Another long one guys! Sorry it reads a bit like a chat log at times, that's basically what it was. However, Zac and MrRiot are so great that I don't think anyone will mind…
Creators: MrRiot and Zac
Project: Drunk Duck Civil War
Resources: Drunk Duck Civil War Wiki (Also on the wiki is a full list of participating comics.)
skoolmunkee: What is Civil War and how did it get started?
MrRiot: Well…Zac drew a picture of me that said "I kill my readers"
Zac: Well wait, before that, let's start at the beginning. I had no idea who James was before WW, just from the forums. But he seemed too popular, and that intimidated me.
MrRiot: Likewise with Zac.
Zac: Anyways, we both were counting on WingNut to show up so that we could cause trouble (because he was supposed to be an outlet for amusement), but he didn't.
MrRiot: We were both lamenting tht he didn't show up, so we started hanging out.
Zac: And James had a beard. We hit it off pretty quick, spoke a little bit, and then I drew this picture of James that said "I kill my readers" and at the same time he was drawing one (unbeknownst to me) of me saying "I eat puppies."
MrRiot: And that was it. It was ON.
skoolmunkee: So what you're saying is it's all WingNut's fault you guys are now lover-enemies?
Zac: Pretty much. That and fate.
MrRiot: Yep. So…thanks for not coming, Wingnut!
Zac: But we just kept drawing pictures of each other beating each other up all day.
MrRiot: I think the first idea for Civil War came from an argument about pink being the new black. If I remember right.
Zac: I don't remember. I think Civil War came about after me like bugging James while walking around the convention center about what was happening in the Marvel world, and then we kept joke glaring at each other and making threats. And I'm sure pink being the new black.
skoolmunkee: Care to fill us in on the Marvel thing, and where the DD Civil War 'fits' in that?
Zac: It was in there somewhere. It's basically Captain America VS Zac. I mean Ironman.
MrRiot: Well, the marvel one, this act goes into effect that superheroes have to register with the government. So we came up with it being DD members had to reveal their real names and lose their screen names. So we stared designing our "costumes" at WWLA… and Zac came up with this awful teal-colored suit for me.
Zac: Because…I DIDN'T HAVE A BLUE MARKER
MrRiot: You were stealing mine all weekend. Why not take a blue one?
Zac: Because I was at the hotel room when I colored it. When we came up with the concept to make Civil War on DD a community project we just thought it'd be a few people from the convention participating.
MrRiot: Everyone would have a good laugh, then go home happy. But nooooooooo. The whole thing sort of blew up overnight when we started posting pages.
Zac: Within the first week of opening the idea
MrRiot: We were getting more hits on Civil War than both our regular comics combined.
skoolmunkee: Is that where MrRiot's folding chair came from? And Zac's guitar? You gave them to each other?
Zac: Well, Riot's chair came from him beating me down with a real folding chair, because he is violent and angry.
MrRiot: It was my weapon of choice all weekend. I was threatening everyone with it.
Zac: He was like an old man with a cane, but with a chair. I'm a loser and not creative so i got a guitar.
MrRiot: That shoots lasers and grappling hooks
Zac: And hearts.
MrRiot: Like the Care Bear stare.
skoolmunkee: So is there some kind of master organization going on, or are people encouraged to join and do whatever story they'd like?
Zac: They can pretty much do anything with their character as long as they stay canon, make sure other people's characters are cool with it. But yeah, free power.
MrRiot: That's kind of the draw. You can do as little or as much as you want…and still be part of it.
Zac: I don't know how it caught on so fast. That's the appeal I suppose, if we weren't horrible slackers.
MrRiot: Obviously. I mean, look at us. We took, like, a month off. I went back to school and am working two jobs, then Zac got shipped off to Disney.
Zac: We had some huge support from the staff at DD, which helped it a ton, and I really appreciate that. I'm just glad people've stuck with it. We plan to eventually put everyone into the comic who's made a character
MrRiot: Yeah, Volte was all, "Guys, you're way cooler than me. Can I play too?" …and we were all, "Yeesh…let him play with code or something"
Zac: He did a lot of work on the page, he made everything fit and not look stupid. He was a BIG help. He came up with the roster codes too.
skoolmunkee: Haha, poor Volte is just trying to make friends :) What are some examples of how other people are participating? Rather than having a character for you guys to include.
Zac: Some people are making side comics, and have actually kept them up. They ask other authors to use characters and make their own stories. In essence we've created a centralized superhero universe on DD, and i think that's pretty neato.
MrRiot: Yeah, the eventual plan is to do something with it.
Zac: People are making characters they can take outside Civil War. Like for example
MrRiot: Acadia and Pixie's brother…MonkeyMafia. They started their own crossover with their Civil War characters.
skoolmunkee: So besides the idea of giving someone else use of a character, and making new characters to use in a central universe as well as their own projects, what other appeals do you think Civil War has for participants?
Zac: Feeds egos. People love seeing themselves I think, so when they appear in the main story arc…
MrRiot: Big time. Who DOESN'T want to see themselves in a comic?
