THE ORIGINS OF GROKK!!
It started out as a dream. I don't mean the “one-day-I'm-gonna-do-a-comic-with-my-son” kind of dream. I mean, I was sound asleep and dreamed it.
In the dream, I am lost in a maze of fire escapes, narrow alleys, street vendors, music, lights, crowds of people. I am traveling up and down staircases and pushing through throngs of people as I am having an excited conversation with....August Ragone.
Just for the record, I don't know August Ragone. I spoke to him once at G-Fest when he had a new book come out. (Yes, I know....the crowded labyrinth setting is my subconscious interpretation of G-Fest).
In the dream we are in line at a food stand talking about my son's new comic book “Gronk.” Everybody is loving it and August is going on and on about how great it is.
I keep trying to tell him my son drew it, but the crowd is too loud and he can't hear me. I open a copy of the comic and see the contents.
It's a kaiju story about a giant primate made out of stone, its flesh cracked with seams of exposed lava. In a flash, I see the whole story. It's a origin tale with a scientist in a room pointing at images on the wall in front of a collection of atom-punk soldiers
Somehow, in the dream, I knew “Gronk” was a good guy.
Then I wake up.
Later that day, I call my son, Sam, in Chicago and tell him about the dream. He says “If you write it, I'll draw it.”
So we went for it.
A quick Google search kills the name “Gronk” right off. (I'm not a sports guy but I know who the New England Patriots are). There's the Heinlein thing but we have an extra "k" and no relation to his use or meaning.
After struggling with several variations Sam came up with the name “Grokk.” It has the same feel but without any sports connotations.
I knocked out the script (hey, I already knew the story) and sent it to Sam to start the labor-intensive task of illustration.
He takes several runs at character designs and finally settled on the one found within these pages.
After a few months, the comic was complete.
So here it is. Literally a dream come true thanks to my son's hours of effort.
I hope you enjoy.
- Matt Hiebert, August 2020