We Muppet fans are pretty lucky. Not only do Muppet comic books continue to show up in our comic book stores, but Roger Langridge keeps on agreeing to do these Q&As with us! Let's see what Roger has to say...

Note: This Q&A was conducted after the release of Peg Leg Wilson #1. Check out our review of issue #1 here, and our review of issue #2 here.

ToughPigs: How does it feel to have your first Muppet Show story arc in the can and another already in stores?

Roger Langridge: Pretty satisfying, I have to admit - there's nothing like finishing a long piece of work.

TP: Do you have a method for creating the cover art?

RL: I usually submit between 4 and 6 sketched roughs to the editor each month, and he'll come back to me with suggestions and tell me which ones he'd like worked up into finished covers. At that point I take my sketch and blow it up nice and big, then I'll trace it and build it up into finished pencils, fleshing out details and fixing anything that looks a bit wobbly. Then I ink it, scan it and send it off to be coloured.

TP: How did you make the decision to stop the designs with the characters in the circles from the first arc? Will the circle covers be making a comeback after the end of Peg Leg Wilson?

RL: I always intended those to be limited to the first arc - my original plan was to change the colour of the curtains each issue so the covers didn't look too similar, but that idea seems to have been lost in the shuffle at some point. I think it's a good idea to move on from that now - I don't want to risk people skipping an issue because they think they've already bought it!

TP: On the ToughPigs forum, we’ve discussed the difficulties in capturing Miss Piggy’s character (she’s often written as too angry, too much of a “diva”, or too quick to turn to violence). We saw a great character arc for her in the 4th issue of The Muppet Show Comic Book. Did you have any trouble writing her?

RL: Well, you're always feeling your way a bit with any character you didn't create. I suppose she was difficult, but no more difficult than any other character. The thing I try to remember about Piggy is that her toughness is a front to conceal a very vulnerable pig beneath. If you can show flashes of that vulnerability it makes her much more rounded, if you'll pardon the expression.

TP: We were happy to see the return of fan favorites Wayne and Wanda, and the Talking Houses. Were you worried that readers might not remember them? Are you keeping a list of other Muppet Show sketches to include in future issues?

RL: I'm not too worried if people don't remember a particular sketch because I try to make them work whether you remember them or not. If you recognise it, that's like a nice little bonus - an Easter Egg for dedicated Muppet-watching - but it shouldn't be essential to know this stuff in order to enjoy the comic. If it is, I'm not doing my job right!

TP: You mentioned in an earlier interview that your close friends’ love of Pigs In Space led to its inclusion into every issue. Now that you’ve gotten feedback on your first arc, are there any other sketches or characters that you’re considering giving more screen time?

RL: Well, it wasn't just close friends! But I'm probably going to ease off on Pigs in Space for a few issues after the Peg-Leg Wilson arc is over, not least because there'll be a Pigs in Space one-shot between that and the arc which follows. So that should keep the Pigs in Space fans happy for a few months.

TP: When you’re designing a new character (for example, “Ninja Rogers”), do you think of them as a puppet first, or is the fact that they might not fit with the overall design of the Muppets not an issue?

RL: I try to make them look at least vaguely plausible as Muppets - or at least cartoon Muppets, as they appear in the comic - but that leaves an awful lot of wiggle room when you consider the enormous variety of shapes and designs the Muppets encompass. I've been almost too conservative sometimes, I think!

TP: How do Kermit’s sunglasses stay on his face if he has no ears or nose?

RL: The magic of comics, I'm afraid. Don't look at the man behind the curtain.

TP: BOOM! has amassed a strong team of cover artists for the Muppet comic books. Have they offered you any opportunities to illustrate a variant cover for any of the other titles?

RL: No, but then I wouldn't have time with doing the Muppet Show book. It's a full-time thing, and then some. If I were cloned I'd love to have a shot.

TP: Have you seen the Muppet Robin Hood comic book? Or any pages from the upcoming Muppet Peter Pan? Did you have any advice to give to the writers or artists of those series?

