The comic book landscape is filled with inventiveness and wonder, but it’s rare that a creator will bring forth a whole universe unlike any seen before in the funny pages. Jessica Warrick, mastermind behind the upcoming graphic novel The Chum Brothers: Know Your Gnomes, has not only exceeded those expectations, but left them floundering under the sea. Populated by telepathic human/fish hybrids, mermaids, mythical creatures, and, of course, gnomes, The Chum Brothers is sure to transport readers to a world that is wonderous and unnerving and wack-a-doo—in a good way!
Recently, Warrick launched a Kickstarter in partnership with Rocketship Entertainment to bring The Chum Brothers: Know Your Gnomes to graphic novel form. The Kickstarter has already hit its goal with 10 days left in the campaign. I spoke with Jessica Warrick recently about the conceit of The Chum Brothers: Know Your Gnomes, the genesis of this incredibly novel comic, the Kickstarter itself, and how the idea of this world was literal decades in the making.
Look, I know there are interviewers and reviewers who laud projects by declaring “you’ve never seen anything like this,” but… seriously. You haven’t seen anything like The Chum Brothers before. The cast Warrick has crafted and the world she’s built are nothing short of a well-orchestrated magic spell of wow. If you’ve ever thought, “There’s nothing new under the sun,” let Jessica Warrick remove that naysaying attitude.
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted early on in the Kickstarter campaign.
FreakSugar: For folks who are unfamiliar with the comic, what is the concept of The Chum Brothers: Know Your Gnomes?
Jessica Warrick: First off, thanks so much for this opportunity! It’s still pretty amazing to me that I am getting this chance to talk about something that I loved creating…something I made up haha.
Yeah! So The Chum Brothers was written with a series in mind based in Loreland, a modern seaside town inhabited by mythical creatures, humans, and pretty much any hybrid combo imaginable. The story revolves around two twin fish/human hybrid brothers named Gil and Fin Chum who have psychic powers. “Know Your Gnomes” focuses on, you guessed it, the gnomes. Gil and Fin stumble into their underground world accidentally, and end up solving a 30-year-old mystery involving stolen crystals and their enslavement.
FS: No hyperbole: This is one of the most inventive, “what the what?” comics I’ve come across in quite a while. What was the genesis of the comic?
JW: WOW, that’s an amazing compliment, thank you! Well, I have always had a thing for mythical creatures, especially with their juxtaposition in modern, everyday environments. There’s just something about that concept that will always be funny to me.
I’ve come to realize that the print collections I’ve illustrated in the past are basically mini, single panel comics with rich stories embedded in them. I kinda strung all these gags together and extrapolated upon the storyline intuitively.
I get it now when people say “it wrote itself.” It really did! I had no idea there would be an elderly horny neighbor, or a basement gnome infestation…it just made sense.
And the Chum bros themselves have been haunting me since I began my art career nearly 20 years ago! My best-selling print, “The Chum Family Portrait,” features a sea captain human father, mermaid mother, and two twin fish-headed boys posing for an awkward family photo. This illustration alone has fueled the entire concept.
FS: What can you tell us about some of the folks we’ll meet in The Chum Brothers?
JW: Well, you already know about the Chum brothers! Their dad Ivan Chum is a stern (yet loving) successful fish processing guy (so there’s already some uncomfortable friction there). Their mother is a lovely mermaid with complex stuff that will develop in other episodes, and Lucy is their energetic little mermaid sister. Neil is the star gnome character who is kind of a little sexual deviant. Ms. Rhonda Goonch, the Chums’ next-door neighbor, is an elderly widow who needs yardwork help and really likes feeding her cats (and anyone else) hotdogs for some reason. Leon Gray works as a bored marketing manager but is also a whistle-blower for a cult he used to belong to in the 90’s. And then there’s the cult leaders: Onyx and Indigo Nebula (they named themselves). Oh, and the delightfully classless, day-drinking white wine mermaids…you’ll run into them a few times.
FS: How has the concept of the comic changed over the years since you first came up with it, if at all?
JW: The idea of the bros solving mysteries was a new addition that really opened up so much. I have my supportive partner Chris Foster to thank for that. We were hunting mushrooms in the park together (not saying we were…on…mushrooms😉) and started talking about my Chum bros characters, and agreed that shows like Scooby Doo and The X-Files were great, and have that element of mystery that makes them so fun and rewatchable.
My influences are listed on my original manuscript: Inherent Vice, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Rick and Morty, Venture Bros, Harvey Birdman, Spongebob, Scooby Doo, Bob’s Burgers, The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, Dark Crystal, Twin Peaks, Lord of the Rings.
Sticker available in the campaign
FS: Do you have a favorite character or story, or is that like picking a favorite child?
JW: Well luckily, I don’t have any children so it’s easier for me to coldly Sophie’s Choice it. Aside from the bros…Neil. Neil the gnome stole the spotlight and my heart.
FS: Rocketship Entertainment has been making a name bringing webcomics to print. What made a partnership with the company attractive to you?
JW: A super successful comics friend of mine recommended [Rocketship CEO] Tom [Akel] to me! I have a huge respect for their business of keeping beautifully printed books alive, as well as celebrating incredible comics creators. It’s amazing that Rocketship has the capacity to house such accomplished creators, while also providing space for newbies like me! Rocketship has been phenomenal to work with, and I feel very lucky.
FS: What are you reading right now?
JW: Weird stuff. I also recently reread a favorite graphic novel: Stitches by David Small. I always felt this was such a powerful story and found it inspiring that, like me, the author/illustrator was new to the graphic novel medium and kinda treated it like a movie storyboard. I love its raw, loose style and powerful emotion.
FS: Beyond the Kickstarter, what’s next for The Chum Brothers?
JW: I have so many ideas for The Chum Brothers world it’s a little insane. My vision would ultimately be an animated show! Since I binge watch cartoons all the time, I find myself wishing I could already watch it haha. I started writing episode two last year! I’ll just say this: The theme focuses on Sasquatch and it will be titled “The Mushroom Tip.”
Print by Family Guy director Joe Vaux; print available in the campaign
FS: If you had one final pitch for The Chum Brothers, what would it be?
JW: I think weirdo mysteries are so fun, and that’s what this is. The Chum Brothers is quirky, full of mythical creatures, has the juxtaposition of outlandish fantasy mixed with the mundaneness of office buzz words, junk food, and 90’s nostalgia all taking place in a kind of modern, satirical Middle Earth.
Loreland’s inhabitants belong to a kind of collective, biological ecosystem, where a disruption in one group causes a chain reaction of disturbances and ultimately positive change to all. All catalyzed by the Chum bros of course!
I have had an absolute blast creating this. I have found that if I’m creating something that makes me laugh, it’ll likely mean other people will laugh, and what’s better medicine than that? OK penicillin. Humor and imagination have been life-savers for me, and those things will always be needed. I am thankful for companies like Rocketship and Kickstarter, and all of my supporters who believe in artists and are making this possible. Thank you!
As of press time, the Kickstarter for The Chum Brother: Know Your Gnomes has surpassed its initial funding goal with 10 days left still in the campaign. Make sure to check out this truly one-of-a-kind book and dig into those phenomenal backer rewards!