Spilled Milk Studios Has no reason to Cry over New Title, CiCi

by Bucky Carter and Parker Smart

While scouring the floors at this summer's San Diego Comicon, I put feelers out to many independant creators. Of all the projects I found, none looked more promising than Parker Smart's CiCi, a self-financed title about a stunningly beautiful  woman who one day awakes from a mysterious laboratory to find a world where technology has perverted the human race, but only so much as mankind has allowed the atrocities. Wanting to know more about the free first issue he gave me, which I devoured,  I contacted Smart to ask him some questions about this great new comic from his Spilled Milk Studios. It is available now and is a "must read" from my account. But, perhaps you need more inticing. Read my questions and Parker's answers below to get a more developed teaser as well as some important information on what should be a sleeper success story.

** Also, if you find the interview questions confusing, jump over to my review of CiCi#1  in the Reviews section, then come back here once you got your bearings!

Bucky: Tell me a little about Spilled Milk. It's sort of an odd name for a studio. This is the stuff you're not supposed to cry over, right?

Smart: I wanted something that people could remember. That was my first goal. I was toying with different ideas. “Oil Spill” started the juices flowing. I knew I wanted to eventually animate the logo and I thought the rainbow effect of flowing oil would look really cool. But it just seemed too negative with oil tankers spilling their guts all over the place. “Spilled Ink” came to mind, but we really don’t want that in comics. I think there is already a Spilled Ink Studios out there anyway, so I’m glad I didn’t go with that.

I came up with Spilled Milk because the logo looked cool and I knew I could still animate it. I figured it would be memorable, because people could associate it with something they already knew. I had heard somewhere that you need two syllables and a hard  consonant sound at the end. This would make the name more memorable and easy to say. Let’s try some: Red Hook, Starbucks, Microsoft… Okay that last one is three syllables so maybe they shouldn’t be so memorable. Come to think of it, I don’t know that many two syllable company names. So that doesn’t work very well.

At the time there was a lot of crying in comics (at least the stuff I was reading). You had Cry For Dawn and Razor: Cry No More and I felt that Spilled Milk would imply that nobody was crying here..

Bucky:  How did you come up with CiCi? Is she the only title the studio has in the works? Any in-studio jokes about CiCi's Pizza (we have a pizza chain where I'm from called CiCi's)?

Smart: I had been writing weird clone stories way back in 1990. I’m a big fan of Star Trek and I know they have an occasional transporter accident every once in a while. I felt like using this transporter technology you could clone a person. This clone would be an exact copy of the original having all the memories and physical attributes and shortcomings of the original too. But the key was that in some cases the clone didn’t know she was a clone. She could go and live a normal life as long as the original didn’t interfere. A more interesting scenario is that the clone actually finds out that she is a clone and I really tried to get into that clone’s head and think about how she would feel. I’m pretty sure depression would set in along with resentment towards the original and many other people. She would question life and death and souls and God (if that person were religious). Does she have a soul? Or just share it? These aren’t questions that I answer, but I hope it makes people think about the current state of things.

I read Eric Drexler’s Engines of Creation, which is all about nanotechnology and it was frightening what this stuff could do if it is taken all the way to its fullest potential. I think there is a possibility that we could scan people, much like in the movie TRON, and then resurrect multiple copies of them at a later date. The scanning and resurrecting mechanisms in my book are all nanotech.

CiCi stems from the original clone stories and my new found love for nanotech. I think the clone theme mixing with religion might make people think and maybe cause a little controversy. The nanotech is just cool stuff. My Nanenes can create weapons and armor out of thin air and they can also change the way a person looks. This sort of has the superhero side to things.

CiCi’s name may seem simplistic, but I was actually shooting for simplistic and something that will be easily remembered. I think people will “GET” the title as we progress in the story. Unfortunately I don’t beat the reader over the head with it. CiCi is typically a nickname for Cynthia, the main character of the story. C.C. is also her initials too. In the first book there is a brief mention of specimen “C-C” which is typically how batches of genetic material are labeled. A-A, A-B, A-C, etc. The next round is taken from A-B which produce B-A, B-B, B-C, etc. From A-C you get C-A, C-B, C-C, etc. “cc” also stands for Carbon Copy and I’ll attempt to use “CiCi: Mail” for my letters column until IBM / Lotus tells me not to (they have the “cc:mail” product). “cc” or “c times c” is also a piece of E = m * c * c where “c * c” is the speed of light squared. So she shares her name with the root of how she actually transforms. There are many references to the letter C when it comes to computers and programming (C:\, C, Objective C, C++ and now C#). See, being a nerd can be pretty helpful at times.