RL: I've seen the Robin Hood book at a recent convention, although I didn't get time to read it. The Muppet books aren't for sale in the UK, so I don't get much of a chance to look at them. I thought the art was strong from the bits I saw.

TP: We enjoyed the Muppet/Dr. Who sketches you posted on your blog. Is there any chance we’ll see any of those in The Muppet Show Comic Book?

RL: Nothing quite so on-the-nose, because of the fact that Dr Who is owned by the BBC, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an oblique Who reference or two in the Pigs in Space one-shot. I'm still writing that one, so I don't know for sure myself yet!

TP: Speaking of references, do you have any other plans for literary or pop culture references in the comic?

RL: To call them "plans" would be putting it a bit strongly, but I've got an idea for a Hamlet song I'm looking for an excuse to work in sometime.

TP: You also reported on your blog that there will be a Pigs In Space one-shot in between story arcs. Is this the only one-shot planned right now? Can you tell us who will be illustrating it?

RL: It's the only one planned right now - I'm probably going to need another breather at some point, though. I'm not 100% certain if the artist has been selected yet. (UPDATE: Shelli Paroline has been announced as the artist. Congrats, Shelli!)

TP: How was the San Diego Comic Con? Have any interesting stories?

RL: San Diego was great fun. I don't know how interesting the story is, but I ran into the editor who gave me my first comics work in the UK 20-odd years ago, which was great. And I got to meet some of the other Muppet comic creators like Shelli Paroline and Grace Randolph. I was reluctant to go at first but I'm really glad I went.

Many thanks to Roger Langridge for all the obvious reasons!
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Labels: comics/magazines, interview, Roger Langridge

Another month has gone by, another issue of The Muppet Show Comic Book has come out, and we've got another Q&A with Roger Langridge!

Read our review of this issue by clicking here!

Remember, if you've got questions for Roger Langridge, feel free to e-mail them to me and I'll include them in next month's Q&A. Enough about me, let's get to the good stuff!

ToughPigs: I love the two-page spreads at the beginning of each issue (as well as the gag of the Electric Mayhem dressed in different costumes for each one). Is this something you’ll be continuing after this first 4-issue arc?

Roger Langridge: In The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson I'll continue with the spreads, but they'll be backstage instead of onstage. And in the arc after that one... well, you'll just have to wait and see! But yes, I like to establish a bit of chaos nice and early, and those spreads seem as good a way as any.

TP: We've been seeing some minor background characters popping up in the background -- some of which are familiar (the Fazoobs, Koozebanians, etc), and some of whom appear to be your original designs. Are you keeping a character bible for the new creations and are you naming them? Do you plan on being consistent with individuals re-appearing in multiple issues, or are they just abstract background filler?

RL: I'm winging it! Really, I'm working at such a rate on these things that I don't have a whole lot of time to be precious about character sheets, as useful as they are. One of the nice things about drawing a comic is that I don't have to set aside time and money to make new Muppets - I can just make them on the fly!

TP: You’ve had original or whatnot characters sing songs in the comic. Will you have any of the Muppet bands (The Electric Mayhem, the Jug Band, the Country Trio, etc) sing in future issues?

RL: There's an appearance by a hillbilly character from the show in TOPLW #2 who gets to sing at both the front and back ends of that issue. And TOPLW #1 has a closing number which prominently features the Electric Mayhem, although Miss Piggy ends up doing the vocal honours there. I'm glad you mentioned the Jug Band - I'll make a note of that...

TP: Did you use a cryptogram-like language for the alien in the Pigs in Space sketch, or are they just random symbols?

RL: Oh, completely random. I hope I didn't send anybody scurrying off to decode it!

TP: In the latest comic, you addressed the issue of Gonzo’s species. Did you hear any comments regarding fact that Muppets From Space tried to claim that he is an alien? (By the way, the fans are very pleased to find that Gonzo’s alien heritage is not canon.)

RL: I haven't seen that one - to my shame, as my friend Paul Peart-Smith designed Space Gonzo for that movie. Anyway, nobody mentioned that to me, either at Disney or through less formal channels, until about a week ago when a friend brought it up. Too late to do anything about it by then!

