INSIDE THE HALLOWED HALLS OF LAMBDA SIGMA RHO

**MattBrady** · 08-27-2006, 11:47 AM

Comic’s most popular fraternity is in Previews this month for the October release of Super Frat: Rush Week Collection. We talked with the people behind the webcomic to get the real story on the frat all the fanboys are joining, Lambda Sigma Rho: Silent Devil Publisher Christian Beranek, biographer Tony DiGerolamo and illustrator Chris Moreno.

First off guys, tells us a little bit about Super Frat and how it came about?

Tony DiGerolamo: Back in 2000, I was doing a signing tour in upstate New York for my previous comic book, The Travelers, which Chris also drew. These jerk-off frat boys from Ryesmore U came in and disrupted the whole thing. So I went outside to confront them, which was probably a bad idea considering there were lots more of them, but then I realized they were all pretty drunk. They didn’t even realize what they had done and invited me to their frat party at the Lambda Sigma Rho frat house. I got to remembering my college days, so I went. It was pretty awesome. I hooked up with this junior from Cornell. The frat brothers were so impressed, they admitted they had really invited me as a joke. I decided I wanted to bring the college experience to comics. The guys at Lambda immediately agreed to license their likeness and I agreed not to press charges regarding my missing car.

NRAMA: Uh, right, your version Chris?

Chris Moreno: Back in 2000, I got a phone call at four am from Tony yelling about how drunk he was. I believe his exact words were, “I’M DRUUUUUNK! I’M DRUNNNK! WHOOOO--!”

Then he hung up.

Two weeks later, he came over the house and dropped off the character bios and first scripts for Super Frat. I figured it was best not to ask if this new comic was related to the events of that early morning drunk dial. And this was before I actually met the brothers of LSR. God, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

Christian Beranek: Back in 2000 I had just been evicted from my house and was living in my car. It wasn’t until a few years later that Tony D introduced me to the brothers from LSR. The rest, as they say…

NRAMA: So the Super Frat Rush Week Collection is a collection of strips from the web?

TD: That and new strips and a story in standard comic book format called “Easy as C.I.A.” It’s based on a true story. One of Lambda’s parties got really out of hand and their next door neighbor tried to call the FBI on them. The campus police has long since given up on them.

CM: When Tony told me about the addition of new content to the Rush Week book, I asked him, “So you want me to draw more?”

New contracts had to be written up. Lawyers were involved. I don’t really want to talk about it.

CB: I promised Moreno we would have fresh sandwiches delivered to his mountain retreat every day if he’d do the new pages. After that I had to sell blood to make up for it in the budget. We haven’t had to put my soul up for auction yet, so unless you want to see me burn forever - as I’m sure some people do - I advise you to pre-order the book!

NRAMA: What inspired you guys to start working in webcomics?

CB: I’m a huge fan of the medium. It’s so immediate that you can literally finish the strip, upload it and people can read it within seconds. When Tony D introduced me to LSR and said he wanted to do a webcomic about them I devised a whole division just for them. We’ve since added other strips such as 20%, Out of Sequence, The After Lifers and Hotel Blues.

TD: We had all been doing traditional print comics for years and it was such a struggle. Creatively, it was very satisfying, but financially, it was always a disaster. Then, one con, Chris and I saw the guys from Penny Arcade and they were selling T-shirts all day! I said, Chris we have to get in on this. Chris introduced me to Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance and when I heard about all the sick money he was making, that was it! I said, no more print for me!

CM: Tony and Pete told me I’d be making buttloads of money off doing comics on the web. I’m still waiting on the buttloads, Tony.

NRAMA: Do you think webcomics will replace print?

CB: No, I think there will always be printed comics. They may not exist as they do now, at least in terms of monthly 32 pagers, but there will always be a need to hold and feel comics in your hands.

TD: It’s changing the landscape of comic books. There is a now a new, more profitable model for creators. Instead of printing a digest-sized comic book and attempting to sell it, you do webstrips for a year and put them on the Internet. Then you slowly start to sell reprints and T-shirts. I think it’s going to make the market for print comics more stable. Retailers will be able to rely upon a fan base that already knows the product, plus they can sample it for themselves.

CM: It’s instant gratification. I no longer have to wait months to be told the work I’m doing is soulless garbage. I complete a strip and it can be up as soon as the same day, where it’s up on the web for the entire world to call the work I’m doing soulless garbage.

NRAMA: You’ve been pledging new members of Super Frat all over the country. How do fans react to that and how do the “real” fraternity brothers like it?

TD: The comic fans love it. I mean, it’s a chance for them to be accepted into a group that won’t judge them and where like-minded individuals reside. Most of the fraternity brothers were wary at first, but when they saw some of the hot girls that signed up, they eventually got on board. Well, except Brother Bitter. But no one likes him anyway.

CM: No one’s asked me to pledge the frat yet. I’m not resentful of that. But I think its pretty ______, and they can all go to hell. But like I said, I’m not resentful.

CB: I haven’t been asked either, and I’m publishing the damn thing. I even have to pay for my own copy. Can someone tell me why I’m here?

NRAMA: Just keep answering. So what’s the deal with the brothers’ superpowers? Why does Bitter look so mutated? Do they all have powers?

CB: They all have powers except Norm, he was on a beer run when the meteor hit the frat house.

TD: We actually haven’t gotten to show all the brothers in the frat and all their powers yet. Most of the upper classmen have been in the comic, but some of the new guys will get in next year. The Rush Week Collection will contain the first appearance of a new brother from Chicago, 22 Tony. You’ll have to read the comic to find out his power.

