The Xcentrikz - Interactive Comic

Interview with Mark Mekkes on that hilarious scifi comic,

Zortic!

October 7, 2009

(Click on any of the images in this interview to visit the comic...)

Thanks again to Mark for the nice talk about his comic, Zortic! If you have not viewed this comic already, please do give it a try. If you like parodies and you like scifi, you'll love Zortic. Watch as the hero, Zortic, hangs out with his girlfriend, mechanic friend, and the "Entire Prize" (get it?) ship... And hilarity ensues...

Enjoy the interview!

The Xcentrikz Team: Well Mark thank you for talking with me today, about your wonderful work with Zortic. First off, please tell us what the comic is all about?

Mark: Thanks Anna, I appreciate the interest and opportunity.

Zortic is basically a science fiction, comedic adventure. The main character, Zortic, wins a spaceship on a TV game show and uses it to explore a world full of parody and excitement with his friends Zoie and Splink. It updates every Saturday morning at zortic.com.

THE XCENTRIKZ: So how did Zortic FIRST come about… What inspired you?

Mark: I was watching a special where Joseph Campbell was talking about how Star Wars was a collection of elements and references to classic mythology and literature. That made me wonder what it would be like if those references were more contemporary and familiar. So I started Zortic with that kind of approach, to collect and recombine popular elements into something familiar and comfortable, but also fun and new.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Amazing inspiration there! What was your career and educational background, before Zortic? How do you think this influences the comic?

Mark: I have a BA in theater from a small college in Michigan and had been working in professional theater for about 10 years. After an internship in Princeton, I worked a variety of theater venues including regional, dinner theater and children’s theater, doing everything from stage management to set design. But eventually I decided to get out of theater and go back to art school like I originally wanted to do. So I got my art degree from Ringling School of Art and Design and set out to start my new career. However, once I got out of art school I ended up getting job right back in theater. So I created Zortic to help me put that art degree to some kind of use.

Fortunately creating a comic is the perfect combination of my theater and art experiences. Staging, dialogue and character development are just as important as composition, anatomy and color theory. I’m continually surprised to find how much I draw from both sides of my background.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Neat. Well... What was it like getting the word out to people about your comic, when you were just starting out?

Mark: When I came up with the idea of putting Zortic on the internet, I wasn’t aware of what a community was already in existence. This was almost 10 years ago and it turned out to be a great time to start because there was a solid foundation of webcomics, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as it is today. So I was able to make some connections with some of the greats. And I was able to jump into Keenspace (now Comic Genesis) and Keenspot fairly early and made use of those fantastic networks. A lot of it is “who you know” and I’ve been very lucky.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Lucky you indeed, that's nice. What is your creative brainstorming process usually like?

Mark: I really like writing pretty far ahead. I currently have strips written for the next 6 months and I’m anxious to be further ahead. Fortunately that gives me the opportunity to be pretty laid back in letting ideas come to me instead of having to frantically hit myself in the forehead with a 2 by 4.

When I do start plotting, I like to start by asking questions like “what haven’t I done a parody of yet?’ and “which character haven’t I featured enough lately?” then start building on that in order to keep it fresh and different. A lot of times I’ll think of a story line or an arc and try to trace it back to what inspired the idea and usually it’s something that I’ve seen that is a perfect source for parody. That way it’s really pretty organic and feels natural.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Sounds like a great way to do it. What about Zortic makes it stand out from other science fiction comics?

Mark: Obviously it’s the parody. But I like to think that it’s not just the parody, but the range, variety and combination of parodies that work their way into the stories. A lot of people will do a Star Trek or Star Wars take offs, but how many people combine “John Carter of Mars” with “Romeo and Juliet”, “Caddyshack” and the “Road Runner” and make it a single coherent storyline?

I like using parody to control expectations and give the story kind a roller coaster feeling. If you’re using a familiar parody, people will think they know what’s coming next based on the reference, but if the pacing requires it, I can completely switch parodies and send things in a totally opposite direction.

THE XCENTRIKZ: I do love parodies, especially on Star Trek or Star Wars, and your style is great. So what are your favorite parts about updating Zortic? What do you do to motivate yourself?

Mark: I know it’s a bit cliché, but the characters do have a way of growing on you. I genuinely like hanging out with these fictional guys and seeing what they’re going to do next. Good
characters tend to write themselves and I really do feel like all I have to do is throw some curve balls at them and see how they react. So it’s just a matter of picking a parody “sandbox” to play in and tossing the gang in to see what they do.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Ha ha parody sandbox, good one.

Do you usually have a schedule for maintaining all parts of the comic? Like doing updates, brainstorming, answering emails, looking at fan art, promotional work …. How do you prioritize it all?

Mark: It’s varied over the years as my day job schedule and processes have changed. But right now I do most of my production work on the weekends and make a point of doing my social interaction stuff every evening.

I also like working in stages and working on a different comic for each step at a time. So on any given work day I have a series of comics at different stages. It’s a bit weird, but if I’m working on a different strip at each stage, if I have a bad day I’m only messing up one part of each comic and I can hope that the rest of the process makes up for it.