On whether or not it's canon, I imagine you could reconcile both stories if you wanted to - by putting Muppet Show #3 earlier in the chronology than Muppets in Space. But it's probably best not to worry too much about these things as long as the story is good.

TP: In Peg-Leg Wilson, will the Animal subplot continue through all four issues, or is it just in the first one? If it’s the latter, then what can we expect to see in the other three?

RL: The Animal subplot runs through all four issues, being resolved by the end of issue #4. As do a couple of other subplots. This arc is an attempt to keep a lot of plates spinning in the air for four issues while at the same time making each issue as satisfying on its own terms as possible. It's turning out to be tougher than I expected! But I'm writing the final issue at the moment and I think it'll all hang together by the end. Just about.

TP: Are there any Muppet characters you aren’t allowed to use? Either via Disney mandate or your own personal censorship.

RL: I'm not allowed to use the Sesame Street Muppets, alas. I keep trying to sneak Ernie and Bert in there and they keep taking them out again!

TP: Will you have Lips play with the Electric Mayhem, or do you consider him not to be an official member of the band?

RL: It's not so much that he's not an official member as that I don't really know what to do with him. He seems not to have a clearly defined personality, and is kind of surplus to requirements in the stories I've written so far -- though if I can find a way to work him in that seems natural, I'm all for it.

TP: Now that we know what Gonzo is, what is Scooter?

RL: He's a gofer. I thought everybody knew that. (Seriously, his uncle is human, so I guess he's just got a good suntan.)

TP: How far into Peg-Leg Wilson are you? Are you already preparing for the third arc?

RL: I've got rough plots worked out for the next arc, yes, but they need another going-over before they'll be ready to go. Partly to address some concerns from Disney, partly to streamline it a bit for my own benefit after seeing how little breathing room I had in the Peg-Leg Wilson arc. I'm learning every issue!

Thanks again to Roger for taking the time to chat with us!
Click here to deduce Scooter's species on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, interview, Roger Langridge, The Muppet Show

Roger Langridge is currently the MVP for the Muppets, being the only one these days who has been writing The Muppets in a consistent and funny voice on a regular basis. The second issue of The Muppet Show Comic Book hit the stands this week (read our review here!) and Mr. Langridge joined us for another Q&A, because he's the coolest guy I know (sorry Dad).

If you've got questions for Roger Langridge, feel free to e-mail them to me and I'll include them in next month's Q&A. Now let's get some As for our Qs!

ToughPigs: I noticed that Pepe made a cameo in the opening 2-page spread. Is that just a tease to the fans, or can we expect him to have a role in future issues?

Roger Langridge: I confess I'm not that familiar with Pepe - if I'm requested to give him a bigger role I'd do my best to find out more about him, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a part of the classic show, which is what I'm trying to evoke, and what my brief is, as it were. So it's low on my list of priorities at the moment. I'm not ruling anything out, though!
TP: In the latest issue, Fozzie is dealing with the pressure of having to be funny for a niche audience. Were you channeling your own turmoil for this one?

RL: Ha ha! Not really, though I can see the connection now that you mention it. It was more that I needed to find something central to Fozzie's character to build a story around, and his sense of himself as a "Funny Bear" seemed about as central as you could get.

TP: What has the feedback from Disney been like?

RL: I haven't heard anything from Disney directly, but the feedback Boom! have passed on to me has been very positive.

TP: Will we ever get to meet Flash McBuck?

RL: No plans, but you never know! I think the Pigs In Space situation works best when it's claustrophobic and the principals are getting on each other's nerves - introducing a supporting cast would dilute that somewhat.

TP: Both this issue and the first one ended with a nice message and the main character learning something about himself. While this is welcome territory for the Muppets, will this be a recurring theme, or will we see some more bizarre storyline endings that focus more on the zaniness of the Muppets rather than the heart?

RL: These issues, focussing on individual characters, sort of require some moment of heart, some statement of who they are - that's kind of the point of them. Further down the line, I expect I'll mix things up a bit more. But on the whole I'm trying to balance the wacky with the heartfelt without letting one overwhelm the other. Can't promise I'll get it right every time, but it won't be for lack of trying!

