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USDN podcast is run by the USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds. We strive to bring you the all the latest news and rumors from the World of Nerds and consolidate it right here at USDN. USDN is for the people, by the people and of the people.
You are listening to the USDN on the
DFPN.
We'll be right back.
what is up everybody it's the chairman
here of the united states department of
nerves where we are for the people by
the people and of the people and tonight
or today rather because we're ten a.m it's
sabe's afternoon
We're diving into his mind,
whose work bends bones, shadows,
and imagination from grotesque whimsy to
textured nightmare beauty.
His visual storytelling brings worlds to
life with a style you can spot from
across the room.
Whether he's illustrating monstrous
folklore or giving heart to the strange
and surreal, his pages live forever.
Breathe in emotion, motion, and madness.
And joining me today is an artist that
we spoke very,
very highly of when I had Ethan Coogan
and Jess Silvetti on the podcast who does
Shock Headed Peter,
volumes one and volume two.
Ladies and gentlemen,
let me introduce you to Italy's own Sabe.
Sabe, welcome to the show, my friend.
thank you thank you very much ah by
the way really cool intro i love it
man appreciate it
That's what we do, man.
We do cool intros and talk to really
amazing people here.
And we are so happy to have you
on.
Shout out to Jess and Ethan for getting
us together so we can talk about the
art and put a lot of focus on
the art that tells the story of Shock
Headed Peter.
So let's dive into it, Sabe.
What do you say?
yeah yeah it's a pleasure to be here
and uh yeah whatever you want to know
to know about shock at the peter is
fine and uh by the way i want
to spoil uh something like they say i
make everything i make everything all
right but in the end it was a
co-working so and sorry about my english
sometimes it will be messed up sorry no
you're good i'm telling you
The council members that are going to
listen to this show,
they're going to love the fact that we
had you on here all the way from
Italy.
Yeah, no, it's fine.
It's a pleasure.
So it was a coworking and so it
was a back and forth of work.
And when I say when I sent to
them the pages and all of the concept,
they say and give give me they fought
and we build this world together.
If I don't know if you saw the
Bible when we started the work,
it was awesome.
No, no.
He pulled it off the shelf and showed
me the shock-headed Peter Bible, the big,
thick book.
Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
I couldn't mess up with that Bible.
That was amazing.
It was impossible.
All in all purpose.
I couldn't mess up.
That was so impressive that –
yeah he just was like he's like oh
let me show you the bible and he
pulls it off the shelf with two hands
an actual bible and it was just this
beautiful story work for shock edit peter
which was really cool yeah so yeah let's
learn who you are so how did you
start your journey as an artist in comic
books
Yeah, it's kind of, I think,
ninety percent of the comic artists have
the same background story at the first,
because it's like when I was a little
kid,
I started drawing because I saw a lot
of comic books.
Yeah, it was literally like that.
I saw a lot of comic books and
I said,
I love this way of telling a story,
telling a story with these images.
this drawing they are awesome and i said
i want to be like that i started
drawing started of course copying my first
one some from italy okay that will i
don't know if you know uh some troop
and of bombichini or andrea pacienza maybe
it's we don't get a lot of um
Yeah, no, don't worry.
Which sucks because there's so many of you
over there that are so good,
but we don't get to experience your work
because they just don't import those to
us.
Yeah, yeah, no, there's a pity,
but we are talking about really old comic
artists of the eighties, seventies.
So I grew up because my parents bought
the comics and I saw their comics.
Sometimes it wasn't even for my age,
fit for my age,
but they just give them
It wasn't a problem.
And so, but in the end,
when I saw like the Mickey Mouse stuff,
because also there was here, you know,
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck,
and I started drawing that.
So I mesh up this kind of style
and it was so early and I'm trying
to figure out how I want to make
my own style.
When I was like a kid, yeah,
I remember when I was in high school,
after the high school, mid-school,
high school, and I always drew it,
but I never thought it could be a
proper job.
I never thought about that.
I said, okay, this is a hobby.
It's fine.
I enjoy drawing my schoolmate and make a
show about a story,
what was happening in my school and all
that stuff.
But then I moved and I studied at
university.
I studied languages.
And that's a pity.
It's ironic because my English level is
not that high, but I studied languages.
You're doing good, dude.
Yeah,
but I should have studied more because
sometimes I will
Totally fucked up the verbs and the
grammar.
Sorry.
You're killing it, dude.
And I'm telling you, if you ever just,
you have my, you can just DM me,
dude.
We can hop on and we can talk
and we can chat, man.
And we will make this happen for you.
Okay.
I have to improve it.
And so I started the university.
And meanwhile, I have some cash.
I've saved some cash.
And I was in the middle of this
little town in the south of Italy.
I just opened a comic school just that
year.
I said, oh, my God,
this is super cool.
Maybe with that money that I saved,
I can make some lessons just to see
if something that I enjoy after the
university.
I started studying.
comics for three years there then I
finished the university I finished that
school and I started this you know there's
two phases in here in Italy with the
university the post degree like the degree
and the post degree I started the post
degree and then I say you know what
I like draw I really love drawing you
know what I quit the post degree
university and I moved to Rome because we
my parents bought a house a long time
ago here in Rome said okay let me
find out if I can
live with that job.
And I followed another school.
I started this another school,
La Scuola Romana di Fumetti.
You told me there's a lot,
plenty of people that are working there in
the US that are from that school.
I just find out.
And so after that, I started.
It was a little tough because, you know,
comics is not that safe place here if
you want to live.
You have to search something else.
So I said, why, um,
it's better to go like, uh,
in the same field,
like storyboard and animation.
And I started like that gain money.
I started like storyboard for.
cartoon stuff or in this um and i
think a lot of comic book artists do
storyboarding and stuff like that i know
before we went live i was telling you
about my um my friend francisco down in
argentina yeah that's his primary thing is
he storyboards for commercials for amazon
for netflix yeah i think because
yeah i think because in the school when
you start learning comics the first thing
that you have to learn is the the
the the storyboard that you have to put
in so the the i there's a lot
plenty of uh job opportunity in this field
more than comics more than comics because
you told me about amazon
And all the stuff in the ads.
They're searching for people who are
making storybooks.
Until now,
because AI is trying to destroy us.
I hate that, dude.
It shoots so many good people out of...
So many amazing artists out of jobs that
it's disgusting.
And I'm starting to be afraid.
But let's see.
It's not good enough right now.
Because there's a lot of AIDS...
Also, advertisements, sorry,
in television and on YouTube,
they are amazing.
I don't skip it because it was cool.
It's generally cool.
Yeah, no, you're right.
Because there's a proper job,
a proper storyboard, if it's a cartoon,
it's a proper animator who are drawing
that.
So until the AI will do something like
that, I will not skip it.
No, you're absolutely right.
There's some phenomenal ads out there that
you could sell
very humanly influenced and hopefully it
will stay that way for many,
many years to come.
So what were some of your earliest, like,
like an artist or a comic book that
you, you seen as a child that said,
this book has influenced me to become an
artist.
Now, what was,
what was that one comic book or artist
that said,
that influenced you to become the artist?
It's not one.
I think when I was super early kids,
it was, of course,
Mickey Mouse and stuff like that.
And a little bit of this kind of
story, there's like this...
satiric World War II comics went out when
my father was a kid.
And he had this comic book and I
shouldn't have read it because, okay,
it's satire, okay, it's fine,
but it's for adult...
public.
Okay.
It's not for me,
but I used to see dot comics because
satire, you know,
you see these puppets and say, okay,
it's fine for kids, but it's not fine.
The story, but for me, it was fine.
So I started drawing that.
There's some open of Bambi.
I don't know.
I see a super Italian stuff.
So I, it would be cool.
I love learning.
Like,
different italian artists different uk
artists and just i mean there's great
artists spread throughout this world and
we were speaking before we came live that
this year for me personally has been a
huge growth of in discovery for european
artists you know and i have many friends
from the uk now who are comic book
writers and i've learned of um
I was telling you about my friend in
Argentina, Francisco,
who was just on the podcast.
We did our big horror special for comic
books during Halloween.
He does the art for Videlirium,
but there's a colorist who's Egyptian who
does the colors on the comic book.
So it's kind of crazy to think about.
The writer is in America,
the artist is in Argentina,
and the colorist is in Egypt.
