Talking with the Creators of KINGS OF THE STRIP
This interview was conducted by Chris Doucher, Editor-in-Chief, Writer and Comic Panel Moderator for GeekNerdNet. (Image credits to: Brett Monro, Morten Kristiansen and GeekNerdNet)
I had a chance to fire up the old Zoom machine and chat with Brett Monro and Morten Kristiansen, the creative writing duo behind KINGS OF THE STRIP, a 200-page graphic novel about The Scene, a glam, metal hair band from the 80’s. These two lifelong friends have brought their love of comics and love of music together into one epic-sized story, with art by J.C. Grande, colours by Guillermo Gustava Ucha, letters by Guido Martinez, cover art by Kahla, and logo design by Shawn Fehrenbach.
Monro and Kristiansen founded the We Talk Podcasts network, and under that umbrella they host a series of shows, one of them is We Talk Comics. In our interview the two give credit to speaking with comic creators over the years as a learning environment for them—with insights on the psychology behind comic book stories to eventually taking all they learned and put that to good use when making their first graphic novel. The two give us their insights on some of the challenges that came with spending almost five years putting Kings of the Strip together, and of course the ultimate message of not just having a dream project, but actually going ahead and making that dream a reality. The passion these two have for their craft, and—of course—their story, is second-to-none.
Kristiansen has this to say when it comes to telling a great story: “Not too much dialogue. Don’t get too heavy on the dialogue. Understand that storytelling in comic books is a visual medium, so the script needs to convey that, but still give freedom to the artist that they can make their own contribution to it...and let them do their thing.”
There’s so much more I can write here, but I’d rather you go ahead and watch the interview, and enjoy watching Monro and Kristiansen talk about this passion project they want to get into the hands of the reader. That’s you!