TP: How did your approach to the writing and art change between the first two issues? After the feedback of the first issue's release?

RL: The first four issues were completely written before the first one was released, so there wasn't any real difference in approach as a result of reaction to the first one. I hope there's no difference in approach afterwards, either! I'm trying to produce a comic I'd like to read myself; I've been doing that since day one, and I want to continue to do that. If I think it's funny or moving or whatever, presumably other people are going to think so too. I'm not sure I believe that trying to anticipate critical reaction and change things accordingly can ever produce anything of value.

TP: How did you come up with the sketch, "The Ubiquitous Quilp?" Between the nonsense language and your playing with the comic page as a multi-tiered set, it's very impressive, yet confounding!

RL: I'm always trying to come up with ways to make the comic book something unique, something that couldn't work on television - the graphic style is a part of that, and using the medium in ways that wouldn't work on screen is another part. Otherwise, the entire comic book project is kind of redundant - why make a Muppet comic when you could just watch the videos? So I try to come up with something that could only work as a comic in each issue. And I always liked the bits on the show that seemed to come from nowhere; that were, shall we say, aggressively strange. So that was something I wanted to do as well.

TP: Can you tell us anything about your next Muppet Show comic book, "The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson"?

RL: It's a four-issue story where Scooter finds a map in a storeroom that reveals the existence of a treasure hoarde hidden somewhere in the theatre. Rizzo gets his fellow rats searching for it, and naturally this interferes with the smooth running of the show. Hilarity ensues! (Or something.) Meanwhile, Kermit starts acting very cool for no apparent reason, getting Miss Piggy all hot and bothered, and Animal... oh, poor Animal isn't himself at all. This story will be a bit stronger on subplots than the first four issues, hopefully all coming together in a satisfying way by the end. (Bit of a new way of working for me, so I hope I can pull it off!) And, of course, the skits and general mayhem will continue unabated.

TP: Again, is there anything you'd like to relate to the fans?

RL: Once again, I'd just like to express my sincerest thanks for the warm reception the book has received so far. It's very gratifying and means a lot to me. So thanks!

Thank you, Roger, for taking the time to chat with us!
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Labels: comics/magazines, interview, Roger Langridge, The Muppet Show

Way back in January, we had ourselves a little chat with Roger Langridge, the writer and artist for BOOM! Studios' recent hit, The Muppet Show Comic Book, which is already selling out and garnering rave reviews (including one from your favorite Muppet fan site). In our first of what we hope will be a monthly feature, we'll be holding a Q&A with Roger Langridge after every issue. If you've got pressing questions for Roger, feel free to e-mail me or post on the ToughPigs forum. Now, let's get on with the gettin' on!

ToughPigs: What sort of updates in the writing and design did you make between the preview comic and the first issue? Gonzo's more-rounded nose, for example, is one obvious change you've made.

Roger Langridge: As I've mentioned elsewhere, the preview comic consisted of material originally produced for Disney Adventures magazine which was never published, and my brief on those stories was to do it in my own style, hence what some fans probably regard as my stylistic eccentricities. The Boom! comic was really a fresh start, and the expectations were somewhat different, so Gonzo's streamlined nose reflects that - the comic is more like "official merchandise", as far as that goes, despite not being commissioned by Disney directly. So it wasn't so much a case of making conscious changes, more a case of treating the Boom comic as its own thing and approaching it accordingly.

TP: Did you get any notes from BOOM! or Disney about Americanizing the dialog? (Note: Roger Langridge hails from New Zealand and currently lives in London.)

RL: Jim Lewis made a couple of suggestions and queried a colloquialism or two that wouldn't travel well. They're keeping their eyes open for the obvious ones!

TP: Aside from Jim Lewis, who we Muppet fans are intimately familiar with, who are the other names listed in the "Special Thanks" section? (Tishana Williams, Ivonne Feliciano, Jesse Post, and Susan Butterworth)

RL: No idea! (Apart from Jesse Post, who was one of the people who got me into Disney Adventures when he worked there.) The Thank-Yous were put in at editorial level - presumably they're all Disney/Henson liaisons of some kind or other.

