ARTHUR EBUEN, DAVE LAW, and JUSTIN GIAMPOLI take on the CORPORATE STATE in ©ALIFORNIA, INC.

Luis Godoy II is back with the team behind ©alifornia, Inc.; Arthur Ebuen, Dave Law, and Justin Giampaoli to discuss the completed trade edition of ©alifornia, Inc.

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COMIC BOOK YETI: Welcome to the Yeti Cave, Dave Law and Justin Giampaoli, and welcome back, Arthur Ebuen, as this is your second Yeti cave interview this year. Today, we’re talking about the collection of ©alifornia, Inc (issues 1-4) on Kickstarter now. Thank you for providing your work to review, as we love checking out comics from Kickstarter. Before we get started on the book, would you tell the readers a bit about yourselves? 

ARTHUR EBUEN: I’m Arthur N. Ebuen, I started my career as an animator on Futurama and The Simpsons. I then took on a career for almost two decades in creative advertising. Now, I’m working closely with my clients in commercials and video production. That career shift helped me get more time to focus on making comics. It all started with ©alifornia, Inc. Without Justin and Dave, this story wouldn’t be where it is. I’m humbled to have them as friends (that I happen to make comics with).

DAVE LAW: Hello I’m Dave Law, artist for ©alifornia, Inc., as well as The Space Odditorium, and Dungeon Crawler Carl. I mostly work in ink and watercolor, but I enjoy a splash of digital as well. While I love doing covers, I truly have a passion for comics and sequential art. It has a ton of unique qualities compared to other storytelling mediums and art forms. Digging into and understanding that nuance is what I’m all about. 

JUSTIN GIAMPOLI: Thanks for having us! I’m Justin Giampaoli, and I started as an award-winning critic at Thirteen Minutes, where I focused on creator-owned and small press titles for over a decade. As a writer and editor, I’ve worked at DC/Vertigo, Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, Madefire, Image, and Studio 12-7. I’m probably best known for writing introductions and bonus content for New York Times bestseller DMZ, and then I wrote an alt-history book, Rome West, and a sci-fi series called Starship Down at Dark Horse; both with artist Andrea Mutti. I was the editor on ©alifornia, Inc., and my next work is a moody crime story called Westside, that will be illustrated by Dave and published at Studio 12-7.

CBY: For potential new readers, could you give us an overview of the series and what you feel readers connected with the most? 

AE: I’ll give the quick logline and talk about where I’ve heard people connect. In the near future, California becomes a corporate country with factions fighting to shape the new nation. With that pitch, I usually get sarcastically, “So not the future, but now.” That’s before reading it. After reading the series, I get comments about how much they like Big Sis. That’s a nice one for me, she had a lot of my frustrations and thoughts built into her. By those that connected with her, I feel seen.

JG: I think all great sci-fi starts with a compelling, “what if?” premise. Art’s initial concept of, “What if California seceded and became a corporate country?” really grabbed my attention and I think resonates instantly with readers. There’s also Dave’s stunning art! We still get comments from fans regarding the iconic cover to issue #1. It’s really satisfying to watch people stop in their tracks at cons and instantly connect with that image. You can just feel the attention-grab and folks being pulled over to inquire what it’s all about. 

CBY: From my quick check this project’s issue #1 was funded all the way back in March 2023. What’s it like getting to the point of a series where you have enough issues to create a trade collection of your work?

AE: It’s surreal. You know what it’s like, Luis—you’ve got your own series you’re working on—it takes forever but goes by so quick. I wasn’t sure we’d get beyond issue #1 but as they went by, we had readers asking for more. That means the world to me. Now that we’ve completed the series, it’s also a relief. As Dave knows, a question we got often was, “When’s the trade coming out?” Well, here it is! We’re excited we got enough momentum to get here. It wouldn’t have happened without the readers.

DL: I have a spot on my desk where I stack my finished comic pages. I remember putting the last page of the last issue on top; the stack was tall, and heavy. It was a crap ton of art representing hundreds of hours of work, yet I remember thinking, “damn, it’s over already, that went quick.” At this point, I’m really excited. I’ve read the story as a script, thumbnails, individual issues, and there’s nothing like being able to read a comic story from beginning to end like in a trade. ©alifornia, Inc. is definitely one of those stories that is so much better experienced without long pauses between issues. 

JG: For me, it’s satisfying to hit that milestone and I also feel a sense of pride. The satisfaction of successfully completing something that was a lot of work over a period of years is really fulfilling. We joke that it’s easy to have a great idea, but can you execute it? Writing, illustrating, editing, all the steps in making an indie comic are hard work, and it’s difficult to appreciate when you’re in the middle of it. There’s an old writing adage that goes, “I don’t like writing, I like having written.” Now that this trade is becoming a reality, it’s easier to look back and feel that sense of accomplishment. I’m also really proud of Art and Dave for shepherding this project through to the finish line successfully. It’s a great work of art, and I’m proud to be associated with it in some small way.

CBY: With all four issues now complete and being collected, what feedback or reactions have you gotten over the course of the series that you did not intend, but readers were able to pull from the story?

AE: When I started writing it in 2017, it was out of my frustration with working in corporate America. It was a place for me to vent about office politics and meshing that against my pride of being Californian. I meant it to be serious satire. As the world has changed since then, I didn’t expect it to hit so close to home with corporations being looked at the way they are now. Some say it feels prescient and asked if I wrote it recently.

