Hello and welcome back to Webcomic of the Month! This time we delve into a world of fantasy, monsters, and punches in Drunkards of the Cosmos! It’s the story of Melitta, a satyr who is getting into the adventuring business. That means she’s gotta punch her way to the top, but start with the small jobs and hopefully not screw up. Dick Jarvis (a.k.a. Pepperoni Deluxe), the creator, writer, and artist of the series was nice enough to talk with me about the series, so let’s see what he has to say.
ComicAttack: What idea inspired Drunkards of the Cosmos?
Dick Jarvis: Drunkards of the Cosmos kind of grew, like a nasty little fungus, from late night comic and character experiments. It was cobbled together from a bunch of different ideas, all of which were spawned out of creative frustration.
I always wanted to start a web comic, but just couldn’t build up the enthusiasm, so as time went on and I started to worry less about the end product, I found that I actually started having fun with these ideas, and the more fun I had the more enthusiastic I became about actually starting something.
After a while, ideas just started making sense when I put them together, and things started to really ‘click’, and I started some early drafts for Drunkards of the Cosmos. None of them really resemble what I’ve put out so far, but they helped me figure out the world before I dove into a story, which is nice.
CA: Why satyrs? They rarely get any love in fantasy settings, let alone become the dominant race.
DJ: Melitta and her family/ friends weren’t even satyrs until later. They were always just drunk funny devil people. But when I started developing the bad guys – which were Salamanders, Cyclopes, Basilisks, stuff like that – it really made sense to ground this world in Greek mythology.
So I guess the idea for Satyrs found me, I never set out with the intention to make a comic about them.
CA: If Drunkards were to get animated, who could you hear voicing the cast?
DJ: Kristen Schall would make a fun Melitta, but that’s really the only one I could say for sure. I have an idea for what most of them sound like, I’m just really bad with actors and voice actors hahahaha.
CA: Will the series be ongoing or does it have an ending planned?
DJ: It does have an ending planned, but I’d like to pack as much adventure in between now and then as I can. This comic is more experimental than it seems, I think. I’m making something that I can produce relatively quickly, so I can kind of chew through my comic mistakes faster.
This is a series for me to cut my teeth on, something I don’t have to feel as invested in. Not to say I don’t love it – I really do! But taking away the pressure to mess it up, making it feel more like play and less like a job, keeps my enthusiasm alive for it, and helps me improve my skill set for creating comics.
CA: I like your take on different fantasy races (basilisks being a primary change); do you plan on changing them from the more cliche/traditional way, or is it more of an off the cuff creation?
DJ: I really like putting a spin on fantasy tropes, and I don’t think I could play a fantasy creature straight from the D&D manual. I definitely don’t plan to change them, but I wouldn’t necessarily call them off the cuff creations either. I think that’s just where my sense of design naturally flows.
CA: The comic looks great in black and white; would you go full color down the line?
DJ: Probably not. I like the idea of keeping the style consistent, and if I ever wanted to experiment or play with color, I’d create something specifically for that.
CA: Will the Punch in the Face Counter reach triple digits? And where did this brilliant idea come from?
DJ: I’ll get it as high as I can, by gum!
The idea for it came from the same place a lot of good ideas come from; me and my friend joking around, and then having to stop and say “wait that might actually be a good idea.”
CA: If Melitta could punch anyone you want in the face, who would it be?
DJ: In reality, I’m not really one for violence. But jeeze, if you put me on the spot, I’ve got some politicians in mind who could really use a good clobbering…
CA: Are there any other webcomics you read?
DJ: There are! The ones I really like are on my links page. I like to make my own, poorly drawn banners for them. And then write a fake synopsis. I have no idea if the person I’m linking to appreciates that or not hahahahaha, but I think it’s pretty gosh darned fun. C’est La Vie.
CA: You’re off to save the day, what dinosaur do you ride in on and why?
DJ: A Pterodactyl, because that’s just like a giant sky horse, innit?
There you have it folks! Go check out Drunkards of the Cosmos, it’s the only series I know of that has a punch counter, so you might as well go through and live out all the best hits. Get it? Hits? Punches? Go read it. Thanks to Dick Jarvis (a.k.a. Pepperoni Deluxe) for talking with me and sharing all these great pics. See you next month!
Dr. Alexander Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
