I'd like to start by asking what brought all of you together to form Shok Studios? How did you meet? In America there were things called APAs, where fans came together to make their own comic books...
Alberto Ponticelli: Yes, it was pretty much the same with us. We met in different places, everyone of us, but our interests--what we like--are the same. The same comics, the same movies, the same music.
Gabriele di Benedetto: We used to meet every Friday in a bar, OK? We used to drink a lot of cappuccino [laughter]. And we placed an ad in the newspaper to find other people for the studio. This is how we met Julio and another guy who was a colorist. Soon, every Friday, a new person came to this bar, and our group got bigger. At the end there were around fifteen of us.
David Scroggy: And you discovered that you were each very twisted and strange...
Alberto Ponticelli: [laughing] Yeah!
David Scroggy: In Italy, compared to America, there is a much greater appreciation of comics. Since the 1930s people in Italy have studied comics, respected comics, and, in effect, elevated them through an academic appreciation. And I suspect you guys came along and said, "F*** that! We want to go somewhere else with comics! We want comics like B-movies; violent, strange..."
Alberto Ponticelli: [laughing] Yes!
David Scroggy: Did you go to publishers with these ideas?
Alberto Ponticelli: No! We wanted to be self-publishers, because it was the only way to publish exactly what we wanted to do. No rules!
David Scroggy: How long did it take you, after all of you actually got together, to reach the point where you were publishing your own comics?
Gabriele di Benedetto: It was a long time. It was six or eight months before we published our first project, Morgue, for four issues, and then Egon.
David Scroggy: Where did you guys get the money to do it?
Alberto Ponticelli: We didn't eat for a year!
David Scroggy: You must have had a tremendous commitment. We hear of similar cases in America, and self-publishing is how many very good comics have started--comics that reflect a personal vision, and don't necessarily appeal to the larger publishers. But what strikes me about your first projects is the tremendously high quality--not only the story and art, but the production quality. Beautiful paper, very expensive printing. Did you feel that it was important to come out with a very professional product?
Roberto Calabro: Yes. The only way to reach our particular fans was to produce the very best.
Alberto Ponticelli: Our goal was to make books where the quality was really high, because we wanted to fight the really big houses, like Marvel. We wanted to make something really special. Even though we didn't have enough money to do it exactly like we wanted, we had a lot of love and passion for it.
Roberto Calabro: We had a lot of problems at first learning about production and distribution, but every time we made a new book, we made a better book. We learned all the time.
Alberto Ponticelli: And everybody had a different task--a different job--but at the same time it was a team effort; we all helped with everything.
David Scroggy: There's an American saying, "Ignorance is bliss." If you had known before you started, all of the challenges and problems you would encounter, do you think you still would have done it?
Roberto Calabro: Out of wanting to make something good, we would have done anything we had to do.
David Scroggy: Were there comics that particularly inspired you to go in this direction?
Alberto Ponticelli: There were a lot of things, including comics. For the cyberpunk western, especially...cows! [laughter] The most interesting thing is that everybody influenced everybody else with their ideas. For instance, I have a passion for B-movies, martial arts movies, killing, and splatter.
Tatjana: And for the cows!
Alberto Ponticelli: [laughing] And for the cows! And I got the others interested in these things. But the cows are the secret of our success!
David Scroggy: When your books came out, there must have been a very strong reaction from the comic book community here. Were they controversial?
Roberto Calabro: No. Many people like these kind of comics.
Alberto Ponticelli: In Italy there is a comics tradition, like Bonelli, where there is a good hero who makes for a good story. But what we set out to do here was to make a new kind of hero. A hero for a different kind of people. People like us and our fans. Our fans buy our books because there is something different, nontraditional. Something new for Italian comics.
David Scroggy: Were there people who objected to the comics?
Alberto Ponticelli: I don't think so. Some people didn't enjoy them, but they didn't object.
