Hey gang! Forget Summer! This week class is back in session with Trevor Mueller’s and Gabriel “Gabo” Bautista Jr’s Albert The Alien. Trevor and Gabo both hail from Chicago and dedicate their time to making one of the best all ages comics. Albert The Alien can be found on it’s own homepage, Comixology and even Thrillbent! Why does this little comic have so much prime digital real estate? Read on to find out and get to know the creators of this wonderful comic.
All-Comic: Gabo, Trevor. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about Albert The Alien. How were you guys first exposed to comics?
Trevor Mueller: I have been reading comics for as long as I remember. I remember my babysitter – a dude who was huge into comics – taking me to Dave’s Comics in Ann Arbor, and just being in awe at the variety of art styles, characters, and genres. I used to make my own comics as a kid, and throughout my educational career – even selling them to friends, or having people commission me to write comics for them in high school.
As for webcomics, I was first introduced to those in college when some friends of mine started a jam series called Exile Comics. The site is no longer in use, but it got me passionate about making comics again. And it’s probably the reason I’m still making comics on the web today.
Gabo: Earliest form of comics I can remember was X-MEN trading cards. Back in 1995? I think it was the second series, I traded my WWF Tiger handheld watch for a Wolverine hologram card. Poor choice? I THINK NOT!
AC: Do you have any particular story or character that impacted you early on?
TM: Growing up I was a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Not just the cartoon everyone was watching, but also the more adult versions in the Eastman and Laird books. The cartoons of the 80s and 90s were really a transitionary device for me, because once shows like The Tick or X-Men came out on TV, I immediately added those to my pull box as well. I was always into the variety of art styles that comics provided – and still love to browse the shelves at stores and pick up a new random title to check it out.
Gabo: X-Men is the earliest thing I remember being grabbed by, X-Cutioner’s Song part 7 specifically. The one that was bagged with a free limited edition card. That sold me in a heartbeat.
AC: When did you decide you wanted to make comics?
TM: I have always wanted to make comics, but didn’t decide to pursue it professionally until college. The passion I had for storytelling has really always been there, but around that time I really found the drive to follow through on storytelling – and webcomics were a big part of reigniting that.
Gabo: I remember making comics in 4th grade, about a white blood cell fighting cancer, aids and dirty needle bad guys. But I didn’t really get serious about doing them until my early 20′s, when I developed a comic battling site that is still running to this day.
AC: How would you summarize Albert The Alien for someone who has never read it before?
TM: Albert is the story of the first intergalactic foreign exchange student. The idea is to take things we see in our everyday lives that we consider ordinary, and turn them into an extraordinary adventure. Albert stems from my love of Saturday morning cartoons and science fiction, and is a light-hearted adventure in our own backyard – Planet Earth!
AC: What inspired you to create this particular story? OR How did you convince Trevor/Gabo to work with him?
TM: Albert (as a concept) came from my own experiences growing up in school. I was the awkward kid who was shy, creative, and who was always picked on. I always felt like there was some invisible sign on my back that let everyone know I should get picked on – but as far as I could tell, there was nothing physically different from me and the other kids in school. Albert is kind of vehicle for those experiences growing up. He is physically different, so he does get picked on by the school bully – Wally. However, he does have a best friend handy in Gerty, his homestay sister, who helps keep him out of too much trouble.
Albert was created for the Reading with Pictures anthology, which came out in 2010. Gabe and I were hooked up by the non-profit’s founder (and my personal friend), Josh Elder. I told Josh the concept for the story and he loved it, and told me Gabe would be perfect for the art duties. And sure enough, we’ve been working together ever since.
AC: What has been the most surprising aspect of running this webcomic?
TM: My favorite part of working on this series has been Gabe’s designs. I rarely include any kind of description for my characters or settings, but may give him some references to situations or things that inspired the writing. Then he takes that and makes them his own – always in a unique and awesome way! It’s always exciting to get pages back from Gabe, because whatever he comes back with is always better than whatever I had in my head!
Gabo: I didn’t think that I was going to be doing it for as long as I have. I thought it was just going to be a silly little character that was going to get lost in the libraries of time, but now I’ve grown to love the little guy, and his cast of awesome friends. I’m so glad I didn’t turn down Trevor’s offer to keep making more stories.
AC: Gabo, How long have you been drawing/illustrating?