So it's really cool that this book goes
around the world.
This is the good of the internet.
This is the bright side,
talking about Star Wars.
This is the bright side of the internet.
Because the way that I found Jessica and
Ethan is about that.
It's on the social media.
And yeah,
I saw that all of this stuff,
there also are some Italian stuff that are
exploding outside,
like Zerogalcare right now.
I saw in Europe,
there's a lot of people they know about
these artists, Italian artists,
that we know, just we know.
Like, ten years ago started,
and nobody knows who was,
and now it's exploding only in Europe.
i know i don't know in america but
i i think it is translated in english
so i think if something is is shipping
to to there and yeah because as you
see we were talking before you know with
like louis anavecchio who does lovesick
and doll parts who just in i think
like she submitted her work to image and
image was like, Oh, we want that.
And all of a sudden, like, boom,
she's all over the place.
Like she's doing covers for major comic
books.
She's writing short stories for anthology
comic books.
And I recently met her here and I
got her to sign her book and just
very awesome person.
And, um,
she looks like a baby, you know, she's,
she's so tiny.
So when she stood up to shake my
hand and everything, I was like,
I thought she might, you know,
she didn't stand up all the way.
I thought she was like,
kind of just like on her knees or
something like, you know,
you can sit on your knees on your,
on your chair.
So, but no,
she was standing up and I was just
like, I'm like, let me down.
I feel weird.
And she was like, no, no.
She's like, I'm used to it.
I still look like a little girl.
I look like a little girl, I know.
But she's got this beautiful,
beautiful book.
And it's very dark and it's hard to
believe that she did that dark book.
Yeah,
I checked before when we were talking.
It was amazing, amazing, right?
So answering your question, sorry that I
No, you're good.
That's our tangent.
Yeah, yeah.
The first one was Italian that I started
drawing like them.
I started to copy because I think every
single comic starts starting copying their
favorite style, their favorite author,
their favorite drawing.
And then I find out that, like,
the first one that really hit me,
it was an American one,
Rob Guillory with Chew.
Then now he's making Farmhand.
He just finished Farmhand with Image.
I think it was with Image.
And it was, like, astonishing.
I said, oh, my God,
you can make something so pop street art
with this story, so serious story,
and you can mash up all of this
stuff,
like Alien and
thriller and horror,
all of that stuff together.
And I said, oh my God,
this is super cool.
I want to be like that.
I want to draw like that.
I like that style in particular.
It was my hero.
If we will see Rob Giggory.
That's freaking awesome.
Yeah, it was super cool.
Let's talk about your art now.
Your line work and your energy have a
very distinct presence.
How would you describe your artistic
signature?
And while you're telling us about that,
I'm going to bring up some of your
artwork to show people.
Yeah, sure.
The fact is that the first time that
I approached to the drawing comics,
it was like, which kind of style?
did I have to find?
But then I found out that like in
Shock of the Peter,
it's like meshing up something that is pop
and something that seems to be like
cartoonish one and mix it up with some
environment,
some mood that is a little bit darker,
a little bit more mature.
And so I tried to use the other.
I tried to use color that can be
a little bit less brighter,
less saturated.
And I tried to make it a little
bit more like, as I told you,
like an animation, a cartoon.
But the grotesque face,
the grotesque character that I draw,
I like that it's in contrast of the
environment.
The environment I try to put everything
like is not super real.
But also, as I told you before,
I like to play and draw as background
as I could because I like the environment.
It makes a lot of...
uh in uh when you want to the
environment as you can see with some of
the uh the illustrations here like the
environment the uh the the surrounding
area around the people in shock headed
peter it it's very the whole thing it
like if you were flipping through it's
it's like a cartoon but it looks so
good it's almost like um
How they did the animated version of the
Dr. Seuss story, The Grinch.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
It's like that old school feel,
but it's still very vibrant and very cool
looking.
Yeah, no, I try to,
the fact is that I don't like sometimes
that some stories are awesome and then
people and the characters are so good,
they speak together, they have good lines,
better, but the environment,
the background behind is kind of, no,
I don't want to put it,
I put only a color,
a full color and full stop.
So, no, I like where they are.
I like the first chapter we have in
the last pages are
a plan a plan sorry a map of
the the town yeah yeah yeah because in
my mind i always want to to put
the the people in a in a in
um in an actual places because i think
that is in uh it's good for the
the storytelling of course but also
because he he can uh you know
It's like in a picture when you took
a photo of someone.
They want a good environment behind them,
you know?
Yeah,
so this is a little bit of it
right here.
Yeah, they say they love this scene.
This panel is so good.
Thank you.
Yeah,
I tried to play a lot with the
sunset vibe, the color of the sunset,
yeah, and change the girl.
Then I put up the shock at Peter.
So it's kind of creepy and melancholic at
the same time with the color.
It really is.
And it works with the story because here
you have this girl who is very pure
and very innocent living in this town that
is just like pure corrupt and evil.
Yeah.
And the people just aren't good people in
this town.
And here we have this very innocent girl
whose family is struggling.
And she...
You can tell she doesn't want to be
like the other townspeople,
but deep down inside of her,
she's just had enough of their shit and
is like,
I want to get rid of these people
because they are evil.
Yeah, this kind of, you feel,
you're cheering for that guy who should be
the antagonist because it's just Spanish
people
But you are sharing because the people
that is so corrupt and the situation is
so
evil is everywhere so you think yeah
there's like a kind of a batman i
don't know how to see it but yeah
the in that situation that kind of of
shot is like yeah this one too this
is another one of my favorites like this
is another one that was just like an
absolute favorite i think i used this art
in some of the clips i made for
uh jess and ethan as well because it
was just such a cool piece of art
Yeah,
because it was like everything was so cool
down in the first chapter in the same
situation because we are talking like we
are taking the first chapter history and
then bring it up to the second chapter.
We start at the same time, right?
And here is important also in the story
that the
The sky should be in that way,
so bright and everything.
We will see without spoiling after.
So they say,
bring up everything in the sky.
And the contrast with him, the silhouette,
is that I don't want to spoil it.
I'm afraid to spoil it.
It's like a supernatural entity.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He kind of feeds on hate and evil.
It makes him stronger.
And whereas, yes, he's,
he is kind of this type of entity
that feeds on hate.
There's also like, he doesn't like per se,
like that type of environment,
but it's what I mean, like feeds him.
So his main thing is, like,
he wants to rid the world of that.
Yes, he's the bad guy,
but at the same time,
he's the bad guy.
You want to cheer for him because you're
like, even you, when you read this book,
hate the people in this town.
Like, you immediately just like,
these people are horrible.
Yeah, they deserve it, as they say.
Exactly, exactly.
Yeah, no, I know he's...
That is the fact when I wrote the
first time the...
synopsis, the script, and I say,
oh my God,
I don't know how to cheer up with,
I don't know who is the good or
the bad guy.
And I love that kind of story because
they also challenge me to how I describe
them.
how I describe them visually,
how they describe them with the concept
artist of the character.
Yeah, right.
Like this one right here.
Yeah, yeah.
We will see.
I can't say no more,
not too much about it.
No, no, you don't have to,
but I just want people to see how
visually this is.
Fun fact, in this panel,
they choose to put the arm outside of
the panel, breaking the fourth wall.
They never say that because they say, ah,
it may call, it may call.
No, no, no, it's not true.
Sometimes they have a so good idea.
They said, oh my God,
I have to do that.
I have to do that.
And they put the arm outside,
breaking the fourth wall.
Yeah.
No.
And I don't like it all the time,
but for like,
there's certain scenes in the book where
you see like little things like this,
the little nuances of yes,
his hands outside of the panel.
So it's kind of like, Oh damn.
Like, yeah,
for these little nuances are amazing and
they work so well when done right.
And this is one of those instances where
it's just absolutely spot on because you
see him and he is literally scaring the
shit out of this individual.
Yeah.
But it also looks like he may be
coming out of the panel for you as
well.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
But the idea was that if you will
know this one, we will read it,
you will notice that this some kind of
character, it will pop up more often.
And we like breaking the fourth wall
because of that,
because they have to make it more real,
make it more real.
About the background, I want to go back.
I forgot to say that the town,
how this is built,
is I try to think about the town
here in Europe, here in Italy,
and meshing up a little bit,
it's kind of,
you feel like you are an old town
in the old continent in Europe.