DL: I’m ecstatic to say it’s all been really positive. These days with such division in the world, it feels like everybody is quick to knock things down or cancel things that deal with ideas they’re uncomfortable with, it’s refreshing to see people still read and appreciate heavy concept books like ours. 

JG: One thing I noticed that resonated with readers, and I’m really proud of, is how diverse the characters that Art and Dave created are. I read a lot of comics as a fan, critic, and editor, and I don’t think there’s another book on the stands that’s as diverse as ©alifornia, Inc. There are the Indigenous siblings of course, a strong Filipina, other Asian characters, Black characters, women and POC in leading roles, etc., and it’s all presented in a very organic matter-of-fact way. It’s not overtly discussed in the narrative, but obvious that our diverse reality is being reflected back at us in this piece of pop culture. 

CBY: Did the story or art change over the course of the series from the initial idea, or did you have a set map that you followed from A to B without much deviation?

AE: This story was not in any way influenced by readers as we went on. It was completely written well before Justin and I met Dave. Maybe a piece of dialogue or a frame changed here or there during the editing stages but no structural or story change, especially because of reader influence. I’m a believer in doing the thing you want; be true to it all the way through. What got you the audience was your gut instinct, they liked that, keep that up.

CBY: I want to jump into the logo design for a bit; specifically the ©alifornia, Inc. flag (aka the book’s logo). Who designed it? I really love it, and seeing the back matter that speaks to each part of the design shows how much thought went into this series. How many iterations were there before landing on the design? (The same question goes for character designs). 

AE: You’re making me blush. In my time in advertising, a lot of it was in design. Characters, I’ll let Dave dig into that, I take no credit. He’s got all that. But the graphic design of the book and all the elements you’re talking about, those came from my experience in branding. If California is going to be a corporation, it needs a new brand. I won’t spoil too much of what’s in the back matter, but you’re 100% correct. I consider all the design elements from the book, the flag, and even Big Sis’s tattoo as opportunities to complement what’s happening in the story. California is a new corporate nation, so let’s turn that bear facing in the direction of progress and give it some polygonal scaffolding to represent future building. 

DL: The logos were all Art’s fantastic work. I don’t mind it, but I also don’t love working on logos, and this story actually has a lot of corporate branding bits. It was fun passing the ball to Art on a lot of that and seeing what he came up with. We had great collaboration there. As far as the characters, Art had descriptions and I talked to him a bunch about them before putting pencil to paper. From there, I like to base characters' looks and body language on people I know or actors I am familiar with. I like to start by just covering a large sheet of butcher paper with character sketches in all the varieties that seem possible. After that, there’s usually one of two sketches that I like and will send those to Art for approval. He was very easygoing with that and allowed me a lot of freedom. There were very few, if any, revisions after that point.  

JG: The flag, the logo, and Art’s re-imagined California Bear design are all, indeed, amazing! One other image that I think gets overlooked a bit is Dave’s variant cover to issue #3, which has Alona (Big Sis) draped in an altered American flag that subtly reflects California being absent from the Old Union. I think this is another instantly iconic image that Dave delivered, and it’s a testament to the little details and smart intentional choices that Dave laces into the art throughout the book.

DL: Aww, thanks Justin! I feel like that image was another great collaborative deal, with the three of us making suggestions and giving ideas to create something better than one of us alone. 

CBY: Not to jump the gun and spoil anything, but are there any plans to return to ©alifornia, Inc. in either a sequel or prequel capacity? Now that I’ve read through twice, I could see more stories on either end. 

AE: I have a couple of side stories I want to explore. Fortunately, I had one about Big Sis and LB that takes place before this story, and got to start that smaller series in our sci-fi anthology, Systemic. It’s a different tone from ©alifornia, Inc., a bit of noir vibes from it. I have a couple of others I’ve been playing with, one with Robyn I’d like to dig deeper into. I also don’t feel like I closed the chapter on Christina’s book fully. Small hints, we’ll see.

JG: One thing readers and fans will learn if they spend any time with Art is that he can’t sit still! He always has so many irons in the fire and various creative projects percolating, and I have no doubt we’ll eventually see some of these offshoot stories come to fruition and someday probably end up with a ©alifornia, Inc. Cinematic Universe (CICU). Haha!

CBY: I want to thank each of you for being available and sharing your book with ComicBookYeti. Any other projects you can speak about or preview? Also where can readers follow you or your work?

AE: This is where I step to the side and let Justin and Dave take the spotlight. I’m here to cheer this part on!

JG: Yes, Dave and I are working on a haunting crime story called Westside. It’s about two deputy sheriffs investigating a series of unsolved violent crimes in the California Central Valley. If you’re a fan of TV shows like The Wire and True Detective, or any of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips crime comics, this will be right up your darkly lit alley. It’s a way for me to merge my experience in law enforcement with autobiographical elements about race relations, car culture, and crime in an elegy to my hometown. Dave’s turning in these phenomenal pages already, in beautiful black and white, with incredibly textured ink washes, and very subtle color that’s so striking. I can’t wait for people to see it!

DL: Along with my work with Art and Justin that they mentioned, a new volume of The Space Odditorium, a weird and wacky divergence from the darker more serious sci-fi I’ve been working on, has just been published. And I’m releasing a series of art prints from my work on the covers of Dungeon Crawler Carl. All of which can be found on my website www.davelawart.com  

CBY: Thanks again! This was Luis from Comic Book Yeti, signing off with another interview from the Yeti Cave. Be good, do good, and read comics! Find me on the CBY discord  or BlueSky ‪@luisgodoyii.bsky.social‬

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