Originally published through the late lamented Bongo Comics, Roswell, Little Green Man is back. A new Zoop campaign launching today collects all of writer Bill Morrison’s original run on the series, as well as some fun bonuses. And if you’ve never checked out the sci-fi humor comic before, now is the perfect time.
“Ever since I set Roswell aside to work on the Futurama TV series, I’ve had constant inquiries from fans asking me when Roswell might return,” Morrison told Comic Book Club over email. “So over the years it’s always been on my mind to bring it back some day.”
To find out more about Morrison’s evolving understanding of his own work, what to expect from the Zoop campaign, and whether Bongo could ever return, read on.
Comic Book Club: This is your first crowdfunding campaign… What drew you to this approach for revisiting the book?
Bill Morrison: Several of my cartoonist friends have had success with crowdfunding their projects, so it’s been on my mind for a long time to try it myself. I recently got the rights to reprint the Roswell material that was published by Bongo, so I’m free now to not only publish new Roswell stories but to also publish all of the existing material.
And expanding on that, why revisit Roswell, now?
Ever since I set Roswell aside to work on the Futurama TV series, I’ve had constant inquiries from fans asking me when Roswell might return. So over the years it’s always been on my mind to bring it back some day. I’ve written a number of stories since the original run with the intention of pitching a new series to publishers, but it seems like my regular job always demanded all of my time. Now that I’m working as a freelance artist and writer and not anchored to a nine-to-five job, I finally have the time to do it!
You had a ton of experience before Roswell, but probably even more, after… Did you have any notes for your past self when looking through the book?
Yes, I’m always trying to learn and grow, so in the interest of going forward with new stories I’m looking at the existing material and trying to decide where I can make improvements in storytelling, dialogue, art, etc.
One example has to do with character flaws. When I was new to writing my own characters I had a tendency to write my protagonists without too many flaws because I wanted the audience to like them. I sort of thought of them as my children, and I wanted them to be popular. But over time I’ve realized how boring that can be, and that flaws can make your characters more interesting and relatable, and even more likable in some ways.
Similarly, there’s been a fair amount of alien-focused projects since you first launched this book. How has your opinion on aliens – and Roswell – evolved since the ’90s?
I look at Roswell, the character, as a fish out of water. Yes, he’s an alien and the time period is mid-20th Century, so I’m playing with tropes and styles from that time period, and UFO hysteria is a big part of that. But at its core Roswell is about a character who wants desperately to escape his boring life. But when he realizes that dream he finds himself trapped on a world that he doesn’t understand, and his only desire is to get back to his family. It’s about not realizing how fortunate you are until something life-changing happens and you find yourself impossibly separated from the things your heart really desires. It has notes of It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Wizard of Oz, and probably a thousand other stories about characters who had it all but didn’t appreciate it until it was too late. So the alien motif and the time period makes it fun and visually exciting, but it’s really not about aliens.
But as for my opinion on aliens and Roswell, it’s an ongoing subject that continues to fascinate me and probably everyone else on the planet. I’ve been asked many times if I think aliens really exist, and my answer is, I don’t know, but I hope I never find out. It’s the uncertainty and the mystery that makes them so fascinating. If they exist and it’s commonly accepted that they do, they become hum-drum and uninteresting.
This was originally printed through Bongo Comics. I know you parted ways with the company, and then it subsequently shut down. If Roswell is successful, would you have an itch to restart Bongo, as well?
I would love to see Bongo come back, but it was Matt Groening’s company and he still holds the publishing rights to The Simpsons and Futurama. If he ever decided to resurrect Bongo or to license the publishing rights to another comic book company, I would love to be involved.
For folks who have never checked out the book, what can they expect? I know there are some never-before-seen bonuses with this Zoop version.
In my career I’ve worked with some of the most famous and beloved characters and properties in the world, from The Simpsons and Disney, to the Beatles and MAD Magazine. I think Roswell has aspects of all those things, so people can expect well-drawn stories that are equal parts fun, adventure, satire, and heart. And in addition to all the original Bongo stories, I’m including some rarely-seen stories that originally appeared in some indie publications, along with some never-before-seen pin-ups from the likes of Mark Schultz, Eric Powell Art Baltazar, Scott Shaw!, and Jack Davis!
The Complete Adventures of Roswell, Little Green Man launches on Zoop today.
