Web comic presence has been steadily increasing over the last few years. From the many online comics that have come and gone, one in particular is withstanding the competition….and blowing its freakin brains out!

The Black Cherry Bombshells is a web comic about a band of kick-ass chicks surviving in a zombie apocalypse. The colors are vibrant, the artistry is unique, and the story line gets better every issue.
Right before Comic-con ‘09, I had the honor of interviewing the talent behind the girl-on-zombie violence: Sacha Borisich (artist), Johnny Zito and Tony Trov (writers).

Geek Girls Network: Since the members of BCB are geographically spread, how did everyone meet?

TT Johnny and I grew up together.  Now we’re roommates/writing partners/french onion soup enthusiasts.

JZ We met Sacha online on the now defunct ComicJobz.com.  We had all the same influences and hit it off right away. 

SB It was a great place to meet people who wanted to write and draw comics. Tony and John posted an add for a zombie girl gang comic. They expressed their ideas and we hit it off well.

Everything they liked I liked in turn so we had good work chemistry pretty much from the beginning.

TT However, we all finally met in person this past November. We all got together in New York and toured the DC offices. 

JZ – We’re going to see Sacha again at San Diego Comic Con.  She lives in LA so we’re the ones making the commute this time.

TT And colorist/letterer John Dallaire lives a few blocks away from us here in Philly.  We get to hang out all the time. 

GGN: How was the idea for Black Cherry Bombshells born?

JZ Zuda Comics is DC’s first attempt at web comics and Black Cherry Bombshells felt like a perfect fit. You can read it for free at Black Cherry Bombshells.com. The comic is about a world in which all the men have been turned into flesh eating zombies and women band together in ultra violent gangs to survive in post apocalyptic Las Vegas. The Black Cherry Bombshells are an up and coming gang of bootleggers. Regina is their leader. Megan, the ex magician, is their newest recruit. There are lots of twists and turns along the way.

TT We’d only ever written men.  The women were always the girlfriend or the mother and it got pretty boring.  When we tried to make the lead a female we encountered the same kind of stereotypes creeping in and slowing down the adventure.  So we figured the best way to showcase women and female personalities was to get rid of all the men.

JZ And nothing wipes out half the population like a good ol’ fashion zombie plague.

TT The characters and the gangster epic grew out of that.

GGN: Since you are all obviously fans of zombies, what started the fandom for each of you?

SB I think the first zombie film I saw as a kid was "Night of the Living Dead" and "Last Man on Earth". I loved the concept of those movies and they creeped me out. After that "Dawn of the Dead" and "Resident Evil" made everything more fun. I also like the fact that there are different types of Zombies…slow weak ones and then the aggressive scary ones.

JZ My first was Dawn of the Dead but Dead Alive really hooked me on the idea of the undead.

TT My affection for zombies starts with my love of wearing costumes and make up effects.

JZ We go to Zombie pub crawls and Zombie Proms to promote the comic.  We go all out with gory scars and prosthetic intestines.

TT In fact here’s an instructional video we made on How To: Do Your Own Zombie Make Up.

GGN: Aside from the awesomeness of both Elvis and Zombies, why were both added to the mix?

TT Black Cherry Bombshells centers on Las Vegas after the zombie apocalypse.  It makes sense in some perverted way that Elvis would rule over this hellish world.

JZ We use a lot of storytelling compression in the strip.  Short hand like The King helps us to explain things without having to slow down for exposition.

TT Right, no one needs to stop and tell you The King knows kung fu.  You just know.

GGN: Why was it decided to create a web comic over traditional print media?

JZ We created Black Cherry Bombshells with Zuda and the web comic medium in mind.

TT Everything is going this way, regardless.  Online release is the first step in a new distribution model.

JZ We’re moving towards a mobile culture that ingests a bulk of its media via personal computing devices.  Books are great for collectors but the rest of us will read more and more on our iPhone, Kindle and Black Berries.

GGN: Do you find there are any limitations from producing an online comic?

SB You only have one 4:3 ratio page to work with for one story. So it’s like a daily or weekly strip in the newspaper. So you have to take all the drama in the script and make it dynamic and exciting for the reader to come back again to read the next strip. I think the John and Tony are great at setting up the cliffhangers and drama to pull in viewers all the time.

TT In fact it’s been a very open and experimental process.  We’re always trying to find new ways to exploit the medium.

GGN: After the very first issue of BCB was launched on Zuda Comics, did anyone think it would take off as well as it did?

SB Hard question, I think that people were intrigued by the idea of girl gangs and zombies in post apocalyptic Vegas. The whole concept is fun for me; it’s like Road Warrior, The Warriors and Resident Evil all in one. And I think everyone can enjoy that. :)

TT We tried to build a healthy buzz by cutting together a trailer from Sacha’s art and spreading it around the internets.

JZ By the time we debuted there we had a loyal fan base that’d never read a single word balloon. So, we had some idea of what to expect.