Hmmm, for that last part… I think the Italian chain moved into Denver last year, but I did my research on the name quite a while ago, well at least my lawyers did, and it took thousands of dollars to make sure that there were no conflicts with registering Spilled Milk® and CiCi®. The search takes into consideration the names that sound alike. We’re not in the same industry so there wasn’t any conflict. There aren’t many in-studio jokes at all, because it’s pretty much just me in my basement gathering all of this artwork together and sending e-mail trying to convince the artists to finish when they said they would.

Bucky: Does CiCi's character design/skimpy costume reveal a tribute to Heavy Metal in any way?

Smart: I don’t know if it’s a tribute or not, but I designed the CiCi logo and incorporated that into her staff and chest plating. The symbol does actually have meaning, but that scene was left out of issue #1. The missing scene has CiCi's cross falling off and one of the guards bends it and smashes it out of shape. She eventually gets it back, but the cross holds a memory of that shape and refines it into what we see.

The CiCi logo was redesigned by Monte, but the main shapes did not get the redesign and held fast to the original.

I certainly like Heavy Metal, I actually own it on laser disc, but I’m more of an Akira fan that Heavy Metal.

Bucky: CiCi seems to think she has somehow lost all her humanity while we see her in her uniform. Moreso, she seems to have lost her faith. Are there Christian ties in the book, and if so, how has the public responded to them?

Smart: Cynthia Christiansen was brought up in a fairly strict religious household. The first pages of the book are actually from a scene we will return to in issue #4. It’s sort of a prelude of things to come. It probably confused some people, but for those who caught the time difference they were pleased. So by the end of the book she has pretty much lost her faith, because she ends up finding out that she is indeed a clone and knows how she was created.

In the ongoing series I plan on having her faith just out of reach, but there is always hope that she will eventually find it again. 

Bucky: Indeed, is CiCi still human?

Smart: Oh yes, very. The nanenes live inside of her and are essentially symbiotic. They haven’t touched her DNA in any way. They may have tweaked or will tweak an attribute here or there, but nothing that would change her species. By an outside observer it may look like she is not human anymore, but I suppose the nanenes make her “super” human and I guess that’s what makes her a comic book character.

Bucky: What is the importance of CiCi thinking she has a twin?

Smart: I’ve always been fascinated by twins and the coincidental telepathy that goes on there. I guess I watch too much Discovery Channel. I feel that it’s important, because there is some weird connection that twins have. I can’t explain it. It might have something to do with brain wave patterns. I just don’t know, but it’s something that I’d like to explore.

In future stories CiCi does find the original Cynthia and, well, all hell breaks lose. It’s that whole Highlander / Doppelganger thing. Stay tuned…

Bucky: Explain what is meant by "Unused memory" in issue 1. How does that concept tie into the whole "Armageddon" theme, and does that tie back into the biblical undertones?

Smart: This whole scene was used to introduce the Garbage Collector and show that he is one bad dude. At least the images show him hunting down this clone and the sub-text talks about a process within a computer that finds unused memory within a program and sort of recycles it. This process is called “garbage collection”. Lisp, Java, Visual Basic, and a few other programming languages have this construct built in. It’s just the way memory is handled when you use one of those languages. I’m “old school” so I used Lisp as the example.

The “unused memory” is in reference to an actual “garbage collector” that is a process in Lisp that goes around and collects the unused memory that a program is no longer using. In many languages including Lisp, this process is used to clean up after programs so they will have memory later on. Programs that run on your computer, say Microsoft Word for instance, allocate memory so they can display files or graphics. When you close that file you don’t need that memory anymore; so rather than disposing of it explicitly, you just stop using it. In a sense that program “forgets” about that memory because it loses the reference to it. The garbage collector (another process that is running within your computer).

Now I’m not saying that Word was written in Lisp. Don’t get me wrong. I was just using that as an example because most people are familiar with Word and know it’s something that runs on your computer.

One of the readers thought that this whole scene was virtual, which I found VERY interesting. I didn’t even see it that way, but I guess it could be thought of all happening within a computer and the scene is just glorifying this process. Although the scene is happening in the physical world and the subtext is explaining the virtual world. I still thought that his experience was great, because it allows for different interpretations of the same scene.

