Pokey... One of a Kind!

FOLLOWING ON from news that Wildcard Ink is publishing stories based around characters from the US kids' series Gumby, we asked writer Michael Aushenker how he and Rafael Navarro became involved.

Michael, who came up with the idea for the series?

It occurred to me that my favourite of all Gumby characters, Prickle, had not been utilized in Bob Burden's Gumby Comics series. I had been in correspondence with publisher Mel Smith regarding an anthology book that Mike Hersh is putting together for Wildcard that I have a piece in and following on from that, in December of 2007, I pitched Mel the idea of doing a Prickle one-shot solo adventure.

Mel loved the idea and told me that the timing happened to be perfect for my pitch. Then he one-upped it by inviting me to expand the idea to a four-issue series spotlighting all of the main supporting characters - Prickle, Pokey, The Blockheads and Goo.

Ultimately, Pokey (quite logically, given his # 2 status) became the first character with a book out of the gate. I'm very excited to be involved with all four books, and, as a longtime Gumby fan, I've inserted some of my favourite marginal characters from the claytoons into the books. Professor Kapp appears in the Pokey book, and Gumby's sister, Minga, will also make an appearance.

Rafael Navarro has drawn the first issue, featuring Pokey.

Although it was Mel's idea to hire Sonambulo creator Rafael Navarro
to illustrate Gumby's Gang Starring Pokey he would've been my top
choice, as I've known him for years.

I met Raf a few months before he was about to self-publish the first Sonambulo book in 1996. He was joining the cartoonist society I belong to, founded by Sergio Aragones, called CAPS (Comic Art Professional Society).

Raf was a fan of my first El Gato, Crime Mangler comic -1995's The Nine Lives of El Gato, Crime Mangler - and he asked me to create an El Gato cameo, that appears in Sonambulo # 2.

Raf and I became fast friends, and, in fact, he helped me do the computer work for the covers and interior covers of my second El Gato book, 1999's Holy Ghost El Gato. He has also contributed a pin-up to that book. Raf also donated a one-page Sonambulo strip to my Futureshock: El Gato 2002 book and he illustrated one of my Nine Loves of El Gato, Crime Mangler stories in
2003. I wrote and illustrated one of his Masks of Sonambulo stories.

In summation, we've contributed to each other's comics and have done
conventions and store signings together for years.

So tell us about the Gumby's Gang series, in particular the first issue, Gumby's Gang Starring Pokey.

From the get-go, as writer of this series, I've kept two tenets in mind: a loose fidelity to the original series of Clokey claymation cartoons from the '50s and '60s, and the inclusion of Gumby and Pokey in every issue, even as we spotlight other characters.

I think it was a savvy move on Wildcard's part to get Bob Burden and Rick Geary to do the main Gumby Comics series. These guys have a great surreal edge inherent in their previous work. Bob is a master of absurdity, as he proved since the first issue of Flaming Carrot, and the Gumby universe needs that layer of cosmic wit soldered to its innocuous, playful surface. People really connected with the Burden/Geary series, which won the Eisner Award last year for Best Children's Publication.

However, the one element missing from the Burden/Geary series was the supporting cast. While it went on this wonderful, whimsical ride (which is terrific because it goes off on all of these fun tangents with original characters), there was no Prickle or Goo in sight. Obviously, for me personally, I wanted to see Prickle show up in comic book form, and for those Gumby fans who enjoy Gumby's great supporting cast, many characters - great and small - will appear in Gumby's Gang.

The first issue, Gumby's Gang Starring Pokey, is a good example. I can't give away too many details, but it's a time-travel yarn, so I brought in Professor Kap from the animated shorts into the mix. Gumby also has a role in the story, as he and Pokey will in every subsequent book. The upcoming issues, especially Gumby's Gang Starring Prickle and Gumby's Gang Starring Goo, will introduce more secondary and throwaway characters. So we intend to create fun, new, whimsical adventures while, at the same time, satisfying fans of the supporting cast and basically expanding the Gumby universe in comic book form.

By the way, going back to issue #1, the Pokey book, Rafael and the colourist, Lance Borde, made for one hell of a team. The art looks fantastic. Rafael not only has busted out his chops in his own Sonambulo luchador detective series, he also storyboards animation and has worked on myriad cartoon series, from Rugrats to Stripperella to Scooby-Doo and Spectacular Spider-Man. So he brought a lot of those cartoon sensibilities and dynamics to this book, and it shows. The story just jumps off the page. Of course, he also created our beautiful painted cover, which is award-worthy by itself, tying together the time-travel elements of our story, including our Trojan Pony in the midst of the Trojan Wars (...or Trojan Pokey, to be more precise).

Gumby fans are going to love Raf's art because it's at once great for Gumby and distinct and totally Raf Navarro! Lance hung in right with him and provided some eye-popping colours, lush hues for the night scenes. The end effect is very animated and just pitch-perfect given our peripatetic storyline. So anyone looking for a brand new Gumby cartoon, look no further than your local comics shop or gumbycomics.com. Grab Gumby's Gang Starring Pokey when it comes out in December.

To accompany this brief interview with Michael Aushenker we feature a previously unpublished sketch drawn by Rafael Navarro.

For more information visit: www.gumbycomics.com