Echoboy Comic FAQ

Some of the questions I get I answer directly in the comments for a given page. If you're confused by a page first check the comments and you might get an explanation there.

If you have questions please send them to GFrench@Gmail.com or just comment this post.

The following questions are from my sister who's a librarian (and sister) extraordinaire in Lexington, KY, and Mark Brown, a dear old friend from Frankfort, KY. Check out his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/markbee for some tunes whose lyrical stylings influenced the Echoboy comic.

1) Why do the toad bone demons want to save Prometheus? To what end?
The toadbone demons believe that first and foremost Prometheus is their ticket to making a living as singers in the opera. That may not always be clear, and likely this is because I didn't realize it until about 8 seconds ago.

2) Accents? Why do they change so much?
Often I spent long periods of time not working on the Echoboy comic. And then when I came back to it and I was writing dialogue I'd hear their voices clearly, write them that way and only later realize that I'd skewed my continuity. I think there was a part of me who imagined I'd spend a great deal of time on a revision.

3) Is this a re-telling of Hades and Persephone?
To some extent, yes. Getting stolen and taken down to hell, or where ever, is not a meme(?) limited to the Hades and Persephone story though, and Echoboy certainly doesn't control the weather in the land above hell as Persephone's mother did. At one point I did imagine Echoboy collected the garbage, and his absence at this job could certainly create environmental changes. And yes, I certainly had the Hades and Persephone myth in mind as I got rolling.

4) How did Echoboy get his name? Is it because of his loud, echoing stomach?
Hrm... well, Echoboy kind of slid out of my pen one day while I was scribble-sketching at a coffee shop. I drew him and then wrote the name "echoboy" beside him. He seemed to have a larger story behind him than some of the other ruffians I'd sketched that day. Often I try to stay true to early, silly impulses, and calling him Echoboy was one of those. I liked the idea of hollowness too - I feel like there's a great hollowness in Echoboy that sort of spurred on his adventures.

5) How would you ideally want someone to read it, in one sitting, or maybe one episode per day?
However anyone ever happens to read this is the most awesome thing I can imagine. So let's back that question up to: yes, ideally I would like people to read this. I didn't write it with hooks at the end of each page so I don't imagine it's going to really read episodically or carry over from day to day. Plus it's all there for someone to read right now should they choose.