Enjoy Lessons Learned with TREVOR MUELLER and the SECRET S.T.E.A.M. SOCIETY
- Andrew Irvin
- 11 minutes ago
- 11 min read
Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, sits down with Trevor Mueller, writer of the Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society, with Volume 2, Music, now out from Papercutz.
COMIC BOOK YETI: Trevor, thanks for stopping by to chat. Welcome to the Yeti Cave! How are things going back in Chicago? (I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to visit next, but hopefully another trip is not too terribly far off into the future.)
TREVOR MUELLER: Chicago in the “spring” likes to keep us on our toes. There’s a joke about how the Midwest is one of the few places on Earth where you can get sunburn and frostbite on the same day, and Chicago is definitely trying to live up to that reputation right now. But to me, that’s just perfect weather for making (and reading!) comics!
CBY: It's important to have some pursuits that aren't weather-dependent, and inclement weather can do wonders for an active imagination. So you’re now promoting the second volume of Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society: Music, following volume one: Horses. You’ve written both thus far, and there’s a third planned. I see the series was created by Adam Wallenta, so can you tell us a bit about how you got involved with the project, the extent of your involvement to-date, and the full scope of what we can expect from the series?
TM: Sure thing! Adam is a friend of mine, and he created the series as a new line of educational adventure stories for Papercutz. He had built up a character and world bible for the series, and was looking for writers who were familiar with writing young readers adventure stories - and I cut my teeth in comics writing Albert the Alien, which was nominated for two Harvey Awards! So it was a perfect match.
Adam brought me into the project early on, and since Horses was the first book in the line, we did a lot of filling in details about tone, pacing, and how to balance the information so the stories didn’t read like a lecture, but really focused on the fun and adventure side of exploring our world.
Out of the three announced titles so far, I’ve had the pleasure to write two of them (Horses, and Music), and there are many more on the way!
CBY: As you were writing on these past two volumes, you’ve seen some changes in the line-up, with Horses including artist Gabriel Mayorga, colorists Juliet Tierney and Lea Jean Badelles, and Music involving Christian Colbert as artist and colorist, with additional colors by Frank William. While design work came from Jack Levesque and Francesco Crivelli served as assistant on both titles, how did the creative collaboration play out for both of these volumes? While some of the details vary in approach to the art, the tone is quite consistent, so what went into achieving the consistency of brand in presenting the Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society?
TM: I will say, writing a book for a publisher is a lot different than when I’m self publishing - because for both of these books, we got started without an artist attached. As we developed the stories and the scripts, Adam found the artists that would best fit the books we were making. For Horses, he needed an artist that could really draw the animal - and in a variety of poses, situations, etc - and keep it looking interesting. For Music, we really needed an artist that could draw instruments, but also sound and come up with cool visual representations of music.
Because a script is a communication tool between me (the writer) and the artist, I’ve had to come up with ways to inform and inspire the art when it comes to some of the educational elements in the stories. Making sure the artist has a variety of references for things like how instruments are made or played or have evolved over time has been a fun way to keep me on my toes as a writer, and make sure the artist has everything they need in the script to go to work.
For the consistency piece, editorial helps play a role there. But like I said earlier, we had to figure out tone and pacing pretty quickly when we were writing the first script. How much danger would the characters get into, or how much urgency could we create with certain situations. And again, after a few quick phone calls, I started to get a feel for what was in Adam’s head. We did a few back and forths on the early drafts, but as we’ve gotten deeper into the series, those have been less necessary. It’s been a very collaborative experience.
CBY: I note you’ve also enlisted the expertise of Dr. Carey A. Williams, Professor and Equine Extension Specialist at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Associate Prof. Albert R. Lee, Associate Dean for Student Life and Community Engagement, Yale School of Music, to provide forewords for Horses and Music, respectively. What was the goal in seeking out subject matter experts to introduce each volume, and how would you say their contributions add value to the stories you’ve written?
TM: Since there’s an educational element to these stories, there was a lot of research involved. Thankfully, I have an amazing library near my house, and visit there 2-3 times per week. I kept a pretty detailed bibliography for the scripts, to make sure we knew where information was coming from (and if we could, double and triple sourcing those facts).
