The Aggregate (A "Choose Your Own Adventure" Style Graphic Novel) [Ben Bishop]

tridon

Est. 2011
Moderator
Dec 5, 2011
15,123
Thunder Bay
RELEASE DATE: Est. April 2015
PRICE (starting at): $25 (variants/special editions cost more)
ORDER: Kickstarter - Campaign runs until March 31, 2015
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Innovation is something that’s sorely been missing from comic books and graphic novels ever since the format’s rise over a half-century ago. The only major change has been that they’re now also available digitally. Sure, page numbers increased and became nice and glossy in the process, but the prices also increased with those additions. Other than some flashy variant covers, there’s never really been anything that has made someone stop in a comic book shop and say, “Wow, that’s pretty cool.”

Enter THE AGGREGATE.

THE AGGREGATE is (approximately) a 100-page graphic novel told in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” format. Set within a post-apocalyptic world, the story follows a woman named Valerius who’s been tasked with watching over the five pilots (the OTAs) of an 800-foot-tall killing machine (The Aggregate) that was designed by the government a thousand years ago to wipe out half of the world’s population.

Created by writer/artist Ben Bishop, THE AGGREGATE is an absolute labor of love. In the works since 2009, THE AGGREGATE delves into the deeper side of humanity while allowing the reader to decide the story’s fate.

I had the opportunity to talk to Bishop about not only THE AGGREGATE, but also the amazing Kickstarter campaign that’s currently running to help bring the story to life.

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HI-DEF NINJA: Ben, THE AGGREGATE sounds pretty damn cool. Anything post-apocalyptic usually drives genre fanatics insane with glee. What makes your story stand out from the pack?

BEN BISHOP: Well, I would say the number one thing would be the story itself. The story follows Valerius, a mysteriously young woman who (somehow), for the last 1,000 years, has been keeping five genetically engineered individuals, the OTAs, away from their giant robot killing machine — but she now finds herself leading one of them, the “Man”, right to it. While it will have giant robots and mutant animal abominations like the Spider-Cats, it will follow closely alongside the two main characters as they travel together, and their story is very emotional and real. My first book was essentially a 300-page romance graphic novel, so I do really well with those types of personal character-driven relationship stories. But, yeah… Spider-Cats. (Laughs)

HDN: THE AGGREGATE was created in the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ format or, as you’re calling it, a ‘Split Decision’ comic. What made you go with that format? Were you trying to bring a new sense of interaction to graphic novels?

BB: Yeah, for sure. I feel like since comics were born, there has only really been one way people read them and that doesn’t have to be the case. It’s not that way with books, or video games… I also really wanted to encourage re-readability. It takes a really, really long time to make comics, but a very short time to read them. With THE AGGREGATE and the Split Decision format, you can re-read the book over and over again and it will be a different experience, much like how you can play video games like THE LAST OF US or GRAND THEFT AUTO again and again and depending on the decisions you make or the way you behave, it can be different each time. As far as interaction, yes, definitely. The story is unravelled by your own free will. It’s going to be a very collaborative experience, which is also what’s really cool about using Kickstarter to make the book a reality because some of the rewards allow people to also be a part of its creation — whether it’s being in the book, editing, or even writing one of the Split Decision story branches.

HDN: Take us through your creation process. Do you write one massive script before tackling the art or is it something you just work on as you go along?

BB: The last time I was able to really hunker down and go into hermit mode making a book of my own was back in 2004. I was 18 and learning as I went, so my process evolved from there over the four years that 300-page book took to create. So I really don’t know what to expect here. (Laughs) I may discover a whole new and improved way of working, but on the smaller projects I’ve done since then, here’s how it usually goes: I have the concept, of course, then I do a really solid outline of where the story will go and what happens along the way. This book will also have a really complicated spiderweb-looking outline because of all the Split Decisions. Once I have the outline, I like to write only a few scenes at a time, as far as dialogue and panel descriptions. I do this because I’ll be staring at an individual page while I’m drawing it for sixteen hours and I always think of new and better ideas, and I don’t want to have to say no to those things because I’ve already invested too much time in another direction. That being said, the Split Decision format will no doubt allow me to use every idea no matter what, so that will be really awesome.

HDN: Your art is honestly quite phenomenal. Which artists do you look up to and use as an inspiration?