Yeah, yeah.
no you're absolutely yeah that's what it
reminds me of like downtown uh italy
almost you know yeah yeah the the downtown
was with this this uh i forgot the
the name of the cupola of course and
um the square the big square where
everybody's cheering up for the festival
or whatever is happening in the in the
b square and i tried to i tried
to make that environment but it was to
to put in in a way that in
an american style sometimes with the
with some places that look like an
American, like a New Yorker street.
The way it's done,
it could be any little small town anywhere
in the world.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And it absolutely captures that essence of
that small town feel, celebrating their,
you know, two hundredth anniversary,
you know,
of their city or their town or something,
you know.
So it's perfect.
I said it reminded me a little bit
like downtown in Europe,
Italy or Germany or somewhere because it
has that old school feel to it.
But it could be literally just about
anywhere in the world with that,
the way the town feels.
Yeah,
the feel is that we are like in
Europe, old town,
but you feel the actual feel when you
read it is like it can be anywhere.
But they told me when they sent me
the Bible, they said,
we are lucky because about the character
and the environment,
it should be more European because this is
something that was created.
Yeah, it was a European folklore.
Yeah, exactly.
So they say, okay,
you have to be like that.
I said, oh,
say no more because I'm from here.
And so, yeah,
but I tried to make it like a
little bit pop because I don't like that
it has to be so much European.
realistic or obscure,
I don't know how to say, dark.
So I tried to level up a little
bit more about that,
level up about the darkness,
a little bit about the pop side.
And Jessica and Ethan,
it was perfect in the script with the
line of the character.
It was perfect for describing,
to not be too much in...
like in a dark opera and or too
much in a comedy.
It was perfect balance.
It absolutely is.
It's like, it feels cartoonish,
but it doesn't really look cartoonish to a
degree, you know?
So you absolutely nailed that.
So let's keep focusing on your creative
side of things.
And what are some of the tools or
techniques that you use to work?
Do you do digital or traditional or do
you do like a hybrid of both?
I used to learn to study and doing
stuff in handmade, okay,
with paper and ink.
But then when I started to work in
this field,
I started to feel that it's too slow
the process.
I know the first thing that I noticed
when I started to approach to the digital,
it was like that everything is so cold.
When you make hand draw, it's so vivid,
so warm.
You can feel the ink,
the pencil and everything.
And also the color.
I used to color with the watercolor.
And the first thing that I noticed when
I started doing digital,
it was like I lost that warm,
that feeling of warm that I have when
I draw on paper.
But I find out there's plenty of,
of course,
like Clip Studio and Procreate with the
iPad, that they have a lot of brushes.
And I try to use the more brushes
that I could when I draw for make
it feel like it's a hand draw.
And so...
So yeah, sometimes like for the character,
if I have an idea,
I used to draw hand-drawn with the paper
in front of me because it's cool.
It's different.
And then I take a photo and maybe
after I ink on digital,
But in the end,
I started to go full digital because of,
of course, the time, the deadline,
and also because I could change more
often.
And this is good because sometimes I
totally go on my way outside of the
script sometimes because I feel like, oh,
okay, let's do that.
Or misunderstanding of the script
sometimes happens because, of course,
I'm Italian.
I don't speak that good English.
Sometimes it happens that I misunderstand
something.
And it happens more often than you think.
And so making it digital,
it was easier to me to correct that.
And plus I find a way to like
a schedule on doing up pages.
So if I miss something like on a
certain level,
I put the background and another level I
put the character.
So sometimes when I have,
I know the shot is good and I
save the background,
I have to change all of the character
and I save a lot of time because
I didn't flat everything.
so in this way i but seeing that
there was too too many layers and starting
to save layers to flattening a little bit
and i found this this way that if
it perfectly i take like one day or
two day for making up pages full pages
with the letter and everything that's
still really fast to do a in-depth page
where you're you're not just
doing the the line work you're also doing
the colors and everything else on top of
it yeah but you know the first time
the first pages when we started in the
first and the second they are the toughest
one because you have to find out the
mood the color palette and sometimes the
character the concept of the people the
new character there are
they are they are popping up new in
the new chapter so you have to feel
a little bit the first pages are always
like that it takes like five days maybe
because you are back and forth to know
no this this new character character it
should be more like that and not more
like that so this this light should be
more like that and not like that so
when we found out everything is go a
little bit more smooth
And then from there,
it's starting to be more quick,
the process.
I'm glad you brought up characters because
you have this amazing ability to bring out
emotions
And in the characters and their
expressions,
how do you approach emotions and movement
and body language on a comic book page?
Like, how do you normally go about that?
Do you like pose yourself in front of
a mirror and then draw?
No.
If you were a student,
I'd say that you should do.
But I told you when I started working,
it was for storyboarding, right?
Yes.
And storyboarding learned to you to make
it faster and super quickly recognizable
for the people who are going to animate
the expression.
So you have to focus on that the
fastest you can and the clearest that you
can.
And working like that for two years,
let me improve that kind of way to
build a face's expression on the
character.
The first thing that I do sometimes when
I draw the rough with the pencil,
Depends, okay, it's digital, but you know,
you get it.
It depends.
It's like the actual position of the
eyebrow, the eyes,
and the sides of the mouth,
because I know that kind of expression.
It should be so,
the pose of that expression should be like
that.
And it's starting to build the pose of,
the position of the body.
Only because I started like a stick man
on his face.
So it's like that.
It's like sometimes, OK,
sometimes I need some reference.
Of course, I'm not everything in my mind.
But it's something that is going to be
less and less the more that I draw.
Because it depends.
It depends.
Because this is super tough expression.
Because you have to be like worn,
but not worn.
You should feel safe, but it's in danger.
Something like that.
That is different to mix up.
So you have to see two expressions and
try to mix up together or try to
find some reference from another comic
book that I wrote.
Reading comic books, of course,
helped me a lot.
And also a lot of animation,
a lot of series,
cartoon series helped me a lot.
with like primal is is amazing no it's
really cool that you're like oh you'll
have this expressive expressive like face
and full head but then a stick figure
and what i like about
the the digital art like alps out there
is like you can literally start with the
stick figure and then you can rotate that
stick figure and start building the levels
of the body and the head and you
you can just start with simple shapes i've
seen artists that start with like circles
and ovals and squares and then they start
building the body and inking into it you
know and it's really cool to watch those
To watch an artist like you procreate or
something like that,
start with just simple circles and squares
and rectangles.
See, guidelines.
Yeah, like guidelines.
All of a sudden, next thing you know,
there's this beautiful character in front
of you, and you're like, holy shit,
that's amazing that they took this square
and round figure,
and now you have this beautiful
three-dimensional figure
human being on the screen with muscles and
veins and hair and facial features and
teeth and just all these details built
into it and very intricate
And it just started with simple shapes.
Yeah.
It's really cool to see that.
Yeah.
I noticed the face of the people.
When I went to look at comics,
there's a comic on here in Luca.
And I started to make the sketches on
the book that I sell.
And I started to do like I do
in digital.
So very rough, super rough,
super rough character, like two lines,
and then start thinking.
And the people said, wait,
I already started thinking.
I said, yeah,
because I drew it like a couple of
hundred times, this character.
So I feel comfortable about that.
But also because sometimes it's up and
down.
Some people, some backgrounds...
If you put too much in your pencil
and you put too detail and it's super
clean, when you start inking, you lose,
I don't know what's happening,
but they lose like soul.
Like they start to be super rigid, super.
And I said, they are not sketches.
They are not dynamic anymore.
You have to use the ink like it's
a pencil, but in a proper way.
When you put that line,
you have to be sure that the line
is good.
So that is the trick for me.
It's like, okay,
I make this simple guideline,
and then I go direct with my ink.
But I go like it's a pencil,
an adaptive pencil.
And I'm not afraid of doing that because,
of course, it's digital.
So I came back if I lost that
line.
so that is the good part of the
digital no i like it so shark hit
it peter is a horror fantasy and that
requires a lot of balancing of beauty and
brutality how do you decide how far to
push like the grotesqueness of the imagery
and while still kind of maintaining that
whimsical imagery that you see in the book
because it's both is well shark hit it
peter like yes he's this
this entity this evil person but he's also
not quite evil he's just yeah yeah you
know it's a hard medium to find but
you do it so well and like some
of the way he punishes people like it's
like holy hell like yeah it's cruel it's
very cruel
But the art and the color and everything
of it, like, oh, yeah,
he got what was coming to him.
