Like robots? Of course you do. Everyone likes robots. That’s why it’s such good news that the debut issue of Atomic Robo, a comic series by writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener, hit stands this October. The series tells the tale of the titular robot, as he fights monsters and influences history. Firefox News recently exchanged e-mail messages with Clevinger about the new series, published by Red 5 Comics.

Firefox News: What can you tell me about Atomic Robo?
Brian Clevinger: Atomic Robo was invented by (famed scientist) Nikola Tesla in 1923. The comic book is an exploration of Robo’s life and adventures, how he became who he is and the influence he had on the history of the 20th century. The main character, of course, is Robo. The best way to describe him is as a combination of the Ghostbusters, Buckaroo Banzai, Indiana Jones and my grandfather, which makes sense because those are probably my four biggest influences in terms of Robo and his world.

FFN: What type of readers do you think will enjoy Robo’s adventures the most? Is it for older readers who grew up on Johnny Sokko and Ultraman or for younger ones?
Clevinger: Scott and I never gave this any thought when we were putting the thing together. But judging by reader reaction, there really is something there for everyone. We probably intended the book for adults because it’s pretty heavily steeped in weird history and old pulp tropes. These are things most kids simply don’t know about. But at the same time, we defaulted to an “all-ages” approach simply because we weren’t interested in gratuitous content. It made no sense to have any in a book that was so thoroughly inspired by classic pulp adventure tales anyway. I think we lucked out and produced one of those crossover hits.

I loved Ghostbusters as a kid, but I appreciate it now on so many other levels. The Incredibles is supposed to be a kids’ movie, but I love every second of it. And nostalgia has nothing to do with it. These are objectively good movies for adults that also entertain kids.

FFN: What did you enjoy most about working on this particular story?
Clevinger: Just watching it come together. Watching an individual issue change as it was created was fascinating. I’d write a script, and then Scott would draw it and make some changes to improve the flow, make things more visually interesting or to ignore my insane demands to cram too much into a panel. Then I’d have to go back and alter the script to reflect those changes so the letterer and colorist wouldn’t get confused when they got the pages. I wouldn’t call Atomic Robo a humor book, but there is humor in it, and a slight change in pacing can kill a joke. So that re-writing would be the most challenging part of the process for me. Funny thing is, some of the best gags came out of those changes.

FFN: What path did Atomic Robo take toward publication?
Clevinger: The first seeds of what became Atomic Robo were planted back in 1997. It went through some radical changes over the years and I finally got serious about trying to make it into a print comic in 2006. That’s when I found and hired Scott Wegener for art duties. Robo wen through one last spasm of major changes thanks to Scott’s input, and I brought him on as co-creator. We put together Atomic Robo #1 in October of 2006 with plans to be hooked up with a publisher by around December or January. By “plans,” I mean we assumed we’d be snatched up by somebody by then.

We started submitting pitches to independent publishers, and no one was really interested. By pure random chance, Red 5 Comics contacted us after seeing some preview images of Robo on my Web site. We got to talking and signed contracts shortly thereafter. This was back in February of 2007, so, technically, we were mostly on schedule. Unfortunately, Red 5 wanted to print all its books at the same time, and Scott and I were something like five months ahead of their other titles in terms of production. Thus began The Really Awful Long Wait.

FFN: What are some of the biggest challenges creators face when they are working in independent comics?
Clevinger: Funding is the foremost problem. And if you thought that was impossible, try getting noticed. The majority of comics readers never, or very rarely, stray from Marvel or D.C. It’s really a shame, too. But I think the readership is slowly starting to catch on to what else is out there. I mean, if you look at what’s being published today, we are in a second Golden Age of comics. We haven’t had this kind of diversity in terms of content or number of publishing houses in 50 years.

FFN: How hard is it to break into independent comics?
Clevinger: I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer that question. I basically fell into Webcomics without meaning to, then it accidentally became my career for the last six years. The ideal artist for my print project fell into my lap. And when we finished enough material to submit it publishers, one came to us.

FFN: What’s your next project?
Clevinger: Right now I’m writing the script for the first issue of the next miniseries. We aren’t 100 percent sure if there will be one, but it can’t hurt to be prepared.