BB: Thank you. My favorite comic artists right now are Olivier Coipel who made his name with THOR, and Mateus Santolouco who is killing it on TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES as we speak. Santolouco is actually doing a pin-up for THE AGGREGATE as well which will be available as a reward on the Kickstarter very soon; the original and as a print. So pumped for that. I want it.

HDN: Spider-Cats. What’s that all about?

BB: I am amazed… well, I guess not amazed, but I am really happy that the Spider-Cats have been so popular with everyone. I don’t think I would have half as many backers if the book didn’t have Spider-Cats. They are a hit, cats are Internet gold, and I swear I didn’t plan that. The idea behind the Spider-Cats was actually an evolution from plain old regular cats, obviously, but what I mean is… originally, back in 2009, my older brother and I were talking about doing a post apocalyptic comic together. He was watching a ton of that show LIFE AFTER PEOPLE and in the show, one of the things that stood out to him that we wanted to include, was the theory that in a post-apocalyptic world, regular old house cats would take to living in old tall skyscrapers and even develop flying squirrel like armpit wings so that they could glide from building to building.

As the years went by, my brother and I somewhat abandoned the story we were doing and when I started thinking about THE AGGREGATE, I still wanted to do something with cats, but I didn’t want to get all hung up on the realistic science of what the world would really be like. So I just asked myself, “What do I want to see?” and the Spider-Cats were born. I don’t want this book to be less fun or insane simply because “that could never happen”. I come up with ideas, and then work the science or evolution backwards from there, and in the story I explain how and why things like that could happen.

HDN: Not a question, but while on the topic of animals, I just have to say that I love how you drew your dog into the book.

BB: Thanks. Yeah, she was the greatest. Bronx, my dog, died last year from Lyme’s disease. It was honestly the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Awful. So having her live on in this book is really great. Plus every good apocalyptic story needs the “Man” and his dog. Similarly, one of my Kickstarter rewards allows you to have your cat be drawn into the book as a Spider-Cat and so far, two of the people who have chosen that reward have done so to immortalize their pet cat that they have lost as well. That’s one of those magical things that can happen when you allow people to be a part of the creation of a project on Kickstarter.

HDN: Your Kickstarter campaign features many awesome rewards including variant covers, artwork from special guests, art/script critiques, and a soundtrack. It truly seems like a daunting task to bring all of these talents together to help push THE AGGREGATE. How did you assemble such a team?

BB: Well honestly, I just asked them. These are all people I’ve met and become friends with over the years making comics, trying to break in, doing conventions, etc. Bon Alimagno is a former talent director for Marvel. He’s offering up portfolio reviews for artists who might be trying to “make it” with their comics and he has some great insight. We actually started talking way back in 2011 when I was trying to get work from Marvel and he sent me sample script after sample script. He’s no longer there and I’m still trying to break in now. It’s not easy. I want to mention everyone, but you should look at the Kickstarter page to see all the great people who are a part of the campaign. I’m honored to have them all.

In doing research about launching a successful Kickstarter, I read a lot about how sometimes anthologies will have a much easier time reaching their goal because they have all those different creators spreading the word everyday. So I was scared that because THE AGGREGATE was just me, I might be at a disadvantage, and that’s when I started asking all these people to be a part of it somehow. It has definitely helped having them talking about the project, or even having their name on the page, but honestly I’m just really proud of the team I assembled. It’s great. There are even more people involved in some stretch rewards that I haven’t even revealed yet.

HDN: For the soundtrack, how does that work with THE AGGREGATE? Were themes composed for particular scenes/pages in the book?

BB: Here’s someone I wanted to mention above actually, Taylor Parnell. Taylor, or TURBO as I named him in high school, is writing, recording, and producing the entire score for the book. Every single instrument will be played by him; he’s insanely talented. Anyway, to answer your question, he has written the first track, which you can hear in my Kickstarter video, based solely on the concept and what I’ve told him or shown him for the rest of the story. Going forward, we will be working in tandem throughout the book where I will be sending him pages and he will just be free to do what inspires him. The music wont really be scene specific because everyone reads at different speeds, and the Split Decisions could lead you in just about any direction, but it will be great background atmosphere in general, enhancing the experience rather than distracting you from it.

HDN: What do you hope for with THE AGGREGATE? Would you like to see it inspire more ‘Split Decision’ comics?

