Emmett Hobbes is a prolific cartoonist and writer who is known for his work on the Rick and Morty comics and the graphic novel My Riot with Rick Spears. Last month, his Webtoon Original, Royale, launched on the platform, introducing readers to a queer, historical, surrealistic heist drama, with Hank Jones’s colors adding extra vibrancy to the lively artwork. Hobbes was kind enough to answer some of my questions about Royale and his influences and inspirations over email, and I am delighted to share his wisdom here!
Congratulations on the launch of Royale! How did this comic come about? What inspired you?
Thank you so much! I think it was in like 2018 or something that I got really into Lupin III and was like, “I wanna do that but with like a little guy.” I’d just been connected with a Webtoon editor through Justin Jordan [creator of Urban Animal], so I just like hyperfixated and threw a pitch together in 2 months that got greenlit weeks later, I couldn’t believe it. The angle I came at it from was Lupin III plus Pan’s Labyrinth — silly, vaguely cold-war-era, extremely queer, trippy, spooky fae magic, a little like German expressionist kind of nightmare surrealism. It centers around this painting called The Prussian Blue that glows inexplicably. Everyone’s after it, someone’s like dead because of it, there’s a bunch of new bad guys now, nothing is going to plan. It starts as a heist but it’s really more of a fairytale whodunnit. I think anyone who grew up with Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes, Cowboy Bebop, Tintin, Sly Cooper, is going to feel at home with Royale.
But like generally, inspiration-wise…I come from a comic strip background so I really just wanted to cartoon something, like just have a ton of fun and go overboard. Chris Schweizer was one of my first comic professors, and I have just always been enchanted by how he balances this really loose gestural cartooning with drama, and so that influence is there in a big way. Obviously, I’m also into all those meaty genre auteurs like Edgar Wright, Del Toro, Lynch, Spielberg and Lucas, Coens, Wachowskis. Henry Selick. Sorry, I’m naming a lot of film directors for some reason.
How has working with Webtoon been like for you?
In a lot of ways, it’s been pretty standard publisher processes. I’m freelance, so I’m just contracted to create Royale, and once it’s done, we might sign another contract for something else. I pitched the story idea, me and Hank have an editor, deadlines. The only thing that’s been really hard for me to adjust to is the instantaneousness of everything. Of course, the episode production is fast, or it’s supposed to be. I am not a fast worker and my energy is really spontaneous, so there’s a reasonable amount of tension with the scheduling people.
But like, within minutes of posting an episode, I get feedback from readers through comments and can see if the storytelling resonates. It’s actually really helpful because it lets me know when I’m doing a good job, which you don’t get on print books until reviews start coming out and it’s too late to change anything. And even then it’s never like the visceral reactions, it’s highly structured and filtered through analysis. On Webtoon, you can see exactly what jokes landed, which bits of foreshadowing readers have latched onto. It’s mind-blowingly helpful, especially since I’m not confident in my writing at all.
As someone who’s mostly worked in print comics before, was it difficult to adapt to the digital, vertical scroll format of Webtoon?
Oh yeah, absolutely. But that’s also why I really wanted to do it because I’m a chronic problem-solver and gravitate towards challenges. I got really excited about the vertical strip format because it felt more immersive than comics but more intimate than animation. Paper comics are really locked down to this structure that limits how much space you can take up to show something. So much of the work in setting up a comic page is just prioritizing real estate, figuring out what moments deserve or need the most space. With the infinite scroll, you aren’t beholden to that structure, so a panel can be any shape or size you want as long as it fits on the phone screen. With that freedom comes more challenges, though. There’s less to guide you and more ways to mess up, the pacing especially. I could talk about this for hours, honestly. I probably ought to put a workshop together about it or something.
Like, the rules are all just so different. Panels are looked at individually, so it’s easier to plant surprises. It also means your reader forgets things more easily, so there are a lot more callback panels and repeating of stuff. Establishing shots are tall and skinny instead of wide. Your line of motion is down instead of to the right. Even the position of lettering balloons changes. It’s not a 1:1 transition for sure, and I don’t blame anyone for being intimidated by it. I think something that trips creators up, generally, and you and I have talked about this—is that so many folks go in wanting to do a print version. You end up with none of the helpful structure of a print page with none of the freedom of the infinite scroll, and it makes for really frustrating storytelling on the back end. Square peg in a round hole sort of deal.
What is your writing and drawing process like for Royale, and how has it evolved from your previous comics?
I’m like totally incapable of doing the same thing twice so usually a new project means a new way of doing things. My Riot was mostly traditional because it needed to feel like punk music, Rick and Morty is usually pretty slick and digital. Royale is real different though. I usually work traditionally, but in order to use all the software shortcuts, I’ve got to do it all digital, and that’s always tough because it’s so easy to obsess over little details when you can zoom in that much. The gist of the pipeline is that I have a map of where the story is going, broadly. I tend to write scripts in blocks of 3 ahead but it always changes at the drawing stage anyway. I’ll do a rough thumbnail sketch with some dialogue lettering, tighten up whatever needs it, ink, name my layers so Hank doesn’t go insane, then send them over for colors.
In the early episodes, I use a lot of 3D and photo shortcuts but have found they don’t actually save me time, and they were really robbing a lot of the energy from my cartooning. I have no problem with them conceptually, I just think it’s antithetical to the way I personally draw; I love gesture and figure, silhouette work. I love crookedness and errors. As the series goes on, you can see me rely on 3D and stuff less and less. At some point, I move almost exclusively to doing simple lineless flat environments, which I think is the fastest and looks the nicest. But like I’m always experimenting. I probably started to really figure out the visual language of Royale around episode 12 or something. And I say that now, but it’s probably gonna change in another month!
Who is your favorite character you’ve created?
Oh no, that’s so hard! I mean, something I try to do is fall in love with every character. The original draft of the story was totally centered on Royale, but through getting to know everyone I’ve been much more excited to explore the perspectives of the other characters and how this job is affecting them. Talbot might be my favorite to draw, which is really just being self-indulgent about post-punk stuff. Quyên might have my favorite character arc and I love her clothing. Grotto, the head of security, makes my little gay hands all sweaty. Royale is such a joy to draw jumpin’ around especially. Damascus is so beautiful, and drawing them feels deeply affirming to me in a way I can’t articulate yet. Every character has some quality totally unique from all the others and so it’s impossible for me to get sick of anything!
I just have learned that, like…if you have a least favorite character, the scenes with them are going to be your least favorite parts to draw. That sounds irritating. The job is easier if you can manage to be enamored with everything that appears in it.
What’s next for Emmett Hobbes?
Too much! Uhhh. I do have another book in talks that I can’t be specific about yet, which sucks because I’m really excited about it! I might do some comic shows in the fall, so if anyone wants me to come to their town, they should drop me a line ASAP.
Royale can be read on Webtoon.
Advertisements
