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'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring' Interview! 'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring' Interview!

'Far From Boring!'

Papercutz, the premiere publisher of such popular graphic novel series as Bionicle, Disney Fairies, Geronimo Stilton, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Tales from theCrypt releases 'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring.'

Under itsnewest imprint Slices, the feisty graphic novel series is dedicated to cuttingup your favorite pop culture icons.

Following the killing of their mentor Dumb-as-a-doorby the seemingly traitorous barista Frappe, Harry Potty, Don Measley and Whiny Stranger must find a way to defeat the nose-less dark lord Value-Mart(He-Whose-Prices-Can’t-Be-Beat) and his followers. Along with other characters such as Paco Malphy, Robby the Elf, and Seriously Black, Harry with plunger ready must face the Odor Eaters in order to avenge the death of his parents and bring balance to the world of magic at Nosewarts.

The creators are Stefan Petrucha and artist Rick Parker; the team behind thebest-selling Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid (75000 copies in print) in Tales from The Crypt and such graphic novel hits as Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, Fox Mulder and Dana Skully, X-Files comics, as well as such novels as Making God, Teen Inc., The Shadow of Frankenstein, The Rule of Won, four volumes in the Time Tripper series and more.

Rick Parker has been drawing funny pictures since he was a little boy. His work has been seen in the New York Times, Village Voice, The Chicago Tribune, 60 Minutes, Marvel Comics, Nickelodeon Magazine, and has drawn such comics as DC Comics and MTV’s Beavis and Butt-head.

It was on Papercutz’s successful Diary of Stinky Dead Kid that Stefan Petrucha and Rick Parker first collaborated and the idea of the Harry Potty book was born.

Both Stefan Petrucha and Rick Parker recently spoke with Exclusive Magazine about 'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring' - but since Rick had been drawing funny pictures since he was a small boy, I first asked him what had gotten him into all that back then? [Parker] "My grandmother used to read picture books and newspaper strips to me when I was a little boy, so let's blame her!"

What was the first drawn picture you did that made some money? And what did you rush out and spend that money on?! [Parker] "I never thought of art as a money-making endeavor. The first drawings I ever sold were done on blank matchbooks in 1989 and sold for $3.00 on the streets of New York."

You first collaborated with Stefan P. on 'Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid,' so I imagine that this time there's more influence from you in 'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring'? [Parker] "With Harry Potty I was free to draw it in my own style, as opposed to Diary of a SDK, where I had to mimic the style of Jeff Kinney. No fun at all."

Stefan, what first inspired you to write such a book as 'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring'? [Petrucha] "With two daughters, my wife and I had the pleasure of reading all seven Harry Potter books aloud twice. Along the way, we'd enjoy making fun of certain things, using funny voices and so on. Following the success of "Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid" (in the 8th issue of Papercutz' Tales from the Crypt series, now in its seventh printing) I pitched publisher Jim Salicrup and Terry Nantier the idea of doing a parody series. Harry Potter seemed the best place to start."

And, with regard the title, did you check into all connected-copyright laws and such beforehand?! [Petrucha] "Over the years I've done a lot of research into copyright and intellectual property (IP) law, even ghost-writing a book on the subject. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand where the line is legally. Parody is a protected part of copyright law, specifically mentioned in the "fair use" clause."

"The rule of thumb is that you can use enough of the original material so readers know what you're talking about, but not so much that people think they're actually buying the original. So, our title and cover suggest the series, but also clearly states that this is an unauthorized parody. Though we think we're the best, we're hardly the first Harry Potter parody to see print."

"For instance, there's an entire book series published in the UK called Barry Trotter - the author's website boasts 700,000 copies sold. I look at it this way - from Siskel and Ebert on up, many people make a living critiquing film and books. Parody is the same thing, only in a narrative form. It's also important to distinguish between parody (which makes fun of the original) and satire (which uses the original to make fun of something else). MAD, Saturday Night Live and so on have been doing it successfully for decades."

Fair enough ... so, how much fun did you have coming up with the character names? [Petrucha] "A lot, but ultimately the names JK Rowling came up with in the original are pretty strange to begin with. Even more fun was coming up with the names of the spells - like rememberallthisstufficus, cappuccino vente, and gluteus maximus!"

Rick, what is now your favorite drawn page in the book - and why? [Parker] "For some reason, perhaps because I was giddy from exhaustion from working 16 hours a day for nearly five weeks, I laughed out loud for quite a while at the panel where Valuemart hits his thumb with a hammer."

And Stefan, what is your favorite part of the now-finished book? [Petrucha] "That would have to be the giant Haggard's fondness for stepping on mouse-elves because they make a popping sound just like bubble wrap. I have to say, though, that artist Rick Parker did a fantastic job sticking in background jokes and fun stuff that I'm still spotting when I look at the book."

Once a child has read it, what thoughts would you like them to take away? [Petrucha] "I'd like them not so much to have any thoughts as to be completely seized with laughter!"

Rick, lastly, what's next for you as a graphic illustrator? [Parker] "I recently completed illustrating the parody of the Twilight Series in 1,000 hours, so my next big project with Papercutz will be the illustrations of Stefan Petrucha's script for Papercutz Slices#3, Percy Jerkson."

And, Stefan, what's next for you? [Petrucha] "In a more serious vein, I currently have a historical vampire novel out from Grand Central Books entitled Blood Prophecy. As for our next Slices effort, we'll be dicing up the popular Twlight series with Breaking Down, appearing in March 2011. I'm pleased and proud to say the script was co-written with my daughter, Maia Kinney-Petrucha. Rick tells us he's bent on making the art even funnier than the first book!"

Interviewed by: Russell A. Trunk

So, if you would like to win a SIGNED copy of the 'Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring' book, just answer this easy question: In the real movie series, this spell causes things to rise in the air - but what is its EXACTLY spelt two (2) words?!

Send us your answers and if you're correct you'll be in the running to win one of these wonderful signed items! Just send us an e:mail here before February 1st with your answer and the subject title CONTEST: HARRY POTTY SIGNED BOOKs to: exclusivemagazine@flash.net

www.petrucha.com

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