Bucky: What's up with the spilled milk scene. It happens twice. Are there two people having a similar experience, or is CiCi in some sort of loop?

Smart: Yes and no. LOL. Well mostly YES (to the first part). The first scene is where the original Cynthia wakes up. There really isn’t anything wrong with her, so she’s free to go. She goes back to college, boyfriend, mom and dad. She gets to have her normal life that she’s always known.

The second scene is where CiCi wakes up. Now I refer to her as CiCi, because even though she thinks she is Cynthia, she’s not. Throughout the story, Max refers to her as Cynthia because he doesn’t know what else to call her. So maybe that might be confusing, but I hope if this series is read in sequence that people might appreciate it more. This first issue is definitely not linear by any means, but for the people who can stick with it and piece together the clues I think they’re in for a real treat.

CiCi spills the milk again, because she is going to react the same way Cynthia did when she first woke up. Doesn’t everybody drink milk in the hospital? Their brains are going to be identical up to the point where CiCi undergoes her virtual training. This is why their dream sequences are slightly different, but the wake up scene is the same because most of her brain function has not deviated from what they were. Of course even if she didn’t have this training CiCi’s brain would be different from the moment she opened her eyes and probably a little before. The environment around her has changed slightly so immediately CiCi’s brain is taking a different path that Cynthia’s.

Bucky:CiCi #1 is available now. What teasers can you give us about the next 3 issues? Are they set to be out on time? How have orders been so far?

Smart: You mean I haven’t already ruined it for everybody?

In issue #1 there was the Kitty Lizard scene to introduce the fact that you can have cross bred species. We will see humans cross bred, much like The Island of Dr. Moreau. If you’ve checked out the website then you’ve already seen this. Hmmm. Max is younger than he looks.

As long as the colorist is on schedule then they will be out on time. The rest are written and lettered. I’m waiting for Beth to send me the color files so I can slide them in and send them to the printers. As of August 24th, issue #2 is at the printers and should make the September 11th release date. I kind of fudged on this a little. There will be five weeks between books so people have more time and the book will still be considered “monthly” because their release dates still fall within the prescribed month.

To be honest, I was disappointed with orders because I had the low number in my head and it was 6,000. I had sent out 1,500 of each preview issue to the top retailers and I figured on average I’d see an order of four from each store. Well orders fell short of that and I only printed 5,000 total. I’m not made of money and the checks from Diamond really aren’t that big so I didn’t print a whole slew of them. The orders for #2 only dropped off slightly and I’m seeing reorders come in for #1 so I’m hopeful that I’ll blow out of the first 5,000. . The good thing is that there is less than half of the print run left. Maybe with #2 coming out on time it will spark people to buy #1 as well.

Bucky note: Buy issue one! It's a great read.

Bucky: You've been able to find many great artists to contribute to your covers, etc. How do you do it?

Smart: It’s all about WHO you know. I met Monte Moore back in 1997 and I got him to commit to four wraparound covers. I love painted artwork and I’m a big fan of Alex Ross, but somehow he wouldn’t return my calls. LOL Don’t believe everything you read. I’m just a big Ross fan and don’t think I’d be able to get a hold of him even if I tried really hard. Well Monte knows this guy Mike and he’s the one who hooked me up with the Top Cow guys. Although I guess now they’re all pretty much doing their own thing and do some Cow stuff every once in a while. This all took place at the 2001 San Diego Con… I had actually waited in line for Dave Finch, because I’m a huge fan of his. I was very patient and then I showed him both CiCi previews and asked about a cover. He took the book and said he’d get back to me. He actually got back to Mike and said he wanted to paint. Unfortunately due to time constraints and his schedule he didn’t paint the cover, but he laid down some gorgeous pencils. Mike talked with Joe Benitez for me and I eventually talked with him on the phone several times during the project. I finally got to meet Joe in person this year at the Convention. Steve Firchow stopped by my booth and gave me his flyer as per Mike’s request. Mike also brought Andy Park by my booth and we discussed pricing and schedule right there. I heard from Keu Cha, Dan Kemp, and Joe Weems a little later when I got home. So I didn’t really have that much to do with it. I gave Mike a list of names and he did what he could do. Thanks Mike!

Bucky: You may not have known this, but John Nyugen, one of your #4 alternate cover artists, actually got his start at Outcast Studios! What's it like working with this guy, whom we all call "Joker?"