Zac: For me, I still can't believe I'm part of it. I'm really just riding Riot's coattails. I crap myself everytime he draws me, so like, I can only imagine other people.
MrRiot: I really wish you'd stop saying that.
Zac: Sorry. Nah I think a major attraction was when it started, revitalized a lot of people's art.
MrRiot: Yeah, I know the two of us were freaking on FIRE the first few weeks.
Zac: I think civil war was a motivator, that was the appeal. It wasn't like other community projects, where you had a set date to have to work it or it was out. People were competing to be active, and the more active people were, the faster they'd make it into the comic. Or originally, until we slacked off. But a lot of people, including myself, were in a slump in their main comic.
MrRiot: …and led to a slump in my main comic. We made some pretty kick-ass buds out of the whole deal, too.
Zac: But Civil War pulled me and others out of it. Gave people a chance to get to know new people. I know I have a lot more friends from it now.
skoolmunkee: Is there a general direction you're heading? Or an idea of things you want to have happen?
MrRiot: We totally make it up as we go. We have a rough outline of what we're doing. It's kind of open so we can incorporate more of the other guys' events into the man story. But, yeah…main general direction.
skoolmunkee: Do you have any favorite characters or comics by the other participants? Or just someone you want to give a shout-out to for being fun to work with or something?
MrRiot: Acadia, definitely. I freaking love that kid. Him and EvilTwinPixie.
Zac: Acadia was the first to jump in and actually do something, and it was pretty cool. The neutrals actually too. I was really annoyed with the neutral aspect at first, but in the long run those guys have been the only ones still drawing events when we're not. They have BOOKS worth of stuff.
MrRiot: They whine a lot.
Zac: Fern, I liked ferns event a lot. It was different from most people's. It was nice to see different ways of seeing an event done, rather than your run of the mill superhero.
MrRiot: Obviously, Zac's the voice of maturity in this duo.
Zac:We thought it was funny (correct me if I'm wrong James) that me and Riot somehow ended up being some of the only characters with no superpowers.
MrRiot: Yeah…that was kind of lame of us. We have no powers or anything.
Zac: Originally it was just going to be authors in silly outfits, but it got bigger I suppose. Yeah, we're pretty much lame-os.
MrRiot: Well, I'm bad-ass, I don't know about you. Skool's sitting there saying, "Really? I wanted to interview these idiots?"
Zac: Skool's regretting every second of this.
MrRiot: I can see the edit now: "Zac and Riot do Civil War. The end."
skoolmunkee: Have either of you really written superhero or action comics before? What is it like, getting into that genre? Or maybe you haven't, as you've said, you don't have powers in the comic…
MrRiot: Um, I had/have a few I was/am working on
Zac: James is an expert at super hero comics. I never tried a superhero comic. It's interesting, we worked really closely when it started double checking with each other, planning ahead, and now we just give each other the benefit of creative control. Trusting decisions. It's comic improv.
skoolmunkee: So do you guys have a favorite superhero? Or anti-hero as they're so popular lately?
MrRiot: My favorite superhero was always Cap.
Zac: I was sooo into antiheros back in 94 before they were cool, with Venom Lethal Protector.
MrRiot: Laaaaaaaaame
Zac: Shut upppp Cap has feathers so shut up. But my favorite superhero is pre-movie Spiderman. I hate Superman. He like has the power of "Make up superpower when needed." Oh man James, they had like the super special edition box set of Greatest American Hero at Virgin Megastore.
MrRiot: I bought it already. I've already been spotted running around my neighborhood drunk with the included cape on.
Zac: …not me… I don't get to live a real life…
MrRiot: That's because Disney OWNS your ass.
Zac: And the interview breaks down to us bickering again.
skoolmunkee: The Civil War has raised your profile here at DD and increased the popularity of both of your other comics, how are you handling the expanded fan base and extra popularity? Is it giving you big heads?
MrRiot: We were awesome BEFORE CW. Now everyone just knows it.
Zac: …Noyes. NO! Nah, I really appreciate all the new readers, and friends I've made. It's been a lot of fun. And if it weren't for DD's advertising and help and Wizard World, I'd honestly still only have a handful of readers and probably not improve at all. New readers means new critiques, and more pressure to try harder. I used to slack a lot.
MrRiot: I'm the same jackass I've always been, but I have a lot more people to trade art with now. Which is cool. Oh, and it gets us chicks.
Zac: Does it? I missed that one.
MrRiot: Zac's a freaking chick magnet. Look at his side. All goth and emo girls.
Zac: I actually feel bad now, because I think I have readers and that I need to update. Which I haven't done in a month.
MrRiot: Yeah, nothing's really changed but the number of people who get annoyed with me when I miss an update. I actually got an email from a guy who said if I didn't update regularly again, he was going to beat his wife. I kind of hope he was kidding. But at the same time, I'm flattered.
Zac: Riot, that's terrible. I get PQs with people cursing at me for not updating and for not updating rosters on CW like I'm the one in charge of that or something… Well I am…
skoolmunkee: I'll change the subject before you guys kill yourself with guilt here. Hm, jealousy over the other team's girls… If you could steal one person from the other's team, who would it be and why?
