Scratch9 is an all-ages comic with a story worthy of Saturday morning cartoons: Scratch, a mischievous cat, runs away from home and winds up as the subject of a science experiment, which accidentally liberates his other eight lives (remember, cats have nine), starting with a sabertooth tiger. Written by Rob Worley and illustrated by Jason Kruse (The World of Quest), with covers by Mike Kunkel, the four-issue miniseries debuts in August from Ape Entertainment.
PWCW: Tell us a bit about the story.
Rob Worley: In the first issue Scratch gets a little frazzled and bolts out the door of the home where he lives with his best girl Penelope. As sometimes happens with cats in the real world, there's sort of a domino effect of frights that drive the poor little guy much further from home then he intended. He ends up in the city and in the clutches of Dr. Schrodinger and the C.R.U.E.L. Corporation, which is where he obtains his ability to summon any of his eight other lives to help him out of a jam.
The set up from there is that Scratch wants to get home to Penelope. Schrodinger wants to recapture this special little cat and perfect his experiment. Penelope is out looking for Scratch in the big city. And Scratch has some new-found lab animal friends to worry about.
All these plots intersect over the four issues, but the focus is on Scratch who is torn between retreating to the comfort of home and trying to save his friends. Along the way he meets his other aspects which are drawn from different time periods.
I should also add that it's not all about beating down the enemy. Scratch's aspects have different talents and it was important to me that not everything turn into a fight. Garogga, the sabretooth tiger from issue #1, will definitely put some pawsmack on a dangerous robot bear if he has to, but other aspects resolve issues in non-violent ways. Each cat has its own special talent. So there's some good problem solving going on with the cats too.
PWCW: What inspired this comic? Did you spend a lot of your youth watching Saturday morning cartoons?
RW: I most certainly did!
I always liked cartoons with animal characters: Muttley from Wacky Races, Grape Ape, shows like that. So many of the things I've written have had animal characters as well: Young Ancient One had the mysterious Spirit Leopard. Heir to Fire had a cat as well as a Gila monster that helped Ryan.
But this comic really grows out of my love for cats! I had two cats for a very long time; brothers named Itchy and Scratchy. They were black and white tuxedo cats, like Scratch. I also worked for an animal rescue league in Michigan for many years.
I feel like cats often get a bum rap, even when they're the main characters. When I hear people say cats are unaffectionate or temperamental I truly don't know what they're talking about. I wanted Scratch to be more like the cats I've known, which are loveable, silly, a little crazy sometimes, a little mysterious. They're not fat and lazy! They're super athletes!
PWCW: What is your favorite part about the comics? What is your biggest challenge as a creator?
RW: I've loved watching all the characters come to life, first in my head and then out of the pencil of Jason Kruse. He's really an amazing artist and does a great job of creating cute, appealing characters and then putting them into action as dynamic, living things on the page.
The challenging thing was deciding what to keep in the comic. When you're doing an indie comic, you really never know how long you'll be able to continue it. People may not discover it or they may not respond to it. So I wanted to make sure kids who read the four issues got to experience as much of the Scratch9 story as they could, which means introducing all nine aspects of the cat, plus Penelope, plus Dr. Schrodinger, plus his pet pals...it's a lot of ground to cover in just four issues!
And I do wish Penelope had more screen time. She's so integral to the story and such an appealing kid, but given that the story is about Scratch being separated from her I needed to keep the focus on our cat.
PWCW: Who are you writing this comic for—when you think of your reader, what mental image comes to mind?
RW: Me! Honestly, I think the best way for me to create a story is to make sure I'm having fun. If I'm having fun, hopefully the reader will as well.
But I'd imagine tweens and younger would gravitate towards Scratch9, and hopefully parents will still enjoy it as they read it to youngsters. I've heard that feedback from a few of the critics who have reviewed it, which makes me very happy.
I've just started working on the next mini-series, but we also need to see how the readers react to the first one in planning out the story for the next one.
PWCW: Why did you choose to do Scratch9 as a pamphlet comic, rather than starting with a graphic novel format?
RW: That's a good question. I think a first time character can have a little bit of trouble finding an audience as a graphic novel. The reader has to spend a bit more money to try the book. The comic format lets them read a bit and decide if they want to keep going.
I do like the graphic novel format though.
PWCW: How will kids find your comics? Will this be distributed on newsstands or in bookstores, or strictly through the direct market?
RW: The book will be coming out through direct market channels. I think the trade will be available to the book store market as well.
PWCW: Do you have any plans for special marketing initiatives?
RW: We're online at http://www.scratch9.com. That's where you'll find news, previews, ordering info and info about where to find myself, Jason and Ape Entertainment at the various summer conventions and store appearances.
