Zuda Weekly: The Monsterplex Interview

February’s Zuda competition was quite the barn burner, as there were a ton of high class contenders and some really unique work involved. But there can only be one winner, and this month it was Monsterplex from Brock Heasley, David Schlotterback, and Michael DeVito.

While they were behind in the competition to fellow competitor Island, Alone for almost the entirety of the month, Team Monsterplex managed to pull it out in the end.

Today we have an interview with series creator and writer Brock Heasley. Check it out, and don’t miss Monsterplex as the first season starts.

Why/how did you decide that you wanted to make your own comics?

BH: Getting into comics was one of those things I always thought would be cool but never did anything about. Then, about 4 years ago, I started writing more and experimenting with both long and short comic stories. I was 29-years-old at the time, which is kind of a late start as far as these things go. I never really felt like I had time to pursue comics in my twenties. Getting a college degree, a good job, a wife and a family were of much higher priority. It was only when those things were in place that I felt like, okay, I can pursue the dream now.

My initial dabblings into comic-making led me eventually to creating my own webomic, The SuperFogeys, which continues to this day.

What did you learn in the early part of your career, from getting started to The SuperFogeys, that you think would be particularly helpful to burgeoning creators looking to get their own start?

BH: Two things. First, that you need discipline. Creating something–anything–from scratch is a difficult, long, and all-consuming process. I was lucky enough to serve a two-year mission right out of High School. Cut off from my friends and family and even being able to express myself in my native language, I learned what is to work–to really WORK. Ever since then, I’ve found it much easier to stay dedicated to whatever I set out to do. My wife sometimes accuses me of being a workaholic, but fifteen years ago my parents would have laughed at the idea of that.

Second, you have to just do it. Now, I hate it when people say “just do it.” It’s a tennis shoe slogan and it doesn’t mean a whole lot. In this case, what I mean is stop doing endless character sketches and bios and maps and whatever. Just start making the dang thing and let the story and the characters start emerging as you do so. You’ll find that as you do so details will emerge and that back story will start to cohere. Planning and waiting will kill your creativity if you do it too much.

When you first started making comics, did you know that you wanted to go down the path of webcomics, or was that something that you went to because of opportunity?

BH: Webcomics weren’t even on my radar 4 years ago. Like any kid that grew up on Spider-Man and Superman comics, I wanted to work for DC or Marvel. I wanted to make a comic that would appear on the shelves of my local store. In a lot of ways, that’s where my heart is still. Nothing like the printed page. But, as I explored my options more (particularly in regards to what I could do with a strip format comic like SuperFogeys), I realized that webcomics are the new frontier and that was really the only distribution channel I could have immediate access to. I had zero connections to the comic book industry at the time. I figured if I was good enough, perhaps I could eventually rise to the point where my work could go into print.

Is that part of the reason you went with getting in a Zuda competition, given their connection to DC Comics?

BH: That was a big part of it, yeah. Not that I have any delusions that DC is suddenly gonna come knocking on my door and ask me to pen Superman, I just have always wanted to work–in some capacity–for one of the big two. If I’d lived in New York, it might have been as an intern. More than that, I’ve been following Zuda since it began and I just really like what they’re doing and how much freedom they give their creators.

Was this your first Zuda competition? Also, what types of freedoms does a Zuda Comics offer you that you haven’t attained elsewhere?

BH: Yes, this is my first time entering a Zuda competition. I feel extremely lucky that we won our first time out! I don’t know that “freedoms” is the right word for what Zuda offers. At least, I don’t think of it in those terms. Creative freedom, yes, but I’m admittedly already getting that with my work on the SuperFogeys. What attracts me to Zuda is being a part of this nexus of creators they have, the exposure on a grander scale than I’ve known previously and getting whatever unique editorial perspective I can get from the Zuda Overlords. Plus, yeah, SuperFogeys isn’t exactly a money-making enterprise (yet!). The money will be nice as well.

I was going to ask about that, actually. How surprising was it to find out that you had won your very first competition?

BH: Could not have been more of a shock, actually. We were in second place for almost the entirety of the competition. Only briefly during the first week and then again in the last 24 hours we were ever in first place. My team and I had given up–we were actually already talking about what we were going to do with Monsterplex on our own. Then, all of the sudden, there was this groundswell of support and we found ourselves back on top. When we won…well, that was a sweet experience. I feel like I’ve been living in an alternate reality ever since.

I know, I was eagerly watching the competition because both you and Island, Alone were so well made and well supported. When I saw the final, I was very pleasantly surprised. What did you do to get the buzz growing about Monsterplex?

