Goats Flying Press presents a unique pulp-style adventure starring an eccentric adventurer Sir Reginald (who also happens to be a skeleton) and his loyal ghostly butler Mr. Spittle titled Sir Reginald and the Clockwork Heart.
Written by Joe Atalla and illustrated by Juni Ba, Jesse Lonergan, Dimitrios Pantazis, and Armand Bodnar, the hardcover graphic novel (now available to back on Kickstarter) is a fun throwback adventure that is sure to appeal to a wide audience.
We got a chance to speak to Atalla all about Sir Reginald and Mr. Spittle in this exclusive interview.
What are the origins of your characters Sir Reginald and Mr. Spittle?
Joe Atalla: Sir Reginald and Mr. Spittle started as a response to an October drawing challenge. I took the opportunity to string the daily drawings together into a larger story. Since it was during spooky season, I thought a skeleton and ghost would be the perfect protagonists in a supernatural Victorian world. I had also recently reread Mike Mignola’s The Amazing Screw-On Head and Our Encounters with Evil and was inspired to create a zany adventure in that vein.
How did the idea for an anthology starring them originate?
Atalla: Sir Reginald has one of the most unique paths to becoming a comic that I’m aware of. It grew out of Goats Flying Press’ Kickstarter for Juni Ba’s Fables of Erlking Wood. There was a special tier for a custom twelve-page comic by Juni, which I decided to back. As we started exploring ideas, Sebastian Girner (publisher and editor of Goats Flying Press) and Juni liked my concept for Sir Reginald and we started talking about how to expand it into its own full book. We decided building off Juni’s short story “The Curse of Osiris” with additional short adventures made sense and allowed us to bring other talented but busy artists on board. Sir Reginald is definitely in line with Goats’ ethos of “Comics Against All Odds.”
The anthology has many classic adventure story elements. Do these elements change at all considering that Sir Reginald is a skeleton and Mr. Spittle is a ghost?
Atalla: Working with Sir Reginald and Mr. Spittle is so wonderful because they are such malleable characters. Unlike more grounded pulp adventures, we’re not constricted to the realities of life and can really have some fun with the villains and action. Sir Reginald, in particular, takes a pretty good beating in a couple of the stories but just keeps going. He’s a brilliant inventor and man of science who constantly finds himself battling the supernatural. The adventures are grounded in historic myths and legends, but this alternate Victorian steampunk world opens up so many possibilities for exciting adventure.
What is the thread that connects all of the stories in The Clockwork Heart?
Atalla: Sir Reginald and the Clockwork Heart is not what most people typically think of as an anthology. We have five different adventures packed with action and humor, and the same characters throughout. There’s a bit of a mystery that weaves itself throughout the stories and ties them all together. Also, Sir Reginald is a Victorian treasure hunter, which could be problematic in today’s world if not handled properly. It’s critical that the reader roots for him in his obsession for artifacts, so a motivation beyond wealth or fame was necessary. I don’t want to give too much away, but the mystery behind his struggle is hinted at in the first story and fully revealed through the other stories. For those reading closely, there are clues and references from one story that show up in another story. I wanted to reward multiple readings. Hopefully when people get to the end they’ll want to start right up from the beginning again to see what they missed the first time through.
You work with some phenomenal artists on each story. Did you tailor the stories for specific artists? If not, how did you pick them?
Atalla: I’m still pinching myself over the team we were able to assemble to bring Sir Reginald and his world to life. I wrote all the stories before approaching the artists but had them in mind as I was writing. Juni Ba, Jesse Lonergan, Dimitrios Pantazis and Armand Bodnar are all artists whose work I’ve followed and loved for a long time. I felt pretty confident in their strengths and which story might suit them best. For instance, Jesse has brilliantly executed several silent or mostly silent stories so I knew he could pull off “The Lost Temple.” I’m just so lucky they all said yes!
What can we expect from the Kickstarter campaign in terms of extras in addition to the graphic novel?
Atalla: Goats Flying Press has built an amazing community of readers and a library of unique independent books through a successful series of Kickstarters. We know what backers have liked and want to make sure we’re giving it to them. It’s important to us that the rewards make sense to this book and don’t feel tacked on, so we’re putting a lot of thought into each element and making sure we’re not overcomplicating the campaign. There will be a special treat for early physical tier backers, so I highly recommend signing up on the pre-launch page to be notified when the campaign goes live. Beyond that, we have some great stretch goals and tiers for backers at varying budget levels. There will be prints as well as original art, from sketch cards to commissions, available.
Upcoming work?
Atalla: My hard drive is packed with ideas for other projects in various stages of development but right now I’m focused on Sir Reginald. I’m immensely proud of this book that my collaborators and I created and can’t wait to get it into readers’ hands. We’re focused on launching Sir Reginald as best we can to reach the readers we know will love him and his cast of characters. I would love for nothing more than Sir Reginald to resonate enough with readers to allow us to continue his adventures. There is such a rich, fun world to explore and so many more adventures to tell.
Sir Reginald and the Clockwork Heart is now available to back on Kickstarter until November 19.
