The Penny Arcade web comic strip has taken on a ton of game oriented themes but it was still something of a surprise when it was announced that the team behind arguably the most popular web comic on the Internet was going to work on a series of web and print ads for the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to educated gamers about the ESRB rating system. FiringSquad decided this was as a good time as any to contact the team to get an update on their wide amount of projects (web comic strip, books, Penny Arcade Expo, etc.) We got some answers from the writing side of the team, Jerry "Tycho" Holkins

FiringSquad: First, Penny Arcade's web site continues to be more and more popular. What drives you two to continue to both create the comic strip and make your opinions known about games on the site?

Jerry Holkins: Well, we still like doing it.  I think the reason we like doing it is because we don't feel especially constrained by it.  If we want to do a story where one of us is magically transformed into a samurai, we don't hesitate for a moment.  If we want to do a set of strips about a businesscat and his imp associate who live in a surreal universe with its own dialects and internal logic, we do that.  Maybe one of us secretly line-dances in an epic and ancient struggle against an evil line dancing troupe, or one of us is writing a series of fantasy novels and comes in contact with his literary nemesis.   I think most readers understand that we need to perform strange experiments sometimes, and by and large they indulge us in that.

FiringSquad: Since your site is so popular do you think your strip and comments have any effect on the game industry?

Jerry Holkins: We have readers who create games for a living, but I don't think we affect it in a meaningful way, no.  I wouldn't call what we provide "constructive criticism."

FiringSquad: At the moment, what are the biggest issues in the video and PC game industry in your opinion?

Jerry Holkins: See what I mean?  This is precisely the sort of useful, valid perspective we don't provide.

FiringSquad: Where do you guys stand on the future of original comics on the web? Will they continue to be mostly free or do you see a move to paying to see original comics?

Jerry Holkins: Actually, both systems are already in place.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each - I think it's more difficult for pay comics to build larger audiences, and there's quite a bit of legwork involved in making a free comic enterprise support itself.  Comparing these two systems is an enormous, ongoing conversation in the webcomic community.      

FiringSquad: You two have also been creating special comic strips for various game publishers, especially for UbiSoft titles. Can you describe how creating these strips is different from the Penny Arcade comics?

Jerry Holkins: The process is identical, no matter what the impetus is:  we just talk about the topic until we discover something ridiculous about it.  When someone else provides the topic, it just saves us some time.  In those rare instances where we're able to make canonical additions to Splinter Cell or Prince of Persia, a "serious" piece, I assume full writing duties and my cohort manages the art.  That's not usually how it works; the writing is a collaborative effort under ordinary circumstances.

FiringSquad: The first Dark Horse collection of your web strips has reportedly sold over 30,000 copies and two more are in the works for this year. How do you like working with Dark Horse on the collections and what can fans expect from the next two entries?

Jerry Holkins: The first book has sold 43,000 copies, actually, with a third printing on the way.  I'm writing the third book in another window even as we speak.  As for Dark Horse, the only publisher I can compare them to is our old publisher, who never paid us and then tried to sue us.  I am prepared to call this a significant improvement.    

FiringSquad: Do you have any plans for any new original strips that are non Penny Arcade related?

Jerry Holkins: Oh, always.  We very, very often start new things that we're not capable of finishing.  Most of the time, those projects aren't something we expose the readership to.  Sometimes the designs and so forth pop up in the regular strip.  It's just a time thing, really, and between the site itself, conventions, special projects (comics, PAX, Child's Play), and fatherhood it has been difficult to find the time to create more pictures with words attached. 

FiringSquad: The success of Penny Arcade must mean that some Hollywood types have come by your door from time to time with all sorts of deals. Can you comment at all about any plans for a Penny Acade TV series or movie?

Jerry Holkins: We've been in quote talks with three separate entertainment entities, and in every case these people imagine that they are descending from heaven in a shaft of light, hand outstretched, offering to raise us from the ghetto squalor of comics and the Internet.  They offer terrible money for a tremendous amount of work, and we're supposed to accept whatever they say because they are from Los Angeles or New York.  We don't need them, and never will.  Our readers have assured this.  The next emissary from those debased kingdoms can fall to one knee before my golden throne and kiss my signet ring.

FiringSquad: The next Penny Arcade Expo is set for late August. We want to do a more detailed interview about the expo shortly before it opens but for now what hints can you give us about what will be happening at the expo this August?

Jerry Holkins: We're just trying not to screw it up, actually.  The event makes a little more sense each time we do it, and honestly at this point I will be happy if we survive the weekend.

FiringSquad: There was quite a stir recently when it was revealed you two were creating web and print ads for the ESRB. How did this come about?

Jerry Holkins: They had approached several "major" providers of this kind of thing, and in every case they were delivered material that was based on insulting gamer stereotypes.   They felt confident we wouldn't resort to that kind of thing, and they were right.

FiringSquad: How much freedom have you two had working with the ESRB for their new ad campaign?

Jerry Holkins: They came to us for something very specific, and initially we kept trying to change the focus to parents.  They were already doing that, but it happens in places gamers don't usually see.  That's not what they needed. In the end, we provided three ideas - and they chose the one without any swearing.  Crazy, I know.  

FiringSquad: What is your and the ESRB's main goal in developing this ad campaign, especially since the ESRB has used celebs like Tiger Wood and Regis Philbin in other ads?

Jerry Holkins: The idea they're trying to present is pretty focused:  They want gamers specifically to know "who they are, what they do, and who they do it for."  That's the way I explained it to someone else, and I think it makes sense.  It's a first step, and it's important, so we agreed to help.  We'd like to do something more focused on other groups, as I said - but that's not really up to us.  Hopefully they liked what we did well enough to trust us with something else.

FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you two wanted to mention before we wrap this up?

Jerry Holkins: Naw, I'm good.

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