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Ask Gremlin Experts E. T. and Elizabeth Bryan
By Sweetwind, Section Interviews Posted on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 03:59:17 AM PST
Well, I pondered how to capture a description for the title of this interview. "Ask Cartoonists E. T. and Elizabeth Bryan"? After all, they have created the comic Gremlin Trouble (reviewed here on SciScoop!), and are hard at work on their next project (about which they are revealing just enough to tease their fans mercilessly!). "Ask Comic Book Publishers E. T. and Elizabeth Bryan"? After all, they have created their own publishing company, Anti-Ballistic Pixelations, which has had a regular presence at the annual San Diego Comic-Con. "Ask Engineering Geeks E. T. and Elizabeth Bryan"? After all, they both work as engineers, and E. T. has even drawn a comic about one of the projects he's worked on -- a delightful cartoon History of GPS! In the end, I went with the most unique appelation of all -- and I think everyone can agree that it fits. E. T. and Liz have kindly agreed to be interviewed here at SciScoop. Remember, YOU ask the questions! Submit your questions all week as comments on this story, and rate the questions of others, and at the end of Friday, Feburary 11 the top-rated questions will be passed on to the Bryans.

Ask Gremlin Experts E. T. and Elizabeth Bryan | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)

Character Names (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by Sweetwind on Sun Feb 06, 2005 at 01:07:51 PM PST

I can see where some of the character's names come from: Princes Hexadecimal, Octal, and Binary form a logical sequence, and it's funny too :-) The technolutionaries' seem to be named after great physicists (Dr. Pi Yukawa after Hideki Yukawa who discovered the pi meson, for example). Was there any particular inspiration for the names of Del Delage and the evil sorceress Jenif-fra? What about the "Brandy" in Dr. Brandy Schwarzchild?

Fay-Tuing (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by Sweetwind on Sun Feb 06, 2005 at 01:09:17 PM PST

In Gremlin Trouble, the term "Fay-Tuing" is used by the extraterrestrials to refer to fairies. Is this an actual word from somewhere?

Creative Couples (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by Sweetwind on Mon Feb 07, 2005 at 02:51:05 PM PST

As a married couple publishing their own comic, you are walking on a path blazed by such couples as the Sims (no, not THOSE Sims) and the Pinis (no, not THOSE... ooopsie, Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" hit for "pinis" is being blocked by my workplace as "inappropriate content"...) Anyway, can you tell us some about working on the comic as a couple, and how the creative and business bits sync (or fail to sync)? Does the division of labor described in the Insider Reports article still hold? ("Thomas draws. Stories are developed as a team. Publishing, marketing, and distribution are Elizabeth's jobs.")

The GPS comic (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by apsmith on Tue Feb 08, 2005 at 07:00:42 AM PST

So I was expecting it to explain how GPS actually works! I guess it was billed as a 'history'... I bet it was the "plush" dolls that doomed it with IONS. Anyway, have you thought of adding a few pages of explanation for a broader audience? I bet it could sell via Scholastic or some other education-oriented company!

Join us at the National Space Society and help open space to everyone!

Inspiration? (4.00 / 1) (#1)
by apsmith on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 03:19:40 PM PST

I've only read a little bit - fascinating story-line in Gremlin Trouble. But the one thing that struck me - I'm wondering if the Morlocks and Eloi of H.G. Wells' "Time Machine" were an inspiration for the gremlin/human split? A lot of technical folk I know kind of see that split already happening - how much of your future do you think might actually happen in reality?

Join us at the National Space Society and help open space to everyone!

The ABP Bullpen (4.00 / 1) (#6)
by Sweetwind on Sun Feb 06, 2005 at 01:29:36 PM PST

An internet search on Anti-Ballistic Pixelations tells me you also published Saiko & Lavender by Michael Vega and Diana X. Sprinkle. Have you published any other titles or cartoonists, and would you publish other titles in the future?

hand lettering (3.00 / 1) (#5)
by Sweetwind on Sun Feb 06, 2005 at 01:10:48 PM PST

I noticed, especially in Volume I, that some of the dialog in balloons as well as some of the narrative is typeset (or maybe the word is machine-printed?) rather than hand-lettered. I noticed because it's my pet peeve (I'm of the belief that all comics should be hand lettered, or printed in a font that resembles hand lettering!), but it didn't bother me in this case because it was used judiciously :-) But I couldn't quite figure out how you decided when to use hand lettering and when not. Did you follow some sort of rule?

What's Next? (none / 0) (#2)
by Sweetwind on Sun Feb 06, 2005 at 01:04:48 PM PST

The teaser preview on your website of the next project tells me way too little! AAAARRRGH! More details! Will it take place in "the Gremlin Trouble universe" or is it entirely new? When can we expect it to premier? Is it being conceived with a beginning, middle and end like GT, or will it be open-ended?

Gremlore (none / 0) (#9)
by Sweetwind on Thu Feb 10, 2005 at 01:55:46 PM PST

How much of your writing on gremlore is "real" and how much did you personally make up? Google found me a reference [PDF] to Percy Prune as being "created in 1941 to show airmen and women how to use equipment safely. Prune never got anything right and was always wrapped in bandages." Is his gremlin association traditional? Are you the first to document his son's exploits?

Gremlin Literature (none / 0) (#10)
by Sweetwind on Thu Feb 10, 2005 at 02:29:23 PM PST

My son's 2nd grade class is doing a unit on Roald Dahl so I wondered if you had read his book on Gremlins? I hadn't, but oh my goodness, here's an on-line copy! [pause while Sweetwind reads for half an hour. Funny, the text says gremlin Gus has a brown face, but in the illustrations he's definitely green!] This looks like it could have been an influence! What fairy stories inspired you the most when working on Gremlin Trouble, and was this one of them?

Charlie by apsmith, 02/11/2005 10:51:47 AM PST (none / 0)

That kind would be OK... by Sweetwind, 02/11/2005 12:50:26 PM PST (none / 0)

Ask Gremlin Experts E. T. and Elizabeth Bryan | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)

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