TP: What is your process for writing original songs that appear only in print form like "Bang, Boom, Splat and Pow" and "In the Pond Where I Was Born"? Did you actually write or record music for them?

RL: Good lord, no! It's just doggerel, really - I don't have a musical bone in my body. Proper songs usually involve a lot more repetition (choruses, refrains), which is something that doesn't usually work on the printed page. I'm trying to get the idea of a musical number across, but in a way that works in print. My ideal here is Alice in Wonderland (the book, that is), where characters are constantly breaking into "song" but in a way that uses the printed page to full effect, like Carroll's "Tail of a Mouse", in which the text is actually shaped like a tail. I'm not there yet, but that's something to strive towards.

TP: I enjoyed the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards analogs in the comic. Will you have "celebrity" guest stars in future issues?

RL: If I can work them into the story artfully, I'd be up for that. Nothing in the ones I've yet written, though. Believe it or not, I didn't think of the Zimmer Twins as guest stars (except to use that as an excuse to wedge them in there) - I just thought "The Zimmer Twins" was a nifty gag! Kermit and Scooter discuss possible guest stars in issue 4 as an excuse for me to trot out some atrocious celebrity Spoonerisms, for what that's worth. I'm aware it's a part of the show's format that has to be addressed from time to time.

TP: When you create original characters like the hoptoads, do you envision certain puppeteers performing each one?

RL: I'm not as immersed in the behind-the-scenes stuff as most of your readers are, so the only puppeteers I'm aware of are the really well-known ones, the household names. But since these hop-toad characters were really just throwaways, here for two pages and then gone forever, I wasn't too concerned about giving them individual personalities - in fact, I think that would have been counter-productive in this context.

TP: Rumor has it that you're already starting work on a second Muppet Show miniseries. Can you give us any details on that?

RL: As far as my work schedule is concerned, The Muppet Show Comic is an ongoing monthly series, but Boom! Studios want to re-start the numbering every four issue for marketing reasons. So the next four-issue story arc is called "The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson", in which rumours of a hidden treasure inside the theatre lead to, one hopes, hilarious complications - all this as a background subplot to the usual songs, sketches and so forth. Nothing radically different to the initial four issues, except the subplot element is a bit stronger. And that will lead us into the next four-issue arc, which is a logical progression from this one, I hope.

TP: Do you have a favorite character to write for? A favorite episode of The Muppet Show?

RL: I'm finding Gonzo and Miss Piggy the most enjoyable so far, because they both seem to have layers like an onion. You think you know them and then they surprise you. But I can't think of a single character I'm not enjoying on some level.

Favourite episode: Probably the Spike Milligan one. I'm a huge Milligan fan and it just seemed like such a perfect mesh of sensibilities.

TP: Is there anything else you want to relate to the Muppet fans?

RL: Just to say thanks for being open-minded about the book, and thanks for giving it such a warm reception. I really appreciate it.
Super special thanks to Roger Langridge for chatting with us! And double super special thanks to him for making The Muppet Show Comic Book! Issue #2, "Fozzie's Story," hits the stands on April 29! And while you're at the comic shop, be sure to get the first issue of Muppet Robin Hood, which will be released on the same day.

Click here to break into (written) song on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, interview, Roger Langridge, The Muppet Show

Last month, we had the unique opportunity to speak with Paul Morrissey at BOOM! Studios about the upcoming Muppet Show comic books. Seeing as the comic is still en route to your local Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop, we decided to reach out to the man himself, Roger Langridge, to talk all things Muppet.

Roger is a London-based cartoonist, best known for his strip, "Fred the Clown." Feel free to peruse his wares at his website by clicking here. He was also responsible for the one-page Muppet comic from the last issue of Disney Adventures magazine.

Let's check in with Roger and see what he's got to say. Roger?

ToughPigs: What is your relationship with Muppets Studios (Disney) for the creation of the comic? Do they have to approve of all of the character designs? Plot elements?