BH: Oh, man, we did EVERYTHING we could think of. Online interviews, podcast interviews, Twitter, Facebook, my own site, online ad campaign, reaching out to other creators and begging for linkage, cajoling friends, family, co-workers, etc. We just worked and worked and worked it. We even had a production blog that was continually updated with the latest news and behind-the-scenes stuff (which is still active). Even during that brief period when we had given up hope–we were still working it.

In the end, I think it came down to people both really liking the comic and caring about whether or not we succeeded. We’ve felt very loved in the past week. I try to be kind and thoughtful in whatever I do in life, and the guys on my team are the same way. In the end, I think that helped us more than anything. Corny as it sounds, I think if you’re kind and true then it’s gonna come back on you at some point. Very cool that it was for this.

I’d say that seems to be the commonality between the winners that I speak to, but I really think that’s a commonality in life, not just in Zuda competitions: those who work the hardest generally get the most support in the end. Congrats man.

With that said, you also put together a really high quality comic in Monsterplex. How did it come together?

BH: Monsterplex started out as a failed short story pitch to Th3rd World Studios (who host and publish SuperFogeys) for an anthology book they were doing at the time. Story wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t right for the anthology. I kind of fell in love with the core idea of monsters working at a monster movie theater and realized it was one that had more legs than I had thought at first. Since it started as a short story, I quickly figured out that what I had was a perfect pitch for a series that would work great as a Zuda submission. So, I sat down and pounded out an 8-page script that pretty much ended in the same place as the short story version did.

A little while after that I approached my office mate, David Schlotterback, about handling the art chores since I didn’t have time or talent enough to do so myself. It was much later that we realized we needed a colorist and that’s when Michael DeVito was brought on board.

While I love the set up, one question I had while reading the initial 8 frames was whether or not this was something that was developed to have an overarching story. Is your intention to go forward with it being episodic and focused on the characters and the situations they get into, or is there going to be more of a serialized plot that you weave into it?

BH: That’s a question that’s come up a lot in regard to those first eight pages. A workplace comedy setting can easily devolve into shtick and stock plots. I’m not really very good at the episodic–episodic meaning, in my mind, crazy stuff happens and then at the end the reset button gets hit and we move onto the next crazy situation. Not by bag. Monsterplex has been designed with a serialized story in mind where characters can grow and change and there are actual stakes. Also, funny. Nothing wrong with a little levity to go along with the head chopping.

With that said, how do you see the plot going forward? Is the high level plot tied to the new management taking over Corman Cinema, or is it something we haven’t seen yet?

BH: Yeah, all the seeds to the larger plot are in the pages that people have already seen. Right away, starting with page 9, we’re going to be dealing with just what this corporation is that has bought out Corman Cinemas. We’re also going to find just where all these monsters are coming from and what life is like for them when they’re not working. The mechanics of how this world works and how and why Corman Cinemas even exists is something that I’ve thought about extensively and really plays into the larger plot.

At the same time, there’s a lot of character work to be done. You’ve only seen glimpses of the main characters so far (and one of them–who is in the promo–hasn’t even shown up yet!), but when we come back to Zuda with new pages you’re going to see how they relate to each other and what it takes to work at Corman. That’s something the new manager, Lina Patel, doesn’t really get. A large part of this first season of story is about the changes she wants to make to Corman and the new policies she wants to enact. There’s gonna be some pretty major fallout. One of the main characters may not make it out of the first season alive!

That was actually one of the things that I thought was the most interesting aspects of the first 8 frames: the actual existence of these classic monsters. Are we going to get a look at the world around Corman Cinemas? Is this the one place these monsters exist, or is that a fact of life in this world (you know…that a winged vampire could be your waitress or that a zombie kid could change your oil)?

BH: It would feel extremely claustrophobic if we stayed in the theater the whole time, so in the back half of the season some of our characters will be leaving and venturing out–in one case WAY out. What we’re going to find out is that the world-at-large is not exactly aware of what’s going on at Corman. Of more concern than the immediate outside world is the world from which the monsters come. It’s hinted at in the first 8 pages that they come from other dimensions and that’s something we’re going to explore.

The two characters we’ve gotten the biggest dose of so far are Angelina Patel (corporate lackey/badass supreme) and the manager, Mr. Hull. They double as two of the three non-monster characters so far. Were there any particular influences for these characters as you were developing them?

