Go Back to School with Tom Siddell, Creator of Gunnerkrigg Court

September brings the end of summer, and with it a new school year. One of the most fantastic schools around these days is the mysterious academy of Gunnerkrigg Court. Part-Science City, part-Hogwarts, the adventures of Antimony “Annie” Carver are chronicled at www.gunnerkrigg.com, where creator Tom Siddell updates his ongoing web series three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Due for release in November, Archaia Studios collects the second book in the series, featuring the further genre-bending exploits of Annie, her best friend Kat, and the mysterious (and cranky) demon-turned-plush toy, Reynardine.

Siddell took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions, beaming his answers swiftly to us from his home in the UK…

The world of Gunnerkrigg Court is a true melting pot of genres — fantasy, science fiction, mystery, mythology and the supernatural — what brought you to create this unique setting?

Tom Siddell: I really wanted to make a comic set somewhere between mythology and technology. Not just in theme, but as a physical location. I thought it would be interesting to show a tension between two factions that basically characterize and exaggerate myth and science. In the middle of all that, that's where I wanted Annie so she could hear both sides of the story and play a part in what happens in the larger story.

What can readers expect from Antimony Carver’s second year at Gunnerkrigg Court?

Tom Siddell: The title for the book is "Research" which hints at the reader getting a lot of insight into the backgrounds of the characters and the Court. We'll learn a little about the time Annie spent growing up in a hospital, as well as events that occurred right at the creation of the Court that are still influencing things in the present. At the end of the first book the headmaster asked Annie if she wanted to take lessons in mediation and we'll start to see that in Volume 2. This leads directly to a visit to Gillitie Forest to meet the trickster god Coyote himself and hear his stories in one of my favourite chapters.

Are there any pantheons of gods and goddesses that are “off limits” to visiting the world of Gunnerkrigg Court?

Tom Siddell: I'd like to think not! I like to keep things fairly universal in terms of content, so I have to be selective about what mythological stories I can and can't show. Coyote certainly wasn't a saint, and there are all sorts of fun stories about him that I could never include in the comic, but he's still in there as a character.  I love including myths and legends from all cultures, so I'd never discount anything I thought was interesting. My story can get fairly dark at times but I'm not going to do anything distasteful that would potentially alienate a certain group of my readers for the sake of shock value. I'm not going to have Priapus running around, for example. That guy is not as fun as you'd think.

What’s a typical week like for you, creatively? How much of it is dedicated to the production of the ongoing online Gunnerkrigg Court strip?

Tom Siddell: I work full-time during the week, so I only really have time to work on the comic at the weekend, during which I need to get three pages done in order to maintain my update schedule and page buffer. I like to have the script for the current chapter finished before I start drawing it, and then I'll lay out pages as I come to them. I usually get one page done on Saturday, and then two on Sunday. This does mean getting up at 6:00 in the morning on Sunday though…

How far off have you plotted Gunnerkrigg Court? Is there an end in sight?

Tom Siddell: I work a few chapters ahead, normally. Beyond that I have plot points I want to arrive at that will tie everything together and reveal more story, but the details are less concrete, so I have the freedom to change things around if I need to.  I do have an end in mind, but it's still a fair ways off, and is liable to change by the time I reach it. In the meantime, though, I have a definite course I'm following as far as the plot is concerned.

Currently Available:
Gunnerkrigg Court Vol. 1: Orientation HC
978-1-932386-34-9  $26.95