And it's very cruel the way it happened.
But it never seems to lose that whimsical
like energy about him.
Like he's still like you're still rooting
for him.
How hard was it to kind of find
that balance between those two?
Because this could have been a very
horror-based book, but you drug that line,
you and Ethan and Jess,
you towed the line very nicely down the
middle to where it didn't go one way
or the other.
So how was that?
How did you do it?
I think that ninety percent of this trick
of keeping balance of these two cruelty
horror and lighting stuff is for Jessica
and Ethan.
Because the good line, the good shot,
the good environment,
the good concept that they decided to use
it.
uh keep it like that so you starting
reading the story and you falling into
some dark very dark stuff but they
immediately take you out in another way so
i think ninety percent about that the ten
percent that i i've done with that it
was like about shock at the peter without
spoiling too much uh i see him like
uh
I seem like he's a, you know,
the very tough teacher that they,
you know,
he want you to be the good,
the best that you can,
but he's very rude and he doesn't seem
to show any love for you.
Yeah, but in a kind of way,
you feel like, I know you,
I know you know, something like that.
I know you want my best.
Okay, so it's a kind of say,
I love you, something like that.
So this kind of situation makes me always
acting when I draw him like this.
this way, like he's a teacher,
a very rough teacher,
a very angry teacher.
Yeah.
Angry, let's say, with that smile.
But in the end, Ruby knows about that.
So the fact that,
and also the fact that there's Ruby with
this concept that is so innocent,
I used to draw her always,
the first time, like that, with the...
Yeah.
Yeah, with the...
Azueda, right, Azueda is super huge,
and with this hair, not so elaborate,
very clean, very clean character, okay?
Yeah.
And him, super pointy, super pointy,
to have to be like,
you have to be afraid.
You have to be afraid, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
But in the end, in the end,
it's super poignant, but he's slim.
He moves like he knows what he is,
always knows what is happening.
I think the first thing that lets you
chill out when you see shock and fear
and not terrifying immediately is the fact
that you see in his face that everything
is going smooth with me.
Everything I do is going smooth because I
know everything.
It's like it makes you feel that you
know what it's doing,
that it's always on the point.
So I think that is the balance sometimes
happens.
Of course,
sometimes it's happening some very strange
stuff that you can see also in the
Kickstarter,
so I'm not spoiling everything.
like a punishment is happening that if you
see a closer look about what is actually
happening you said oh my god it's
terrifying but then you you see maybe the
style maybe the the color in uh in
that particular way you said okay okay
okay i can i can handle it everything
is going uh
to be, I can handle it.
It's not such horror, of course.
I'm not,
it seems like I'm too much of that,
but no, no, no, it's not that horror.
But you know, the balance with the color,
He's helping out.
I honestly, like,
I really love the character of Ruby.
And I like how we see her from
the first one to the second one kind
of evolving as a person.
And her becoming more confident with
Shaquette at Peter.
Kind of like,
I don't want to say he's a mentor
to her.
And I don't want to give away the
story.
But he's definitely...
you can't tell whether his intentions are
good or bad for her.
And you're like, do you, you,
but you still, at the end,
you're still rooting for him and you're
still wanting these great things for Ruby
because the life that she's lived,
she deserves to have that little bit of
good, even if it comes from Peter,
who may be giving her what she wants.
And then a, uh,
A redemption.
Yeah, exactly.
Yes.
A redemption.
A redemption.
Yeah, me too.
When first I saw the script and I
just read the synopsis, I said, okay,
let me see what happened.
And then I stopped it.
I said, as I told you,
I stopped it and I started reading like
five to ten pages at a time because
I didn't want to spoil myself the story
because I want to grow up with Ruby.
I'm with you.
cheering up with ruby but also so you
know uh curious about the way he's
evolving shock at the peter peter and um
it's one of those where when they sent
me the press release for the book it's
just like the first i think five or
ten pages and i'm like i'm so glad
they didn't like send me like the whole
book because i went back i ordered issue
one
yeah issue one and now i'm sitting here
like i'm gonna read issue one again when
issue two gets here just because it's
really that good they have put together a
phenomenal phenomenal story for everybody
to enjoy with your artwork and it just
it's it's beautiful together because it
matches so well your art in their story
it's like one person did everything
because it's very seamless with each other
it's not overbearing it's not like a lot
of words because it the story is tell
like the art is telling the story and
the words are just amplifying the art so
it's very it's done very well
thank you yeah no i i hope i
make a i made a good job because
you know the the fact that we comic
artists always think that the page that we
have done now is better than the old
the page the the previous page and so
on and we'll never stop this guilty what
you read a comic book and you look
at a comic book
from the first page to the last page,
each page will get better as you go,
because either the artist is just how they
are, or they really love the story,
and they're just trying to one-up
themselves as they go.
Yeah,
because you feel inside of the story more
and more,
and you're starting to draw more and more
often the people, the ambience,
the
the backgrounds all together and you get
confident and you feel like you are inside
of that story sometimes no when you read
this story when you read shock edit peter
for those anybody on the fence go to
the website check out shock edit peter
it's really one of those stories that
pulls you in like you're a character in
it and you're literally just standing on
the outside watching this beautiful you
know story take place and i say beautiful
because whereas it is a kind of a
horror fantasy but the way you're rooting
for all the right people for all the
right reasons and you hope you're doing it
for the it's the right thing to do
you know
But let's keep pressing.
So how much of your Italian cultural
background influences the tone or design
of your characters and worlds?
Because like I said,
when I first see it and knowing you're
Italian, I was like,
this kind of does feel like a small
Italian town somewhere, you know?
So how much of that,
and just not just in Shock-Headed Peter,
but in your other work,
does like your culture and your background
kind of influence that work?
First thing first,
I have to say that in the Bible,
there was right about the character.
When first we approach to the concept of
the people,
of the character inside of the comics,
they show me the mask of Italian mask,
like Pulcinella, all the stuff that said,
you know, that kind of theater mask,
Italian, of course, I know.
I said, okay, perfect.
It's perfect.
And,
and then we starting to do the concept
with that, with the,
with theater masks of the Italian
folklore.
Then I put more inside of the town.
Like, you know, I always think that,
about the south of Italy because I'm
living in Rome right now by my origins
in south of Italy and I remember all
this little town little city also that
they have you know hanging out their
clothes one window to the another because
they are very tiny very tiny streets and
so I tried to put everything in there
also because I love the fact that
everything is happening in this kind of
closed streets.
Yes, yes.
I love that.
It's very much like,
it feels just like a little small town.
It's just like a few blocks, it feels.
Yeah,
that it feels like that the people inside
of there is a huge whole family,
and if it's happening like it's happening
that Choquette de Peter starts his
punishment, the people react...
very loudly,
because it feels like they are a huge
family.
That is actually how it works,
the little town in Italy,
because they are so close together,
they live so close together,
and in this tiny street,
everybody knows everything of the other
people.
So... Yeah, and it's very...
You see that in the story, too.
Like, everybody knows everybody there.
Yeah, everybody knows everybody,
the mayor, everything.
So it fits perfectly.
It's amplified the fact that the streets
are so tiny and everything is happening
there.
Everybody knows what's going on and
they're just panicking about that,
about shock at the Peter.
This outside environment is popping up.
so yeah i think that is our italian
culture i think also i can put inside
of my italian culture that everything is a
huge family so well though it fits the
story it fits the vibe but let's let's
let's talk a little bit about working in
indie comics and like some of the
collaborate collaboration that happens
within the comic books
So when you're collaborating with writers,
whether it's Ethan or Jess or whoever,
what's the biggest thing that you need
from them to bring out the best version
of your art to that project?
As I say,
the first things that I say to Jessica
and Ethan when we start working,
it was like, yeah,
I appreciate when you put the directory
and the shots how it should be.
I appreciate that.
I love it.
It helped me a lot.
But I think the most important thing that
you have to write is the feeling that
the panels have to have,
like how the character feel and how the
environment should feel like.
Because if you say it's like something
terrifying,
I know that my color palette and
everything and my shots are to go there.
