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GODLESS

Vampires, like many supernatural denizens, are universal players on the human mindscape, though their forms and modus operandi vary from culture to culture. Legends of these blood-sucking brutes existed in ancient Rome and they still prowl our liquid crystal displays. I grew up with the western tradition of vampires fearing God and the Cross. This got me to thinking. Why don't vampires simply move away? In Godless, one vampire does exactly that, much to the dismay of a noble samurai whose territory is its new home. However, can even a vampire escape its own beliefs? 
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THE GOO

NY Comic-Con 2007 saw the debut of The Goo.
The fourth book in the Strongarm Labs collection, The Goo joins humanity after several centuries of space exploration and the final discovery of extra-terrestrial life. Or is it? The central theme of The Goo is the power of human curiosity, what I consider to be one of our greatest attributes. But, like most tools, it can be used to build or destroy. So, if you've been looking for a story that combines quantum mechanics, the Six Degrees of Separation hypothesis, and a transport vessel named The King's Distraction, then look no further.
IF YOU HAVE TO ASK...

Ever hear one of those questions that you know can only have one right answer? "Do you want a million dollars? Yes. "Can I punch you in the face?" Mmm, No. This book is full of questions that will surely spark a conversation and reveal questions and answers of your own.


IF YOU HAVE TO ASK 2

There's lots more where that came from! "Am I cool?" No. "Are you okay?" No. "Et tu, Brute?" Yes. More questions and answers to the obvious mysteries of life.

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 THE TUESDAY AFTER
  
"It was the second Tuesday after The End of the World, and a robot and a werewolf were enjoying lunch on the ruins of man, as they had every afternoon since The End."
 
This piece is for those who like to read into everything and dig a multi-layered story. For example, the origin of the word Tuesday, the westward motion of capital, information, and human empires since the invention of the Bronze Age, and right/left split in the primate human brain are a few of the bits scattered in this work if you know where to look. It is part cautionary tale, part "state-of-the-world-as-I-see it", and part history lesson. And, I think, more than a small part entertaining.
 

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 THE TALL AND THE DEAD 

Zombies are great. When we started brainstorming content for our second book they were the obvious choice to make. The next step became divining an original twist on the little buggers. That said, regardless the form they would eventually take, I wanted to employ our meat-eaters in a comedic work of social commentary. Then the answer jumped out at us: make them big! We imagined a worldwide plague of giant zombies roaming the countryside tearing roofs open and eating elephants in a single bite. Brilliant! Plus, the concept allowed me to widen my aim at international issues as well. The resulting story addresses everything from slavery in Africa to the value of Boy Scouting, from the Great Pyramids to Euro Disney. Will humanity survive the giant undead? Will it survive Operation White Rain? Read The Tall and The Dead and find out. Your world may depend on it! 

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 THE HAUNTING HOUSE

I do not understand the logic behind how a tragic event can give birth to a restless spirit. Nor do I  understand how a place, some speck on our 4.5 billion year old planet, can be said to attract or contain otherworldly forces.Yet, I believe in both. Go figure.
 
The Haunting House is an examination of the concept of ghosts and haunted houses. Its story revolves around two friends who photograph reputed haunted structures slated for demolition, and their latest destination of choice. I touch upon many topics in the piece, but the two mentioned in the first paragraph are at its core: are haunted sites special on their own, and how can an event stain or alter the physical universe. A lot has been written on the topic of ghosts - a quick Google search yielded 27 million results - but I have never found an adequate explanation for either of those. Think about it, why isn't post WW II Germany and Poland flooded with ghosts? The two friends discover one possible answer to both these problems, though I'm not sure it was the answer they wanted. Read The Haunting House and find out for yourself.
A TALK WITH THE WRITER
Q&A with Sam Girdich
 
Q,1) Can you explain your process for writing a story? Where do you begin?
 
Sam - I usually begin with a “what-if” or “why” question. I dig research. I like learning new facts and cramming as many as I can into a story. I then decide on what type of person best represents those facts, and what kind of person is in direct opposition to them. All drama is conflict. Without conflict, you have a bunch of people standing around agreeing with each other. In Tuesday After, for example, the main characters are a robot and a werewolf. I picked them because I like how they represent the polar opposites of cold intellect and raw emotion. They also represent science and the supernatural, which have a long history of not playing well together.
 
Q,2) There's been some interest on Haunting House from a movie studio. If a movie is made, you might not have much control over the end product. How do you feel about other people interpreting your stories?
 
 Sam - It is a huge longshot, but having a legitimate company express any interest at all is pretty darn cool. As far as control over the product, I am assuming I will have roughly... absolutely none. The screenwriter is neither the director nor cinematographer. My job is to write a script that makes the reader want to turn the page, and not make them want to vomit their lunch. If I can do that, and get paid in the process, then I have done my job.
  
 Q,3) What kinds of stories do you see in the future for Strongarm Labs?
 
Sam - Good ones I hope! I think it’s time we made a comic about superheroes. I believe we can put an original spin on the superhero genre, or I will eat my mask.


A TALK WITH THE ARTIST

Q&A with Mark Gonyea
 
Q,1) The Haunting House was rendered entirely in scratch board, a material you normally don't see in comic art. Why did you use it, how difficult was it to use, and in hindsight was it a good choice?
 
Mark - About 5 or 6 years ago I was looking for a new medium to experiment with. I had used scratchboard at the Kubert School and really like the tactile sense of it. More like sculpture than illustration because you are taking away instead of adding ink to the page. The Haunting House was the first time I'd used scratchboard on a story that long (up till then I think my longest scratchboard comic was 3 pages). The biggest drawback is that it's very hard to fix any mistakes. I can add a little black back here and there but overall what you scratch is what you get or you start over. Like with everything I do, there are parts I like a lot and parts I wish I could do over, but overall I'm extremely happy with how it came out.
 
Q,2) The Tall and The Dead, on the other hand, was computer based. Why the change and what program did you use? Also, if you would have had a year to work on The Tall and The Dead, what artistic changes would you have made, if any?
 
Mark - I used Adobe Illustrator for The Tall and The Dead. No real reason for the change other than I like to use different media now and then (and I think we were running out of time if it was going to get done for the Chicago con and Illustrator was faster). What I like about TATD is the simplicity of the illustration. If I'd had a whole year to work on it, first of all, I probably would have somehow stretched it out to 100 pages and not 24 pages and I would have added a lot of texture to it. Meaning the little things that should be or happen in the background or in a facial expression that really add to a story.
 
Q,3) You have completed two "how-to" design books for Henry Holt and Company. The first, A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Good, is on shelves now and is already a Children's Book-of-the-Month Club Selection, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and has been reviewed by the New York Times. This tells me you know a bit about design. What is the most common design flaw you see in comics today and how would you correct it?
 
Mark - Actually, comics are in a good place artistically right now I think. There's lot's of variety out there
and really good artists doing good work. If I had to pick something, storytelling, storytelling, storytelling. If I can't follow the panels, I'm gone.

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