Roger Langridge: I deal with Paul Morrissey at Boom Studios directly. Paul passes all plot outlines, finished scripts, pencils and presumably finished art on to Disney (I'm still inking issue #1 at this writing), who then send it back to Paul, who sends it back to me, and I make any changes that might be requested. I know my work is looked over by Jesse Post at Disney and Jim Lewis at Henson, and no doubt by others I'm not aware of. Mr Lewis, in particular, is very generous with notes, gags, character bits and so forth - many of the gags in issue #1 are his!

TP: What went into making the decision to make the Muppets more caricaturized, as opposed to something more photo-realistic?

RL: I should probably explain a little about where this particular incarnation of Muppet comics came from. A couple of years ago, I was approached by the now-defunct Disney Adventures Magazine to do a Muppet strip for them. They'd been running a version of Mickey Mouse and Goofy drawn in a completely off-model, undergroundish kind of style, and this had proven to be very popular, so they were looking to do more of the same with some other Disney properties. The staff at Disney Adventures knew my comics work and liked it, and I think were particularly taken with the vaudeville elements and oddball, Monty-Pythonesque humour I like to play around with in my own comics, so they thought I'd be a good fit for the Muppets. I was somewhat concerned to begin with, because I'm not that great at drawing on-model, but they mentioned the Mickey strips and said they wanted me to use my own stylistic approach on the Muppets material, so I thought I'd give it a try - not going completely underground-y, but leaning towards that aesthetic a little bit, which seemed to be what they wanted. As it turned out, of the fifteen or so pages I drew, only one was used before the magazine was cancelled (although a few more of them ended up in the San Diego Comic Con preview booklet eventually), so that was that... I thought! While I was resigning myself to never getting a chance to work with the Muppets, my work was being shown to people at Disney and Boom, and several months later things started rolling again. With the Boom incarnation, essentially my instructions have been to keep doing what I was doing on Disney Adventures... so there's your long, roundabout answer as to why the strip looks the way it does. I'm refining things as I go, though - fixing stuff that I felt looked wrong, making changes as requested by Disney and the aforementioned Mr Lewis, and generally trying to make it look as good as I can. I expect there'll be a settling-in period as I get the hang of it!

On a more general note, my feeling is that drawing all the characters precisely on-model would be to do them a disservice, as paradoxical as that sounds. On the screen, they have vibrant, eccentric, nuanced vocal characterizations to carry their personalities; on the printed page, the absence of those voices has to be compensated for visually. So my solution to that dilemma is to make the faces more expressive and more cartoony. I'm resigned to the fact that this will not please everybody, but my job is to make a good comic, and this is the approach that my instincts and experience point me towards in order to achieve that. It's a balancing act, to be sure; I'm walking a tightrope between authenticity and expressiveness, and no doubt I'll fall off occasionally. But I'll keep trying to get it right!
TP: I noticed some Easter eggs in the preview comic, like background characters that might or might not be Bert, Big Bird, Mildred, and Thog. Will you continue to throw a few bones to the fans like this? If so, can you give us an idea of what to expect?

RL: I'm sure there'll be things that pop up as we go along -- I'm not really thinking of them as Easter Eggs, more as part of the necessary texture required to evoke the Muppet Show we all remember. I don't really have a big list of obscure characters I'm trying to shoehorn in there, but I'm throwing things in as the opportunity arises... and as the whim takes me! Nothing planned enough to tell you what's coming up, I'm afraid. I'll be as surprised as you are.

TP: Given that this is a "Muppet Show" comic, will the characters be exclusively from The Muppet Show, or can we expect to see characters from The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight? Pepe, for example, is a much more recent character, and he appears on the cover to the preview comic.

RL: I didn't have anything to do with the cover of the preview comic, but my gut feeling is that I should stick with the old Muppet Show cast and format as much as possible, although that doesn't rule out cameo appearances, just for the fun of it. And Rizzo the Rat will pop up a bit - I think he's a later character, but there were a lot of anonymous rodents in the old show, so I sort of lump him in with them!
TP: Speaking of the covers, will you be providing the covers as well as the interior art? Or will we be seeing more photo covers? If so, will they be comprised of stock art or new photos? And is there any chance of guest artists providing covers to your work?

