For this week's interview we have Abel Gonzo @abelspaper
Abel recently sent me his preview comic for TreeBot which you can also get the first issue on his bio or this link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3unMtAMG1ZMwg-p1oYZXLAGQc7_BQl_vKEq6bxpG_mxjLAA/viewform
I usually read manga, but lately I've been getting into comics, not too much, but I've been digging into Snotgirl (need to finish the last issues) and recently The Nice House On The Lake besides (finishing tonight) what my friend Manuel shares with me. I did not know what to certainly expect from this comic, but flipping through the pages my eyes just widened. What an action packed preview issue with a story readu to unfold that I just want to KNOW already! TreeBot the last living tree and the varying kingdoms mentioned in the preview. I forward to uncovering what lies within this series. We discuss more into Abel comic and his art as well!
Check out the preview issue comic!
We begin by asking
What have you been working on recently?
Different things! The main one being the first official issue of my o.c., TreeBot. It’s a comic that I plan to send out to a publisher by the end of the year. Si Dios quiere lol
How exciting! Sending many wishing onto your path of publishing!
Is TreeBot your first comic or have you worked on others? If so which are they and could you share a bit about your previous works with comics
I created another TreeBot comic during quarantine. It was drawn and written by me, but colored my Hungarian pal @voodoosalad. I’d say my most recent preview issue of TreeBot is much more “put together.” I also created comics for the school paper when I was in college at TAMUK.
Oh there's the experience of comics, but now grown into a more collected project known as TreeBot. An idea bursted from quarantine and now with a preview issue.
I wonder how the progress/drafts of TreeBot looked like? I love personally love collecting art books for my favorite game series and seeing character concept arts so much! So it just has me wondering on the start of TreeBot now mentioned that it sprouted (hehe) in quarantine. (looking through Abel's page one again, I was treated to some concept art actually/progress sheets)
What is it about a comic that you find interesting?
They require so much work. As a novice I hadn’t realized what goes into the process the pros put into their art. If you read a comic that’s written and illustrated by the same dude, then you’re experiencing something that is essentially brain juice on paper. It’s so sick. I’d say that it’s next to someone creating their own music and performing it.
My friend Manuel is an artist. He loves comics! He always introduces me something new or shows me covers I'd find cool. He was recently working as colorist for a comic and just seeing the process and especially coloring. Everything involved to create TONES not color tones, but TONES I imagine is difficult. Everything involving just media, the process, the rewrites, the struggles all make up for a piece eventually to be shared. I am sure Abel had his progress with Treebot and now he has his preview issue. Soon a finalized issue? We just have to know what happens after, man.
So TreeBot is the last living tree? Could you explain a bit on how this came to be?
Yeah, so, long story short (because hopefully you’ll be reading it in the future,) he’s a tree that went through a lot of experimentation. He ended up being the lone survivor while he was buried away in a lab while this fungal life wiped out all the greenery and human life off the planet. His mission is to keep the planet from eating itself and bring back those trees.
Damn, now it's up to TreeBot? I wonder if the other kingdoms will end up working alongside him or be against him? I can only imagine the antagonists. What I personally love about a story is the VILLAIN. Just like when the panda took the dudes son hostage for information, like damn. That's ruthless and the pain inflected upon his father. I felt that especially with the added effects.
Reading the comic I did not expect the detailed action or the blood, but what I really enjoyed that pieced all together were the EFFECTS that allowed me to create them in my mind! Like the squishing of the rebar and the grunts as well. Is your goal to create this sort of action comic or?
I’m so glad it wasn’t what you expected! Yeah, dude! Being able to read the sounds really puts you in the moment that’s drawn. I had actually finished all the linework and went back to add it all. The blood I was kind of iffy about, but I threw it in there with a low saturation red so it’s more implied rather than IN YOUR FACE red. Ya know? That could change in the future though.
It was GREAT! I believe it worked very well. As I mentioned it was not what I expected. There are things are stake, lives at stake, the world is at stake.
When it comes to the green kingdom I'm assuming that's like plants/trees? Maybe where Treebot came from? Could you explain the kingdoms
It’s just earth before the poop hit the fan. Earth still has extraordinary terrain that’s made up of trees even though we’ve had our fair share of wild fires and deforestation in some parts of the world. I think there’s people out there are awesome when it comes to tree preservation.. just so happens that in TreeBots world, it didn’t stand a chance against the fungal horde that’s now killing the planet from the inside out.
What could you share lore wise about the comic series Treebot that you are creating?
Well I want it to be primarily based in nature. What I mean is that there’s a cast of animalistic and plant based characters who have all fallen victim to this new world of theirs. They all just adapt and face it their own way. We’ve seen it done with humans time and time again, but what about the trees, koalas, pandas, gators, dogs, and vultures? How do they work though it all? We can think about polar bears, pandas, koalas as mentioned and how this NEW WORLD has affected them and it affects others. I can see what you mean "we've seen it done with humans" to also show that this is REAL!
Oh yeah I meant to ask but where did the idea/concept to create Treebot come from? Was Treebot first a character before wanting to create a comic
So the design of TreeBot came from hanging out in my parents garage in 2016 while I was drawing and my best friend Trev said to “draw a robot tree” for fun, so I did. He looked pretty basic at first but I couldn’t stop drawing him after that. Then I started world building around him and eventually his design updated and he is what he is today. Apple started in a garage too btw.
Y'know the guy who created Salad Fingers back in the day, him and his friend would tell each other "hey draw this" or "create a flash game about this" and they would at. Learning about this, sometimes the ideas given onto us can become the largest. It's crazy how one thing leads to another. A drawing to a full preview issue comic is out.
What's the funnest part about creating a comic?
Drawing a panel and then coming up with the next part of the story you didn’t think of initially. It’s cool with the image comes before the words and it works.
I want to ask, how would you describe your art style?
Unrefinely refined maybe. Lol. My lines aren’t as “clean” as some artists. I try to keep my digital linework as loyal to my pencil and paper lines as much as I can. I’m still fairly new to digital coloring, so I don’t know how to describe it just yet. But I REALLY like using purples right now.
Hey, even if you're new to "digital" that's now something new to your arsenal and just fuck with it! Go crazy with it! Have fun!
When it comes to your work, do you tend to focus on creating what you personally enjoy in terms of media? Such as Pokemon, dbz, TMNT, gundams for example
Oh hell yeah. There’s so many things that I grew up with that influence what I make. But the people like my dad and cousins that got me into what I’m into are crucial to it all.
I grew up in _______ and I grew up with dbz, digimon, and pokemon for example and it's so crucial! Especially growing up with it along with cousins. The older cousins? Oh man the shit that they show you! That's just so interesting to know. I love it.
Besides comics, what else do you see yourself working creating?
I’ve always been curious about animation. I just think I want to whole ass one thing instead of venturing out just yet. Maybe one day someone can animate some TreeBot for me.
Like a short intro perhaps?? Maybe some short loop perhaps?? Hmmmmm
Is there anything about yourself that you put into your work? Besides your interests
My tiiiiime. All us artists do. It’s hit or miss with what you create too. You can spend days working on something and get some attention but the thing that took you 30 minutes sells like hotcakes. But we gotta make what we’re feeling ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Be sure to look into Abel's work and of course the preview issue to his comic TreeBot!
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