The following is an interview with Eisner-nominated writer Shaun Simon regarding the recent release of the comic book collection, Open Caskets, with Half A World Away Press. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Simon about the shared creative process of working with artist Neil Sabatino to bring the short story collection to life on the page, what readers may take away from the stories’ themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the recent release of Open Caskets! What can you share with us about the genesis behind this collection of short stories, and how would you describe its overall premise?
Shaun Simon: I was wrapping up Paranoid Gardens for Dark Horse when Neil got in touch with me about working on comics. I have been a huge fan of Neil’s work since he did our Pencey Prep album cover years ago. Great artists, in any medium, create what is uniquely their own. Whether he’s doing graphic design work, album covers for his record label, or just throwing character sketches up online, Neil’s work is the epitome of a great artist. His art conjures up an emotional response. It’s black and white, indie, and almost unsettling to me and I absolutely love it. I have been wanting to do more indie comic work and when Neil reached out, I jumped at the chance.
Open Caskets is looking in without holding back. There’s no hiding behind closed doors. No glossing over the truth. It’s about people who have had some kind of strange or tragic incident that brought them to a support group where they find out they are not alone. It’s about people who don’t belong. And not just in terms of the people in the book itself, these stories didn’t belong in anything else. I tried to work some of these stories into full-length graphic novels or novels and they didn’t belong. They didn’t work. There is something great about short stories, like two-minute punk rock songs–you get in, lay it all down, and get out. That’s what this collection is to me. The bastard children of failed attempts at longer form stories that all found a home together. Open Caskets is a book of quick snippets of people dealing with surreal, horrific, and absurd issues on the surface but if you look deeper, you’ll find that these issues aren’t all that far off from what all of us deal with.
BD: As a longtime collaborator with artist Neil Sabatino, how would you describe your shared creative process in bringing these stories to life on the page?
SS: Coming from bands before getting into writing made me love the collaboration process. There is only so much a person can do on their own. You can never see your work with fresh eyes. For me, the key to collaboration is to work with people who are on a similar wavelength but theirs shoots a little far off in a direction yours doesn’t. I want someone who is going to bring stuff to the table that I wouldn’t have thought of. Someone who might see something from a different direction. The worst thing for me is compliancy. I don’t want “yes.” I want, “what if we did this?” I want challenges. I want someone who is going to make the work better by adding their voice. Neil not only did that but he brought stories to the book that I wouldn’t have thought of. He is also one of the most driven and dedicated people I know. When he wants to do something, he puts everything he has into it.
My son, Jack, wrote the story “Eternity” and co-wrote “Transformer” with me. He is someone else who has his own way of seeing things and challenged me to be better. He sings and plays guitar for his band, The Mercys, as well as doing acoustic singer/songwriter stuff and he blows my mind with his talent.
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 Open Caskets’ themes may connect with and impact readers, and what, if any, conversations do you hope that they may inspire?
SS: Like I said earlier, you can take these stories on the surface and get some entertainment out of them, or you can look deeper. There’s a story that came from Neil called, “Good Boy.” It’s about a dog. I won’t spoil anything here but you can certainly take it at face value and be shocked by the ending. But hopefully, that ending makes you rethink and question everything else in it. For me, writing is not giving away every answer and “Good Boy” is a great example of that. This is where a readers own perspective comes in. What they can relate to. How it makes them feel.
“Eternity,” from Jack, is another good example. It’s about a song taking physical form and what happens when something comes along that takes its place. It asks some serious questions about the artistic process. But it doesn’t have to be a song for you. It can be anything that you created that was once loved and thrown out.
Book Two is about the writing process and I think any writers out there will relate to that story. Every story in the book can be dug into and unpacked and hopefully readers will find what moves them.
BD: What makes Half A World Away Press an ideal publishing partner for this project?
SS: This book has been a labor of love. We never had a publisher attached. We did it because we love the medium and believe in the book. Neil and I grew up in the NJ music scene and a lot of what we did was DIY. I think that mentality has stayed with both of us as we got older. When you create something for the right reasons, you want to get it out to as many people as possible. You want people to find part of themselves in it. For us to be able to do that, to get it out to as many people as possible, we started Half A World Away Press so we don’t have to charge $20 for the book. You can pay $2.99 on Kindle or get the paperback for $7.99. Hell, you can read it for free on GlobalComix. We are lucky to live in a world where this is possible and the DIY spirit can live on.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell readers who want to learn more about Open Caskets and your other work?
SS: Hopefully, Open Caskets is only the start. Neil and I have plans to keep working together on Half A World Away Press. You can find us on Instagram (@halfaworldawaypress).
