Since launching in 2018, AHOY Comics has quickly blossomed into one of the most innovative and creative publishers in the industry. Under the stewardship of Hart Seely, Tom Peyer, Stuart Moore, and Frank Cammuso, AHOY has brought a sense of fun back to comics.
Once again, I was fortunate enough to sit down with AHOY Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer to discuss the trade paperback release of Penultiman, publishing during the pandemic, and AHOY’s upcoming publishing slate.
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FOG!: 2020 was a tough year for the comics industry, with smaller publishers in particular. Were plans changed or shifted as the result of the pandemic?
Tom Peyer: Sure. We acquired fewer projects than in 2020 than we would have liked, because last spring it was impossible to know whether society and commerce would still exist in six months. But it’s 2021 and we’re here and gearing up again. Our publisher, Hart Seely, never issued a “pencils down” order, and we’re proud that AHOY kept people working on projects that were already in motion.
What was the genesis of Pentultiman?
I had an idea for a gag that became the first issue of Pentultiman, which was his second story. His android sidekick, Antepenultiman, takes his place when he goes off on a mission in the far future. When Penultiman returns, he is surprised and threatened to learn that the android has solved all of his stickiest long-term problems. Even his archenemy, criminal scientist Zev Zolo, has reformed, due to some mysterious persuasion from Antepenultiman.
The theme of a perfect hero with crippling self-esteem issues kind of grew from there. Pentultiman was originally called “True Identity” and the earliest chapter ran in an anthology we did called Steel Cage. But all of his appearances are included in the collected edition.
You’ve served as editor-in-chief since AHOY started and have written Penultiman, The Wrong Earth, Hashtag: Danger, and High Heaven. Are there any plans to possibly crossover any of the characters in a storyline (Penultiman meets Dragonflyman/Dragonfly seems a natural match)?
There are no such plans at the moment, but it’s something we’d consider if people really want to see it. For now, I like it that AHOY is a place where people can write their best story without being derailed or encumbered by what’s happening in our other comics. If I blow up the Gateway Arch in Pentultiman, that doesn’t mean Mark Russell can’t use it in Second Coming. I would gleefully anticipate whatever trouble Mark brought to the Gateway Arch.
AHOY has experimented with anthologies, digital only releases and has kept its writing team very tight (to date Mark Russell, Stuart Moore, Paul Constant, Peter MIlligan, and Mariah McCourt have written every title beyond anthologies). What sets AHOY apart at this point and how has readership reaction been overall?
I think what sets us apart is, we don’t publish titles that take themselves too seriously. AHOY comics don’t have to be comedies, but they do have to be funny on some level. Also, we run a lot of prose stories and poems and even puzzles in the back of our monthly comics. When you buy one AHOY, you get enough reading to fill your whole lunch hour. Unless you’re an unusually fast reader. In which case, that’s on you.
With Penultiman, you’ve taken a familiar archetype and told a very different kind of story that is also reflective of stories of the past. When you put together a series do you focus on the story at hand or where it will go beyond its initial arc?
I make a lot of plot decisions when writing, not in advance, because the best ideas seem to occur to me when I’m in the weeds with the characters. Which often means I have to wait and see whether a character will have a useful life beyond the first series. I honestly don’t know if Penultiman will ever be back; the story feels complete to me. But that could change.
You’ve been in the industry as both a writer and editor for over thirty years. Was there ever a project you worked on that you loved or were particularly proud of that didn’t find an audience?
That has happened more times than I care to name. I’d list some, but it probably wouldn’t be fair to my collaborators.
If you could only bring 10 comic issues or story arcs with you to a desert island what would you bring?
Hmmm… The first ten Superman stories by Siegel and Shuster. Everything flows from there.
Maybe I could fill my days on the desert island by extrapolating from these stories in a different direction.
Create an alternate history of comics, scratched illegibly on leaves they’ll someday find clutched in the death-grip of my skeletal hands.
What’s next for AHOY?
Snelson: Comedy is Dying by Paul Constant and artist Fred Harper. It’s about a standup comedian who was almost famous in the ‘90s and whose “edgy” material doesn’t play that well today. This is beautiful and hilarious and like no other comic you’ve read. Black’s Myth, by Eric Palicki and Wendell Cavalcanti, about a punk rock-identified private detective who’s a werewolf. ‘Nuff said!
Penultiman Vol. 1 is now available in Print and via Digital
