Loo Turns Ten

Paul Sizer

By Pam Bliss
August 1, 2006

I suppose I should start off with a confession. I've known Paul Sizer for a long time. (Long enough, I think, to astound our younger and more sensitive readers.) That means I've also known Little White Mouse for a long time, way back, if memory serves, to the second issue. And both of these long term relationships have been highly satisfactory. Paul is a great guy, smart, funny, dedicated and incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. And Little White Mouse is a great comic. Neither is, perhaps, entirely perfect, but that is because they both are very human.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Little White Mouse I'll just say that it's the old, old story of someone who is lost and trying desperately to survive and return home, set in a remarkable far future setting, and populated with a diverse and quite delightful cast of characters. Calling it a science fiction comic is certainly accurate, but leaves many things unsaid. People who have been reading the series all along already know this.

Whether or not you have encountered lost girl Loo and her friends (and enemies) before, now is a great time to look at her story with fresh eyes. This is a series that is really best encountered as a whole and read straight through, like all the very best novels. The newly published Little White Mouse Omnibus makes that process easy, collecting not only the entire main narrative but also a wide assortment of supplemental material and a new short story that serves as a prologue. And the book itself makes a chunky, handsome package that is as close to irresistible as is possible for a paperback to be. Little White Mouse is a must-read, and the Omnibus is the way to read it.

But you didn't come here to listen to me. If somebody is going to talk about Little White Mouse, let it be Paul.

ST: There are those who say that "the future of comics has a spine and an ISBN," and this may be especially true of independent, small press, and self published comics. You certainly seem to have put most of your recent efforts into creating projects with the book trade in mind. What made you decide to produce the Little White Mouse Omnibus, and how have stores and libraries reacted to it?

PS: I wish I could say it was for purely artistic reasons, but to be truthful, it was because I didn't want to mess around with four individual trades for the four LWM series. Previously, the trades for Little White Mouse had come out as individual collections for each series, and since I was done with the series, as a whole, there wasn't any reason not to just collect it into one big omnibus edition.

Plus, I had been getting more requests from libraries for the book, and already was dealing with "Well, I have collection #2, I need collection #1, and we ordered #3, but that got cancelled ... " Enough already, I just wanted to say "Here, it's all here, one book, complete series, done!" Since becoming a self publisher, I've gotten more interested in simplifying all the processes I can (given that there's still much of the process I don't control), and also to make things as simple as possible for people or organizations who want to get my books. As far as reaction, the orders have been very good for an indy trade, and libraries have had a very good response to the book itself. Again, making things simple for your biggest buyer is always a good idea.

ST: The Omnibus is one of the best looking comic collections I've seen in a while, and I've always admired your design sense and the sharp looks of all your projects. What design errors do you see other cartoonists making as they work on their own book format projects? Any design advice for someone who may be planning a trade paperback?

PS: Thanks, I appreciate the compliment! I'd say the biggest design error I see artists make is not thinking that they need design to sell their work. I see people with great art that just gets killed by amateurish type and lousy layout. I've always treated the typographic design of my books as an element of the composition, rather than something to just drop on top of everything. I also suggest going out and doing your homework at the local bookstore to see what works and doesn't work. Look at how books work from being displayed front cover out to the more likely option of being displayed spine out. I try to make sure that I can hook someone visually no matter what angle they approach the book. Having a nice thick 448 page book to work with certainly hurt matters, but again, making use of the areas you do have to work with is always important.

Bottom line: simplify. Even with a cover that needs to have multiple credits, ISBN numbers, stock item numbers, pricing, blurbs and all the other junk required to be on the cover of a book, you can still smartly and simply manage those elements into a clean and pleasing design. Simple things like using a good font with multiple weights so that you can stay with fewer fonts and make better use of the one are a good start. Too many fonts looks like you can't make up your mind, which is probably true. Simple, clean organization is always the best option. Plus, organized typography will complement and not over-power your illustrational elements. I always tell people that design's job is to communicate, not dominate. Good design highlights it's subject, not itself.

