SNC Blog Interview: P.A.T.T. Comic
This is the first SNC Blog Interview. We have asked the creators of the P.A.T.T. Comic 12 questions and they have answered. Sit back and relax. You’re about to read about some very talented people, what they do when they’re not working on the comic, their thoughts on The Indie Revolution, and much more!
What is the name of your comic book?
“Post Apocalyptic Taco Truck” or “P.A.T.T.” for short, is an absurdist post-apocalyptic comic book
set against the chaotic wasteland of the future, created by Aurauz Azima and Aleister Gilgrim.
The story’s heroes, Eddie, a Kamikaze head chef with nothing to lose and a dream to gain,
and his hyper-intelligent simian sidekick and sous chef, Sanchez, set out across the
wasteland in their armored taco truck in order to win a trans-dimensional cook off and achieve
ultimate chef fame.
How many people work on the comic?
Post Apocalyptic Taco Truck is written by Aurauz Azima and illustrated by Aleister Gilgrim, and
supported by our awesome fans!
Where can people follow those involved?
(Aurauz Azima)
You can find us all over these here interwebs. We can be found at our website
www.PATTComic.com, that is where our comic is released publicly for free. We have a Patreon that
you can support over at www.Patreon.com/PATTComic, and if you support us on Patreon you actually
get access to the pages a month before our website, along with other BTS content. And finally you can
find us on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook @PATTComic.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
You can also find our individual social media links through the PATTcomic social
media profiles.
Is it a graphic novel, or just a regular comic book series?
(Aurauz Azima)
Interesting question, to be honest, we skate between the two, we don’t fit classical
comic book page counts, take Issue #1 for example , it sits at around 32 pages, which in comparison
to the mainstream comics it’s about 12 pages longer. But on the other hand some of our upcoming
issues are aiming closer to a graphic novel length. Issue 2 is looking like it will end up being 60+
pages. So I guess we’re a Comic Novel Series? Is that a thing? Well I wrote it down, so I guess it is
now.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Yeah, I think we started with a bit of the traditional framework in mind (publishing a
floppy format of about 22 pgs per issue), but considering that the series lives online first, it sort of
morphed into a longer format, like long form webcomics. So we’ve been transitioning to referring to the
different stories as chapters instead of issues; where each chapter can be its own natural, organic
length. Like Aurauz said, sometimes a chapter will be short, other times it may be longer (like the
change in pg count between chapter one and chapter two).
Do you have ideas for the future for your comic?
(Aurauz Azima)
Oh absolutely! Once Issue #1 was completed we hammered out a synopsis and
outline for what we are calling the “First Season” and it sits at about 12-13 issues long. Aleister and I
keep going back and forth on whether or not we should split our season finale up into 2 or 3 issues.
Beyond the first season, I already have an idea of what Season 2 will cover, and Aleister will tell you
he is really excited for that arc. We’re doing something a little different with it. If Season 1 is the “Road
Trip” movie, then Season 2 is the “Impossible Quest”, same genre but a different theme, really fun
character stuff we’ll get to delve into and a whole other layer of world mythos we get to build.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Like Aurauz said, we have a full plan for the series and where the characters go, but
even more, I think, we’ve been planning ways to expand the world of PATT. It’s a giant sandbox world
that we get to play in and the only thing I can say right now is that what’s been seen so far is an
incredibly small portion of that world, even down to the topography and trappings of what a post
apocalyptic landscape and world can be. Stay tuned!
Would you ever consider doing a crossover with other creators?
(Aurauz Azima)
You know, we haven’t put much thought into it, but we’re really open to work with
other creators in some capacity, be it the same medium or something completely different. But the
concept of guest spot one-shots does sound pretty cool, maybe involving secondary characters or
something like when you would watch a show from the mid 90’s and they would do that wacky musical
episode or muppet episode. Man, could you imagine a claymation version of P.A.T.T.?! Note to self….
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Crossover sounds interesting on the surface, but it would have to make sense for
PATT before we would do it. I mean, there are definitely folks that we would love to work with, but
we’re more interested in seeing what a collab could bring to PATT instead of just rushing into a
crossover for the sake of it.
Is your comic digital, physical, or both?
(Aurauz Azima)
So, currently our comic is digital release only, but we do have plans to do a pre-order
crowdsourcing campaign once we finish our third issue. At that point we should have over 120 pages
of content that iwould make for a much better and cost effective print release. And by doing it as a
pre-order we don’t have to worry about having back-stock.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Definitely digital as the primary platform, because we can control the content and its
release and be able to more readily respond to our readership and how they want to get PATT. With a
publisher, at this point, it just feels like we would be sacrificing some of that direct connection and
interaction for the sake of hitting floppy-based release schedules.
What do you do when you aren’t working on the comic?
(Aurauz Azima)
Well when I’m not writing the comic I am running the social media for the comic. I also
maintain the website and our Patreon. So when you message us on IG or Patreon, you are more than
likely chatting with me, though there are times where I ask Aleister to take over when I’m feeling a little
burnt out or the real world beckons me. But besides the P.A.T.T. related work, I have a full time job
that pays the bills and I also am currently an Associate Producer on a short film I also wrote titled,
“Last Patrol on Okinawa” and I am also writing a feature film that I am planning to direct in a year.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
For the day job portion, I’m a tattooist at the oldest tattoo shop in Anaheim (home of
Mickey Mouse), called Autumn Moon Tattoo. So a lot of my time is eaten up with handling the regular
workload of designing and creating custom tattoos for clients. Outside of that, I still do freelance
illustration and design work, most recently for ScallywagSupply/ThePinPrate for enamel, collectible
pins, as well as handling the design work for my shop (stickers, graphics etc) and pulling the
occasional commission work when I have time.