So I prefer the emotion of the people,
the feeling of the people and the mood
of the environment.
that is the first things that i want
to know that helped me a lot then
the shots of course helped me but i
know i'm a bad comic drawer because
sometimes i mess up i said ah can
i use this kind of shot differently that
had this road and i said okay it's
fine they say always it's fine
But it takes me a lot of freedom
sometimes.
But that is the good,
because sometimes you say, no, no,
it's better in that way.
And they say to me, why?
I say, OK, yeah, of course, you're right.
I'm just going too much on that.
And sometimes it's happening that I have a
good idea that, oh, nice,
that is a good idea.
As they say with you last time,
you said that sometimes they change the
line a little bit for fitting inside of
the panel.
I feel guilty, a lot of guilty.
But they say that it works so well
that they change it a little bit.
and i think this is the best way
to collaborate with someone uh when i
wrote uh when they wrote the the story
and when i do i have to draw
it because it's a cooperative stuff if you
want to bring it up it's a whole
lot like i tell people that all the
time is what makes my life easier when
i'm bringing people on is just to
communicate with me let me know
like i can if i send you my
calendar like hey here's what i currently
have scheduled
Just pick a day and pick a time.
I will make it work for you.
And you were very easy with that.
And when I asked for stuff,
like I emailed you and I was like,
hey, Sabe,
can I get like a logo or just
something so I can advertise you coming on
the show?
And you're like, boom, here you go.
I cut a little bit of hair for
matching my draw of myself for the logo.
Dude, the logo was perfect, dude.
I was just like, when you sent it,
I'm like...
Like, he really sent me just, like,
a badass piece of art to say.
It was so well done.
I'm just like.
I drew it literally one day because I
said that we need something to show you
up.
And I didn't want to show my face
a little bit.
You did that in one day?
Come on, dude.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I kind of feel like it was something
that I should look like me.
But I messed up.
You sent it to me.
And I looked at it and I was
like, oh, that's Sabi.
Oh, dang.
Like, I knew it was you.
Like, it was like, I'm like, dude,
this is so good.
Like,
I thought it was just something that you
had laying around.
I didn't realize, like,
you just drew it on the spot.
It was just like.
Yeah, no, no.
I drew it because one day they asked
me, like, you asked us,
did you have something for putting in a
logo or something?
So I said, okay, let's make like,
my portfolio have that one big,
first pages portfolio,
like a Saba portfolio.
And I have that image because I felt
like, well, okay,
maybe it's not too serious.
You make a draw of yourself.
I don't know.
It's so freaking good.
And I was just like, thank you.
I don't know.
It's just like,
dude this is like the coolest thing ever
like he just was like hey use this
i'm like i'm using a work of art
okay yeah did you notice all of the
drawing in the background of my there's my
okay my stupid face in front and in
the background there's all a lot doodles
okay of yeah yeah the one little doodle
up at the top as well
Yeah, on the top of well,
like the balloon one with the doodle was
drawing.
Because it's like, it's so serious,
the faces.
And then in the balloon,
there's a smiling face.
Yeah,
that was one of my favorite things to
see.
Because it was just like,
you could see the doodles in the back,
and then just up there, like very.
Yeah,
the message is that my anxiousness is
released.
It's like calmed down by the fact that
I'm drawing.
So when I'm drawing, I'm happy.
That is the point of the message.
No, it was so good.
And I was just like...
I like it.
And when I was saying, like,
just communicating with people and like,
I'm not going to ask you for something
that I feel is going to take away
from what you're trying to do like.
I want people to come on the show,
but I'm like, hey,
if you're going to come on the show,
I need you to at least send me
a press release or I need you to
send me the first five or ten pages
of the book if it's done.
Likely for me,
that was Ethan and Jessica who sent you
everything.
Yeah, that was...
when that one yeah but it is it's
like i'm not asking i don't wanna i'm
not stealing your i'm never gonna do that
i i just want i gotta have something
to use to be able to talk to
you and have a discussion with you and
to you know display what it is that
you're bringing to the world and um and
it's sometimes hard to get people to want
to do that
And I don't know why.
It's like... I don't know.
As I told you,
this is my second time in total that
I am in a podcast.
The first one, as I told you,
it was an Italian podcast inside of the
Comic-Con there.
And that was the really first time.
This is my second first time.
I said, oh my God,
I have to do it in English.
Perfect.
Nothing would be...
You're absolutely killing it, dude.
And when I had mentioned it to Jess
and Ethan, and they were like,
we'll take care of everything.
We'll get you set up.
We'll introduce y'all.
And you were very easy to work with.
You were just like, hey,
and I know you're in the UK.
Well, I know you're in Italy.
And I knew the time difference.
And all my other friends who are in
the UK, I'm like,
when I do a show with them,
I'm like, hey, it's like a good time.
It's like...
early to mid afternoon for y'all.
So yeah,
the sun is going up over here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, no,
but for me it's fine because I usually,
I felt really messed up, uh,
schedule about my work.
Because sometimes I work like until the
four a.m.
in the morning, until.
So I remember once the Eden wrote to
me and they say, okay, this and that.
And I said, okay, it's fine.
I reply.
I said, oh my God,
but there in Italy is like four a.m.
Why did you answer?
I said, I don't worry about it.
I sent you that email.
It was like eleven o'clock at night or
something because I had just finished the
show.
I was like, oh,
I need something to say.
You're coming on the show.
I didn't want to just grab something from
what Jess and Ethan sent me.
I was just like,
I'm just going to see if he has
like a logo that he likes to use
or something, just something simple.
Yeah, yeah.
And then I sent it,
and I was just like, fuck,
he's probably in bed.
That time,
I remember I was going to bed maybe.
It was really late.
Because I told you I mess up everything
in my life about the schedule.
Yesterday, when you wrote to me,
I was in the pub.
It was like...
I'm hanging out with my friend and then
you wrote to me and said, okay,
for tomorrow.
And yeah, because it depends.
Doing smart working,
that is the good part because you can
choose whatever schedule and timing you
prefer and you feel better.
Yeah.
So I'm telling you,
that's that's like the ultimate goal right
there.
It's just this full time and get to
talk to other creators just full time.
Just like I don't want to say it,
but this is the purpose of because I
want to be your own boss and make
your own.
That's like the perfect job.
My ultimate goal is to do whenever I
want, whatever I want.
So what is your favorite part of
translating what they send you into visual
storytelling?
What's your favorite part of that?
About the script, the part of the story?
Yeah.
Translating the script into the story.
Okay.
I think I'm a very, as I said,
simple man.
And everything is going to be
action-driven.
is really funny to true so when they
send to me something that is happening
like huge uh stuff like uh i told
you the punishment or uh or that's
probably my favorite punishment that i
that that they sent it that's a part
of the press package and i was just
like oh that's so fucked up but at
the same time it was like it felt
the same when i read that like that
kid fucking deserved it yeah
Yeah, I really hate him too.
And so, yeah,
the best part to draw is that,
or sometimes also when it's something like
this huge long shot that you can see
everything and there's a lot of places to
draw with a lot of details about the
houses, the city.
like the the pages that i i think
it's not a spoiler the double splash page
from the top of the town that they're
having yeah everything is happening like
with the arrows pointing where the people
are going that we thought i thought
initially when i wrote it i said oh
my god it would be so tough to
draw then but then when i started to
to draw it i said oh my god
this is awesome i'm enjoying too much
that's that's a very very cool page
actually like it was
you can the detail like all the way
down to like the cobble streets yeah and
there's an easter egg right there i
there's an easter egg for some friends of
mine in italy like right there in the
pages oh that's awesome i love it like
i tell people all the time that you
can read a full comic book in five
or ten minutes i can't do that it
takes me like twenty five thirty forty
five minutes to read a full comic book
Because I'll read it.
Because it could be our Easter egg, yeah.
I'm like, what's hiding in this art?
I know there's something in here.
There's an Easter egg somewhere.
I'm going to find it.
And normally, if you look long enough,
you're going to find it.
So that's why it takes me so long
to read a comic book is because I'm
looking for those Easter eggs.
But me too, me too.
When I read the comics,
I remember from the first time,
sometimes I totally lost the story because
I'm looking only for the drawing.
And sometimes I bind the comics,
not because of the story,
but because I saw the drawing.
