Oathbound for Glory!
Oathbound is coming to Loophole Comics! But before it gets here, the creators of this wonderful fantasy/western epic are bound by oath (see what we did there?) to tell you all about it!
Loophole Comics: Thanks for sitting down with us, gentlemen. Introduce yourselves to the Loopholics!
Paul Gori: No problem at all, it’s my pleasure. My name is Paul Gori. I am the penciller/inker/co-creator of Oathbound.
Kevin Cuffe: And I’m Kevin Cuffe, the writer and co-creator of Oathbound. Thanks for this opportunity to introduce people to our comic book! The other members of our team are: Hedwin Zaldivar, the colorist, Micah Myers, the letterer and Shawn Greenleaf, our editor.
Loophole Comics: Micah Myers is pretty much the Loophole Comics MVP, in our humble opinion. In the teaser, we see cowboys and goblins with guns. This book is crazytown! Tell us all about it!
Paul: It is crazy! In a good way, though… or so we hope.
Kevin: It’s basically an alternate history world where the Old west has become sort of a haven for all sorts of high-fantasy beings. We wanted to do something that was a mash-up of genres we loved. The whole backstory plays out over the course of the books, so it becomes a clearer picture as we go along.
Loophole Comics: Aw, man! We love a good western here at Loophole. Our logo is pretty much a lasso, after all! What are your favorite works of the genre? What works influenced “Oathbound?”
Paul: I’ll be honest, I haven’t read many westerns up until recently. I did read The Lone Ranger by Brett Matthews from Dynamite. I remember thinking how insanely well done it was. But unfortunately I was side-tracked by life at that time. I recently read The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. Hurtt is a genius in my opinion by the way. I love his work on so many levels, and Bunn is just… well, he’s a great storyteller. But this, OathBound I mean… it’s different. It’s a huge shout-out to everything I love about westerns, and that primarily comes from the spaghetti westerns. The list is endless, but I would have to say that Cole Jameson speaks volumes when it comes to influences, especially in his design. He is a perfect mixture of Terence Hill, Clint Eastwood and Franco Nero! The fantasy aspect is all Kevin to be frank. He says goblins, and I have to basically dig deep and try to figure out how to make it look because I wasn’t very big into fantasy growing up. I mean, Willow was my jam growing up, but come on… who didn’t like that little peck?
Kevin: The western part of it was more Sergio Leone for me. Paul really has a vast knowledge and love of the genre, so he’s introduced me to more of those films as we started the project. I’m a huge nerd and just thought it’d be cool to have cowboys running around in the same place as stuff J.R.R. Tolkien or Robert E. Howard would write about. Dungeons & Dragons was certainly an influence as well.
Loophole Comics: That sounds like a lot of fun! Is this book a limited series or an ongoing?
Paul: It’s tons of fun, man! I can’t complain. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do and it’s part spaghetti western… not many people can say that. As for your question, I’ve asked Kevin not to tell me any of that. I like surprises, so I’ll just let my boi field that one.
Kevin: Thanks! We try to have fun with it, push each other to see how much cooler it can be by collaborating on every aspect. We’d really love for it to be an ongoing, we’ve come up with all these subplots that tie really well into the main story and allow us to show more of the world, but at this point it can go either way. It’s more up to the people who want to read it. We’ve come up with ways to re-visit the world even after this story concludes so we are open to just going with the flow and demand of the fans.
Loophole Comics: You guys have a good back and forth. How did you two meet?
Paul: I honestly can’t stand him, I don’t know what you’re talking about. <> No, I love the guy. Basically, Kevin is the brother I always wanted and I was lucky enough to meet him through posting on twitter. I was posting some work from a book I’m working on named “The Emergents” (written by Anthony Davis), along with some dailies. When one day this guy right here comments all shy like on a Spider-Man piece I did. He was like, “This is good, but the spider on his chest is too small.” I knew right away I was going to be friends with him. I like that honesty. I respect that in people. Not folks that beat around the bush, you know? We spoke a few days later on the phone and the rest was history. We have been on the damn phone ever since. <>
Kevin: Yep. He’s right.
Loophole Comics: Well, thanks for the info, guys. When will we see more of “Oathbound?”
Paul: No, no, no… thank you, bud. This was fun! Right now we are putting together the kickstarter, which I believe will be up and running hopefully somewhere by middle or late February. We also have our facebook page which is HERE. We also have a website under construction by our good pal RamDog, but not sure when that will be up. Once it is we’ll post an update!
Kevin: Thanks for letting us run our mouths about our book! It’s great to be a part of the Loophole Comics community of creators.