THE XCENTRIKZ: How did you come up with the cast? Are any of the characters' personalities inspired by real people?

Mark: Not real people, but definitely some standard templates. I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone who knows my comic that I’m a Trekkie. So I was looking at the relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy on Star Trek and I realized that they tended to personify the embodiment of mind, body and soul. And I started looking around to realize that that foundation seemed to be a common and pretty solid character model. So I took that approach. Zortic is the soulful “dreamer” or wannabe, Zoie is physically beautiful and tends to react physically and Splink is mental in a variety of ways.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Do any of the characters have annoying traits to you, like you “love to hate” them? Also, do you have a favorite character you’ve created?

Mark: I think one of my tendencies is to create nice, likeable characters. Obviously they need weaknesses and defects, but I don’t normally lean to the antihero. As for the villains, I’ve been working recently on making them more ominous and dangerous. I’m hoping that when I reintroduce some of the classic antagonists that they will inspire that “love to hate” feeling.

Probably the “character” I’m proudest of is the Entire Prize, their ship. I do think it has a very definite personality. I had toyed around with these characters for years, and when I thought about bringing them to a web comic I sat down to redesigned the ship. While I had played with a variety of looks over the years, when I came up with this one it was love at first sight. That’s really when everything clicked, from the name right down to the design, it just felt right and I want one!

THE XCENTRIKZ: Wonderful stuff. So how do you think Zortic became as wildly popular as it is today?

Mark: “Wildly popular”? Wow, thanks!

I think fundamentally Zortic is unique. There are other science fiction stories, there are other parody comics, and there are even other strips that are similar to Zortic. But only Zortic brings the wide range and intricate combination of parodies that it does. Yes, I watched way too much TV and movies when I was little.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Well sure it's popular, you're getting tons of viewers! So what pages or story arcs have gotten the most fan response?

Mark: Over a year ago, Zortic went through a pretty major reboot, similar to what they did with Battlestar Galactica, James Bond and Star Trek. It basically restarted the characters and the situations with a little bit more intensity and depth. It’s a much slower paced introduction and development then was used in the original series. So it’s a great opportunity for new readers to jump in to start the strip fresh, but there’s always a fear that it’s going to ruin everything for the long time readers. Fortunately I’ve been getting great response from people and for the most part people are really excited to see the characters develop into who they know their going to be.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Doing comics can be really fulfilling. Although, especially since many web-comics are for free or non-profit, it can be challenging for some creators to reach all their goals. Like paying the bills? What are the pros and cons for you in this regard?

Mark: This is probably going to sound really narcissistic, but it really means a lot to me to be doing something creative. When I’m asked “what do I do” I don’t want to define myself by what I “have” to do to live. I want to say that I entertain people; I provide a few minutes of escapism every week to allow people to forget about the things that they “have” to do. I want to make people smile.

THE XCENTRIKZ: How about opinions on the “webcomic industry!” What future do you think it has?

Mark: I’ve always been amused by the classic sci fi view where computers are going to depersonalize all of us. Ironically I think it’s opened a lot of doors for “garage bands” and “ash can comic” creators. Instead of a minor local following, all kinds of artists can gather a world wide audience that provides much more potential for support than they’d get with only local venues. However, I do see big companies realizing that and trying to get their piece of the pie. There’s always going to be the opportunity for anyone to get out there and have their work seen, but I think it’s going to be harder for the little guy to make a name for themselves without some corporate sponsorship.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What other entertainers and web-comic creators do you admire? Do they influence Zortic?

Mark: Zortic has been influence one way or the other by the majority of the entertainers in existence. Anything has the potential for parody fodder. As for web comic creators, I do tend to read a lot of comics and I know I take a little bit form many of them. But to focus on one, I was a big fan of Phil Foglio when he was illustrating the Myth books. So I was really excited when he came into the webcomic world. I’m a huge fan of Girl Genius.

THE XCENTRIKZ: How do you feel about the art style and writing of your comic? Anything you’d ideally improve?

Mark: Writing seems to either click or it doesn’t and I’m fairly happy with the number of times it seems to happen the way I want it to. But I think every artist wants their art to be better. Mostly I just wish there were more hours in the day so I could do more.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Any other intriguing topics, to share with everybody today?

Mark: I’ve recently been working on expanding my comic repertoire with the strips ETI-PI, Agent LF and of course Abby’s Agency, which I do with Tiffany Ross. It’s a little bit of a shot gun approach to see what appeals to which audiences. Hopefully it provides a little something for everyone. And it’s kind of exciting to work on a variety of projects, if I get stuck on one strip I can work on another one until the block is over come.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Wonderful! How about the new developments in Zortic? What is happening next in the story?

Mark: The restart of Zortic has really focused on some slow but deep character building, but I feel like that’s pretty well established and I’m looking forward to getting to some more direct adventures and bringing back more of the parody elements that really make the comic what it is. So watch for the return of some classic villains.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Sounds good...

This was a lot of fun to interview you Mark, and I hope your fans enjoy it too. Keep up the wonderful job, and thank you again. Hey gang, please visit this great comic!

Mark: Thanks, Anna.

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