I said, oh my God, this is beautiful.
I'll take it.
Enough for me.
It's true.
It's a problem because as my scripter,
Jessica and Eden,
and also my scripter in Italy,
I always said, you guys, I don't know,
in my entire life,
I always see another colleague like me,
only the drawing.
And I totally...
forgot about you guys have to do the
biggest stuff that is a build up a
entire story but what means that in a
second place but no it's really cool like
when you go back and you look at
like i don't know how familiar you are
with hr geiger the guy who created like
the first alien series like the artwork
and stuff oh yeah yeah the concept that
you say yeah yeah okay yeah yeah i
can't remember where he's from originally
but like just the details like
Now, thankfully,
we have computers where you can zoom in
on some of his artwork and just see
some of the intricacies that he did into
some of his artwork.
It's just absolutely beautiful that he was
able to give so much detail to that
in just a painting or a drawing or...
And it's like,
we can't see it with our naked eye
when we just look down at it.
But now that we have technology,
we can zoom in and we can spend
out.
It can be a double, a double swore.
How would you say a double?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because sometimes when you put too much
detail in a, in a comics,
I don't tell about the characters.
I like the alien stuff.
Okay.
But about the comics,
I prefer to have the pages as big
as,
it should be in real life.
Because you get lost too much in the
detail.
Maybe someone will never sew.
Plus, they are not important.
Okay, an easter egg is totally fine.
But sometimes they don't need to know how
many hair
have on his arm because you have zooming
out that your naked eye can see in
the pages.
Yeah, I completely understand that.
Yeah.
So it can be good for that because
you make this super cool stuff for
illustration.
It's super cool.
But sometimes for showing up a scene in
a comic page, it's kind of useless.
It depends.
It really depends.
Because sometimes double-spaced pages,
there are a lot of this going on.
It's super useful.
Because you have to see, I don't know,
a battlefield.
There are two armies fighting each other.
and you can spot the people and you
can make little scene drawing little scene
that with the digital you can appreciate
more because you can zoom in but sometimes
it's happened that you make a normal shot
with a normal guy speaking with another
guy and you have to make in the
background because i told you i used to
draw a lot of background there there are
so many details that are not useful for
the for the shot for the yeah narration
okay
So it depends.
It's a double-edged sword.
Double-edged sword.
No, I mean, it makes sense.
So let me ask you this.
If you could work on any project,
any project,
it doesn't matter if it's creator-owned or
it belongs to DC or Marvel, Image,
you name it,
what project would you want to work on?
Unfortunately, one of my heroes,
Jorge Corona,
is working for making a new Lobo.
And I'm so angry.
I will never go that way, of course.
I will never reach that level.
And I'm super happy.
Yeah, no, but I'm super happy that Lobo,
that is one of my favorite characters,
when I was, of course, when I was,
you know, a couple, ten years ago,
right now, I'm appreciating, like,
some kind of graphic novel like Black
Saddle or stuff like more, you know,
more heavier, more complex, okay,
as a story and also as a drawer.
Let me take this sentence because Jorge
Corona is amazing.
He's amazing.
And Lobo is one of those characters where
he disappeared for a long time and now
we're starting to get Lobo coming back
into the public spotlight again.
I'm here for it.
I love Lobo.
What a pity, and I hope,
I'm for sure, Jorge Corona,
he will make a beautiful job.
I listened rumors about they are going to
make a series about Lobo,
and I don't know,
Jason Momoa probably is going to make the
Lobo.
It is Jason Momoa, yeah.
I don't know if sure,
I didn't know too much about that.
We already know he's supposed to make an
appearance in the Supergirl movie as Lobo.
Yeah, okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Okay.
It's totally fitted.
I have afraid of.
I hope they don't mess up too much
because the message of Lobo is like
really, really punk.
And I'm afraid that he's going to be
lost because they want to make the more
people viewer so they make it softer.
But Lobo is not that soft.
The good part of Lobo is that he's
a badass.
No, absolutely.
And it's one of those where he's like...
What's his name?
The Ghost Rider and Deadpool combined into
one.
Yeah, exactly.
but he's got this cool like outer space
motorcycle.
Yeah.
And he's just like, he's very punk,
very hardcore.
Very metal also because I remember in a
story that he put inside of his head,
radio or tuning metal music,
twenty-four age.
Yeah,
so it's one of those where if they
don't get the little intricacies of him
the right way,
then it's it's yeah it's going yeah
hardcore fans of lobo because again this
is a character where he disappeared for
ten or fifteen years yeah yeah he's
starting to creep back into the spotlight
we're like you better give us the lobo
that we used to have otherwise it's just
don't do it yeah exactly he's going to
ruin everything
That hardcore Lobo that we need and we
want.
I mean, that's just perfect.
I'm sure that Jorge Corona,
for the comics part, it will be awesome.
Oh, he'll know it.
It's going to be amazing.
Yeah, yeah, because he will, he never,
I draw, sorry, I read, I read,
I read some of his comics.
It's like the Me You Love in the
Night, in the dark,
the Me You Love in the Dark.
And another one, it was Middle West,
something like that.
I remember the title.
And it was amazing the way he drew.
And it was with Scott Young.
I think Scott Young was the scriptwriter.
And Scott Young is another one that I
really love.
I love his art.
You can spot on my drawing,
on my inking,
a little bit of Scott Young.
Okay.
I wasn't going to say nothing, but...
A little bit.
Especially the way you do the more
cartoony characters.
Yeah.
And Scotty Young is brilliant.
He's just got his own unique style that's
very cartoonish,
but it's just so damn good.
Yeah, of course.
And I Hate Fairyland is just a phenomenal
story.
That's his.
It's his story, his art.
And he's got a whole team behind him
that is just absolutely amazing.
And Image, thank you for bringing...
I hate fairyland to us because yeah it's
incredible it's incredible and now we find
out there is a good script there too
because I love that especially the me you
love in the dark is like a perfect
story for someone who works in the into
the painting also in the comics we can
say okay into the art is a perfect
way to show how the
He was only really known for doing covers.
It's like cartoon covers and stuff like
that.
Yeah.
And then like my very first reading
experience from him was I hate fairy land.
Yeah.
And it was just so good.
I'm like, and it's almost,
it's about to hit issue.
Yeah.
So we're almost fifty issues into I Hate
Fairyland.
Yeah.
And it's just like, dude,
it's just so good.
Like, he's such a good storyteller.
And it's a shame because I think a
lot of really good artists are probably
really good storytellers.
Yeah.
But we don't get to experience that
because they're just so damn good.
I don't know.
I really fear to start writing something
because once I do it and
Yeah, I was searching for a publisher.
It was my first project.
And I started to feel like, no,
maybe I need someone to make it as
his job, the scripter.
Okay.
I can do everything.
Also, because I don't know,
there's some rules,
some that you have to follow.
Of course,
it's not a proper rule that you have
to follow.
Uh, one of the percent,
but there are some rules that make it
better just because you put something
inside of the story there and there in
the perfect timeline of the story.
So I searching the script as a,
as brand, as something vital for my life.
Now also I have this script that here
in Italy, uh, Marco Ferrari, there is a,
it's my script there for this new, um,
uh, comics,
graphic novel that we went out in Italy.
So it's not a marketplace meant here
because it's only in Italy.
And when I saw and I started to
work with him,
I understand why I can make my own
story, maybe a light story,
like a couple of issues or something
really light.
But if I want to make something really
deep, really strong, that it works,
I need someone who will make it better
in a bad way.
Yeah,
I just kidnapped him and put him inside
of my basement because I said, no, no,
you will never leave after we make
something really good.
All right,
let's dive into Shockheaded Peter from
your perspective for a little bit.
What were your first reactions to this
world of Shock Headed Peter when you read
the script for it?
Like when Jess and Ethan sent you over
the Shock Headed Bible and they were like,
hey,
what was your impression of that when you
first got the script and everything to
start working on the art?
Of course,
the first things that I thought is I
will be able to do fifty eight pages.
It was a material fear.
But then I wrote it, I read it,
and I said, no,
something is starting to pop up in my
mind how it should be.
be done, the location and the people.
Everything is starting to be alive in my
mind.
And I started to sketch it.
So the first reaction was,
I'm enthusiastic about that.
The first one was fear.