BH: Ryan (the first name of Mr. Hull, the manager) was based directly on a good friend of mine, also named Ryan Hull. Ryan is a bit of goofball, but with an athletic build and very American, everyman kind of face. He’d been bugging me for a while to put him in the SuperFogeys, but I thought this would be a better fit as I wanted the main male character to be someone with a lot of room to grow. Sorry, Ryan, but it’s true. Lina was pretty much created from whole cloth, beginning with the question, “Who have we never seen in monster/horror movies?” An Indian business woman certainly isn’t someone I’ve ever seen in genre fiction!

While we’ve seen plenty of monsters so far, are we continously see new classic movie monsters shuffle in and out of the title (as allowed by copyrights of course)?

BH: Heh. Yeah, that’s something we have to be careful about. We get around it by being real general or different in our designs. Our Swamp Monster doesn’t look anything like the Swamp Thing, for example. And our vampires don’t sparkle. You’ll see a lot of monsters pop up here and there, some that you’ll recognize and some that are entirely new creations of artist David Schlotterback.

Given the core concept of the story and the name of the theater itself, it only seems logical that you are a big horror fan yourself. How did that love play into your development of this concept?

BH: Logical…and yet so very untrue! Don’t get me wrong, I love monsters and the old Universal Monster movies, but I’m by no means a buff, nor am I a fan of anything modern audiences call horror. I don’t like gore or teenagers getting carved up in the woods or any of that. Hopefully, I’m not ruining anyone’s enjoyment of Monsterplex by admitting this. My father was way, way into all of that stuff, so I am familiar with the world and I think I have a bit of an outsider’s perspective on horror and scary movies. In the kind of story I’m telling, I think that’s an asset.

One thing I thought of while reading the story was that it was a phenomenal concept overall, but I almost couldn’t get over the fact that the business model itself probably wouldn’t work. I mean, the chance of getting maimed or killed (or zombie-fied or vampired up) raises exponentially at Corman Cinemas. I’m not even sure Avatar could attract an audience to that theater. Are we going to see anything about that and how exactly this…highly specialized business works?

BH: You are of the same mind as Lina on this one. She even says on page one that Corman is a losing venture. Now, she was playing a part there, but I think those are her true feelings. She resents her new job because she knows what a loser of an operation it is. Going forward, we’re going to take a look at that and why Corman even exists when it’s such a bad way to make money.

But I also think it’s worth pointing out that anyone who goes to Corman must be a little…alternative for lack of a better word. They’re thrill seekers. They’re looking for a particular kind of high that they can only get there. You may not understand it and wouldn’t choose it…but that’s kind of how I feel about people who would sit through SAW I-VI. It’s insanity to me.
When can we expect more Monsterplex?

BH: More Monsterplex? Still don’t have an exact date from Zuda yet, but if it holds true to form then probably about 2-3 months from now.

You mentioned earlier that you’re a fan of comics and have been for a while. What have you been enjoying in particular recently?

BH: My roots are in superheroes, so I’ve really been digging Brubaker’s Captain American lately. Green Lantern has been excellent as well. One of the best runs ever for that title. Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men was pretty huge and terrific. So glad that Planetary just wrapped up so I can finally get my complete set of hardcovers!

On the indie side of things, I really enjoyed Logicomix most recently.
As a big fan of comics, are there any titles that you’ve always dreamt of writing for and any particular story you wanted to tell?

BH: I have always, always wanted a crack at Superman. I’ve read very few stories that I thought handled him correctly and I honestly feel like I could do the big guy justice. I think I get ‘im.

With SuperFogeys Origins, you said you have guest artists featured. Are they any artists who you would die to have guest?

BH: One amazing artist that I actually did snag that is working on an Origins story right now is Charles P. Wilson III, the artist on Th3rd World’s The Stuff of Legend. Charles is one of those guys you’ll be hearing a lot more from in the years to come, I think. As far as other artists I’d love to have…man, any of the old school superhero artists like John Romita or John Byrne. It would be phenomenal to have a story take place in the decade of the artist’s heyday.

What else are you working on? Anything else you’d like to pitch to Multiversity’s audiences while we have you?

BH: If you like Monsterplex even a little, I’d highly recommend checking out my original webcomic, The SuperFogeys, which updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Tuesdays are special updates called SuperFogeys Origins in which other artists draw stories that I write dealing with the vast history of the SuperFogeys universe). My other long term project is a memoir about growing up and my father called ‘Raised by a Dead Man.’ Not a comics project, but it’s probably the thing most near and dear to my heart.