BB: I do. People are obviously free to make this type of comic and call it whatever they want — “Pick A Path”, “Make Your Move” (there are some freebies for you right there) — but I hope that with THE AGGREGATE and the future Split Decision comics I plan to make, that people will want to put that Split Decision name on their book. If nothing else, I want people to make comics and push the envelope with format, both in print and online. There’s no wrong way to make a comic. (Laughs)

HDN: Lastly, since Hi-Def Ninja is a community full of superhero aficionados, in your video on Kickstarter, I noticed a pretty nice-looking collection of AVENGERS in the background. Do you have your pre-order in for the AGE OF ULTRON figures yet?

BB: I wish. Those are all Hot Toys, and if you know anything about Hot Toys, you know they are wildly expensive. I bought most of those back in the day when I was temporarily doing well and haven’t been able to snag any new ones in quite some time. However, I will say, I’m glad I got the ones I did when I did because they always go up in value and I cant tell you how many of those poor plastic souls I’ve had to throw on eBay to pay the bills. No more of that now, though; I’ll be back in hermit mode working on THE AGGREGATE and for the first time in the last seven years, I won’t have to scatter my attention between a dozen different freelance jobs. That’s all thanks to all my Kickstarter backers who have pre-ordered the book. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. Hopefully you can see it in the final product.

HDN: Well thank you, Ben. You seem like a great guy and I’m definitely happy to see your campaign succeeding.

BB: Thanks so much, Ken. Really appreciate the interview!

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If THE AGGREGATE sounds like something you’d enjoy and would like to support (and you really should if you can afford it), head on over to its Kickstarter campaign here! Featuring some truly incredible “rewards” including exclusive prints from industry artists such as Santolouco, Ben Templesmith, Kristian Donaldson, Chris Dibari, Ray Dillon, and more, THE AGGREGATE’s campaign will surely be worth your time and money in investing.

And if that’s not enough to tempt you, here’s Bishop’s Kickstarter video featuring an in-depth look into THE AGGREGATE:

https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/1630833/video-503616-h264_high.mp4

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The Aggregate is in its final 3 hours on Kickstarter! This book is gonna be awesome, HDN! Plus, if you add an additional $10 to your pledge, you'll receive an exclusive prologue issue that will never been reprinted past this Kickstarter campaign. A post-apocalyptic tale featuring a giant robot and you get to choose how it plays out!

Both @apsmith21 and myself have pledged and it'd be great to see more HDN members on board! Less than $1200 to go until it reaches its final stretch goal of an additional 50 pages + an exclusive embossed print. :thumbs:

--> THE AGGREGATE CAMPAIGN <--

Check out my interview with Ben Bishop in the OP to read more about it if you're not sure. I'm gonna tag some peeps that I know love comic books and/or giant robots. If you're not interested, please at least share this campaign on your social media pages so more people become aware of it. :)

@bloodsnake007 @Scary Hair @mlmaier84 @Cobster @meaner @Apollon @ocielz @psychoscot @digitalbabe @Asopp @kryptonite
 
A video update from Ben Bishop can be seen here. He'll also be at New York Comic Con this year, so be sure to stop by his booth if you're there!

I'm planning on stopping and saying hello to Ben.

Looks like he's making great progress!
 
I'm planning on stopping and saying hello to Ben.

Looks like he's making great progress!

Awesome, man! Tell him I say hi!

I've been following his art now since I interviewed him and he's absolutely phenomenal! Not just his Aggregate work, too. Everything he does is just amazing. He has a TMNT cover coming out soon that's out of this world!
 
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A couple years ago, I chatted to writer/artist Ben Bishop regarding his innovative “Split Decision” graphic novel, THE AGGREGATE, as well as its successful Kickstarter campaign. Last night, while Ben was traveling to Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) to show off his newly completed book, I was able to catch up with him to see how progress was going and to see which future endeavors were on the horizon.

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HI-DEF NINJA: We’re going on two years since the Kickstarter campaign wrapped and you just completed work on THE AGGREGATE. How did that moment feel for you?

BEN BISHOP: Yeah, man, today is actually the exact 2-year anniversary of the launch of the Kickstarter and I happened to have just landed in Seattle for ECCC to pitch it around to some of my favorite creator-owned publishers. I’m holding four pitch versions of this thing and, dude, it’s crazy. What’s it feel like to be done? I still keep feeling like I should be drawing, or lettering, or writing, or something, but really, all that’s left to do for me is wait for the rest of the colored pages, which should be finished in less than a couple weeks, and keep checking over the Indesign book document looking for errors and finding ways to make it better and better.