But let’s be honest here, I’m just a comic writer - I’m not an expert in horses or music - and Heaven forbid some of the books I referenced were outdated. We needed someone with detailed knowledge on the topics to make sure what we were putting into the books were true, up to date, and factual. So the experts who wrote the forwards were not just introducing the books, but were also acting as an editorial backup to review the stories and make sure what we put into them was up to date and truthful.
All of these elements came together to create an incredible book that’s equal parts fun, adventurous, and informative.
CBY: So you’ve got other comics such as Bat Pat (also from Papercutz), and Albert the Alien (collected through Thrillbent) that have seen multiple volumes published. Along with webtoon format work like Re-Possessed and Nexus Point, anthologies such as What Fresh Hell is This? and Killer Queen from Red Stylo Media, have you cultivated a preference for what type of comic format you enjoy working in most? How does your process change depending on the length and pacing of the project, and what do you do to adapt your writing style to each type of release format?
TM: I would say I enjoy flexing new muscles and trying to challenge myself with different genres, formats, media, and writing for different ages. Part of that stems from the fact that I enjoy variety - not just creating it, but consuming it. My taste in music, movies, TV shows - there’s never a single type I gravitate towards every time. It’s just whatever catches my eye. A similar approach is applied to the stories I tend to write, and where I tend to write them (either with a publisher, or self-publishing them).
The process does change a bit, depending on who I’m working with. Publishers and licensors sometimes want a synopsis or an outline (or both) in advance of working on the script. Sometimes they just want a finished story to put into a book, with little to no editorial oversight. So in my working life, you also get that variety applied to ways of working.
Just like every artist has a different preference in how much detail you give them in the script, different publishers, editors, and other storytelling partners also keep you on your toes - in the best way possible.
CBY: Regarding your writing process, you didn’t shy away from getting into the technical dimensions of the topics you covered. While there were subject matter experts involved, and you've mentioned a bit of your process, what sort of research did you personally need to engage in throughout the drafting, and what were the most fascinating facts you learned for each title?
TM: I have a very healthy relationship with my local library. I always start there. If there’s a book I can get on a topic, I want it - and I was checking out like 20-30 books at a time to review the information, look for trends in what they talk about, see what stood out to me and what felt like a fun fact, and then made notes about how these topics could be a fun adventure or part of a larger story.
The unique part of this project is figuring out how to organically fit the facts and topics into a fun adventure structure. My goal is always to make sure the education doesn’t come off as a lecture, but instead fits into the adventure and the fun and excitement of the story.
CBY: I will say, I greatly appreciate the connectivity created in Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society between the topic at-hand and related impacts. Horses got into fertilizer composition, greenhouse gas production, and eutrophication prevention. Music explores not only the theory and history of music, but the physics of sound, our physiological and psychological responses and auditory processing capabilities of our bodies, as well as the various technological and cultural influences involved in creating and sharing music. Can you tell us about your educational and professional background before your comics career, and what a cross-disciplinary project like this allows you to draw upon from your experience?
TM: My parents were both teachers, I guess teaching is in the blood? But honestly, I always love to learn and consider myself a student of storytelling and comics. I started my professional career in comics working for an educational non-profit called Reading with Pictures, which also combined adventure and education stories - which was a launch pad for my Albert the Alien series. So this series is a bit of a return to form for me.
I also like combining fun facts, educational content, and adventure-based storytelling into a single cohesive package. It’s a bit like a puzzle for me, and my brain likes to make those connections and find how to organically make them all fit and flow together.
I also do workshops throughout the year at conventions, schools, and libraries to help teach the next generation of storytellers how to tell their stories. So teaching is kind of a part of my daily life, both in and out of comics.
CBY: It is fortunate you've been able to find a way to merge your curiosity and creativity into professional practice. Music provided a brilliant, refreshing summary now, as an adult, of all the core knowledge I remember receiving throughout my elementary school education (and beyond, as I don’t think I’d ever seen a diagram of a bagpipe before, for instance). What sort of response have you received from your target audience (kids), and have there been any surprising comments from readers as you’ve rolled out Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society titles? Has there been a specific push towards seeing copies acquired by schools and public libraries, and what sort of support has gone into getting this into the hands of young readers (educational book fairs, etc.)?