And now I shall step down from my Graphic Design soapbox ...

ST: Both Little White Mouse and your most recent project Moped Army feature more or less gritty depictions of cities of the future. What do you think attracts you to these settings? Are they just really fun to draw, or there deeper reasons? Do you have any plans to work in other types of settings in your own future?

PS: I'd say I favor environments that act as characters in and of themselves. Cities always intrigue me in how they can be so similar and yet have very different vibes. Chicago and Detroit are both major metropolitan cities; both have crime, rich people, poor people, middle class, good neighborhoods, bad parts of town. Yet Chicago and Detroit are incredibly different beasts, and New York City is completely different than either Chicago or Detroit; it's those differences that attract me.

I also like how cities generate different kinds of people. I like that hard cities generate tough survivors. Hard cities also generate scumbags, losers and criminals, but people who do make it out with a decent set of moral values have fought hard to come by those values, and don't let them drop by the wayside. With my love of music, I always look to how a harsh, depressing city like inner-city Detroit inspired musicians to escape by creating techno music. The city inspired an enduring and vital music, but the music was a means to transport oneself beyond your surroundings. Simone from Moped Army lived in the affluent, mile-high glass and steel towers of Bolt Harbor, yet found her salvation of the poor, decaying lower city of Rust City. Loo from Little White Mouse came from wealth and lived in the rich part of Thermopolis, yet found one of her best friends, "Filthy" Jake Armani, in the dark alleys of the inner city. Truthfully, I'm often more appalled by what the suburbs of some major cities produce. In some ways, I prefer the honesty of a harder part of a town rather than the fantasy bubble that suburban life sometimes reflects.

Also, since I'm a perspective fiend, I love drawing cities and technology. That's part of the reason that I had Loo travel to the different planets on her journey in the fourth series of Little White Mouse. Nearly the entire series takes place in the satellite, so I wanted to try my hand at other environs when I had the chance. Other locales? Maybe, although my next book, B.P.M., is going to be set in a present time New York.

ST: Speaking of designing things that are fun to draw, I think the character designs in Little White Mouse are one of the book's most striking qualities. The characters in general are quite psychologically realistic, and the contrast between that realism and their (sometimes wildly) expressive faces and bodies is a great source of energy on the page. Is this something you planned, or is it the natural result of combining your own writing and drawing styles?

PS: Let's get this out of the way right now: I am a mutt. My art style is a mutt. It's a collection of many different styles and influences, not necessarily by choice. There're still aspects of my art style influenced by me teaching myself to draw from copying Peanuts comics as a little kid. And strangely, that's become seen as a positive thing. My love of designing characters comes from me digging well-designed characters. I'm drawn to how manga can tell strong stories with the levels of abstraction some of its characters achieve. To say I planned it that way would be wishful thinking. In a sense, what you see on the page is my attempts to ape styles that I really dig, almost getting it and in the process coming up with something that's mine. Go figure.

ST: If you'll allow me to fangirl for a minute, I have to tell you that I've always had the biggest crush on Pascal. (Let's see if I can turn that into an actual question ...) Can you tell us something about how you devised my all time favorite ghost in the machine? And is there a character in the series that you feel especially close to?

PS: You will have to get in line to crush on Dr. Pascal Henri Corbeau, young lady. He has become quite the sought after fellow over the years.

Strangely enough, I did not create him to be a hottie, just your friendly neighborhood deus ex machina. Coming from a solid geek background myself, I wanted to make sure the scientist guy got the good end of the deal in the looks department this time. Pascal started as an excuse to give Loo a human tour guide for the satellite, but ended up staying around for the duration. After using him early in the series, I liked the function he provided and decided to flesh him out as a character. It was kind of a surprise for me, and in the end, I can't imagine completing the story without him. Pascal's one of Loo's lifelines on the satellite; he is someone she can relate to, but because of his ethereal nature, he's not always physically there. So she can't use him as a crutch, which is an important part of the story. Loo begins life on Satellite 713 looking for someone to do the work for her. Pascal can help, inform, inspire, but he can't do it for her. He's kind of like a handsome encyclopedia in that manner.