CM: Bitter’s head is big because his brain grew and he’s hyper-intelligent, while his body shriveled up to the size of a small child’s. Strangely enough, other parts of his anatomy remained the same size. At least that’s what his ex-girlfriends tell me.

NRAMA: Do you think Lambda Sigma Rho’s antics are exaggerated? Do college students still act like they are in Animal House?

CB: As a college graduate (JMU baby!) I can tell you that what you saw in Animal House and what you are currently reading in Super Frat is 100% true.

TD: Well, the premise of the comic is that it’s “Animal House meets the Justice League”. I know that when I went to college in the mid-‘80s, Animal House was still very much the blueprint people used for their college experience. I think it depends on what kind of college experience you want, but for some people the social aspects are more important that the educational ones. For some people, college is the first time they are interacting in a serious way with the outside world. For others, it’s the last chance they’re going to get to party before their lives are crushed with soul-numbing responsibility.

CM: I didn’t get the opportunity to go away to college. But I work in comics, and I see some analogs to the college experience when I go to conventions. But the main way I get into the “college experience” when I work is I drink. A lot.

NRAMA: What does Super Frat offer that other comics don’t?

CB: Free beer. Uh… only at the next kegger. Hit me up later and I’ll tell you more.

TD: Most comic books are about superheroes that are occasionally interesting characters. The guys at Lambda Sigma Rho are interesting characters even without their superpowers. The stories in the webstrips are about people who are really grounded in reality. I think a lot of the bigger comics: Superman and Spiderman, etc. have lost their way in that particular area. The guys at Super Frat are people you can relate to, even if they are kinda of assholes.

CM: Plus, I get to draw nudity (male and female), swearing, drinking, recreational drug use, violation of major health codes—basically, the kinds of things that I don’t get to draw in any other comic I’m currently working on.

NRAMA: What will you do once Lambda Sigma Rho members graduate?

CB: I’m going to throw a party. I love parties.

TD: I don’t really see that as being a problem – or happening any time in the future.

CM: You mean they actually have to release those assholes into society? I hope none of them have my address. Could I get some actual dates when they get out so I know when to leave town?

NRAMA: Are there more Super Frat compilations in the works?

CB: The Super Frat cartoon is in development and we’ll be debuting the first Super Frat flash game on the Silent Devil website soon.

TD: Yeah, I’m scripted well into 2007. We’re also putting together a “Super Frat College Tour” to promote directly to college students on campus for the new school year. If any of the fans reading this are interested in having us visit your college, drop us an email at imfix@comcast.net. I can’t guarantee any of the Lambda Sigma Rho brothers will be there, they’re in school too, but if you promise them beer or babes anything is possible.

CM: Since I didn’t bother reading my contract, I’m locked into the strip “for the duration of my natural life”. Now I have my lawyer read all my contracts. But ain’t it always the way, sometimes you have to screw up big to learn your lesson.

NRAMA: What other projects do you have going on?

CB: Damn, where to begin. I just signed a 7-book deal with a new company to write original GNs that have a worldview. The first project is called Unhappy White Girls and it features art by Tony Fleecs of In My Lifetime fame. I have some stuff going with companies such as Universal Music, Spacedog and Tokyopop. I’ll also be writing for the newly formed Fangoria Comics. In addition, I’ll be co-writing some more projects with my brother, Adam, including an issue of Se7en for Zenescope Entertainment. Throw in a couple of screenplays, some acting gigs and my new album and I have a very busy next couple of years coming up.

TD: So many! Besides being the Marketing Director for Silent Devil, I’m still a writer on The Simpsons comics. I’m writing for Space Ghost: Coast to Coast on the Game Tap website. Currently, I’m working on the script for Tyrannosaurus West with Christian’s brother Adam.

CM: I’ve got the sequel to Dracula Vs. King Arthur, Dracula Vs. Capone, written by Jim Krueger, and The Last Sin of Mark Grimm, with writer M. Sean McManus. In stores now are issue #4 of Dracula Vs. King Arthur and the latest installment of my creator-owned book Monkey in a Wagon vs. Lemur on a Big Wheel: Crisis with Infinite Critters, with co-creator Ken Lillie-Paetz, all from Silent Devil, as well as Grimm Fairy Tales #8 from Zenescope. I’m also continuing on the fan-favorite mini-series Paul Jenkins’ Sidekick, with the guy who put his name on the title. And I’ve just signed on to the brand-new Fangoria Comics family.

And always check the Silent Devil website to see updates on the hundred other titles I’ll be doing for them in the next two years.

To check out Super Frat please visit: http://webcomics.silentdevil.com/
Super Frat Rush Week Collection’s Diamond Code is AUG063533.

kingofcities · 08-28-2006, 10:33 AM

Awesome. This sounds hilarious. I'm surprised no one thought of this before. Count me in.

Spaz_Monkey · 08-28-2006, 12:06 PM

Sold! looks terrific!

johnchrist · 08-28-2006, 12:28 PM

Ha! going to have to check this one out.
I wasn't a frat boy in college, I was Ski Club!!! Biggest Club on Campus, throwers of the infamous (and now illegal) Airport Party!!!! UCD SOS, WOOT!
But yeah... Animal House is pretty much 100% acurate, we had a rule when watching that flick, "Drink whenever Belucci reminds you of Hassit." Good thing we had a discount on kegs from a local brwer.

Kolimar · 08-28-2006, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

The guys at Lambda immediately agreed to license their likeness and I agreed not to press charges regarding my missing car.

NRAMA: Uh, right, your version Chris?

Chris Moreno: Back in 2000, I got a phone call at four am from Tony yelling about how drunk he was. I believe his exact words were, “I’M DRUUUUUNK! I’M DRUNNNK! WHOOOO--!”

Then he hung up.

That made me laugh out loud.