Smart: I think I saw a mention on his website about Outcast. I didn’t really make the connection. I thought it might have been two different studios. Anyway, I don’t really know John that well. I don’t have his e-mail or his phone number, but I can reach him through a mutual friend. I thought his e-mail on his site would work, but I don’t think he checks that one. Ever. I met John last year and he was gracious enough to draw me a pinup (the back of the cover #4 alternate). He did it in my booth and toiled away until it was done. He inked it that night and gave it to me the next day. That was totally cool. He had some people watching him and I snapped a digital shot every once in a while so I could show a work in progress on my site. It would be nice to have the time to put that up, but it may be a while before I get that done. He’s doing a new one for me where she has wings. Sorry, I can’t talk about it.

Bucky: I have to ask this: How did you come up with a costume that so promiscuously draws attention to nipples without showing nipples? How much do you feel you will have to fight the "eye candy" aspect in your book, since CiCi is a gorgeous woman, after all? The Marsilla cover is particularly interesting, since CiCi appears to have hoses hooked to her udders, and she wears a "Got Milk" button... Am I just a perv?

Smart: Okay, you’re a perv… LOL. I’m kidding. You set yourself up for that one.

Some people CAN get past the sexy costume and read the story for what it is, and some people can’t. The “official” reviewers or critics come down on me hard for the way her costume looks, but the people that bought the book love the artwork. Why would they have picked it up if they didn’t? They could check it all out on the website even before they ordered. Even some of the female fans like the costume and can read the story for what it’s worth.

I actually asked Matt about the strategically placed hoses and he said “Got milk? Get it?” I want the artists that work for me to have fun. I didn’t want to come down on them for the clingy clothing or whatever. I asked Matt for a cool looking cover and I think he produced.

I guess I’M to blame for her costume and incorporating the old logo design into her chest plating. Although I think I explain it just a little in issue #2 during her transformation sequence on pages 4 & 5. “Like a soapy film finds the best-fit curve between surfaces, these molecular machines trace every exterior point and shape her new armor like a glove.” That’s weird… Quoting myself. How shameless. But I figure it shows that the nanenes trace her natural outlines in form fitting her costume. CiCi doesn’t even like the costume and actually tries to complain about it in issue #2 as well. I mean, really, why wouldn’t she at the earliest possible moment? It doesn’t do her any good, but she makes it known that she’s curious about the design.

Bucky: You're from Colorado, and no one will miss the Mile High nod in your book. But why give the nod? Are you friends with the guys at Mile High?

Smart: I’m actually from Hawaii and I live in Colorado, but that’s beside the point. I don’t really know if it’s a nod to Mile High Comics. If you live here you know how many hundreds of companies are “Mile High This” and “Mile High That”. I guess it’s more of a parody than anything else. It’s just such a generic name that I figured I wouldn’t get sued if I used it. I’m guessing if you live in San Francisco that everything has the prefix “Golden Gate”. It’s true, if I say “Mile High” in everyday conversation I mean Comics. I actually do know quite a few people who work for Mile High and I’ve known Chuck Rozanski since I’d say 1994. It’s where I’ve bought most of my 35,000 plus collection.

Bucky: What does the future of CiCi hold? Will she go ongoing?

Smart: I really HOPE that CiCi will be an ongoing series. It really all depends on the fans. Since I’m footing the bill for this thing, I may need a windfall. I may ask for assistance in the form of ads or ask artists to take some risks. I’ve learned a ton so the next project won’t cost as much, at least I hope so. If there is enough interest in CiCi I’d like to publish the trade paperback.

I love creating villains and weapons with this nanotechnology and I feel that it’s totally open ended. Some people might think it’s magic like many of the other fantasy based books out there, but I will try to explain it away using this pseudo science. Since the technology is building humans or weapons yet, but I think down the road it eventually will.

There will be a few other supplemental “good” characters, but they will all have bit parts except for maybe one woman that is frozen and thawed out using the nanenes. I can’t really say anything more, or I’d have to kill YOU and everybody reading this interview.

Bucky: What other projects will Spilled Milk produce in the future?

Smart: I will also try to submit it to movie houses or have other companies do it for me, because I feel the general concept is really good. The first one doesn’t have to be the miniseries, but something a LOT more. I feel this story screams special effects, but it also has controversy and heart. At least that’s what I hope.

Bucky: What's your creative philosophy?

