Sullivan Exonia: So what’s the deal with Undertoad this year? While last year you released hundreds of pages of original comics, we’re up to the end of April and you’ve put out less than twenty, instead devoting time to textual writing pieces and additions to “tie-in” pages like Dressed to Fail and The Kevin DuBlog.

Charlie Beck: Yeah, I know it. I kinda feel bad about the lack of new Transparent Life… there’ve only been two new ones since November. That’s a long time. Too long.

SE: So what’s the deal?

CB: Well… part of it is same old story… I have to work on things that pay the bills. Part of it is good old-fashioned laziness. But part of it…

SE: Go on-

CB: Part of it is exciting new projects on the horizon.

SE: Now this I’m interested to hear about. What’re you working on?

CB: I’ve got a few big projects in the works that are taking a lot of my time. The first is a graphic novel I’m doing with Kevin Fedewa.

SE: Who did the art for 9-to-5 Gladiator, right?

CB: Yeah, that’s him. He’s an amazing artist and one of my best friends and we work really well together. Anyway, we came up with this killer idea for a comic like a year and a half ago when we were roommates. We tried to develop it some at the time but we weren’t really into it. But now we’re making another big push.
SE: So what can we expect from this? The way you talk already makes it sound rather epic.

CB: Yeah, it really is. It’s definitely the biggest thing I’ve worked on so far and not just because it’s a full-length graphic novel. It’s a really big story too.

SE: Can you give us an introduction?

CB: Alright, well it’s called Man of the Century. It follows the entire life of a guy named Edward Macaulay, particularly on his 30th birthday when he wakes up to find that everyone else in the entire city has vanished without a trace. (laughs) That’s about all I’m giving you for now. I refer to it as an existential sci-fi mystery. And I promise it won’t be some pointless David Lynch thing at the end. There will be a very satisfying conclusion to the mystery.

SE: Sounds intriguing. Will that update regularly?

CB: Regularly is a loose term, as we both know. (laughs) Both Kevin and I are really putting our all into this and we’d rather it take awhile then be lower quality. So you can expect the first few pages of that within the next couple months and we’ll update as we complete pages.

SE: I’m looking forward to it. What else is coming up?

CB: The next big thing I’m working on is a project called Socratic Comics. The idea behind it is to use comics to intelligently debate the huge questions, most notably the existence or nonexistence of God and the nature of His being.

SE: Now, I know you’re a Christian. Will this be limited to just a Christian viewpoint?

CB: A very adamant ‘No’. What a lot of people don’t understand is that I am a Christian because I believe it to be the absolute truth. I’ve looked at atheism and agnosticism and the other religions. I don’t believe they fit all of the data. I am interested in the truth. If some one gave me an absolutely infallible reason why my thinking is wrong and could never conceivably be right, I would change my point of view.

SE: So what, ultimately, is the vision of Socratic Comics?

CB: The vision is a bunch of web comic writers and artists debating the truly important things in life through the use of comics. Because let’s face it, no matter what you believe, it is the most important conceivable decision you will ever make. I, for one, want to be darn sure.

SE: Why comics? Why not just a forum of some kind?

CB: There are a couple reasons for that. The first is simply because to my knowledge it hasn’t been done. There are plenty of forums for this stuff already. Putting it in comic form makes it more accessible to readers who normally wouldn’t go near it. Also, a comic takes longer to make than a hastily worded forum post. It puts more pressure on the writer to really think through what he or she is trying to say.

SE: And no doubt will stop those two or three people on every forum who end up just insulting all the rest.

CB: (laughs) Exactly. I can’t stand those two or three people.

SE: So how will the comics be posted?

CB: The goal right now is to find a contributor who believes in the project as much as I do and who has very opposing beliefs to my own. I am a Christian. I’m looking for an atheist (probably). Hopefully our biases will balance one another out. People would summit comics to me and to this other person and we would have to both agree to post them before they go up.

SE: So what exactly are you screening for?

CB: Primarily the use of respect. No matter what your belief, you must respect the beliefs of others. You don’t have to share them but you must respect them. We’d also be screening for general quality and in particular for being on topic. I plan to have things set up very structured so that we aren’t going off on wild tangents.

SE: And why did you pick the name Socratic Comics?

CB: That was inspired by a group in the early 20th century that was established by [noted Christian author] CS Lewis. The group met regularly and presented papers to one another on metaphysical topics. All viewpoints were allowed so long as you showed respect and used reason. He named the group The Socratic Club, after, of course, Socrates.

SE: Sounds like a very exciting project.

CB: Thank you.

SE: Are there any other major events we can look forward to?

CB: I have a couple other things in the works. The Collected Transparent Life Volume 2 is almost ready and should be available for sale soon.

SE: This is the print edition?

CB: Yes. The last one sold decently and I’ve had a fair number of people asking me about another volume so I’m working on that. And I’ll be adding some more stuff to the store. Additional shirts and whatnot.

SE: And beyond that?

CB: You can also look forward to a new site design in the near future from Warren. I think it’ll be pretty cool. Warren’s also working on some more of the fun side projects- Dressed to Fail will continue to update and he’ll be working on a rather large and really fun project soon- one of the Transparent Life crew will make a bid for President. I’m not saying whom yet but it’ll be good fun. And there’re some other smaller things he has going.

SE: And here I thought you weren’t doing anything…

CB: Oh no! We’re very busy! I’m working on a couple more collaborations for Undertoad Presents… and we’ll be seeing a murder mystery serial that ran in the Milwaukee Sword last year… and I’ve got over a hundred pages of Transparent Life written that just need art… and I’m trying to write a Transparent Life graphic novel… and I’m looking to throw in a couple comics on some collaborative works…

SE: Another one for Gran’ma Evelyn’s Old-Fashioned Pudding Treats Wrestling Theatre?

CB: Maybe. Not sure yet on that one.

SE: Anything else?

CB: Not anything that I really want to talk about right now. My problem is that I have far more ideas than I have time. I’m afraid that if I talk about any more of them, I’ll never get to any of them. The ones I’ve said are the ones that are already in motion. We’ll worry about the other projects later.

SE: It sounds like you’ll be busy for a long time to come.

CB: I fully intend to be.

SE: Thanks for your time.

CB: My pleasure.