RISING STARS OF MANGA V: LINDSAY CIBOS & JARED HODGES

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Based on a Grand-Prize winning entry in TOKYOPOP’s Rising Stars of Manga competition, Peach Fuzz tells the story of a lonely nine-year-old girl named Amanda and her pet ferret, Peach.

Who’s…fuzzy.

Peach Fuzz is the creation of Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges. Their past works include the Anime CG Tutorial CD (a how-to handbook on anime style CG artwork), hundreds of private commissions for various clients, and illustrations for Guardians of Order's BESM D20 Edition Book. Both Cibos and Hodges reside in Florida and, ironically enough, share a studio with two pet ferrets (Momoko and Elf) just outside of Orlando.

The first volume of Peach Fuzz was released in January of this year and they’re currently hard at work on the next volume. We sat down with Lindsay Cibos for a chat about Peach Fuzz and TOKYOPOP’s Rising Stars of Manga contest.

"Peach Fuzz is an amazingly cute series that takes readers into the mind of a very peculiar pet," TOKYOPOP editor Carol Fox told Newsarama. "It has a very wide appeal--kids love it, of course, but I'm an adult and Lindsay and Jared's humor cracks me up every time. And there's been interest from niche groups, too: Ferrets magazine did a piece on Peach Fuzz when it came out. It's actually illegal to keep a ferret in a couple of U.S. states, which I think adds a certain mystique. But the story itself is universal."

Newsarama: What made you decide to enter the Rising Stars of Manga contest?

Lindsay Cibos: We had nothing to lose but time, and plenty to gain. Plus, we felt we had a good chance at placing at least as a runner-up. Imagine our excitement when we landed grand prize!

NRAMA: What's it like working with the guys at TOKYOPOP?

LC: Awesome! Whenever we have a question or need anything at all, both our previous editor and current editor [Carol Fox] assigned to us at TOKYOPOP have been quick to help us out in any way they can.

NRAMA: What was it like to see your very first volume of Peach Fuzz finally getting released in January?

LC: Extremely gratifying! It's a milestone in our life -- getting a full-length graphic novel published is something we've been working towards the past couple years. Seeing our finished book up on bookshelves alongside the talented creators we admire was very exciting.

NRAMA: In a nutshell, what is Peach Fuzz about other than the fact that it tells of the adventures of Amanda Maria Keller and her pet ferret, Peach? Who're the main characters?

LC: Peach Fuzz is a comedy about a prissy ferret named Peach who is abducted away from the pet store by what she believes to be a ferocious monster, but in actuality is just a sweet and well-meaning little girl named Amanda looking for a friend. Peach ends up making a lot of trouble for her new owner, which anyone who's ever owned a pet should be able to easily
relate to.

Our main characters are:

Amanda, an enthusiastic, but attention starved young girl who has just recently entered into the fourth-grade. Her birthday falls just before the cut off date for school, making her younger than all the other students in the class. This isolates her from the rest of her classmates and makes her an easy target of two ruthless bullies. In her search for approval and praise from her peers, she comes upon the idea of getting a pet that will help her stand out from the rest of the class. Though the pet she chooses, a
ferret named Peach, brings new joy into her life, it also brings with it new responsibilities that she wasn't quite ready for yet.

Peach, a ferret princess of the Ferret Kingdom... at least, that's
what she thinks. Kind words and preferential treatment from her mommy-ferret when she was young, and growing up as the only female ferret in the cage of ferrets at the pet store has given Peach a royalty complex! As a result, Peach is a bit snobbish and bossy. She also has a violent side if pushed too far. One day she's abruptly thrown into a strange new land (Amanda's
house) where she must learn to toughen up to gain control over the Handra (Amanda's hands) and ultimately achieve her goal of reestablishing her kingdom.

NRAMA: How did the public and the comic book community respond to the first volume?

LC: Responses have been overall positive from reviewers, the public, and comic book industry peers alike. The consensus is that Peach Fuzz is both a charming and amusing tale that can be enjoyed by adults and kids alike.

NRAMA: What have you learned the first time around? And what sort of challenges that you encountered? How are you applying what you've gone through for future volumes?

LC: One of the most important things we learned was teamwork. Jared and I have been working together as freelance illustrators for over five years, sharing the responsibilities of creating artwork (for example, sometimes he'll draw the picture and I'll color it, or I will draw the picture and he'll ink it) so working as a team is very natural thing for us, but for Peach Fuzz, it wasn't enough to just work together well. We needed to develop an effective system to be able to complete one finished, fully inked, toned, and lettered page a day to meet deadlines.