RL: At the moment, Boom have asked me to draw the covers. I don't know what their plans are down the line, but I for one would love to see some guest artists take a crack at it. Their standard approach at the moment seems to be multiple covers on everything, so there's plenty of room for other artists.

TP: As Paul Morissey mentioned in our previous interview, each issue of the first miniseries will focus on a different character. Will there be a continuing storyline going through the series, or will each stand alone as its own "episode"?

RL: When Boom first approached me, they asked me to pitch ideas for four-issue story arcs, which initially threw me somewhat - I had trouble imagining the comic working any other way apart from self-contained stories. I think I've found ways to make it work, with ongoing subplots tying largely stand-alone stories together. The first four issues - which I guess is now a miniseries (which nobody's mentioned to me!) - were added as an afterthought, at Disney's request; they're all completely self-contained, which is probably best as people get used to it. Then we'll jump into slightly longer stories, though each issue should work on its own as well.
TP: In the preview comic, we saw elements such as Pigs In Space and At The Dance. Will the first miniseries have more of this? Can we expect to see one-to-two page Veterinarian's Hospital or the Swedish Chef skits? How about the more obscure bits like the Talking Houses and Muppet
Sports?

RL: There will definitely be plenty of skits! My goal is to try to make each issue seem like an undiscovered episode of the Muppet Show, and the skits are an essential part of that. The first issue will feature the Swedish Chef, Pigs in Space and the Planet Koozebane for starters. Plenty more on the way! On the topic of Pigs in Space, I'm trying to get one of those into every issue. Whenever I mention that I'm working on a Muppet comic to my friends, they all say, "Pigs in Space! Lots of Pigs in Space!"

TP: What goes in to your research for writing the series? Did Disney provide him with complete series of The Muppet Show on DVD? Are you aware of the Muppet Wiki? If so, is it a part of your in-depth research?

RL: I don't have a complete set of DVDs by any means, though I'm gradually acquiring them when I can afford them. I have a "Best Of" set, a few books (including the excellent Muppet Show Book from 1978 or thereabouts, full of lavish colour illustrations), a ringbinder full of photo reference, character sheets, the "Muppet Bible" which Disney Adventures sent me way back when I did the strips for them, and images scavenged from the internet - including the Muppet Wiki. I'm adding to the pile all the time. And a lot of stuff is coming from my creaky old memory! That's usually where the initial spark comes from; then I'll research the things I recall and which I think would be fun to do, and sometimes that leads to other ideas as I stumble across other items or characters I'd forgotten. It's kind of an organic process in that way.
TP: Lastly, there's been some concern on our forum about the character designs for Gonzo and, to a lesser extent, Kermit. Were there any formal discussions about why you chose to go with those designs? Was there any concern from Disney or the fans? (On the other hand, most of the designs are spot-on, like Sweetums and Bunsen Honeydew)

RL: Well, as I've mentioned, the character designs in the preview are from the material produced for Disney Adventures, in which drawing the characters off-model was not only tolerated, but actively encouraged. The new comic is still being drawn in my own style, and I've been encouraged to stick with that approach to a large extent, but as I mentioned, there'll be tweaks and refinements. And no doubt I'll improve with practice! At the moment I'm in the deep end, really - trying to keep on schedule and learn all the characters' physical nuances at the same time. I hope it'll get easier! So far, the only art comment I've had from Disney is regarding Gonzo's nose, which I was basing on the version in the Muppet Show Book - pointier, more gnarled-looking than the current version - so I've had another look at Gonzo all round, and I hope the fans will be pleased with how he looks in the first issue. Beyond that, all I can say is I hope I improve with practice!
Special thanks to Roger Langridge for answering a few pressing questions for us!

The Muppet Show Comic Book will hit stores March 25, 2009!

Click here to talk about the specifics of a weirdo's nose on the ToughPigs forum!

Labels: comics/magazines, Disney, interview, Roger Langridge, The Muppet Show