators struggling to develop female characters, it would have been easy to fall into the same traps. How did you avoid those same problems and create such a well rendered and three dimensional character?

BT: To understand Mindy, you have to understand her in context to her environment.

The roarin’ twenties was a time where many Americans threw the old timey views of morality out the window in favor of modern sensibility and science. It was a time where the Scopes monkey trial made Darwin’s theory of Evolution look cutting edge, and the Bible thumpers look like backwards fuddy-duddies. People were openly defying the law of the land by boozing up in speak-easys, and an epidemic of “Heavy Petting” was sweeping the dating scene. Women had already served in the armed forces during World War One, and in 1920 had finally been granted the right to vote.

Add to this scene Mindy Markus. Mindy had grown up with a very old fashioned father who was horrified by Mindy’s modern way of thinking and tried to keep her on a tight leash. This naturally made Mindy even more rebellious until she was literally locked away in a tower. After she escaped, she embraced the modern lifestyle and no man would ever keep her down again.

PT: Even though she’s a tough gal and can go to-to-toe with a werewolf when the occasion demands, she still has her femininity, which comes out during the quieter moments. She still likes it when a man brings her flowers, and she still likes to dress up and go dancing when the occasion presents itself. When and how she lets these two sides of her personality manifest is part of what makes her a well rounded character, and fun to write.

The look of the book is a very classic, cartoon strip style with incredibly clean lines but a lot of subtlety and detail (not to mention the warm sepia wash). How did you two decide that was the look you wanted for the title?

BT: The look and feel of the comic was decided by two factors. One was the format.

Zuda’s horizontal format reminded me strongly of Sunday style newspaper comics, so that’s what we went for. Each page would be a complete unit unto itself, while also advancing the longer story.

The second factor was the setting we chose. The Banner helps set the stage and the sepia is very evocative of the imagery we have of the era. Obviously the Twenties were in full color, but thanks to the technology of the time, the collective consciousness sees it in a warm sepia.

PT: This question is all Bobby. He made those decisions before I came on board, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

One of the recurring visuals throughout the series is the art deco style banner at the top. First off, I have to say it’s completely awesome. I was sold as soon as I saw it. Why did you decide to include that with every strip?

BT: We wanted the Night Owls to be accessible to new readers on every page, so the banner along the top is like the marquee on a theatre, naming your main players. It’s also like the comics equivalent of the opening credits sequence. It’s the first thing the reader sees and its familiarity hopefully puts the reader back into that “Night Owls Time” frame of mind no matter how long it’s been since they last read the comic.

PT: Though it limits the space Bobby has to draw in, it does serve an important function. It adds to the Sunday Comic feel that we were going for. The way we originally interpreted the contract, we’d be given one screen per week for a year. So, we wrote the comic with that time frame in mind, knowing that it would be at least one week before anyone read the next page.

When the Owls were in Funari, the series is in full color for the first and only time. Why did you decide to go that direction for just that one arc?

BT: That was an homage to the 1939 “Wizard of Oz”. The black and white to full color trick employed by that film was very effective in illustrating the difference between Kansas and Oz. We were going for the same effect here. Also, we wanted to experiment a bit, and break up the formula for a little while.

PT: It was a nod to “The Wizard of Oz”, and to keep things interesting for the fans. You’ll note also that during that story arc, the banner changed to read, “Knight Owls”.

Who would you say has been the most surprisingly popular character? Personally, I’m a huge fan of Dr. Makrell. You have to love a wizard/doctor talking giraffe.

BT: I think everybody has their own favorites. Makrell was too good not to bring back for another story arc. My personal favorite is Filthy the Rat. If they ever made a Night Owls movie, I’d lobby to play Filthy in a cameo role.

I think the secondary character who got the biggest response from readers was Helaku. People love her! We got thank you’s from the fan when she reappeared, and people really booed Ernie when was insensitive to her.

PT: Mr. You was a very popular villain in the series, and I heard from a bunch of folks who were disappointed (SPOILERS) when we killed him off.

How did it feel to earn those Harvey Award nominations?

BT: That was great, and also a huge surprise. Aside from one blog post about the Harveys, we did no campaigning at all. I woke up one morning with all these congratulations messages on my phone, and I was like “What’s going on?…”

The Award ceremony was a blast, too. We shared some tables with other Zuda folk and friends and had a righteously good time.

PT: The Harvey noms were a complete surprise! The award ceremony was a lot of fun too, and the food was good. Maryland crab cakes! Yum. We didn’t win, but HIGH MOON did, so that’s good. Zuda was well represented at the Harveys, which made the whole evening a lot of fun. The other Zuda noms were David Gallaher and Steve Ellis for HIGH MOON, Sheldon Vella for SUPERTRON and Johnny Zito, Tony Trov and Sascha Borisich for BLACK CHERRY BOMBSHELLS. All great comics, all great people.

Rich Johnston had posted long ago about a rumor involving The Night Owls being translated to animation. That was a little under two years ago, but it brings up the fact that this would be an AWESOME animated series. Is that something that the two of you have thought about pursuing (excluding the motion comics you made)?

BT: I’m not sure exactly where that rumor came from, but I suspect the motion comics you sighted was where it started.

Yes, an animated series or movie would be awesome, but I haven’t really shopped it around. However, the property is in front of people who are in charge of such things over at Warner Brothers, so it remains a remote possibility. We’ll just have to wait and see on that.

PT: There doesn’t seem to be anything cooking on that front, but that hasn’t stopped us from doing some fantasy casting. I know Bobby would love to see Anne Hathaway play Mindy. And, because Jimmy Durante is no longer available to do the voice of Roscoe, I think Lewis Black would do an excellent job.

Now that the first volume (third season) has been completed and March 9th is bringing us the release of the print edition of that same volume, when can we expect more from Ernest, Mindy, and Roscoe?

BT: The story of the Night Owls isn’t over. I’m not sure when we’ll return to it, but when we do, it’ll be awesome! We have a lot of cool story ideas and new directions in mind.

PT: There are few things you could do if you want to see more Night Owls. You could send Zuda a message via their feedback page, you could go mark the comic as a favorite and maybe give it five stars, if you like, but first and foremost, buy the book when it comes out in March!

What’s next for the Brothers Timony?

BT: We have a few irons in the fire as far as new projects go. We’re also continuing to update Minion Maze every Wednesday at Minionmaze.com.

We’re planning to do a lot of promoting when the book comes out, too. We’ll be visiting many Conventions around the country and we have a book signing lined up at the Barnes and Noble at 240 Route 22 West, in Springfield, NJ on March 26th. Stop by if you’re in the area!

PT: You can visit our Twin Comics website, we have a blog there where we will keep everyone up to date. You can also join our Twin Comics page on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter! I’m ptimony and Bobby is BTimony.