TM: Thank you so much! Researching and making those diagrams (and the adventure the kids have exploring them) was a lot of fun for us.
The Music book was only just released, so most of the feedback I’ve gotten is on the Horses book. For anyone who loves horses and equestrian lifestyle, they find the book insightful, informative, and refreshing. I see a lot of people at conventions and signings who love the cover (let’s be honest, that artwork is gorgeous!), and when they look inside the book they fall in love with the characters. Not just the students, but their horses as well - who were important additions to the roster for me.
I know Papercutz has a focus to get this series into schools and libraries, and I’ve been scheduling school appearances and library workshops to help spread the word and get readers interested in the books - and to learn how to make their own comics. Whenever I talk to parents or teachers about them, they always comment how their kids love graphic novels, and agree this is the best format to get this kind of story in front of their kids.
CBY: I love all the diagrams included in Music; you’ve included a variety of non-traditional orchestra instruments, including long-standing, familiar instruments like the theremin, but also some examples that include ingenious engineering applications, such as the plasmaphone or hydraulophone. How was the final list of instruments for inclusion decided upon, and were there any examples you wanted to include that didn’t make the cut?
TM: I loved coming up with that list of instruments for the book! I wanted to have a mix of traditional instruments - things readers would definitely be familiar with - and non-traditional instruments that, especially younger readers, may not know about. The theremin was such an interesting instrument, combining science and sound into music. An instrument you don’t need to touch, that uses electromagnetic signals to make sound was fascinating!
From there, I started to look into other non-traditional instruments. Making music with water was a first step, and then I started to look into other states of matter you could make music with. Plasma naturally came up in those searches (but definitely don’t try to make music with plasma at home, kids!)
I don’t know that anything didn’t make the cut. More so, we just needed to cut down on some of the things I wanted to do with those instruments. I could have expanded on a lot of the stories and adventures, but the question came down to how many pages we wanted to dedicate to non-traditional instruments vs getting into other topics. At the end of the day, we had to cut down some things to keep us on topic. But who knows! If the book is popular enough, maybe we do a follow up or sequel and use some of that material.
CBY: You mentioned this was the second of three planned books in the Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society series - what is next for the series, and what forthcoming titles do you have planned that our audience can look forward to reading?
TM: Papercutz has only announced three books in the series so far (and I’ve been lucky enough to have written two of them). Horses, Music, and Spaceflight. But there are more books coming out! I don’t know all the topics, but I can say that I’ve written a bunch more and they are a lot of fun to do. There are more titles about animals, math, science, and states of matter. And a topic that I pitched that I think would be a lot of fun, but they’re still getting an artist for that one - so I can’t talk about it just yet.
But the short of it is, Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society has a lot more coming. And I’m excited to see all the topics I didn’t work on, and of course the ones I did.
CBY: I'm excited to see these engaging, informative resources available to young readers across the market, and spaceflight is a topic I'm sure many kids will gravitate towards (pun intended). To bring things to a close, we always like to invite our guests to make mention of any work unrelated to their own endeavors. What other comics, films, music, art, literature, etc. has been catching your eye lately? What should our readers make sure they don’t miss?
TM: Outside of my own work, I always love to check out my friend’s projects. David is doing an amazing job on Speed Racer (Mad Cave), and my Music artist has a new Star Wars story coming out from Papercutz as well!
Outside of my friend’s projects, I’ve really been enjoying the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. I’m playing the Spider-Man 2 video game on my PS5 (since my kids can watch me play that one), and I’m excited to see Project Hail Mary in theaters.
CBY: I have to catch it while it's still in a theatrical run, too. Trevor, it’s been great having you here to speak about Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society and where the series is headed. If you have any other portfolio, publication, and social media links to share, now is the time and the place!
TM: Thanks so much for having me! You can find me online at @TrevorAMueller on all the social websites, and at TrevorAMueller.com for all my latest updates. Find me, follow me, friend me!
WEBSITE: https://trevoramueller.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/trevoramueller
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