This weekend I spoke with the Philly-based creators of Black Cherry Bombshells, Tony Trov and Johnny Zito. During the interview we discussed how the story came about, their influences, as well as the rights of tigers who fight while wearing jetpacks. Before we get to that, here’s a brief description of Black Cherry Bombshells:

BCB is about a world in which all the men have been turned into flesh eating zombies and women band together in ultra violent gangs to survive in post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. The Black Cherry Bombshells are an up-and-coming gang of bootleggers. Regina is their leader. Megan, the ex-magician, is their newest recruit. There’s lots of twists and turns along the way.

Hit the jump for the interview.

(GEEK):  How is everyone?

Johnny Zito: Enjoying the equinox.

Tony Trov: I’m a bit under the weather but that’s the season…the equinox season.

(GEEK):  Are you guys big comic fans?

Johnny Zito: Oh yeah. I’m a super hero/horror junkie. Tony’s all about the strips.

Tony Trov: Sunday strips and such but not your typical comics. Side note: I’ve been enjoying that Craigslist missed connections comic. it’s called “I Saw You“.

Johnny Zito: There’s a box of 300 Mad Magazines in our living room that your mom sent over that says different. You bring all kinds of Drawn and Quarterly books into the house.

Tony Trov: And your Robin pajamas are really cool.

Johnny Zito: Not pajamas, Tony. It’s a uniform.

(GEEK): So how did Black Cherry Bombshells come about?

JZ: Trov and I have been writing together since college.  This was just the latest in a long line of silliness from us.

TT: Zito had discovered Zuda Comics, which is DC’s online imprint. So we wrote this story and pitched it and now it has taken over our lives.

(GEEK): Was there any sort of hesitation to putting it out there? Because I’ve been on Zuda and I see some great things, and sometimes I notice there are some folks who are quite…I guess the word would be brutal in their assessment of someone’s work. And by brutal i mean, the unnecessary brutal. It’s not criticism as so much people waiting in the wings to say “I hate it.”

TT: Yeah putting your stuff out there is the hardest part.  People love to give you their mind.

JZ: Well, sometimes folks confuse critique for criticism in their rush to contribute to the conversation. I’m sure most people don’t intend to sound as harsh as they do.

TT: No way. People on the internet are jerks.

JZ: Ha! I try not to take it personal.

TT: Actually, I think your Robin pajamas totally suck.

JZ: Uniform! … I mean, that’s your opinion and it’s valid.

TT: See? It was easy to type that. But that’s the thing. People are going to be jerks to you or at least feel like they are but you cant take it personally.

(GEEK): So what were some of your influences when it came to putting BCB together?

JZ: Philly Roller Girls, Dario Argento flicks and The Go! Team

TT: And Korean Westerns

(GEEK): Have you seen The Good, The Bad, and The Weird?

JZ:Yes!

TT: That film did indeed rock.

JZ: We like Kung Fu Hustle a lot too.

(GEEK): Now the art style reminds me of Jhonen Vasquez’s Invader Zim. Was that something you guys were looking for in terms of an artist, or did you look at the artist’s work beforehand and go, “That fits perfectly”?

JZ: We’re big Zim fans. Gendy Tartakovsky, too. We went looking for an artist who could give us that flavor. Sacha (our artist) and John (our colorist) totally get what we’re going for and they’ve brought their own tastes too.

TT: It’s a group effort. Go team BCB!

(GEEK):  How long does the process take for Team BCB to produce a finished page? Is it a rather smooth process or is it more time consuming as you get deeper into it?

TT: We write it in batches. John and Sacha finish about 4-5 pages-a-week John Dallaire is our colorist and letterer and Sacha does pencils and inks.

(GEEK): Is this going to be a continuous story that you’ll do until you’re tired of it, or is this a finite story?

TT: It’s a continuous story. We’re almost half way though what will be the first book  half way though what is released that is.

(GEEK): It has been picked up for publishing correct?

TT: Indeed. Next winter you can have your very own copy to do whatever you would like with it. New pages are released every Monday and Wednesday on Zuda Comics or at www.BlackCherryBombshells.com.

(GEEK): Now seeing that this comic is web based, are there any strips that you read that you think others should keep their eye on? As well as any comics that you’re currently reading.

TT: Zuda comics has a great comic called Supertron. I think it’s amazing. Robots and rock ‘n’ roll.

JZ: Our colorist john does Intergalactic Law at PinkRayGun.com.  Boston Legal meets Star Trek.

(GEEK): So Johnny, what are some superhero or horror books you keep up with?

JZ: I just read Final Crisis and a boat load of Silver Age Wonder Woman this week. I do trades so I’m a lil’ behind.

(GEEK): What did you think of Final Crisis?

JZ: I hearted it. I had the benefit of reading it all in one sitting of course. It’s a story about the power of story. I happen to be of the personal philosophy that they only way to change the world is responsible story telling. So it agreed with my sensibilities.  And tiger jet pack fights are cool as shit.

(GEEK): Well, if you don’t like tiger jet pack fights you’re a racist.  That’s my philosophy.  Sometimes it gets me into a boatload of trouble but the lions can go screw themselves.

JZ I can’t imagine someone could be so bigoted in today’s world.

(GEEK): You’d think after Obama…

JZ: Tiger jet pack fights still have to fight for equality.

TT: Joey Vento hates jet packs and lions.

(GEEK):  Will you guys be making the rounds at Cons and such?

TT: Yup. We just did NYCC and getting ready for Wizard World Philly and we’re going to drive to SDCC this year and video blog the entire thing  its going to be epic. So yeah, look for us!

(GEEK): That’s awesome. How was NYCC?

TT: It was fun. Super packed. We gave away so many Black Cherry Bombshell buttons.

(GEEK): Are there any other projects you’re working on or is BCB your sole concern at the moment?

TT: We have a few in the works. Actually we’re finalist in the film office’s script competition called Set in Philadelphia.  Going to the award ceremony next weekend.

(GEEK): Well congratulations!

TT: Thanks.

(GEEK): You guys are everywhere it seems.

TT: Well there are two of us and our legion of clones

JZ: We try. Check us out on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

(GEEK): Is there anything already established that you’d love to work on? Or are you more than happy to be doing your creator-owned properties?

TT: Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles.

(GEEK): Ghostbusters seems to be creeping back up now. I’d expect it to be huge once it returns.

JZ: Just waiting on that video game.

TT: Aren’t we all.

(GEEK): The world is waiting. So you guys are big gamers I presume?

TT: I’m not at all actually. I quit games after Snood almost caused me to fail out of college.

(GEEK): Snood?

TT: Snood! Looking at that image gives me the fever. It’s a desktop game. aka TIME KILLER!

(GEEK):  You guys have a rather steady workflow and deadlines, are you worried about keeping up with them moving forward? I guess there’s an idea of where book 1 ends, so is it all now keeping yourselves and the rest of the team on track?

JZ: We’ve hit a pretty good rhythm now and Trov and I have the story figured out pretty far in advance. A good bit of time is spent promoting.

(GEEK): Now how has the promotion side been? Is that something that you’re learning as you go? Most peoplemay not think of that side of it.

JZ: We come from a marketing background so it’s just another tool we apply to the trade now.  Of course there’s always something new to learn. The internet is a great place for artistic and business experimentation.

Once again, thanks to Tony and Johnny for taking the time to talk with me. You can find both Johnny and Tony on twitter. You can also find Black Cherry Bombshells on the Zuda Comics site, as well as their own official website.

Images Via Tony Trov