The following is an interview with Karenza Sparks on launching a Kickstarter campaign for the graphic novel, The Corus Wave, in collaboration with Avery Hill Publishing. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Sparks about her creative process in bringing the story and characters to life on the page, the incredible backer rewards available through the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the recent launch of your Kickstarter campaign for The Corus Wave! What can you share with us about the premise of this adventure story?
Karenza Sparks: The Corus Wave is a geological treasure hunting story about a lost scientific theory and a very peculiar fossil. Lorelei is writing her Master’s thesis about the formation of a fossil which has perplexed geologists for years, when she discovers writings which hint at a revolutionary scientific theory from the 19th century – polymath Havius Corus’ theory of the Corus Wave. But the theory was rejected in its time and lost to the future – or so it seems. Lorelei travels to Corus’ birthplace along with her housemate Eddie and their cat Raisin, and with help from an eccentric local archivist they uncover the clues and riddles that Corus has hidden in the town he designed, undiscovered for over 100 years, and piece together the truth about the mysterious fossil.
BD: In addition to your passion for visual storytelling, you are also an avid stamp collector! How did your affinity for stamp collecting give way to the creative inspiration for this story?
KS: There’s definitely a link between my interest in fossils and in stamps; they’re both beautiful and interesting little artefacts that tell a story about history and culture. I always try and sneak my hobbies into the background of the things I make, and I like that it leaves a bit more of my personal fingerprint. Stamps came more to the forefront while I was formulating a hobby for Eddie; it’s such an archetypal idea of a hobby that it’s almost a parody, but I liked that and I liked the opportunity to show a different kind of stamp collector than the stereotypical obsessive male geek – no offense meant to these pillars of the stamp collecting community of course.
BD: Why do you feel that crowdfunding has been such a valuable resource to ensuring the success of today’s comic book creators?
KS: I think crowdfunding is a great way to pitch your work to a wider audience and create a bit of a ‘moment’ for your project where everyone can get excited about it. I often take a scroll on crowdfunding websites and discover something that I would never have known about otherwise but is right up my alley – I think it’s an effective way for smaller creators to find their audiences in this way. I really enjoyed designing the extra rewards for The Corus Wave, too, and I love that aspect of crowdfunding campaigns, that you can support projects on a further level and get more immersed in the whole thing.
BD: What makes Avery Hill Publishing such an ideal publishing partner for The Corus Wave?
KS: I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw an email from Avery Hill in my inbox! They are a publisher I was already well aware of and I’ve seen their books all over the world. They fully supported me in making the story I wanted to tell and were so helpful guiding me as a first-time author. I feel like they completely understood what I wanted to do with this project from the start and I’m so grateful for all their advice and guidance. In the end The Corus Wave became the best version of itself. In general, I really respect their commitment to reaching out to new and emerging authors, Avery Hill has introduced the world to so many incredible cartoonists and it’s an honour to be amongst them.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that Lorelei’s story may connect with and impact readers?
KS: One of my starting points with The Corus Wave was to write a story that celebrated curiosity as something inherent and defining about the human race. It’s pretty easy to lose hope in humanity, so I wanted to focus of something about all of us that I thought was beautiful and worth celebrating – the sincere drive to learn and understand something without want of reward, and the intergenerational development of science. It’s about following genuine interest and passion for something despite what makes you successful. I think with ‘hustle culture’ and the pressure/opportunity to monetise our hobbies, it can feel like things done just for the passion of it can be a waste somehow, but I think it’s what makes us human. I hope people can connect with this, too.
I always end up centering my stories around female characters. As a young girl, I craved stories about women who were human beings just like me, rather than this unfamiliar creature I always seemed to see who was treated as a lesser subset of humanity (although I couldn’t put my finger on why I felt this strange belittling feeling from the stories I read back then – the stories that were helping me build my understanding of the world – it’s pretty easy now to identify it as plain and simple misogyny). So, I think there’s always room and reason for stories about women, and anyway it’s more interesting to me that way. I always write what I’m craving to read, and, hopefully, a story about two friends solving weird riddles and making scientific discoveries is something that excites other people, too!
BD: In light of the crowdfunding campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
KS: I designed a making-of booklet with concept art, process work, and sketches that explains some of my story and design choices – I always love getting that kind of insight into a project and, hopefully, other people feel the same way! There’s a lot of scientific/geological references in the story that I was excited to tell people more about.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell readers who want to learn more about the The Corus Wave campaign?
KS: Check out the Kickstarter page! On the campaign page, you can see some preview pages from the comic and view the animated trailer I made (which I’m pretty proud of). If it seems interesting to you, please consider getting a copy of the book! I’m really pleased to finally be sharing this story and the support I’ve received for it already means the world to me.