What did it feel like? Pretty amazing. There were different completion milestones of course, though.

1) The Kickstarter funding. That was like I had just gone to WAR, which I’m sure sounds pretty ignorant to people who actually have been in or around a war, but it’s the closest thing I got and I’ve been saying it for 2 years, so leave me alone. I was on three different devices, social media-ing, thanking, sharing, etc. every single hour of the day for an entire month. It was too much, but I can’t wait to do it again…

2) The writing. That was a big milestone. Writing this book was a lot more difficult than anything I’d ever written before, not only because it was a Split Decision comic, but because I really had never written anything this big and the pressure was real. A lot of people were counting on me, and it became clear this was my one chance, so I needed to make it count. It was tough. When you have a bad day drawing, at least you have scrawls of crappy drawings crinkled up on the floor to show you were trying — but when you simply can’t find the words while writing and have nothing to show for all the hours that went by… that’s depressing. It all worked out eventually, though, and it was amazing having that solidified so I could finally get to drawing…



3) The roughs. I was so stoked to start the roughs, I flew through the first half of the book at like four pages a day. Four pencilled pages a day. That’s the fastest I’ve ever gone. Going down from the top of that mid point to the end of the book took quite some time longer, but when all 163 pages were done and I was able to print them out and staple the whole thing together, that was magical. I actually had a hard copy of the thing where I could see what pages would face each other in spreads, how thick it was, and I could test out the Split Decision story threads.

4) The finals. This was the big one. Going back to page 1 after the feeling of completion I got from all the roughs and essentially starting over, drawing the same thing again, but tighter and cleaner… also tough. Again I found that momentum in the beginning and eventually reached that place towards the middle where it felt like the pages might never end. It was like that ever-extending hallway in a horror movie, so I had to find a way to make myself feel better along the way. To trick my brain into a sense of celebration with every page. If you follow me online, you may have seen my insane personal studio. I actually printed out every single rough and covered all four walls and the ceiling of my studio so that when I finished the finals for a page, I could have that physical act of ripping down the rough as a reward. It was something to look forward to — getting up on my chair and pulling it off the ceiling felt really good after a long day at the desk. It also allowed me to look at all the pages at once and see what was what as far as story threads and “easy” pages vs. “hard” pages. When I finally finished the last page the other day, I posted online my little note in the margin “DONE” and my wife Jill came upstairs with a beer for me and I lifted her up to tear down the last single rough from the ceiling. We got a little misty eyed.

5) Lettering. Lettering was the quickest aspect of this entire project and honestly, until I send in the PDF to get printed, I’ll still be tweaking it and cleaning it up, but it was really great to see it actually as a comic for the first time. It’s not a real comic until there are words and images. Lettering only took me 9 days. (Laughs) I think I was still feeling that end of the project momentum and needed to just rally. So yeah… it all feels really good.

HDN: What an incredible story, man. So now that it’s complete, what’s the final page count and how many Split Decisions can readers look forward to?

BB: Right now, the PDF is 215 or 216 pages with all of the opening “how to Split Decision” intro, title page, etc., and the back end pin-ups, making-of, thank you’s… I believe the count for Split Decisions is three beginnings, four endings, and twenty-seven different decision threads throughout. But I know I was able to add some while I was lettering, so I haven’t done an official recount. Also, all those endings are beginnings for Book 2 and those threads then branch off and off and off, etc… Did I just say Book 2?



HDN: (Laughs) So, in the grand scheme of things, after THE AGGREGATE’s release, sequels/prequels are something that you’ve thought of?

BB: Oh, yes… Book 2. It’s already fully written. I sat down to write STAR WARS and I wrote at least A New Hope and Empire… there may even be some Jedi in there. Meaning, I wrote two books when i had meant to write one, and Book 2 is absolutely happening. Like I said, it picks up where Book 1 left off (in all threads) and travels along branching out even further and further. I can also tell you Book 2 currently has at least seven endings. I have ideas for more that I’m adding in as well. The plan, unless I can get THE AGGREGATE published by Image (Comics) or someone like that, is to Kickstart again, but this time I’ll have the whole writing step out of the way and hopefully a majority of the roughs as well. When I Kickstarted THE AGGREGATE originally, I only had 5 pages, 3 of which didn’t even make the cut into the final book, so I will have a much better lead on the workload next time.