MrRiot: No comment.
Zac: I'll answer that for Riot.
MrRiot: Nah, I actually had a thing for Freux, so I'd probably nab her
Zac: If I could steal one person from Riot's team… Riot's got too many awesome people to pick one.
MrRiot: What a lame cop-out.
Zac: It's true, I mean you've got Cheeko and Pixie and Acadia and like a billion people.
MrRiot: The teams got pretty even. If I were prettier, I'd've gotten more.
Zac: If you call like 200 to 100 even
skoolmunkee: So you guys really do hate each other?
Zac: Hahaha, does it seem like it?
MrRiot: We just bicker like a married couple. Which is creepy.
Zac: This is going to sound really cheesy and stupid, but James is a huge inspiration and my best pal ever. So like yeah I hate him. But at the same time, not so much.
MrRiot: I hate Zac in the face. But it's like a brotherly hate.
Zac: Yeah James is like a brother to me. That's what I was looking for.
MrRiot: Like, I can rip on him…but if anyone else does, I'll kick their ass.
Zac: Like he can rip on me, but if anyone else does, he'll kick their ass.
skoolmunkee: Awww. You guys are cute.
MrRiot: You're going to edit this whole thing to look like we're in love, aren't you? "Drunk Duck Civil War: A Comic Born of a Forbidden Love"
skoolmunkee: What's the most difficult part of doing Civil War? What's the most enjoyable?
Zac: Most difficult part is checking everyone's events, and keeping everyone updated and happy without biting our necks for slacking.
MrRiot: Buncha whiners.
Zac: The most enjoyable is meeting new people and getting to work with Riot (cue the d'awwww)
MrRiot: I told you to stop that.
Zac: Oh you don't mean it, you're belligerent .
MrRiot: But, yeah…I've had a real blast working with Zac. And it led to a bunch of pretty decent new friendships as well. Can't complain about that.
skoolmunkee: People are still free to join up and do their own events, yes?
MrRiot: Yep. They can jump in whenever.
Zac: Jump in whenever, just as long as it doesn't clash with other people's events.
skoolmunkee: So there's no forseen 'end' to the thing?
MrRiot: Well, the actual Civil War will end.
Zac: Just not a projected date.
MrRiot: But we want to carry over the characters into, like, a Drunk Duck superhero universe of sorts. Kind of like watching Justice League Unlimited or something. Texas is going to be awesome. You people out there. If you go to ONE convention other than WWLA…go to WWTX!
Zac: Because we'll be there. Originally, TX was going to be where we finished up CW, and had like merch for it. HA
MrRiot: But that's obviously not going to happen…unless we pull an 80's montage.
skoolmunkee: And the place to go for ongoing information about the Civil War is the wiki that hpkomic has set up. Who runs that, who can contribute?
Zac: hpk did create some pretty sweet features and opportunities for us. He was doing a lot originally to help out. hpk was one of the guys who helped promote us when we were smaller and did all that good stuff. His Wiki idea was fantastic and added some much needed bio information for characters to expand on. He's running the wiki. Basically you submit your entry to the forum thread and he inputs it onto the wiki.
MrRiot: …and we took over the chat room on his site, too.
Zac: But like riot mentioned on the Gigcast, I think he helped us decide on a better concept for Civil War than pink vs black. hpk helped me improve a lot in my work though, and did teach me some neat tricks.
Zac: But we both appreciate everyones help and support and cool features.
Anything to make Civil War into something huge that anyone's done has been awesome.
MrRiot: Yeah, everyone from the admins down to the readers have been awesome.
skoolmunkee: OK, so whose side is the RIGHT side?
MrRiot: Mine. Duh.
Zac: Riots, duh. Just kidding. The right side is the Side your heart feels most compelled to follow. *gleam*
MrRiot: gag. My side's right, because we're the rebels. And everyone knows the rebels are always cooler.
Zac: My side has rainbows, so it wins.
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Interviews
Creator Interview: MrRiot and Zac of DD Civil War!
Hehe, I had so much trouble picking between those two when I found out about it.
Awesome interveiw by the way.
I finally decided, 'I want to try and beat up all my friends!' and joined Zacs side. Then blamed it on the cookies.
Though if Riots side baked a cake, boy would he have gotten more.
Skoolmunkee mysteriously leftout the part whee she said she wanted me and Zac for her man-harem.I was going to put it in as an epilogue but it seems I didn't save that part. :( The sentiment is still there!
Oh, sure. "Didn't save that part".
You sit on a throne of LIES!
Hehe, I had so much trouble picking between those two when I found out about it.Totally! I love Cake.
Awesome interveiw by the way.
I finally decided, 'I want to try and beat up all my friends!' and joined Zacs side. Then blamed it on the cookies.
Though if Riots side baked a cake, boy would he have gotten more.
Wow, you guys slay me. You're too cool.
Now I got something to chat about at work. One of the waitresses there reads CW, but she doesn't draw or anything, so she's in the shadows watching ya'll. =3
Tell her to stop scratching at my windows. I know I'm dreamy and all…but a guy's gotta sleep when he can.
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