Smart: I don’t know if I have one. But I remember seeing an interview with Stephen King. He said he used to write down every idea that he had. But then when he went to that source for ideas and reference there would be some good mixed in with a whole lot’a crap. I used to write down everything too. But I’ve found if the idea is good enough, then it will come back to you.

Keep the good stuff handy, but backup EVERYTHING.

Bucky: Is Spilled Milk a permanent studio, or do you see it as the launching pad towards a larger commercial connection with Marvel or Image, etc?

Smart: I thought it might be an exponential explosion, but I think things will start out pretty slow since the initial sales were below my expectations. I’d like to find some other people that believe in the project as much as I do and help me bring this concept to its fullest potential. I think Spilled Milk will have staying power. If I have to ask for help, then I will. I don’t know if I’d want to be picked up by Dark Horse or CrossGen, but I’d cross that road if I come to it. I don’t want to lose any of the creative ownership, since they are my stories and I have a certain vision in my mind as to how these stories should be told.

Bucky:  Where does CiCi stand in relation to other popular lookers? Could she beat up the likes of Lara Croft, Fathom, Vampirella, and Witchblade?

Smart: Yes, all of the above. When you’ve got experience that’s been programmed into you through virtual simulation and destruction that works at the molecular level, I’m thinking CiCi could beat the best of them. Although with the last three you’ve got “magic” involved. In CiCi’s realm, there is no magic.

Bucky: Any cross-overs in the works for CiCi? Maybe a CiCi / Shi book?

Smart: I actually have a CiCi / Witchblade cross-over written up. It’s mostly notes though. I started to flesh it out, so to speak, for the “Write a Witchblade” contest, but I don’t know if I would have been considered a “pro” and have been disqualified or not.

I’d love to do just about ANY cross-over because then it would allow CiCi more exposure. Sure, she’s getting exposure, but I’m sure you can imagine her with more exposure. Yeah, I said it before, you’re a perv. Not THAT kind of exposure. CiCi needs all the press she can get to become more of a main stream entity. So I’d be up for a CiCi-Shi cross-over any day… Matt? Billy? You there?

Bucky: I noticed that there was NO advertising in the book except for CiCi. Are you footing the entire bill?

Smart: Why YES I am. It’s quite painful at the moment since I am technically unemployed. I thought I’d be able to strike up a deal with the artists, but everybody just wanted to get paid. So if this thing is successful, I won’t have to share it with anybody. Of course if it’s not, then it has been one HUGE tax write-off.

In issue #2 I did an ad swap with another publisher, Graig Weich. He’s doing this September 11th tribute and the book is called Civilian Justice. He’s been working on this for a while and exchanged ads and I paid the difference on the ad space and a spot at my booth in San Diego. So it all worked out. He’s going to print quite a few of these and he’s expecting to sell through the roof. At least that’s what we’re both hoping. He’s actually advertising on TV! That pretty much blew me away. So the more people buy his book, the more people will see the full page CiCi ad in it.

Bucky: What do you hope readers take away from a Spilled Milk book?

Smart: I want the readers of CiCi to think. Sure, it would be nice if they are entertained too. But what I really want is to have their brains on and think about what is happening and what CiCi is thinking about. I believe if people have strong faith then it may become stronger because they will already know the answers to these questions. Or maybe they will pose this question to their church, just as a little kid may ask about the dinosaurs or Martians. I just want people to be able to think for themselves and consider a possibility that maybe we are just a bunch of cells and there is no real rhyme or reason to things. Things are just the way they are and there are many things we can’t explain. This series won’t really answer any philosophical questions, but mainly pose those questions and show the reader a few points of view.

Bucky: In 3 years, where will Spilled Milk and CiCi be, if you have your way?

Smart: If I had MY way, all of the critics would have to post their resumes to their site to see what kind of qualifications they have. No, seriously. Three years from now, I’d like to be at least on issue #20 of an ongoing series. And I’d like to have my initial investment paid back. I don’t really see myself being big. I’ve been successful at doing everything from my basement. I’d like to continue to keep the overhead low and be able to pay the artists so they are not always scraping by. I’d also like to have built up enough contacts to be able to call on a bunch of reliable artists that can put the book out when I’d like it released. Working with this “no deadline” project doesn’t work financially and I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody. Maybe there are a few action figures and maybe a few statues too. T-Shirts, everybody’s gotta have a T-Shirt. And my ultimate goal which might happen soon is to have the Spilled Milk logo on a coffee mug.

For more on CiCi and tons of preview images visit SpilledMilk.com

--Bucky Carter EIC

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