Similarly, there’s a reason Taylor Esposito letters everything I do, and it’s because he truly engages with the work. Lovern, as a writer himself, reads the scripts, looks at the art, and finds ways to amplify everything that Tony and I are going for with thoughtful, powerful color choices. But beyond that, Lovern is a comics innovator he’s one of the people who invented contemporary comics coloring, using digital tools not just to make things look aesthetically gorgeous (which they always do!) but to participate as a storyteller. As Tony mentioned, it was a big deal for us to get Lovern on this book, due in no small part to his having colored a ton of our favorite classic Lobo work, which is a huge influence on the type of sci-fi comedy we’ve pursued. Sitterson: This question makes me so happy because, frankly, Lovern Kindzierski and Taylor Esposito are both doing truly brilliant stuff on The Worst Dudes and I’m tickled pink that you’re picking up on it. Gregori: Lovern’s understanding of color and mood took the book to another level, his experience speaks volumes and he brought that Lobo energy to every page! And Taylor’s creativity was greatly exhibited in this book, from his logo design to the font choices for our leads’ catchphrases, he showed what a great letterer can bring to a book! Grunenwald: How has the work of your collaborators, Lovern Kindzierski and Taylor Esposito, elevated this book? Both of them get to show off some fun stuff in the first issue. Seriously, don’t tell Brett, but I’m still shocked with what he’s letting us get away with. But really, the biggest thing for me was, once establishing those rules, figure out how to a) Get the biggest laughs possible out of Tony, and b) Explore the outer limits of what our very patient, brilliant, handsome editor Brett Israel would allow to see print. Sitterson: Tony and I talked extensively during the development process and we set up a bunch of rules for how we’d approach this raunchy, vulgar comedy. It amps up each issue, #1 is just a taste! A lot of the gags are in the script so I just tried to bring them home to the best of my ability, bringing to life what was on the page and trying to elevate it. Gregori: I tried to make sure I never punched down, or made something “raunchy” just for the sake of it. Grunenwald: What’s each of your guiding principle as you’re sitting down to write or draw an issue of The Worst Dudes? Is there an element of trying to one-up each other at all when it comes to packing in the raunchiness? And I’m so very blessed and grateful that Dark Horse has put so much faith in me. I’m a genre guy, through and through, whether it’s stoner kung fu in Stoned Master, my current Kickstarter with Chris Moreno, leftist superhero comics with Tyrell Cannon on BEEF BROS, Jed Dougherty and my sexy jungle romcom Savage Hearts, or raunchy Chandler-esque scifi mysteries like The Worst Dudes. I love doing No One Left to Fight with Fico Ossio, but fight comic soap operas aren’t the only books I want to write. Sitterson: So, first, I feel like I’m obligated to mention that both books do have space cats in them, Caligula Monomacho in The Worst Dudes and the intergalactic rock star Billy Von Katz in No One Left to Fight, but that being said…fair point!Īs for hesitation: Not a single iota. Was going in the complete opposite direction a conscious choice? Given the success of the previous book, was there any hesitation on your part about following it with The Worst Dudes? Grunenwald: Aubrey, this book feels about as far away from No One Left to Fight as you can get. Books you’d only read at night under the covers. As much as I love some serious, highbrow, artful comics, there’s also a long, proud tradition of stuff you need to hide from your friends, families, and religious leaders. We also felt like there was a lack of this type of material. I can’t express enough how much fun Aubrey and I had making this, constantly making each other chuckle with each indignity we created.Īubrey Sitterson: Tony and I really hit it off as pals because we share a love for raunchy, vulgar humor and stories about absolute dirtbags the kind of nihilistic, willfully trashy entertainment that we loved as utterly loathsome teen boys, and that, truthfully, still cracks us up. Aubrey wrote this brilliant shaggy dog mystery while I designed the world, but we bounced ideas off of each other and inspired each other’s decisions. At the time I was on a New Gods kick so we went from there, it was a total collaboration. Tony Gregori: We started developing The Worst Dudes in early ‘18, Aubrey had reached out to work on something together and asked me what I felt like drawing.
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