ST: Which is probably why I find him so dreamy! Another actual question: music, especially dance clubs and the work of DJs, is an ongoing thread in Little White Mouse. Can you recommend some music that captures the flavor of the music the characters encounter in the series?

PS: Music is always a very strong element in all the stories I write, because it is such a strong memory device for me. I can hear songs and know exactly when and where and under what circumstances I heard that song, be it good or bad times. Even though my including music in my stories is my ongoing attempt to expose people to new music, it also helps me build a soundtrack in my head that keeps me in mood for the storytelling. Since the music I listen to enhances my mood while I'm working, it also keeps me at the drawing table or the keyboard.

Here's a short list of artists that were constants for the soundtrack of Little White Mouse:

YELLO: Boris and Dieter the robots are named after the two guys in Yello, and their weird, dancey electronic soundscapes sound like little movies that haven't been made yet.

MASSIVE ATTACK: A British trip-hop group who meld together reggae, dub, dance, ambient, hip-hop, rap and rock into a new thing that sounds like none of the parts, yet embodies the best aspects of the parts. Whitey is wearing a Massive Attack t-shirt, and Loo falls asleep listening to them in one of the books.

FLUKE: Fluke are a techno group from Britain who compose pulsey, throbbing house music with dream state vocals. Any time in Little White Mouse when you see Loo wearing a circle logo with six dots forming an "F", that's Fluke's symbol.

KRAFTWERK: The godfathers of techno, these German pioneers paved the road for electronic music. Machine music with human hearts in control.

AUTECHRE: The name of TransGalaxy's resident ego-driven star captain, it's also a very experimental electronic group, with bleepy, mechanical sounds and beats. They devised a computer program to generate names for their songs. They're that weird.

There's tons more, but they also inspire me to create my own music. You can download MP3 tracks that I've composed based on things from Little White Mouse from my website.

ST: I'm sure you must have done about a kajillion of these interviews. Is there a question that you've always wished someone would ask you, but no one ever has? If so, please ask and answer.

PS:
Q: Paul, what happens if Disney rolls a wheelbarrow of money up to your front door to do a Little White Mouse movie?
A: Disney? Nobody's home. Pixar? Hell yes.

The real answer to that is that I would want whoever did a movie version of Little White Mouse to realize the important part of Little White Mouse isn't the cyberdogs, the computers, and the wacky robots, but the story of Loo. Like they say at Pixar: "STORY IS KING"!

I was approached by a movie producer in 2003 who was interested in making a live action Little White Mouse movie. It was an interesting experience, which ultimately left the idea unresolved and on the shelf with millions of other great ideas out in Hollywood (don't worry, I never signed away any rights, I own LWM lock stock and barrel). What it did do was make me decide what my attachment to my work is. Friends who had dealt with working with entertainment industry options told me to imagine the worst request a movie company could ask of your story: "Paul, we'd like to make the Little White Mouse movie, we have a budget of 80 million dollars, everything is set to go ... Oh, yeah, we'd like Jessica Simpson to play Loo. Is that OK?" That will happen, they told me, and you need to have your answer ready as to whether you say "go ahead" or "go soak your head."

Ultimately, I never had my hopes up, given the incredible odds, but still it was kind of fun to imagine my stuff being translated to film. So yeah, with someone who loved the story, I'd say yes.

PaulSizer.com — Learn more about Paul's comics and all kinds of other stuff
Little White Mouse Omnibus — All the current ordering data and book numbers (ISBN, Diamond ordering codes, etc.)
Moped Army — All the current ordering data and book numbers (ISBN, Diamond ordering codes, etc.)
B.P.M. — Paul's new multimedia comic project, still in the conceptual stage, but you can find sneak peeks of images to check out