HDN: That sounds ambitious, that’s for sure. Exciting, but definitely ambitious. How’s your collaboration with colorist Brittany Peer been going?

BB: Brittany has been outstanding, of course. When you see all the colored pages, you’ll see what I mean. I’m a massive control freak, so it was tough to let go of some control at first. That’s part of why I started making comics to begin with; you don’t really have to depend on anyone else to do it. That’s a big difference from work like animation, for example. But it pays to work with talented people. My dad is a musician and I heard him say once he always played with people better than him, so he would always learn and get better. So I’ve learned a thing or two from Brittany, I think.

If you didn’t know, I had always planned to color the book myself. Actually, originally, it was black and white, but when the Kickstarter reached the goal, I started piling on stretch goals and the book became full color. But I intended to color. When the calendar started disappearing behind me, it became clear that it would not only make the book better to have someone who specializes in coloring, but it would obviously also speed up the completion. So I hired a professional. I actually put out an update to my Kickstarter backers asking their opinions on me hiring a colorist rather than doing it myself, and the pros and cons since this wasn’t what I promised from the campaign. Everyone who chimed in basically said it was my call and they would love it either way, but someone said something I thought was cool: “Colorists need work, too.” And they were right. Brittany is already making a name for herself and getting too famous for me, but I’m hoping this book does great things for the both of our careers.



HDN: So even though you’ve completed your work on the book, how far off are we from seeing it in readers’ hands?

BB: Well, I obviously can’t say for certain, because obviously anything can happen, including shipping delays and whatnot, but… if all goes according to plan, they should be shipping out and arriving to backers in May 2017, so just a couple more months.

HDN: During the last two years, you’ve also been keeping busy over at IDW while working on covers for the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES comics. Did it recharge you to take those little breaks while working on THE AGGREGATE?

BB: I guess so. I wouldn’t call them breaks, though. I really never stopped working on THE AGGREGATE. You can ask my wife. Well, there was one Xmas where I discovered STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT and lost a week of my life, but that was it. TMNT was amazing, and I want to do more. I think IDW knew I was really busy, though, and so that’s part of the reason it’s just been covers so far. I’m going to hound them for interiors once the book is off to the printers (and you should, too [smiles]), but yeah, it was nice to grow the fan base while working on the book. I’m telling you, there are no fans out there like Turtle Fans. They are hardcore and they will love you forever. The group of creators who have touched the property as well, it’s like I was welcomed into the brotherhood literally. Amazing people. Working on something other than THE AGGREGATE also allowed me to peek out of hermit mode and talk about something else, too, which was good.

HDN: Where does Ben Bishop go after THE AGGREGATE is finally out there? Do you have more independent stories in mind or do you think you’ll play a bit longer in the TMNT sandbox?

BB: Well, most immediately, I’m going to crush my commission list. It had piled up there for a while between cons and the end of THE AGGREGATE marathon where I worked on nothing else for 3 or so weeks, but it’s finally getting to a manageable number of pieces. Then I want to take a video game vacation… I’m going back to BATTLEFRONT; gotta download the ROGUE ONE stuff and see about Scariff. I’m also jonesin’ for HORIZON: ZERO DAWN. Even though that title is ridiculous, there are robot dinosaurs, so I mean… come on.



HDN: (Laughs) Agreed. Cool-looking game, but the name is definitely silly. What comes after the gaming?

BB: Then it’s reaching out to titles like TMNT and showing this new big portfolio of pages I just finished. It’s doing more conventions, selling the book. It’s pitching the book, ideally getting a creator-owned publisher to pick it up before I go to print, so we won’t have to reprint it all over again with their name on it. And of course, yes… THE AGGREGATE Book 2. I won’t be able to hold off too long. I’m dying to get back to this story already and I know as soon as people start finishing their read through(s) of Book 1, they will be bugging me to get to work.

HDN: And where can we go to follow more news on THE AGGREGATE’s eventual release and is there a tentative release date?

BB: You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter at @BISHART and THE AGGREGATE on Instagram at @THEAGGREGATEBOOK. There is a Facebook page for the graphic novel as well too at www.facebook.com/theaggregatecomic. Tentative release date is May 2017, if not sooner.

HDN: Thanks for your time, Ben, and good luck hunting down a creator-owned publisher this weekend!

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If you’d like to chat about THE AGGREGATE and any other BISHART projects, check out the thread on the HDN forum here and chime in!

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