Holmes Incorporated is the brainchild of Ty Templeton. The premise being the descendants of Holmes and Watson carry on the family tradition. Rob Pincombe, who serves as an Assistant Editor for Holmes Inc., is a prolific television writer, recovering comedian, and sometimes comic artist/storyboard artist. Rob was gracious enough to answer a few questions from CBI Chief Correspondent of Canada Hal Hilden.
Hal: What is Holmes Incorporated?
ROB: Holmes Incorporated is the flagship publication of the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.
http://cartoonistsworkshop.wordpress.com
The concept is simplicity itself. The descendants of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson carry on the family business of solving mysteries across the globe as agents of Holmes Inc. Its Sherlock meets James Bond featuring a delightful, competitive family of unique characters. It’s also an old school, comic book romp filled with offbeat action and more fun than you can shake a deerstalker cap at.
Hal: What is the purpose of this comic?
ROB: The TCW wanted to offer a unique master class to students and alumni of their comic creating courses. The class is called Fit To Print and it’s designed to mimic a professional environment where creators are assigned to work on an established property.
It’s the best of both worlds. Much like working for the bigger comic companies like Marvel, DC or even your IDW’s and Boom Studios, you have a pro editor, hard deadlines for each stage, and high standards and expectations to meet. But you also have a supportive, group environment where you work closely with your collaborators, challenge one another to do better and have lots of constructive feedback throughout the process.
Our goal is to offer the students a taste of what it feels like to work in the industry. It’s a trial by fire that helps them learn to push themselves and gives them something to hand to an editor and say, “This is what I can do.” So it’s a big, old job application, really — the funniest application you’ll ever read!
Hal: Who came up with the idea of Holmes Inc?
ROB: We turned to that jack of all comic book trades (and TCW instructor) Ty Templeton, who offered up a basic concept and main characters for Holmes Incorporated. But the details, designs and the world have been fleshed out by the contributors on a story-by-story basis.
Hal: Was there ever an issue in using the Holmes concept? By this I mean copyright.
There are no copyright issues. The Holmes characters are in the public domain and our book features all original characters and an original concept from Ty. We do sometimes reference ‘Holmesian’ lore but we are focus more on these characters in the here and now. The original Sherlock does have a small role to play in our first two issues though!
Hal: Has this comic exceeded its expectations and if so, how and why?
ROB: I’m pleased to say that people really seem to dig it!
Our readers have been extremely supportive. They get that the series is created by the “comic book superstars of tomorrow”. I mean, some of these contributors are doing their first comic work ever but you’d never know it from the quality of the work. There are a ton of different styles at work but every artist is using the language of comics to tell their tales with panache! We’re starting to see even more excitement now that we’ve made both issues available for free digital download from anywhere in the world.
http://holmesinccomic.wordpress.com/buy
The reaction from creators wanting to be a part of the book has also been incredible. Once people saw the first issue they were eager to dive in and offer their own spin on these characters.
So it’s been good for the readers, good for the contributors, and good for the TCW.
Hal: Do any comic pros besides the great Ty Templeton assist with Holmes Inc?
ROB: Ty is our editor and fearless leader. Keiren Smith is a highly regarded letterer and colorist who handled all of the production workload (And believe me, producing an 80-page giant in four to five months is a ton of work) including lettering every story and colouring the cover. Marvel artist Leonard Kirk (also a TCW instructor) provided us with our second issue cover.
We plan to branch out into other series down the road and other comic pros have expressed interest in helping out. But right now, Ty’s the main man.
I have been heavily involved as the assistant editor but I come from a TV background where I’ve written, story edited and developed shows for years. Comics are still kind of new to me so I was a TCW student as well. So I’m learning right along with the others.
The participants do the bulk of the creating on Holmes Inc. The Pros are there for support and feedback.
Hal: How are the creator teams chosen?
ROB: A prerequisite for taking part in Fit To Print is having gone through certain TCW classes. So Ty has taught almost all the participants and is quite familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of all involved. This allows him to balance out what stories artists would shine on and what stories would challenge them to rise to a new level.
Of course, we asked everyone for his or her collaboration preferences as well (anonymously). Ty tried to keep personal choices in mind but ultimately it’s his call.
Hal: Do any teams, for whatever reason, not make the final cut as they say?
ROB: Meeting the deadlines can be a challenge and we are very clear that if someone falls too far behind they will not make it into the final book. No one wants to let any of the others down. I had to step in and draw one story to make sure it saw print. But in these first two issues we’ve had people drawing in hospital beds to keep going. Now that’s dedication!
Hal: What types of technology does Holmes Inc. use in its art?
ROB: Holmes Incorporated is a very hands-on project. All the art is done the old fashioned way with pencil on paper. Most of the pages were inked by hand as well. That was important so everyone could offer support and constructive suggestions on a weekly basis. It’s hard to offer proper feedback with a group of 24 people looking at a laptop. Several of the artists added grays and digital effects top their stories and Keiren Smith did all the lettering on computer.
Hal: Do the writers for Holmes Inc have free reign, or are they given specific story ideas and told to take and expand them?