I can handle this stuff.
And then the first,
he was enthusiastic about that.
I started to draw everything and sending
everything to them.
The more that I have in my mind,
I send everything.
And so, yeah, you know, it was also,
I don't know if they told to you
how we met each other,
that we find out,
we spot each other on social media,
on Facebook.
And it was my first big job.
So the first thing when I see the
Bible, I said, oh my God,
it's so perfect that there's so many stuff
going on.
Yeah, it was amazing.
I will be on that level.
I can manage that.
I will be as good to make it
true, to make it real on a page.
And then the more that I read,
the more I will feel comfy.
The more that I speak with Ethan and
Jessica, I said, okay,
they are a cool guy.
They understand also we find each other
like a sort of first big work.
So we have to help each other about
constructing this work.
so yeah the first russian was panicking
and then it was yeah it was chilling
no i'm glad that um it worked out
because your art style with that story it
everything just fits beautifully together
um
So from the visual elements,
what visual elements did you immediately
want to bring to life within this story?
Was it the monsters, Ruby, the folklore,
the textures?
You know,
what was your first thing that you when
you read this,
like what what made you excited to want
to do this?
Like which which element of this?
The figure,
the character also can't be there.
The first thing that I draw immediately
without any starting to processing or
organizing myself was Shock of the Peter.
I said,
I want to know how is this character.
I was falling in love with the character.
So the first thing was how I have
to put in life this character.
And I started drawing a lot of concepts.
It's such a great character.
It's just a fun character.
You know he's a bad guy,
but yet you love him so much.
Yeah,
and fun fact that this is like the
third character concept that I made that
is right now.
The first one, it was totally different.
And I said, but it was close.
It was close,
but it was totally different how the way
he acting because, you know,
when I make a concept,
you have to make also the acting because
you have to see how he acts inside
of the story because you feel the
character, the behavior of the character.
And so the first thing that I wanted
to pop up in life was Shock Headed
Peter.
Then the second stuff that when we found
out about Shock Headed Peter, of course,
Ruby.
Now, Ruby, I love Ruby, of course.
That's my next question, actually.
So Ruby actually has a broken heart.
It's a literally broken heart.
Yeah.
And it's like one of my favorite concepts
of the story outside of Shock Headed
Peter.
how did you express that in her design
in emotional art because it's like a no
a actual broken heart it's funny because i
think when they start the kickstarter they
put the first image for the kickstarter
was her uh holding his heart or his
chest here with the with the um yeah
the watch pulsing
a saying that is going to have a
problem.
And I think that is the way that
I figured I always want to try to
fill it.
The emptiness of his eyes when he's going
to panicking or he's super angry,
the empathy of his eyes, the like super,
it's not super fearing,
expression in in in his face on his
face and um and also the fact that
he's like freezing i like the the way
that when he's starting to to feel like
something is going wrong and the the watch
is passing is freezing and his eyes kind
of become empty he feel like if something
is happening inside of her and he can
control he can manage that yeah so like
i was waiting like
And, like,
as I was reading the press piece for
number two,
and we get that one moment where her
heart starts acting up and the watch
starts going crazy.
And I love the fact that they put,
like, two bars.
because the first bar is empty and it's
kind of a dangerous zone.
And then the second bar,
we are fucked up.
So I like the tension.
It creates the fact that it's one bar,
two bar.
I really love that.
And I really enjoy the tutorial also.
The bar empty with this liquid,
vivid lighting, red liquid pulsing inside.
It seems like it's vein inside of the
watch.
Yeah,
it's like the vein is inside of the
watch for...
like the smartwatch right now,
but with the pain inside,
with the blood pulsing inside.
And it was amazing.
Just the visual of that and the way
you portrayed it in the pages,
I was just like,
what is ruby exactly you know it's kind
of like is she the actual monster you
know you start your head starts stinking
all these questions because at that point
i had not read issue one i feel
that way because me too i was just
like ruby is special and we know she's
special because i mean the story kind of
centers around her but at the same time
you were like
like what else is going on with Ruby?
And we kind of get some hints from
what's going on with her dad and stuff
like that.
But at the same time,
like you love Ruby so much.
She's such a cool character.
And it's like,
I don't want to see nothing bad ever
happened to Ruby.
Yeah.
Peter who really, he like,
he takes an affection toward her.
And you can tell, like,
he wants to help her and guide her
in his own twisted little way, you know,
because that's how he is.
Yeah.
Yeah, but if you see in that,
I feel always that in that story,
Ruby is a kid,
but in reality is like the only grow-up
woman,
the badass woman who wants to manage his
life and put the business together.
And also his mother is a very...
very nice figure,
but the mother is a little bit,
because of the situation with his husband,
with the father of Ruby,
is kind of falling apart,
and the
pilaster.
Can I say pilaster?
Where the roof of the life of the
family is on her.
So it's a grow-up woman in the way
she behaves.
She had to grow up fast,
given her condition,
her father's condition, the environment,
and them just not having very much.
So she's having to take on a lot
of responsibility at a very young age
which forced her to kind of grow up
early and become a young woman before she
should have had to do that yeah i
am afraid of saying some spoiler because
the the way is evolving um you see
there will be more connection with the
shock of the peter i don't want to
spoil anything
But I'm looking forward to see her in,
you know,
after the events for Chapter Three, right?
Like,
because I'm looking forward to how they
will build this character when it will be
like a proper woman,
a teenager or something.
Because the way it's evolving the story
without spoiling,
it makes me so curious how will be
the concept of Ruby in...
They knew what they were doing when they
did it.
Yeah.
They...
They are some great storytellers and your
heart really just pulls everything
together so beautifully.
So without spoilers, Sabe.
Yeah.
What visual moments in volume two are you
the most proud of?
Without spoilers.
Because as I said,
the more that I draw,
the more that I like how it's going
on and how I'm drawing because I get
used and I get comfortable and I'm
starting to grow up with this character
and this environment.
But maybe,
maybe the first part is the one that
I love to,
maybe for the adrenaline of starting this
new chapter that is pretty long and I
really enjoy and having fun on doing that.
But there's something, without spoilers,
in where a certain character that we
already saw let me see how will we
have a piece of this story that i
really really am joined to i'm literally
drawing these pages uh because it's in the
final part so i can say nothing is
literally yeah so uh and i really enjoyed
drawing it and see how this
character evolving because you know i'm
not enjoying the way that i'm drawing
enjoying when i love where i'm reading
when everything is is popping up in my
mind oh this is so cool i have
to put in in in an image and
uh and that i love and i this
happening in the first part of course is
everything okay but most in the first part
because i was super excited to see how
it's going and this last part where this
character is popping up that i can't say
nothing unfortunately
But it will be a surprise.
I really want people to go and read
this book because it is so good.
The only thing that I can say,
the style, the drawing style,
it will be different.
Full stop.
No spoil left.
No, no.
I like it, man.
I really do.
Let's move into our very last segment.
It's just going to be some rapid fire
questions, Sabe.
Okay.
I hope my English will hold.
No, you've been perfect this entire time,
man.
I'm telling you.
What horror film most inspires your
artistic tone?
Horror film.
You know,
I don't know how to say in English.
I don't remember.
I have to find something that we can
also...
a middle field,
because I have in mind a film,
but I don't remember the title.
I don't know if it was an Italian
title.
It was...
You can look it up real quick if
you need to.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe.
I don't want to break up the rhythm
of the line.
No, you're fine, dude.
I want us to get this spot on,
because if it's something that I haven't
seen,
I'll probably go and watch it to be
fair, because that's how I am.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Uh, yeah.
Anytime.
Like I know I got a few comic
book, uh, recommendations when I was,
when I had a Francisco on last month
and I'm still trying to track down those
books.
So I may have to send them to
you because one of them was in an
Italian comic book.
So I'm going to shoot that to you
later and see if you you're familiar with
it or if you know where I could
find it.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
Because I make him too much, but
Too much research.
No, no.
You're good.
Yeah, there was like Midsommar.
Okay, you know.
You know Midsommar.
Okay, yeah.
Yeah.
And also, yeah, of course I forgot.
The one that inspired me a lot,
The Lighthouse.
And The Witch.
And all of that.
The director is absolutely...
I'm forgetting the name.
No, you're good.
