Interview: Johnny Zito & Tony Trov of South Fellini Comics
DOGS of Mars issue 2
- What would you say is your geek cred?
TT- I also write comics, run a music theory blog, and worship living pop stars.
- What were some of your favorite comics growing up?
JZ – When I was thirteen I worked in a comic shop so I got to read everything. The first graphic novel I sat down with was Dark Phoenix Saga, it changed my life. Kingdom Come was a big deal to me, it was just so real. I skipped my 8th grade graduation ceremony to make sure I was at the store when issue 4 came in. The first issue of Powers dropped when I was in college and that got me back into comics after I drifted away for a bit.
TT- Mad Magazine was the first comic that really did it for me. Specifically the one where Alfred E. Newman was on The Dating Game. I love all funny comics although I don’t really make funny comics.
- How did you get started reading them?
JZ – Honestly I’m not sure. It was just something I did. 7 Eleven always had a spinner rack and I was buying slurpees so I’d get a comic too. I feel like being into comics didn’t used to be a “thing” and it was just another thing. Then I read that Superman was gonna die in the comics, I remember becoming aware of an ongoing world where everything connected. That’s when I really started reading actively.
TT – The comic shop was the only place you could play Mortal Kombat. So yeah, came for the fatalities, stayed for the comics.
- What series out there would you recommend for readers?
TT – There is a filthy comic that I love right now called CHESTER 5000. It’s about a woman who falls in love with a robot. It started out as a webcomic by Jess Fink and is being published by Top Shelf. (NSFW).
- What artists, writers, inkers, and letterers are you really loving right now?
TT- Everyone should find everything by Sheldon Vella and ingest it immediately. He’s the greatest of our generation.
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So how long have you guys been writing and drawing comics?
DC Comics Official
- How did you get your start in the comic industry?
TT – DC Comics opened a web comic imprint called Zuda. All the content was user generated and chosen by the audience. Our comic was about ultra violent girl gangs fighting for survival in a post apocalyptic Las Vegas where all the men had been turned into Zombies. It was called Black Cherry Bombshells; drawn like Power Puff Girls and written like Mad Max. We got to complete the series and it’s being released through DC Online in chapters.
- What do you like about comics as an art medium?
JZ – Sequential storytelling brings the opportunity for invention. I really dig the teamwork aspect too. Art can be so solitary, it’s nice to partner up.
TT- Like snowflakes, no two are alike. Except for Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel.
- What projects have you been working on over the years?
Moon Girl Cover
JZ – After Black Cherry Bombshells we did LaMorte Sisters which is about a vampire orphanage run by strict catholic nuns. It ran for a season on Zuda and it available at DC Online. We also self published Carnivale De Robotique, the four issue series about dancing robots can be read on the web now. We launched Moon Girl with Comixology the summer after that. It’s a super hero comic based on a golden age character created by Gardner Fox. Moon Girl is going to be printed in April by Red5.
- I know DOG’s of Mars just dropped recently, tell us about that series.
TT – DOGS of Mars is about nocturnal monsters hunting astronauts marooned on Mars. Zoe is the swashbuckling captain of Earth’s first off-world colony. Isolated on the farthest frontier of civilization, order breaks down when the unfamiliar hostile invades. Zoe faces mutiny, death and dishonor; she must sacrifice her humanity if she hopes to survive. It’s Star Trek meets Lord of the Flies for horror fans.
- What other series are you working on now?
JZ – We’re kicking around the next comic project right now. In the mean time we hope to make a lil horror movie and do some more conventions as Moon Girl is released in print.
TT- I’m also working on the origin story of mine and Zito’s writing relationship. It involves a white tiger, the mayor of Philadelphia and one thousand Hessians.
- What projects are you most proud and excited about?
TT – To be much more vain, our video blog that documented a cross country trip to San Diego Comic Con last year has been a favorite side project.
- What has been the most difficult to work on and why was it?
JZ – We launched a line of tee shirts this year to support the comics. The whole process from choosing the art to screen printing was very involved and rewarding.
TT – LaMorte Sisters was tough while writing it because we both had horrible jobs at the time. We would come home from work and write it on our down time in the middle of the winter. It felt like we were constantly in darkness. So goth of us.
- Where do you get your inspiration from?
JZ – Philly, my friends, Fritz Lang, Pinky Violence, good booze, karaoke, shitty booze, and science.
TT – Phở, jazz, and Andy Kaufman.
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Do you have any advice for people in, or looking to get into, the industry?
Johnny & Tony are keeping Philly classy
JZ – Make comics. Make friends with people who make comics. Make more comics. You don’t need permission. You just gotta do it everyday.
TT – It can be really frustrating. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can not do. Eye of the tiger.
- So what’s down the pipeline for you?
JZ – In the long run I hope to travel to space one day. In the immediate future there will be lots of coffee and comics.
TT – I’d love to curl in the Olympics someday. I imagine I’d be a bad guy wrestler of the curling world though.
- Okay so last one, If you could only take three things or people into a dungeon, what\who would they be and why?
TT – Probably a Leatherman Knife, my laptop, and a change of underwear. Wait that’s a boring answer… A bat’leth, a necronomicon, and a change of clothes.
You can read the guys comics at www.SouthFellini.com and follow them on twitter @JohnnyZito and @TonyTrov and buy their stuff here. And as an aside, a nod to Tony for plugging in the Star Trek reference as we were doing this interview during Star Trek week and I’m pretty sure it was a magical happenstance.