GGN: As with any groups of artistic minds, I’m sure that there have been “creative differences”. What has been the biggest struggle to overcome as a group?

SB Maybe the only struggle is that we are across the continent. But that’s all and that’s not even a struggle. Not too much in the way of "creative differences". I send the boys a thumbnail sketch of the strip before I actually do a finish. And sometimes they come back with ideas or changes of angles, which rarely happens. They already have the angles and visuals in their head. It’s nice to work with people who know what they want. :)

TT Zito and I vigorously disagree on what would be Guttenburg’s favorite webcomic. But other than that, the four of us share very similar influences so we’re actually pretty much on the same page 99% of the time.

JZ And when we’re not, when someone has a different idea to bring to the table, it’s usually brilliant and fits right into the story if not making it a million times better.

GGN: Personally, I think that the “girl on zombie action” premise is awesome, but what made you decide to stick with an all female cast?

TT Up until BCB we’d only ever written male protagonists. We really wanted to write women as action heroes.

JZ I like the idea of messing with gender roles too.  Getting all of the men out of the way up front makes that a little easier and way more fun.

GGN: Although men have been at the forefront of comic in general, the female “superhero” is usually not the main character. As male writers, do you find any difficulties writing scripts or character development for an all girl casts?

JZ Since we started working with more female protagonists I can’t get enough.  I see all these tropes from male centric adventure stories and can’t wait to adapt them to ours.

TT Real life provides a lot of inspiration; the news, pop culture friends and the fans.  Penny Slain, one of The King’s henchmen, has a faux hawk inspired by one of our FaceBook Friends.

GGN: Traditionally, most female characters in action comics have been big busted muscular type women. Why did you decide to design the BCB girls without those particular features enhanced?

SB The boys had the idea of a Hannah Barbera type style, so something close to that. SO they already had ideas drawn out and set: simple and cartoony, which is a nice switch from what you would normally get in a zombie comic.
The style has surely developed from the beginning, especially the evolution of the characters and the refinement in season 2 (strips 60 and up). They let me develop the characters more and more. I think they’ve come a long way. Plus I can be as gory and detailed as I want and still maintain the clean look of the characters.

GGN: Congrats on your 100th issue of BCB (June 17th 2009)!! Do you have any big plans for BCB storyline?

TT Indeed. The Black Cherry Bombshells wrap up season II at the end of this summer with Strip 120.  We ended last year with a cliffhanger so you can expect the same this time but … uh… different 

JZ We’re a little too far out to tease specifics.  Season II had a bunch of flashbacks which moved the story forward and into the past at the same time.  We dropped a lot of revelations about how things got the way they were.

TT When we come back for Season III we’ll be exploring the ramifications of the flashback reveals.

GGN: Which BCB character do you relate to the most?

SB Angel and sometimes Megan in her mysterious surprising ways.

JZ Regina I think. She’s always scheming, always thinking of a way to turn things to her advantage.

TT The King cause I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

GGN: I was introduced to and became a fan of BCB because of their MySpace page. How have you used social media (since that’s the big trending topic nowadays) to help promote your comic?

JZ We’re all about social media.  Check us out on BlogSpot, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter (Zito & Trov).. 

TT Zito hangs out on DeviantArt and ComicSpace too.

JZ and ZudaComics.com (where BCB is hosted) has social networking features so you can drop a comment on the comic and find us on there as well.

GGN: When you’re not designing, writing, creating, or thinking about BCB, what do you do for fun?

SB Biking, movies, working on my own artwork, hanging with the friends at fun places, working with my girlfriend on her graphic novel and traveling.

TT Work is fun.

JZ We drink a lot of Ice Coffee, have pull up competitions and karaoke a whole lot.

TT All of which are considered extreme sports when you’re from the city.

GGN: Any other projects you want to mention?

SB I inked a comic called "Music Box" by Donie Odulio: "13" inks and then pencils and inks for the 3rd book. I also did assisting inks for Matt "BATT" Banning on Wildcats Nemesis and Fantastic Four. I am working on a project with my girlfriend which is coming along really well. And I am storyboarding for a movie right now which is great fun!

TT Black Cherry Bombshells was just nominated for a Harvey Award in the Best Online Work category.  So if you’re voting, vote for us!

JZ I recently designed a Star Trek t shirt for CBS available through Yerzies.com and where ever Star Fleet gear is sold. Trov just did a month of art department on "The Best and The Brightest" a Neil Patrick Harris comedy, coming to a theater near you.

TT Our 48 Hour Film Project, the greatest 6 minutes shot in 48 hours in the history of the world, is available on YouTube.

JZ It’s a ninja action flick called ‘Kingpin of Pain‘.  It won a few awards and has some pretty hilarious special effects.

JZ There will be giants balls of yarn, engine grilled hot dogs and NSFW truck stop stories. Look for links on BlogSpot, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter (Zito & Trov).

GGN: What words of wisdom can you offer aspiring geek girl comic writers/artists?

JZ A work of art is a confession.

TT It’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice.

SB "No matter what, never give up."