Because Midsommar is like...
amazing amazing movie so that's the
perfect one right there yeah i need to
to put this at least three and not
one because mid-summer make me think we
can make an horror film with a very
bright color in the daylight and
everything you can make the extension and
the lighthouse i love it because
You know,
the use of the black and white stuff
because it's in black and white.
I love the black and white movie.
I'm not going to lie.
Yeah,
they help a lot when you draw a
comics art.
They help a lot to manage how heavy
you have to go with the black and
with the white on a full page.
And that was amazing in the White House.
And the last one, the witch,
because of the atmosphere and the color,
the shots were really great.
The way that you can see,
not see what's happening in the dark.
It made me shit my pants.
Always.
Always.
Because I'm not a horror fan,
but I used to draw it,
to see it,
because I enjoy the way how they direct
everything.
Ron Perlman did a movie called The City
of Children.
I want to say it's Italian,
but I'm looking it up right now.
Yeah.
I think it come out in the nineties
or The City of Lost Children,
something like that.
I think it's French.
It's French, you're right.
Yeah, I think it's French.
I think it's French.
But when you say in black and white,
that's like one of the first movies that
comes to my head because it's in black
and white and then also in color later
on,
like certain elements are in color in that
movie.
But it's just a...
it's a horror movie.
Yes, but it's almost like very dramatic.
And it's also very thriller ish.
It kind of just blends like these really
cool elements into the story.
Yeah.
I just couldn't remember if it was Italian
or French.
So I think it's French.
I don't want to mess up everything.
And if you want to debunk me,
someone in the corner, they can debunk me.
But no,
I think you're right because I think Ron
Perlman,
he spoke perfect French in the movie.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
All right.
So next one,
which comic artists do you look to when
you want to kind of recharge creatively?
Like,
is there a certain artist like when you're
like, you know, I need some inspiration.
Is there a specific comic book artist that
you go?
That's the guy that he recharges my
batteries.
I think I already say it.
It's Jorge Corona.
Yeah, it's Jorge Corona.
And also sometimes Rob Guillory.
This is the first that let me think
that I want to do comics art.
But Jorge Corona is the one that I
go into Instagram immediately when I feel
like I don't know how to draw.
I don't know what to do.
I'm useless.
And then I see this masterpiece of ink
and color also because I think sometimes
color too.
Sometimes you have a colorist.
And I think it's French,
the colorists who make Midwest and also
the May You Love in the Dark.
So Jorge Corona.
The quick answer is Jorge Corona.
There's a comic book artist who's really
good at horror.
And I'm trying to remember his name.
I think it's Francovilla.
Francisco Francovilla or Francovilla.
Ah, Francavilla.
Yeah, Francisco.
He's Italian as well.
He does a lot of horror.
His horror stuff is just like... Yeah,
yeah, okay, okay, I get it.
He likes to redo the old monsters and
stuff like that.
His work is just amazing.
You know, in Italy,
we used to make movies, horror movies,
and also comics because we have Dylan Dogg
and stuff like that of Bonelli.
We used to be pretty good on that.
I don't know what happened in the...
No, I don't know.
I think they're still good.
We were talking before we went live.
I was telling you about Don't Run With
Scissors,
which is an Italian horror comic book that
is just absolutely amazing.
But my next question is actually related
to something that Francisco does very well
is old school Hollywood horror monsters.
So if you could do one thing,
old-school Hollywood horror monster in
Sabe style, who would you want to do?
I'm thinking about it.
You know, it's a bit complicated.
I think I like grotesque feature,
so maybe, and also sci-fi, maybe Alien,
it can be something that I would like
to, or in that universe, okay?
Yeah.
I think it's not horror.
Yeah, horror, sci-fi.
But yeah, that one.
Because a creature and gruptest stuff,
I don't used to draw a lot.
And that's why I would love to.
So the creature from the Black Lagoon,
I think.
Yeah, yeah.
Also, yeah, the Black Lagoon too.
Yeah, I don't know if so old.
Yeah, eighties.
Yeah, right.
Like eighties.
So it can be.
and uh and also yeah the black lagoon
style of this kind of creepy monster that
i know used to draw it a lot
but i would love to because i want
to challenge first challenge myself and
also because i think it fits perfectly in
the way that i want to make it
grub desk the the the character the this
this muscle fit perfectly
No, I like it, dude.
I do like it a lot.
So what is the strangest?
So you've been in the comic books now
for a little bit.
What has been the strangest or funniest
reference request that you've gotten from
a writer?
Has a writer just asked like, hey,
can you do this one thing in this
one book?
That was just like where you stopped and
went, wait, what?
You went, what?
I don't know.
I think that maybe...
It was happening more when I met the
storyboard artist,
because in the storyboard artist,
when this advertising that they say that
he was traveling around the world,
and he went into this place where it
was like a sacred fountain,
something like that.
And he asked me to put that he's
mooning himself.
I didn't know what does it mean,
moaning in self,
because it was only with the underpants.
And I didn't know what does it mean,
moaning.
And I look up and I said, ah,
moaning means that?
I'm really, maybe it's a mis-translation.
And then I was struggling until the last
time.
I said, okay,
maybe it's fine to say moaning because
people laughing at him.
So that was so fucked up that I
said, okay,
it was more like I was afraid to
put in self-moaning
inside of the storyboard because I
mistranslate that.
Yeah,
that's definitely one of those where you
don't want to mistranslate.
Yeah, I don't want to.
Yeah, because I said,
what are you doing right now?
He said, oh, sorry, I mistranslated.
That's awesome, dude.
I like that.
That's a good story right there.
So, Sabe, we're about to close it out.
Please tell everybody where they can find
your art.
Yeah, my heart,
you can find it in sabe__art on IG,
Instagram.
Also on Facebook,
you can find me like Giuseppe Sabeti
Stefano.
I'm sorry about my name, it's too long.
You can call me, you make good Sabe.
I said to the other guys,
call me Joe.
because it's fine my uncle in canada my
uncle is so cool though yeah i i
choose because of uh there's a long story
but we are closing so it's fine but
my uncle in canada called me joe so
i said okay joe is totally fine i
feel in family i feel in family yeah
so you can find me yes on instagram
and uh on facebook i told you sabe
underscore art also on art station as
giuseppe stefano
and uh let me know if you like
and uh comment on my art so if
you like or enjoy i like it man
so i will also link all your social
media stuff thank you very much video when
it releases and i also i did it
on the advertisements as well i gave a
link to your
your art and your your your social media
thank you thank you enough you know for
coming on and joining us today a shout
out to jess and ethan for helping make
this conversation happen they really went
above and beyond to do this for us
and i'm so glad they got they did
that for us it was been a great
conversation today sabe i cannot
appreciate it enough
And also for bringing Shockhead at Peter
to life, man.
It is such an amazing book.
Your art helps tell that awesome story
that they have written so well.
And I appreciate you coming on, man.
We really do appreciate it.
All the council members,
I need y'all to go out,
give Sabe a follow on his social media.
Let him know you appreciate him because
Shockhead at Peter really is just one of
those fantastic stories.
And it is...
you're already drawing volume three,
right?
Yeah, we are planning to.
We are taking a little bit of gap.
Yeah, it's pretty soon.
Don't worry.
It's pretty soon.
Yeah,
so I know they were going to try
to get the third volume out a little
bit quicker.
It wasn't going to be a year between
them like it was for volume one and
volume two.
No, no, no.
It was short and I'm looking forward.
So I'm asking them to quick.
Yeah, I'm sure.
I can't wait to have all three of
you on this time.
That's the plan when Shock-Hitted Peter
Volume Three is ready to hit Kickstarter.
My plan is to have Jess, Ethan,
and Sabe all on at the same time
so we can deep dive into Volume Three
all together as one big happy Shock-Hitted
Peter family,
which I think would be amazing if we
can get it to happen.
But with that, Sabe, again,
thank you for coming on.
Welcome to the Council of Nerds,
my friend.
And I've already said this before,
ShotKid at Peter is USDN approved,
but now we can add Sabe and his
art that he does for ShotKid at Peter.
To that and say Sabe himself is USDN
approved.
Sabe, again, thank you so much.
Everybody out there, enjoy your weekend.
Go do something fun and pick up a
comic book and give it a read.
And with that, everybody,
the USDN is out of here.
Enjoy your weekend.