Crystal Fractals Q&A: Dino Caruso

Dino Caruso (left) meets former collaborator Kieron O'Gorman

Dino Caruso has almost become synonymous with the Crystal Fractal Universe over the years, having written nearly a half-dozen stories for the company's Crossing series. A veteran of many independent comic projects, Dino recently took the time to chat and answer a few questions about his work, Crystal Fractals' Indiegogo campaign, crowdfunding, his work on The Crossing in addition to what  else he was planned for future issues of the series.

-----

Andrew Ardizzi: Some people might still be unfamiliar with you and your work, despite having your comics appear in a number of great anthologies such as Acts of Violence and Survival Stories, not to mention your work on Against the Wall and with Crystal Fractal Comics. Can you talk a little about your work in comics to this point? 

Dino Caruso: So, my first few experiences with getting my stories "out there" was via self-publishing. I wrote a few stories that were small-scale, personal tales and found some local artists to illustrate them. Those first three comics were Olga, Crossroads and A Cautionary Tale. Then I moved on to a more ambitious project, which was an 80-pager called Against the Wall, illustrated by Shawn Richison.

I then became enamoured with short stories and anthology projects. I had a whole slew of them appear in indie anthologies, published by a variety of publishers. I love all of my anthology stories, because I got to meet a lot of wonderful artists, editors and publishers. I highly recommend anthologies as a way for creators to break into the indie comics scene. Most recently, I've been working on pitches and submissions for creator-owned projects.

AA: What sort of stories do you like to tell, and stylistically how do you construct your stories? Do you have any influences within the industry?

The cover to Caruso's 'Against the Wall.'

DC: The kinds of stories I like to tell? Hmmm...good question, and one I'm having a hard time coming up with an answer for. I like crime stories a lot, and I also like "slice of life" tales that don't have any elements of the strange and fantastic. I like comedy. I love a good superhero story. Science fiction rocks! Romance and straight drama is awesome.

Stylistically, I'm fond of flashbacks and non-linear storytelling. I'm not sure if that's a weakness or not, but I find it such an appealing tool to use. I recently had another writer read an outline of mine, and the advice he gave me was to drop the flashbacks and do it in a linear fashion. It was so non-intuitive for me to approach it like that, but I'm thinking maybe I should try it more often, as it was a very effective way to build up the drama. It's always good to step outside of your comfort zone every now and again I suppose.

I try not to pigeon-hole myself into sticking with any one genre. I suppose, ultimately, I want to tell the kinds of stories that I'd like to read.

AA: Do you have any themes you like to try and explore? What sorts of stories do you try to write?

DC: That's an interesting question and one I was just reflecting on recently. In his book, Story, Robert McKee says that writers often have a theme that they return to again and again over the course of their career. I realize that my projects hardly encompass a "career," but I think there's some validity to McKee's statement when I look at my own stuff.

Crystal Fractals Q&A: Howard Wong chats 'Redorik,' Indiegogo campaign

Howard Wong

Last week I chatted with Crystal Fractal Comics Publisher Derrek Lennox about the Redorik series and the ongoing Indiegogo campaign to complete the series as a 96-page graphic novel. This week I caught up with the series' writer Howard Wong, who chatted about his work, his storytelling processess, social media and crowdfunding campaigns and the prospect of finishing Redorik.

---------
Andrew Ardizzi: You're mostly known for your work on After the Cape, and have obviously written Redorik for Crystal Fractal Comics. For those unfamiliar with your work, what can you tell fans about you, your work and how you approach writing as a whole.

Howard Wong: My first published comic was After the Cape, a mini-series I created with Marco Rudy and was published by Image Comics/Shadowline. I was nominated for a Shuster award for it, which was very humbling. It’s a dark tale about a retired superhero who finds himself struggling to make ends meet in the city he once protected with his life. He’s feeling lost in a world he thought he once knew, while failing at raising his family. He turns to alternative means to do so, which resulted in him making hard life choices. It continued with a tragic end in the second miniseries, After the Cape II, which concluded that story arc. I’ve also contributed to short stories such as Grunts: War Stories from Arcana Comics, which was nominated for Comic Buyer’s Guide Fan Favorite Graphic Novel. The story is titled, Iron Snake and tells the harrowing backstory of Lt. Kiko before he joins up with the squad from the regular miniseries. More recently I contributed to Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology, with a story titled Master Tortoise and Master Hare. It’s a retelling of The Tortoise and the Hare, where instead of racing they use martial arts. I wrote this with the intention of showing how the same age old story can have an Asian take and still have the universal appeal and understanding like that of the original. No matter if it’s a full-on miniseries or a short story for an anthology, the approach is the same. You look at where you want to take your story and find the best way in getting there:

'After the Cape' #1 cover image

Do you take a direct approach or one that weaves its way to your destination?

Will it be full of simple or complex paths?

Where you start, is how a story ends. That to me, is the easiest way to start the construction of a good story. Knowing your ending helps define how you’ll resolve the great conflict of your story, which will then allow you to see the different ways at getting to that conflict. So yes, you work your way backwards, but it works. Besides the story, it helps you figure out how your characters will develop and be changed after everything is resolved.

AA: When you're writing, what sort of mental space are you in? Say, for example, do you become immersed within your project, or do you maybe do a little at a time and come back to it frequently?

HW: I have a few things on the go at the same time, but like to focus on one for the bulk of the day. I just find it easier to stay in that writing mode if I juggle my time between projects. It’s not for everyone for sure, but it works for me. Sometimes I create wonderful scenes when I work on something that’s perfect for another story. So I take notes (a lot of notes), which fuels the writing of another story I’m working on from wanting to bring those ideas to life.