ROB: All the writers come in with their own story ideas and pitch to the group. Ty wants to be surprised and delighted. Ty is very specific that the editor’s job is to rein the writer in when necessary but not tell them where to go.
Hal: Do the writers have strict boundaries they have to adhere to? What is a ‘no no’ in a Holmes Inc story?
ROB: There was an initial character bible they had to adhere to. Each character has a specific personality and a basic function within the group. And of course, anything that has shown in the stories is now canon so we are learning more about them with every issue.
As long as the characters’ actions fit the basic, original parameters we give the writers free reign to take them to new places. I mean, if you don’t push the envelope a bit and add some of yourself to the tale you’re not doing your job as a writer. We were surprised where some stories have taken them. But they work.
Hal: How much Sherlock Holmes history comes into play in Holmes Inc?
ROB: It depends on the story. The basic concept relies on a cursory familiarity with the character. We don’t rely on Holmes mythology too much though some subtle references do come in. For example, the Holmes Incorporated super jet is called the “Deerstalker”. And instead of residing at 221B Baker Street, the family bought up the area after the Blitz and created “Baker Square”, a combination corporate headquarters, museum and Public Square.
Hal: Please name all the creators thus far for Holmes Inc?
ROB: Wow, that’s a lot of people! For issue two alone no less than 25 people were involved. Bios and contact info for all our creators are available at our website.
http://holmesinccomic.wordpress.com
Hal: Have any gone on to professional work?
ROB: A few of our TCW Holmesians have done pro work.
Artist Gibson Quarter (http://gibsonquarter27art.blogspot.com/) has gone total pro, co-creating the “War on Drugs” strip with writer Alan Grant for UK’s “Wasted” magazine, as well as the new indie book “Undertow”.
Writers James Cooper (www.james-cooper.ca)Dino Caruso (www.carusocomics.com) and artist Christopher Yao (http://yaozagraphics.com/) have self-published their own work.
Others have recently launched webcomics. You can check out James Cooper’s “Bagged & Bored” (http://www.tdotcomics.ca/baggedandbored/), Yolanda Cheung’s “Dydactic” (http://yolierolie.wordpress.com/) and Dino’s more established “Bell Boy” (http://bell-boy.ca/).
Hal: Of all the Holmes Inc stories thus far, which one has received the most accolades and why?
ROB: People have been focusing on the total package. These are all great stories.
Hal: Print vs. Digital. Your thoughts…
ROB: There was discussion of a larger print run for issue two but since the purpose of this book is to be seen everyone unanimously decided digital was a better way to get the book out there. We do have a small print run for Fan Expo later this month. And sometime in the Fall we plan to launch Print On Demand versions of the book so anyone who wants one can get a physical copy.
Hal: What sources do you use for a cover image for Holmes Inc?
ROB: Leonard Kirk was originally going to be the editor of Holmes incorporated #2 with me as his Assistant Editor and Ty being involved early for the pitch sessions and early writing work. But sudden deadlines on his Marvel work forced Leonard to step back. But he was delighted to do a cover for us. And it rocks!
Hal: Are there any other mediums that may be, or are, interested in Holmes Inc?
ROB: Personally, I feel that Holmes Inc would work in television, and even theatrically. The concept is just that great!
We’re glad you like it! It is a brilliant concept. Lots of fun characters and you really can go almost anywhere with the stories. A little bit of trivia for you, Ty originally planned to pitch this as a TV show! He fleshed out the characters for the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.
Hal: I heard that you guys recently had a launch party for Holmes Inc #2? Any funny stories that you can tell us?
ROB: The launch party went great. People were so excited we couldn’t get them to leave. I mean seriously, we were in our jammies and turning out the lights. Can’t people take hints?
Hal: When can we expect to see issue #3, and is there any chance of a collected trade in the near future?
ROB: You’ll see issue 3 next year, like clockwork. This is an annual opportunity for the students to strut their stuff. People don’t realize that publishing a comic is a full time job and our editors and instructors donate a lot of time to this project because they believe in it.
At some point we might increase that output or add a new title or two to the Fit To Print line-up. But right now Holmes Incorporated remains our flagship book.
Hal: Thank you very much Rob and I wish you continued success with Holmes Inc., and any other future endeavors.
Check out Holmes Incorporated at:
http://holmesinccomic.wordpress.com
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About the interviewer –
Hal Hilden fancies himself a warrior-writer. Having wallowed through the trenches with pen and paper in hand he has fired off script after script over the years. This has given him calloused fingertips and the intestinal fortitude to realize that working in the comic industry is easier said than done.
Hal’s co-creator owned property is Dreamland: 2047. He dabbled in the television industry writing a spec-script for a cartoon property. Hal is currently a writer for Red Leaf Comics.
Hal can be reached at: hhilden@comicbookinterviews.com
Great looking project!
Great interview! And what a fantastic project. I’ve seen the comic in the flesh, and it looks incredible. The idea that it was created by students is staggering. I love Rob’s point about the interactivity of old-fashioned, pen-on-paper drawings as opposed to sitting around a laptop exchanging ideas. Ironic! Congratulations to Ty, Rob and team for providing this amazing opportunity and for turning out such an excellent product.