Gabo: We all sorta start drawing at the same time, when we’re kids. And I think most of us grow out of it as we start moving into junior high and high school. So I always drew, but not very seriously. A few doodles here n there, until after high school when I started getting more into web design and the internet started to really grow. I learned about FORUMS (this is circa 1999) and that’s where I started seeing all sorts of amazing new art that you couldn’t really find on the newsstands. A year or two later, I developed a site called EnterVOID.com that was designed to be a breeding ground for comic artists. It’s a place where illustrators aspiring to become comic book artists can go and compete in comic battles, while receiving loads of tips and critiques on their work from artists of all levels. Even then though, I wasn’t fully serious about making illustration a career. It wasn’t until around 2004ish that I found a graphic novel called One Bad Day by Steve Rolston. It was simple. It was short. It was like a drama movie in a pocket sized book. It was everything I never knew I’d always wanted to do. And so there began my thirst for the sequential form.
AC: Did you study illustration or are you self-taught?
Gabo: I was self-taught up until a few years ago when I finally decided to go to art school. And while the school I went to was mainly 3D animation, I managed to convince my teachers to let me turn in illustration based work instead of the work that was assigned. I thoroughly regret not having taken classes earlier. There is something about having someone SHOW you what you’re doing wrong that a video or a book just can’t always do for you.
AC: Did you get a lot of support from parents and/or teachers?
Gabo: I’m a first generation Mexican. There were three things that I was expected to do growing up: keep my room clean, get good grades, find a good job (when I was legally able to work that is). And I managed to do one of those things, get a job. I never really told my parents about my interest in art. I knew that it wasn’t something that they would support, and even if there was a CHANCE they might support me – I didn’t to hear what sort of negative thing they might have to say about it, so I sort of kept to myself. The idea of going to college was also out of the question. Not only because I was a below average student, but more importantly because we were in the lower middle class. VERY lower middle class. I was the kid who wore Payless sneakers and K-Mart pants.
My high school was supportive in what I was doing, but again– I never really gave people an opportunity to support me.
AC: How do you get this drawn out? Physically or digitally?
Gabo: I’ve been drawing the pages physically and coloring digitally up until issue 2. Now that I don’t have as much time to goof off on paper and take time scanning, fixes etc- I’ve gone full digital. Its helped tremendously, and I think the art is getting more love.
AC: What are your preferred tools of the trade? Oils, inks, pen and paper, Photoshop?
Gabo: If I could draw comics on watercolor paper and make enough of a living on it for the rest of my life I’d die a happy man. But for the time being I stick to digital work. If faced with a “Dr. Who makes me his companion” scenario though, I’d bring along my Hero fountain pen, pad of watercolor paper and my Windsor Newton travel watercolor case.
AC: How much time does it take to go from a script of Albert The Alien to a finished page?
Gabo: After Trevor gives me the script, (in an ideal setting) I typically bang out breakdowns in about 1-3 days. Breakdowns are rough sketches of what the page will look like, based on what Trevor has asked for, that I send to him for approval. After he approves the breakdowns, I lay down some rough lines in Photoshop, and then I draw the comic out.
If he were to give me a one page comic at 8am (and if I woke up that early), I could have the thumbs done within 15-30 min. Then the art itself would be done within 1-4 hours (depending on how detailed the page is). Another 1-3 hours for the colors, and 30-60 minutes for the lettering.
In other words I could easily do a full page of the comic in an 8 hour day. THAT INCLUDES A LUNCH BREAK. If you want to be a comic book artist kids that type of speed will get you work!
AC: Have you previously have been published?
Gabo: Yessssss– My first published work was in Image Comics’ POPGUN Vol 2. Later that year I did color work Comicbook TATTOO, also published by Image Comics. I won an Eisner and a Harvey award for that work. I’ve done color work for DC on Will Eisner’s THE SPIRIT, and more recently All-Star Western. Currently I’m do a three page backup comic called Charley <3′s Robots, it appears in the back of Elephantmen, published by Image Comics. I’ve done a full issue for that comic as well, issue 50, which was 90% watercolor!
At the moment I’m working on a monthly book with Josh Fialkov called THE LIFE AFTER for Oni Press. It’ll be out in July! Super limited edition advanced copies of the book were printed up in April for Wondercon, so you might be able to find one on the black market somewhere hehehe.
And last but not least, Albert The Alien, who has been in Reading With Pictures of course.
AC: Did you set up your own website or pay some one to design it for you?
Gabo: My personal site is designed by me. It’s not much to look at, and I can do much better as I’ve done web design professionally in the past, but the idea of having to redesign my site every other year just drives me nuts. So I’ve put up the simplest thing I can imagine.
AC: How do you maintain your website?
Gabo: Pure HTML baby. I know that stuff by heart.
AC: Getting back to you Trevor, How long have you been writing?
TM: I’ve been writing since elementary school. Short stories, comics, etc. Professionally, however, it’s been the last 12 years online and the last 7 year in print. My web work is all collected online at www.TrevorAMueller.com, with two multi-award nominated series: The Temple of a Thousand Tears (a samurai / sci-fi epic), and @$$hole! (a Kevin Smith-inspired teen comedy).
