From The Scoop: Welcome to a More Holsom World

A few weeks back, we here at Scoop covered the Christian-themed comic book, Welcome to Holsom, from Gospel Publishing House. Written by Craig Schutt, with art by Steven Butler, Holsom is very focused on Christian faith and values while still telling a great story.

We recently sat down with Schutt to delve into the deeper meaning behind the series and to discover just what kind of wholesome lies with the town of Holsom.

Scoop: Where did you come up with the concept from Welcome to Holsom? What was you inspiration?

Craig Schutt (CS): I love comics, and I grew up in the middle of the Silver Age when Marvel was introducing its revolutionary blend of "real-life angst" mixed with mind numbing, Kirbeysque story-scapes. And although those tales were aimed squarely at preteen boys, they connected with a much wider audience. That was "all-age" material by default.

I'm not one of these guys that are necessarily unhappy with the direction comics have taken since then, but - generally speaking - there's very little material out there that I would be comfortable handing to my eight-year old son these days. When I grew up, comic books were filled with characters that were appropriate role models. I read an essay by Harlan Ellison several years ago where he related that much of his personal code of morals/ethics came from the comics he read as a boy. I can very much relate with that.
So Welcome to Holsom is my humble attempt to put together a comic that's above all (hopefully) entertaining, featuring characters kids can relate with and situations that balance the fantastic with "real life." Our penciler, Steven Butler, has described the series as "Andy Griffith meets Johnny Quest meets The Iron Giant," and I think that's perfect.

Scoop: Why take the more spiritual approach to the tale?

CS: The series is published by Gospel Publishing House, so obviously there's an unapologetically Christian approach. What might surprise a lot of people is how subtle that approach is in Holsom. I had no interest in developing a fancy religious tract or hitting people over the head with a proverbial hammer (spiritually speaking). Holsom's characters are not all Christians, and those that are Christians are not perfect.

Scoop: The characters seem, at least in the beginning of the series to be in different place as far as their faith and beliefs; how do the characters grow as the story develops? Do characters like Mouse realize that their faith is somewhat misplace?

CS: Christians and non-Christians live in the same world, and it's a pretty complex place for adults, much less kids. We wanted to show kids with differing perspectives interact, observe those dynamics, and give kids something to think about as a result. One of the basic definitions of a story is that characters will have changed in some way or ways by the time you've wrapped things up. One of our central characters, Mouse, is pretty much an atheist - an agnostic at best - when we first meet him, and his worldview is definitely challenged as the series progresses. He will have changed somewhat by issue 24, but - at the risk of spoiling the ending - that doesn't necessarily mean he'll become a Christian. At the end of this series, not everything is wrapped up in a pretty little bow, because that's just not how life is...

Scoop: How is Holsom being marketed to kids?

CS: Up 'til now, Holsom has been marketed almost exclusively to Gospel Publishing House's curriculum base, although anyone can order the books via www.welcometoholsom.com. Traditionally, GPH has not had a business marketing model that targets customers outside that base, but that's beginning to change. We deliberately developed Welcome to Holsom in a non-denominational fashion so that anyone, be they Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Lutheran, or what have you, could enjoy the series, so it makes sense that we try to reach that larger market. Hopefully, a series of trade paperbacks collecting the series will be available in the near future, as well.

Scoop: What is the appeal of the faith-based story in a world where faith is not as stressed?

I actually think the world is as interested in matters of faith today as it ever has been, but you wouldn't know it from watching and reading most of the media being produced. That's a topic we could go on and on about, but I'm convinced there's a large segment of the population who are frustrated that society seems to want to divorce faith from issues of morality and ethics. The truth is, most of us have a belief system (or lack thereof) and that has a direct impact on how we see the world.

Scoop: What message would you like to get across with Holsom?

CS: We don't want Holsom to be perceived as overtly message oriented. I think every parent has the same aspirations for their children: that they grow up to be balanced, moral adults that make positive contributions to their community - that the world is just a little better place because of them. That's pretty much universal. We hope that the characters and situations presented will provide an opportunity for kids and adults to discuss issues like peer-pressure, bullying, and honesty. We're not spoon-feeding the answers with Holsom, but hopefully we're asking some of the right questions.

Scoop: What do you want your readers to take with them after they read each issue?

CS: My number one goal with Holsom is just to spin an entertaining yarn. That's one of the reasons why we have a giant robot in the series - these are comic books, after all. My feeling is, if we've entertained, if we've engaged our readers, then we just might be able to do a bit of educating. If that leads to even a little enlightenment (we'd settle for a tiny "light bulb moment"), that would be groovy gravy, indeed!

• Produced for the benefit of all who enjoy the hobby of collecting, Gemstone Publishing's The Scoop is available free of charge to anyone who wishes to receive it. To view the latest edition, or to sign up, visit The Scoop online by at http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com.