This Is Not News - Comics - December 2000

DT: You both spend a fair amount of time on the redstar.com message boards - what do you get from that interaction with readers?

CG: Fun! Concerning the message boards, publishing The Red Star is like beginning a conversation with as many strangers as possible, and the boards are the means by which that communication occurs. Obviously, we're more invested in our work emotionally and artistically than a lot of teams out there in the mainstream. We're not spread out over the entire nation, we see each other socially, we work very close, and we are telling a story that, according to your typical marketing drone, shouldn't be as commercially or critically successful as it has proved to be. Therefore, communicating on our boards directly with the people who appreciate this work is very special for us. It's just a reflection of who we are, really. We respect the fact that some artists don't feel comfortable speaking directly to the public, and at the same time, why should this isolation be some kind of precedent? I suppose we're so familiar with our computers that we're not intimidated by this new form of human speech. It's primitive, somewhat, it's a bit more like ants bumping antennae than speech, but never in history has humanity done it this way, so how can we not participate, even in our own humble way?

BK: I personally get a lot out of it. Too many times when I have been a fan of this or that, actual contact with a creator was impossible, and too many times do they become aloof and insular. Now that the tables have been turned (about 1/10 of a degree) I feel that the buck should stop here. When I get questions directed to me, I like to answer them. Personal contact with people who enjoy our book is one of the things that makes Team Red Star stand out from the rest (with exceptions of course).

DT: What do you think the rest of the comics industry can learn from the success of The Red Star thus far?

BK: Stop using tried and true methods to sell (i.e.. tits and ass). It is stifling the industry both by giving the industry a worse name than it already has, and by turning off the very people who would make insightful and interesting readers. Be bold. Risk. Do things differently and with pride. I think the most important thing to learn is that yes, you can do it too--the field is wide open just waiting for a few brave souls to step forward and do it--the hard way.

CG: This is a question that I am asking myself. Will we influence the industry? In what way? Superficially? Will double-page spreads and big panels take hold? Technically? We've at least given 3D a long-awaited beachhead in the comics wars, but will other waves of soldiers support us as we continue the invasion? Artistically? Will our 'no-ink' style make obvious the fact that inking is no longer a necessity of production but a traditional, stylistic preference? Lyrically? Will our writing be of any impact? Will the story continue to gain respect? Will we keep getting offers from other companies to do what it is we do?

Since we can't foresee what might happen, we are remaining thankful for the success we have. A comic book allegory about Russia? Boy, the looks I got the first few times I shared that idea with my friends in the industry! It's really quite remarkable that we're doing as well as we are.

I mean, let's look at the Top 100 and see what's there, shall we? The Fathom Swimsuit Issue is more commercially attractive to the market than a socio-politically minded book with literary aspirations and state of the art digital graphics. We're somewhat bitter, but we laugh it off with a shrug. After all, comics are not the only medium to suffer from homo-sapiens' biological hardwiring. In any commercial artform, there is more hokey crap than prestigious effort. If you'll please forgive me for the use of a music analogy, there are people who work like Madonna, and there are people who work like Brian Eno. It turns out, in this hypothesis, that our sensibilities tend more toward the latter.

DT: You both have made wisecracks and comments about more cheesecake-oriented books, and there definitely appears to be a commitment to a different portrayal of women in Red Star -- the sorceresses are women, you have women tank commanders, one of the major supernatural forces takes the form of a woman. Were you making a deliberate attempt to put women at the center of this story? If so, was that at least in part motivated by the traditional or stereotypical treatment of women in mainstream comics? How much of it was a deliberate decision to try to show the industry a different way of telling stories?

CG: I am fortunate that I had a really great home life as a kid. My mother and father were amazing parents for their time. It was the 1970's, and yet they weren't doing what most kid's parents were in Los Angeles. They weren't swinging, they didn't get divorced, they treated us like kids and tried to make the childhood of my brother and me very special. They did so. I didn't know how good I had it until I got out into the world and talked to people and learned what they were going through as kids -- it ain't pretty.

Of course, when you see what passes for parents on those daytime talk shows -- you know, the trailer trash weirdos that are being paraded across our living rooms as some kind of freak show of the damned-- that's when I get overwhelmed with appreciation for how unique my parents are, and when it comes to the Women of The Red Star, they are the true origin. My parents loved each other in a way that is rare and incredible. Their respect was born of adoration and my brother and I basked in the glow of it. My respect for women starts right there with the example of my father.

Going from there, Love as an element in fiction is what qualifies and separates heroic fiction and meaningless tales of commercial exploitation. Joseph Campbell talks about all Drama being concerned with human origin, with all feats of greatness supplying a metaphor for birth, death and rebirth of the soul.

To create a story in which the female, from whose womb all life comes, is reduced to a mannequin for the masturbatory purposes of publisher and reader alike, (I use the term 'masturbatory' here figuratively as well as literally, for the publisher of such content, there is no doubt a masturbatory thrill as he or she realizes that they are a big fish in the small pond of American comics publishing) is to trivialize these themes. Confront any creator of any cheesecake book, and they will scoff out such excuses as 'Hey, that's what people want to buy, so that's what I give 'em' or the ever dependable waiver on accountability, 'Lighten up, man, it's just a...(fill in the blank: comic book, movie, CD, video game, novel, relationship, etc. etc. etc.)

The Women of The Red Star: Maya, The Red Woman, Alexandra, Makita (who we'll meet in issue 6) were never intended as some kind of artificial quota -- they are the characters whose motivations and presence supply the best thrust and counterthrust for the motion of the story. The Men of The Red Star: Marcus, Urik, Brusilov, Kar Dathra, Troika, and a few more that we haven't met yet, are the opposite rhythms, and hopefully all of them continue to weave a captivating dramatic harmony.

BK: I don't think it was a deliberate decision to show the industry anything (they wouldn't learn anyway). It was a more natural progression of character development, theme, and setting that led to a bunch of strong women characters than anything artificial or didactic. It is essential and necessary that we show that women of The Red Star are strong and capable so that we are true to those that we are basing our characters on: women of the former Soviet Union. These were and are some really tough people. By diffusion however I am determined to show women the world over as strong and capable. We reduce women to ridiculously indecisive and weak beings in this culture much too much. The comics industry is certainly no exception to that (I won't mention specific companies-they know who they are). Maybe in our little way we can change this perception and in the process give the industry an example that they can either learn from, or leave altogether. It's their choice.

DT: Looking ahead -- what are your hopes and plans for 2001, now that Red Star is off the ground?

CG: 2001 is all about hitting our marks, thanking the retailers and readers for putting us in the 'genuine hit' category, and continuing to grow our audience with regularly scheduled releases. 2001 is kind of a reward for 2000. We made it, our numbers are steadily rising, and no one could possibly foresee the kinds of stuff we have planned.

BK: Put out more books of The Red Star and hopefully grow our publishing company from its embryonic stage. We have several new titles planned--I would like to see them executed in the next few years. Aside from that I will let the winds of fate guide my rather thin frame from interesting happening to exciting outcome.

What does the rest of the staff think of this article? Head to the forums to find out, then add your two cents.

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