AC: Have you previously have been published ?
TM: I was first published in Reading with Pictures in 2010 (which is where Albert the Alien premiered), and later that same year in Hope: The Hero Initiative from Ronin Studios. I’ve also self-published a number of collections of my work, including my webcomics work and some short comic works for kids.
AC: Do you draw out thumbs or only script?
TM: I usually only script. But I do put layout suggestions in the scripts. I kind of draw layouts in my head that way, I guess.
AC: Did you set up your own website or pay some one to design it for you?
TM: I paid someone to set up my first website (www.TrevorAMueller.com), but for Albert I really wanted to control everything myself. I wanted to get a deeper understanding on how to make a website, and how I can build upon it from the foundation. I do a lot of panels at conventions, and one of them is usually about making webcomics. I’ve always kind of said I was “website dumb,” but now I feel like I at least know some basics to help first-timers get started beyond saying, “Hire someone to do it for you.”
Building out www.AlbertTheAlien.com was a rewarding experience, and one I hope continues to be educational for me as the series progresses.
AC: How do you maintain your website?
TM: Albert was built using Comic Easle, which I was kind of familiar with (at least from an update perspective) from my years of having my old website in Comic Press. The comic pages update every Wednesday and Friday, and I blog every now and then about convention appearances, cool science and space articles I find online, and about awesome discoveries. It’s really important to me to keep the site all-ages appropriate, so I moderate the comments and make sure there’s nothing in there inappropriate for kids – but there’s also fund engaging topics for adults to enjoy.
AC: If you have time, what comics, manga or web comics are you reading?
TM: I’m currently reading Savage Dragon, The Darkness, Justice League, Invincible, The Walking Dead, Powers, and Locke and Key in print. Manga I’m not as up to date on the latest and greatest, so I’m only reading Battle Angel Alita (a love from my very first comic shop days). For webcomics I read a variety: Rival Angels, The Dreamer, Multiplex, Joe Loves Crappy Movies, Dreamland Chronicles, and a variety of titles on Thrillbent.
Gabo: I’ll be honest, I’m awful when it comes to reading. I read very very little. That’s insane I know- a comic artist that doesn’t read comics? I spend so much time working on comics, that at the end of the day I just want to rest my eyes. I’ve been trying to read the new Daredevil run by Mark Waid, which is amazing. Scattered around here n there I read, well LOOK AT, a lot of french books. Study them that is. A lot of Moebius and Enki Bilal.
AC: Do you have an all time favorite creator? Be it music, comics or movies.
TM: I find a lot of inspiration from music. No one musician in particular, but I listen to a lot of soundtracks when I write. But for comics, I find I’m inspired by writers like Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, Mark Waid, and JT Krull. I like artists like Jim Lee, Talent Caldwell, Cory Walker, and Francis Manpul.
Gabo:
Creator: Moebius. He’s done so much in his life it blows my mind.
Music: DJ SHADOW. I can listen to his albums non stop for centuries.
Comics: Dragon Ball, EARLY dragon ball. Akira Toriyama’s vehicle and robots just drive me wild.
Movies: Blade Runner. All day, everyday.
AC: What’s next for you?
TM: Right now, I’m focusing on making Albert’s first year the best it possibly can be. We have some big things in the works for the little guy, and we are running a kickstarter to help finance his first graphic novel.
Gabo: More Albert the Alien, The Life After with Josh Fialkooooooooooooooooooooov! I’ve got a few projects waiting to be started, they’re green lit- just waiting on paper work! Lots of comics from me. Can’t stop wont stop!
AC: How can readers best support you and your work?
TM: Please stop by www.AlbertTheAlien.com and check out the comic every Wednesday and Friday when it updates. Visit the store pages, and of course buy copies of the work at conventions we attend. The books are also available on Comixology currently.
Gabo: If you like the comic, pass it on to your friends! Or anybody else who might enjoy it! Also money. You can support me by throwing money at me. I have a pug that needs a lot of treats or she gets very upset and starts howling, which then disrupts my ear canal which gives me vertigo and I fall out of my seat and break my hand etc etc etc. I love drawing awesome watercolor things for people, so please feel free to commission me! <3
AC: Thank you both for your time. Good luck with your projects and on the Albert The Alien Kickstarter!
Well if Albert The Alien sounds like your kind of book check out the comic or the kickstarter and feel free to send some feedback to Trevor and Gabo for all their hardwork! Thanks for reading and see you next week!
Author information
Hansel Moreno
Between repairing medical equipment and driving throughout the southern most part of Texas, Hansel scours through depths of the internet to bring you the finest webcomics from across the globe.
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