The Only Living Boy

An Interview with David Gallaher and Steve Ellis

By Jennifer M. Contino
May 23, 2016

The Only Living Boy is a smash webcomic that's been collected by Papercutz for a whole new audience to enjoy. Creators David Gallaher and Steve Ellis gave Tart some insight into how their little boy, lost on a strange world, became so much more than an image on the computer screen.

ST: With a title like "The Only Living Boy," people might think this is a reverse-Pinocchio or zombie series or something of that like.... Just what is the gist of your recently collected webcomic?

Steve Ellis: When we first started the book, there was a zombie theme to it, but we got rid of that pretty early. We felt that there were too many zombies stories in the world, so we sought to do something a little more adventurous, something a little different. Instead of zombies, we filled the series with all kids of all different types of creatures. Rather than something like Pinocchio or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, we wanted to tell the story of kid who was torn from the world he once knew and thrown into something a little more twisted and fractured.

David Gallaher: The pitch I usually give is that ... this is story of a 12-year-old boy who runs away from home, only to find himself on a patchwork planet filled with mermaid warriors, insect princesses, mad scientists, and dragons. It's sorta like the Jungle Book meets The Island of Doctor Moreau. We're trying to tell a heart-warming adventure story set against this outlandish and dangerous backdrop. It's remarkably fun.

ST: How did the two of you come to collaborate on this webcomic?

SE: Well, we were already working on Box 13 and High Moon ....

DG: Right, we were already working together and had this great collaborative partnership we fostered with High Moon and Box 13. Working in the studio, I recounted to Steve my inspiration for The Only Living Boy and we hashed out this two-page proof of concept comic that we showed off at Comic Con in 2009.

SE: And as I mentioned it started with zombies and it became so much more.

DG: What I love about working on this series is that it builds off of the audience we grew with High Moon and Box 13 and gives them something more — something different. Bringing the series to the web, after having launched it as a Kickstarter, made a lot of sense for us. We're really happy with the model we've built for ourselves — it's a little unconventional — but it has helped us.

ST: You began this series when webcomics were really in the infancy. What was it like being a pioneer of the webcomics field?

DG: Well, we certainly started making webcomics and digital comics way back in the day. Between High Moon and Box 13, and now The Only Living Boy, we've absolutely loved furthering the conversation about what comic books can be and how to get more readers more interested. The web is a great tool for that.

SE: We pride ourselves on bringing adventure comics into the world wide web. We spearheaded that in 2007 with High Moon and Box 13 in 2009. And with The Only Living Boy, which we previewed in 2009, but launched as a web-series in 2013, we've had an incredible time connecting with new readers.

ST: What were some of the things you had to determine, setting this up digitally, that you might not have had to worry about doing a print edition?

SE: Box 13 was a very claustrophobic series made for the phone. With The Only Living Boy, we wanted to take advantage of the big screen and a big piece of paper. We tried to make it feel just as expansive as High Moon.

DG: Where we really chose to innovate with OLB was in the distribution model. Instead of just hosting it on our site, we decided to release it for free on Tapastic, NoiseTrade, and Tumblr and for a nominal fee on platforms like Comixology and HumbleBundle. Removing the barrier to entry has helped us engage with our readers in new ways. We love it.

ST: At the early stages of webcomics, EVERYONE was doing a webcomic. But few survived longer than a year .... When did you realize "The Only Living Boy" was garnering a following and becoming more ...?

SE: For me, I think I started noticing when we'd go to conventions and fans would say something like "Hey, I read this online for free and I really liked it," and then they would buy a copy of the book, buy a sketch or original art. That's been a really incredible, tangible experience.

ST: When I read the graphic novel, I kept thinking it had elements of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, H.R. Pufnstuff, The Never Ending Story, and Flash Gordon, to name a few. Who or what inspired your fantastical series?

SE: Artistically, I didn't want too many details to slow down the action. I simplified my style to help create a more fluid look, making everything feel more animated. Beyond that, this is a series that is heavily driven by classic fantasy artwork and classic animated films. Frank Frazetta and Walt Disney are really the visual cornerstones of this book. Arthur Rackham and Keith Parkinson are huge influences too. There's a sense of grandeur I wanted to add to the series, so I looked at the giants in those fields for inspiration.

DG: We lean heavily on the narrative conventions set up by Flash Gordon, The Wizard of Oz, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, John Carter, and The Jungle Book. They certainly all influenced the series in a way. We wanted get readers hooked on something familiar — and then pull the rug out from under them a bit and tell a much deeper, more complex story.

ST: Erik certainly is a plucky protagonist. Who or what influenced how you envisioned your tween hero?