Of course I can’t spend all of my time with a machine, or stylus in my hand, so when I have downtime
it’s usually spent with my family, our pug Lee Loo or you can find me hurtling along the local Strand at
likely ill-advised speeds on my trusty fixie.
Do you have an ending already in your mind or written down for the comic?
(Aurauz Azima)
You know, not really, like we know how Season 1 ends, and we know where Season 2
picks up and what we want to do with it, but honestly we don’t know where it will end. But I feel that
there will be an ending, just not sure what it will be, somethings just have to come to you naturally. I
can say that I don’t want to be one of these writers that says they can write this book till the end of
time, because that shit would bore the hell out of me 10 years later. I have tons of other stories I want
to tell and in different mediums, so it would be pretty detrimental to one series if in the back of my head
I’m really wanting to work on something else.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Adding to Aurauz on this one, I think there are planned endings to a given series, but
the ultimate end for PATT will be more organic. We’ll get to that point when it makes sense. And if we
ever run out of PATT stories or characters or things we want to explore in that world, then it will end.
But we’re not forcing a specific endpoint on it, regardless.
What art tools do you use to create your comic? (pencils, pens, etc)
(Aurauz Azima)
As a writer I predominantly stick with a few word processing programs, Final Draft,
Word, and Pages. I also have a pencil/pen and graph paper hardback Moleskin notebook, yes I said
graph paper, the first Moleskin I bought was on clearance and I didn’t realize it was graph paper, so I
just kind of got used to it. It’s actually pretty good for writing, outlining, hell I’ll even make some terrible
thumbnails for comic panels and pages and send them to Aleister so he can have a laugh. Ha ha!
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Aurauz lies, the thumbnails do not incite laughter, they are in fact, useful ^__^.
In all seriousness for the art stuff, originally I was hand tooling the pencils and inks practically and
doing the remainder digitally for chapter one. With chapter two, I made a switch over to almost
exclusively digital art. The process starts with a draft script based on our outline, which then gets
converted into boards (usually handtooled thumbnails showing layouts and dialog breakdowns and
pacing). From boards it goes to pencils and inks and lettering, all digital now, usually in either CPS or
P-Shop, using an old wacom tablet as the stylus input on an ancient Mac Book Pro. Once inking and
lettering is set, it gets passed back over to Aurauz for a redline pass on dialog etc (either things that I
fat-finger incorrectly, or minor adjustments to dialog that help a certain joke or line play better), so he
can work on that while I start the coloring process. Right now, all coloring and fx are handled in
P-shop. But, even though it is a digital piece, every page is created in CMYK for print at about 600dpi
or so, and then converted to a web safe version (RGB, usually jpeg) for release when it hits our
website or the Patreon for those who want to check pages early.
Is your comic releasing soon? When?
(Aurauz Azima)
Our comic actually launched on March 06, 2018 on our Patreon and shortly after onto
PATTComic.com. So we are almost at our six month anniversary, what do you get the artist in your life
on that anniversary?
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Is the six month anniversary the Taco Anniversary? It should be the taco one. We
should get tacos…
What are your thoughts on us creating an indie revolution?
(Aurauz Azima)
I think it’s a product of the times, you have major comic publishers that just don’t want
to take a chance on unique voices, so they push those creators to the side, which sucks but it’s
business and I get that. But what ends up happening is one of two things, you have the people who
will either take the rejection and walk away, or you have the hungry ones that take that rejection as a
kerosene drenched rag and use it as the fuel for their own venture. And that’s what I love to see from
the indie scene. Seeing that ingenuity and drive to get shit done. I mean look at the indie film scene of
the early 90’s! Holy shit! Look at who we got from that era, Tarantino and “Reservoir Dogs”, Rodriguez
and “El Mariachi”, Smith and “Clerks”, Linklater and “Slacker”, I mean they all came from a movement
much like this one. They all had something to say that nobody was addressing and said, “Fuck it, we’ll
do it ourselves!” At the end of the day if the indie revolution you are creating is creator driven and
helps the creators get ahead and able to support themselves with their art then I’m all for it.
(Aleister Gilgrim)
Yeah, would have to agree that it is a product of the times, but not one we haven’t
seen before. I think we’ve seen things like this more when a new form of media comes along and
begins receiving adoption, the ‘old guard’ who had continued success with the previously top-platform
or format try and hold on to their advantage for as long as possible, usually by pushing the new crop of
creators and enthusiasts back down the ladder as far as they can. It’s a stall tactic at best, and never,
ever lasts. But, now, we’re dealing with a different type of shift, where it’s not so much the medium, but
the access and ability to bypass not the format, but the distribution. Now, people like us can put our
work out to the world without having to worry about gatekeepers determining if they think that things
like PATT are not just a worthwhile story, but if it’s a viable product that they can make a return on.
There need to be more and more collectives and different approaches to sidestepping the gatekeepers
that, in my opinion, are simply holding back a flood of new creators, new voices, new creations and
new genres and explorations of narrative that we really are better off having, than having access to.
DIY! Make it Punk Rock! Fuck it, We’re Doing It Live! Damn the Man, Save the Empire!
Buy The Taco, Take The Ride, Amigos! ^__^
Find us on the interwebs:
www.PATTComic.com
www.Patreon.com/PATTComic
: @PATTComic
: @PATTComic
: @PATTComic
Myspace: [404 Error]
Friendster: [404 Error]
Creator and writer of The Seer Chronicles, INK, Scales, and upcoming titles. CVO of SeerNova Comics LLC.