One of the challenges we ran into when we first began was figuring out how tight and concise I needed to make my pencils so that Jared could capture the intended look of the page in his inks. Before Peach Fuzz, my technique was to leave the pencils fairly rough and fill in the details during the inking phase. Since it was impossible to pencil and ink the comic in a timely fashion, I instead had to work towards making my pencils readable enough to be interpreted by Jared.

Another challenge was working out the kinks of digital screen tone so the finished result looked authentic. We had to create a large library of working tone from basic grays of different sizes to textures and patterns so we would be prepared to handle the toning for any situation in the comic, figure out how to prevent moiré patterns, and develop scratching techniques. Since we now have a large library of custom digital tones ready to use, it'll be easier to add new tones in the future without spending too much of our valuable comic creation time.

Further challenges were found from digitally inking the comic. Working with a tablet prevents the use of tools that you would have access to for traditional inking, such as rulers, compasses, and French curves, all of which would been useful for scratching tones and inking objects. While digital inking itself is something we've been doing for years, comic deadlines necessitated finding techniques that allowed us to work around these limitations faster.

NRAMA: When is the next volume scheduled for?

LC: There's no official release date set yet for the book, but I imagine that an early 2006 release date is likely.

NRAMA: What could fans look forward to in Vol. 2?

LC: There will be plenty of new characters full of personality in the second volume. The show stealer (complete with song and dance number) will undoubtedly be Pavaratty, a huge full-grown ferret who rivals Peach in terms of haughtiness and puts her in her place... but not before an all-out physical fight for superiority. Peach also makes a trip to the legendary Hall of the Handra for Show and Tell where she's introduced to Amanda's entire fourth-grade class. Amanda will also have her standoff with dreaded bullies Tim and Phil and grow up a lot in the process. And you won't want to miss "Princesses and Pegasuses"! Overall, we have a lot of pretty fun stuff planned. Fans won't be disappointed.

For more on Cibos, Jared Hodges, Peach Fuzz and other works, go to www.jaredandlindsay.com and www.tokyopop.com/peachfuzz




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TOKYOPOP’S RISING STARS II: FELIPE SMITH ON MBQ

TOKYOPOP’S RISING STARS III: M. ALICE LeGROW ON BIZENGHAST

TOKYOPOP'S RISING STARS IV: AMY KIM GANTER ON SORCERERS & SECRETARIES

TOKYOPOP'S RISING STARS VI: CHRISTY LIJEWSKI ON RE:PLAY

RISING STARS of MANGA VII: IRENE FLORES ON MARK OF THE SUCCUBUS

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[TRaik]

Their past works include the Anime CG Tutorial CD (a how-to handbook on anime style CG artwork), hundreds of private commissions for various clients, and illustrations for Guardians of Order's BESM D20 Edition Book.

They're also the authors of the book Digital Manga Workshop, which I'm looking forward to seeing.

Between their how-to books and their Peach Fuzz book, it looks like things are really coming together for them. Exciting times!

[Rivkah]

To the boys in the group: Don't let the pink and orange cover or the shoujo slant of "Peach Fuzz" put you off. This really is an excellent book, well drawn, and well written.

I HIGHLY recommend this book for anybody who has kids or is just getting started reading comics. Plus, there's a lot of hidden adult humor that'll keep an older and more comics-seasoned audience laughing. There aren't enough all-age-friendly comics out there that can be read and enjoyed by everybody. This is definitely one of them. (:

I look forward to the next book. Having seen Lindsay's progression as an artist, just from her RSOM entry to this book, I'm eager to see how she progresses in volume 2. (: (:

This was an informative and interesting interview! Especially the middle part of "What have you learned the first time around? And what sort of challenges that you encountered? How are you applying what you've gone through for future volumes?"

-Rivkah

[tania del rio]

Great job, Jared and Lindsay!

Peach Fuzz made me want to go out and adopt a ferret. Unfortunately my dogs would never approve.

I agree that this book really does have an appeal for all ages. I'm looking forward to seeing future volumes.

Good luck!

-Tania

[Tavisha]

Lindsay & Jared you guys make a great team~!

Congratulations~Omedetou~! And thank you for making a fun animal story that everyone can enjoy. For many years, in the world of US comics the choices for all age material was becoming slimmer and dimmer. Its great to see the two of you and Peach Fuzz help make a positive change for US comics~ and may many others be inspired by your fun books.


=^..^=
~Tavi (& Rikki too)

www.tavicat.com
www.wiredpsyche.com

p.s. I always wished I had a ferret, but alas they are still technically illegal in California~ besides our Russian Blue, Pippi already has Peach's attitude. ^___^

[Mangachick20]

wow you guys won congrats. i have all the peach fuzz books . i love it. i am entering the rising stars of manga comp. in the uk so i hope i win my work gettin published would be a dream of mine. ok bye