Ree Del Rio is the artist behind the web comic, Space Opera. She graciously agreed to do an interview over e-mail on the strange and colorful world of web comics.

Alyce: How long have you been drawing comics?

Ree: Drawing web comics is fairly new to me. I have been doing this comic for about a year now. I have been doing side comics ever since I was in high school, which was about 10 years ago.

Alyce: What's involved in putting together a web comic? What sort of production schedule are you on?

Ree: A lot of frustration in front of the TV.... just kidding. Well, the comic I am working on is a serial, so I don't have to struggle with punchlines or anything like that. I usually try to do as many consecutive panels as possible to keep with the flow of the current storyline. I pencil it out, then I ink it, then I scan it in and color it in Photoshop. I write up the general jist of the dialog and send it off to Lois, where she doctors the script and letters it for me. We then upload it and update the site during the appropriate days. I update three times a week, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. I keep a tight schedule and try to keep my deadlines. It involves a lot of late nights.

How did you and Lois start working together? Have you known each other a long time?

Lois and I met about three years ago. Her and I hang out a lot. When she offered to help script the comic I decided to exploit... I mean employ her aide.

Do you determine plot lines together, ahead of time? From my admittedly scattered knowledge of web comics, it seems that many people have a writer who creates the dialogue and then the artist draws it. Why did you choose this more collaborative process?

Sometimes we determine the plot lines together or I would do a plotline and then Lois would do a plotline. I guess we do it the Marvel way, which is to draw things up and then determine the dialog around the plot. We decided to do it this way because I built most of the world and characters, so I have a good grasp at where the plot should go. Lois is excellent at presenting a better dialog to the audience. Lois is great because she is a professional writer with a background in theater. She really knows what she is doing when I present the story to her. She makes all the words just fit.

Alyce: How do you get your ideas? Do you find that they arise naturally, or do you spend time thinking up new ideas for comics?

Ree: Oddly enough, I get them in the tub. When I am the most relaxed, I come up with the greatest ideas. I sometimes write them down, but I find that the really good ideas stick with me for a very long time. I don't believe in spending time thinking about it, because then the ideas become forced and they don't work as well. I think I would be in a world of hurt if I wasn't doing a serial comic and was doing a punchline comic. Since I am doing a serial comic, I can take my time and let the story tell itself without worrying about having a constant hook.

Alyce: You said you don't have to struggle with punch lines, but there is a lot of humor in your comic. Do you find that's a natural evolution out of the characters and the situations? Or do you try to create a balance between serious plot and lighter moments?

Ree: People/characters are who they are. If you know your characters inside and out it is easy to figure out how they are going to respond to certain situations. Even the most serious storylines have a little humor in it because thats how these people would react.

Alyce: You said drawing web comics is new to you but that you've been drawing comics for about 10 years. What made you interested in putting your comic on the web?

Ree: Well, actually I had been seeing so many new web comics out that I really wanted to try one myself. I tried one on Keenspace, but it didn't work out, so I scrapped my original idea and decided to do a Sci- Fi comic. My husband bet that I wouldn't go through with it, so I followed through just to spite him.

Alyce: Have you been a Sci-Fi fan for a long time? What other Sci-Fi do you enjoy (books, movies, comics, etc.)?

Ree: I have loved Science Fiction since I was 8 years old. I loved astronomy and used to stare at the stars and wonder if there were other things out there. I used to watch The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, of course. I was geeky enough to go to more than my share of conventions.

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