Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt both have a long history as storytellers. The husband and wife are best known for their voice acting, with Lowenthal having left his mark as the voice of Spider-Man in various projects, and Platt appearing in beloved anime and games such as Naruto and Fire Emblem. The two creators are now jumping into the world of comics with an original graphic novel titled Topsy McGee and the Scarab of Solomon. Set to release on Amazon on October 9th, the adventure features titular character Topsy, a globe-spanning adventurer that travels the world alongside her husband Captain Sean.
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Ahead of the OGN’s release, Lowenthal and Platt sat down with ComicBook, revealing the genesis of the concept, their early attempts at bringing the character to life, and what readers can expect from the narrative.
“It’s an adventure story. It’s Indiana Jones but in alternate timeline Victorian England,” said Lowenthal.
The character of Topsy McGee began as something the couple would use to entertain one another during quiet moments. “We would just tell each other stories when we were out and about and stuck at a bus stop waiting on something,” said Platt. The concept and character design for Topsy herself was modeled on Platt but “if I were a little more witty and able to have clever responses.”
The Topsy idea truly began to take shape when Lowenthal, appearing at a convention, commissioned an artist to draw the first piece of artwork of the character as a birthday gift for Platt. It’s at that point when Lowenthal says the character “became real.” From there, the husband and wife began looking for ways to flesh out a narrative they could share with the world. Initially, Lowenthal and Platt began working on a short, and shopped the concept as a live-action TV series. However, “TV was not a happy landscape for steampunk at the time,” said Lowenthal. From there, the couple decided to make a comic book, instead.
“Telling the stories in a comic book gave us a certain amount of control that we would not have had otherwise,” said Lowenthal. Both creators had grown up with comics, with Lowenthal being a fan of superheroes, while Platt had been raised on Archie and Scrooge McDuck. The collaborative process between the two writers would see them generate ideas together, and then decide which ones would best fit the overall tone they wanted for the story. However, making the jump from being comic fans to comic creators had its own set of learning curves. “Knowing how to find people in that field wasn’t something we had a rolodex for,” said Platt.
After meeting with the creative team Comfort & Adam (who handled production, editorial, and cover art for the series, as well as colors on issue 3), Lowenthal and Platt got a better grasp on the comic creation process. The couple decided to release the three completed issues as a three chapter graphic novel, with each issue being handled by a different art team. The graphic novel will be offered print on demand through Amazon. While the trade paperback tells a complete story, the hope is to continue Topsy’s adventures from here.
“This is a story that is representative of the types of stories we want to tell, but this is hopefully, in no way, the end of telling stories with these characters,” said Lowenthal. “It’s not like ‘okay we’ve told the story of these characters and now we can move on to something else.’ We want to continue telling stories in this world with these characters.”
“Yeah, and whether or not it stays in the genre or format that it is, or maybe it could become an animated series. That’s where we’re more experienced because we do so much voiceover and work in animation. This could become an animated series if it doesn’t go as a live action. There’s still possibility for stories with this fiercely heroic heroine. But there’s fun tongue in cheek and you’re getting to play with history so that we can teach ourselves a little bit more about the present. Because I think our world is a little messed up right now. And I think you can use history and things like steampunk to be able to sort of shine a light on that. But work with it in a way that hopefully the medicine goes down easier,” said Platt.
While Lowenthal and Platt want the story to reflect the real world, readers should expect some light. The co-writers note that Lowenthal likes good winning over evil. “It informs most of what I do, creatively and in life.” Readers can see for themselves how the story will play out for Topsy and Captain Sean by checking out the OGN on Amazon. The page to purchase Topsy McGee and the Scarab of Solomon can be found right here. Stay tuned to ComicBook where we’ll have more from our interview with Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt discussing Spider-Man and Fire Emblem later this week.
Do you plan on checking out Topsy McGee and the Scarab of Solomon? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