SE: Well, he's not the hero, in a traditional sense. He's certainly not what you'd expect a hero to look like. As creators, we like to play around with expectations — and there are certain expectations we demand of our heroes.

ST: We've seen a lot of stories about people finding themselves in alternative worlds / realities. What sets your tale apart from Oz, Wonderland, Narnia or any of those other stories where a young hero is in one place, then almost inexplicably in another?

DG: The patchwork planet Erik finds himself on is no different than the reality most teenagers find themselves in — at least metaphorically. Every teen goes through phases on the quest to discover who they are destined to become, and Erik is no different. The different landscapes and cultures he visits all reflect a larger part of Erik's journey.

ST: Erik reminded me a lot of Peter Brown from L. Frank Baum's Oz books and Jimmy from H.R. Pufnstuff. I know that this is just a story, but how do you think you, at his young age, would have reacted if you suddenly found yourself in a situation like Erik?

SE: In the first volume, Erik runs away from a lot of things that scare him. I think that's a fairly common reaction to 'new things'.

DG: I think I'd largely react the same way. I mean, I would not necessarily have the cognitive skills or memories all the time to know what I should trust or fear.

ST: The story is scary and intense in some places, but it leaves just enough to the imagination to not completely terrify any of your youngest readers. How did you find the balance between telling an all-ages tale, yet still having the elements that would appeal to the more "mature" reader?

DG: For my tenth birthday, my parents bought me a copy of Bridge to Terabithia. I devoured it, read it in one sitting and cried through the rest of the night and into the morning. What I loved about the book was that it captured the ecstasy and the agony of being alive. There was this sense of wonder, discovery and exploration that absolutely captured my imagination! There was also this heart-breaking tragedy that surrounded the story.

As an author, I want to bring those same elements to The Only Living Boy. Wilkie Collins, a pioneer in serial fiction, had this quote that I love — "Make them cry, make them laugh, make `em wait" — and for me, that means telling a story that spans the entire emotional spectrum.

SE: That's the thing: we don't pull our punches in our story, but we choose our visuals with care. We want the story to have the emotional resonance so that adults can enjoy it, but not slip into adult visuals (nudity, language). In the 80s, Wolverine was just as brutal as he was in the '90s, but how the artists chose to represent the visuals made all of the difference. Look at Harry Potter — it punches you just as hard as any other modern story, even though it's considered a "kid's book". For us, it's about having enough respect for the younger reader to know that they can handle an emotionally powerful story, without the adult visuals.

I hate somebody telling me what I can or can't draw, but the boundaries that were set with the Comic Code Authority created this frame that forced artists to innovate. Over the years, we've developed our own guidelines — strangely enough, the same framework that guides The Only Living Boy is the same code we used for High Moon.

ST: I'm still intrigued wondering what Erik was running away from on "Earth". When, if at all, do you reveal more of his background here and insight into what set him off in the rain that evening?

DG: I mean ... we could totally spoil it for you now, but you'll find out in October when The Only Living Boy: Once Upon A Time is released.

ST: I like the backpack. It's such a cute animal. It kind of seems like there's more to that story as well coming up ... when will we see what else might be housed in that backpack?

SE: Well, in the first volume, you see Erik stuffs it with Groundling Fruit.

DG: You'll find out in October.

ST: This story has a kind of dark look and feel to it. How did you decide the look for the lead and the colors and situations to set the stage in this series?

SE: I wanted the series to have an otherworldly feel. When I show 'our world' — I wanted it to feel naturalistic. But when Erik enters Chimerika the Patchwork Planet, we used just as many colors as you might find in an episode of My Little Pony. Sometimes, I'll hide the scary stuff in bright colors so you don't know it's really scary.

ST: You have collected this before, correct? Why bring Papercutz into the mix instead of just doing all of this on your own with a Kickstarter or anything else?

DG: Papercutz had everything we were looking for in a publishing partner — a history of family friendly titles, an extraordinary distribution network, and an ace editorial staff. It just made sense. It's a perfect home for The Only Living Boy.

ST: What is coming up in the second volume? When is that going to be released?

SE: The second volume comes out in July! It should be solicited for comic shops when this interview goes live.

DG: And the third volume comes out in October ....

ST: What other projects are you working on?

SE: For the foreseeable future, we'll be keeping our attention focused on The Only Living Boy and High Moon. And we're touring the schools, libraries, and comic shops teaching comics-making workshops.

DG: And watch our website — bottled-lightning.com for more details and announcements!

Bottled Lightning — The place to learn about Gallaher and Ellis' current projects.