David Scroggy: Your work has a very strong point of view and it's something different. So it seems like you would find people who really like it because it's different and new, and people who really don't like it because it's too strong for them or they like comics the old way.
Alberto Ponticelli: No one has said to us that it was bad work. If they don't like it, they don't buy it--if they like it, they buy it. This is the only way we know their opinions.
David Scroggy: Let's talk about Egon now, which US fans will be seeing soon. Egon is a very strange character--strange looking, strange acting. How did he come to be?
Alberto Ponticelli: Egon speaks for us!
Roberto Calabro: Every part of Egon is a part of us. The shoes of Egon are from Alberto, the nose of Egon is from Tatjana, Gabriele cut off an arm, and I--I don't know...
Alberto Ponticelli: Egon is a kind of patchwork of ideas. Everybody made sketches and contributions. The name Egon is from Egon Schiele, a painter from Vienna.
Roberto Calabro: When we did Egon, we were among the first people in Italy to use computer coloring.
David Scroggy: That's something that first attracted Dark Horse to Egon--the very fine use of computer coloring.
Alberto Ponticelli: We are all interested in new technologies--in comics, in the movies--and when we have a problem like coloring, we will often paint by hand and often try to color digitally. We don't really make distinctions all the time. We use all the tools we have.
Roberto Calabro: And of course the color is very important. We think about it from the earliest stages. When Tatjana is writing, he thinks about the colors for atmosphere, like in the movies. When the writer thinks about a scene, he thinks about it graphically and in terms of colors. Maybe he will make notes about the colors: maybe a scene should be monochromatic because it shows a "monochromatic" situation.
David Scroggy: When you work, do you follow the traditional order of script first, then pencils, letters, inks, and, finally, colors?
Alberto Ponticelli: We make a kind of team job. We think about all the parts all the time. When I am drawing a character, I am thinking about the story. It's not so linear and neatly divided. The work is always all together. Maybe he will write something he knows I like to draw, and maybe I will draw something I know he likes to write.
Roberto Calabro: Sometimes the writer will do something after looking at this sketch, or at that coloring, or whatever. Our scripts will change while the art is being done.
David Scroggy: How do you feel about the fact that American audiences are going to be seeing your work now for the first time?
Alberto Ponticelli: [laughs] I don't know...I hope they like it!
David Scroggy: As an artist, is it important to you to be accepted by the public, or is it just important to be able to tell stories that you want to tell?
Alberto Ponticelli: It's important for me to keep my style. I believe in what I make. Of course I hope they like it, but I care about drawing the way I draw more. I don't want to have to make something different, to change my style.
David Scroggy: Why did you guys choose comic books as a medium?
Gabriele di Benedetto: We are involved in a project to make a movie...
Tatjana: ...but we make comics because, technically, it's more easy and not so expensive.
Alberto Ponticelli: I like to draw. That's enough for me.
Roberto Calabro: You don't need a budget to make comics! [laughter] You can make whatever you want to without a budget.
Alberto Ponticelli: They are different kinds of things. If you make a comic and you make a movie, you are making two different, unique things. They communicate differently. And if you make a movie, you need actors, sets, equipment, and all kinds of stuff. You can make a comic by yourself.
Roberto Calabro: I think comics are midway between movies and written books. Movies take control and move you along from the beginning to the end. With books you can stop, take breaks, and visualize things the way you want. In comics the characters are shown to you--they are less open to interpretation. And good comics are beautiful to look at.
Tatjana: The comic is a middle form. It supplies the image, like a movie, but you can move through the story as you wish, like a book.
David Scroggy: To us at Dark Horse, what really shows through about Shok Studios is a tremendous dedication to what you're doing and the tremendous quality of your books. We are very pleased to be working with you, and we hope you will enjoy great success. That said, are there any closing remarks you'd like to make?
Alberto Ponticelli: We'd like to say hello to all the Italian people who didn't believe in us and who told us we were too much underground--that in the future we would have to get jobs in banks because our comics don't work. And now we want to say hello to America: "Greetings to all America!"