Double Booking: Tail of the Mummy Cat Creators Take Us into the Epic Double-Sided Adventure

Double Booking: Tail of the Mummy Cat Creators Take Us into the Epic Double-Sided Adventure

Mad Cave Studios and Papercutz have unveiled their latest offering for young readers: Double Booking: Tail of the Mummy Cat, a captivating original graphic novel by the dynamic brother and sister duo, Chas! Pangburn and Kim Shearer.

Embark on a thrilling escapade to the enchanting land of Egypt with siblings Otto and Nan, as they embark on an extraordinary journey like no other. Their destinies intertwine when they unwittingly unleash a mummy cat from its timeless slumber within a pharaoh’s chamber.

Guided by a newfound sense of adventure, they set out to track down the mischievous feline, leading them to discover not only captivating historical facts but also profound truths about themselves and the world around them. What makes this tale truly unique is that you’ll have the opportunity to experience the adventure from both Otto and Nan’s perspectives!

Double Booking features an innovative double-sided flip book design that showcases each sibling’s distinctive outlook on the unfolding events. Whether you choose to immerse yourself in Otto’s or Nan’s narrative first, you are sure to be mesmerized by their individual experiences. While some scenes entwine harmoniously to present dual perspectives, others veer off into divergent paths, taking you on a multidimensional odyssey.

The creators behind this wonder, Kim Shearer and Chas! Pangburn, and their shared goal: to emphasize that every story possesses multiple facets. It serves as a gentle reminder that trust in others and the ability to see situations from various perspectives can lead to invaluable life lessons, even within sibling rivalries.

We had the chance to ask a few questions of the creative duo as we learn more about this fantasy tale being told from two perspectives and what awaits Otto and Nan in Double Booking.

Double Booking: Tail of the Mummy Cat will arrive at your favorite local comic shop and digitally on April 16, 2024.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself? 

Chas!: Hey there, Geek Network crew! Thanks a bunch for pulling in me and my sister for an interview. The support of your team (and your readers) goes a long way for indie creators such as ourselves. It’s appreciated!

I’m just a standard mid-thirties nerdy fella. By day, I work full-time as a senior editor at Mad Cave Studios; by night, I’m a freelance writer and/or letterer for other pubs throughout the industry.

(I thrive off of creation and collaboration, so I’m fortunate to have superiors who encourage my pursuits. Not all publishers let this happen!) Although I’ve written one-shots, minis, and shorts through the years, Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat is my first OGN.

Naturally, being able to tell this story with my older sister is a surreal experience. If only we could speak to our younger selves!

Kim: Thank you so much for this opportunity! I’m an English teacher and librarian by trade, and I’ve been in public education for almost twenty years now. My husband, Jason, and I have two daughters, Mila and Stella.

I’ve been a lover of comics since I was six years old, and Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat is my first book! I’m also Chas’s big sister! 

Before we jump into it, can you tell our readers about Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat? 

Kim: Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat is a double-sided “flip” book where one side of the book is the younger brother’s perspective and the other side of the book is the older sister’s perspective.

The siblings, Otto and Nan, go on a trip to Egypt with their mother, but only Otto can see supernatural elements, so their shared adventure is actually quite different for each of them! 

Chas!: As Kim mentioned, Double Booking is a story told in twos: two stories, two unique perspectives, and two different art styles–all in one book! However, in order to get the full tale/tail, readers have to read both sides of the story.

As writers, we wanted to really lean into this viewpoint/perspective angle. As we all know, not everyone always sees eye-to-eye, but you still sometimes have to find a compromise and/or fully place your trust in other individuals.

We viewed this as both a great jumping-off point for storytelling and as a teachable moment for kiddos. The end result is a lot of action, adventure, laughter, and heartwarming moments. We’ve got a little bit of everything for everyone.

Of course, none of this would be possible if it weren’t for our partners in crime. First up and most important is our artist, Nic Touris. Not only did he tell Otto’s side in his usual art style, but he also came up with an entirely new artistic look for Nan’s story.

In a visual medium, you live and die by your art, so we’re immensely thankful for his masterful visual storytelling. Rounding out the team is Antonella D. Grasso as his color assistant, Charles Pritchett on production/design duties, and Stephanie Brooks as our eagle-eyed editor. Their combined efforts really show–it’s a gorgeous book!
 

The flip book idea is absolutely genius and I thoroughly enjoyed the dual perspective. How did the idea for telling the story this way come about? 

Kim: When I was an elementary school librarian, I noticed that my students who loved graphic novels were either fans of fantasy graphic novels like Dog Man, Lunch Lady, and Plants Vs Zombies OR they were fans of more realistic graphic novels like Twins, Smile, and Real Friends.

Whenever I would suggest they try the other genre of graphic novel, they were often very resistant. This inspired my idea of bringing the two genres together. I started toying with the rough idea of a younger brother and older sister who experience the same adventure, but only the brother can see and experience supernatural elements.

The brother’s story would be fantasy, while the sister’s story would be rooted in reality, and I wanted to link their two parallel adventures thematically!

That’s when I shared the seeds of this idea with my younger brother, Chas! During one of our brainstorming sessions, Chas suggested we use the flip book format to capture these two separate genres/narratives we had started constructing. 

Chas!: Yup, yup! After some snowballing ideas during a holiday break, we quickly massaged things into the story that it is today.

As for the format/presentation, I credit that to my love of the print medium. Be it double-sided “flip” comics for Free Comic Book Day, backup shorts in series like Detective Comics, manga presented in the original right-to-left format, or even novels like House of Leaves, the publishing industry has proven you can present a story in nontraditional ways that can be engaging, fun, and sensible.

With Double Booking being a middle-grade tale, splitting the book into two perspectives/stories also allowed us to–forgive the cheesiness–double down on our storytelling. What happens when that sibling isn’t in the room? What are they up to? What happens between these panels?

Not only will readers now know, but they also have a new story to read. It’s almost like an extra book full of “Easter egg” secrets.

Although each character mostly has a unique experience, was there anything that stood out about the creative process when telling two sides of a story? 

Kim: It was a full-circle moment for me the day I realized that Chas and I had actually mimicked Otto and Nan when writing the two different sides of the story! Otto and Nan are together initially and then separate, only to come back together again with the new wisdom they’ve gained and the strengthened trust they have in one another.

That was our journey as writers! We worked together tirelessly to form the foundations of the story. Then, we separated for some of the creative process. I took the lead on Nan’s story, while Chas took the lead on Otto’s.

After, we revisited the book in its entirety together, both contributing to the final narratives as we revised and edited and watched the manuscript come to life with Nic Touris’s stunning artwork. There was a give-and-take that very much mirrored Otto and Nan’s relationship in the book. 

Chas!: Funny enough, I didn’t notice that parallel until right now! Whoa. Haha, life really does imitate art.

On the technical side of things, this form of storytelling required the creative team to be extra mindful of continuity. From props to attire to dialogue, if something changed in one story, it also had to change in the other–it was quite a bit of juggling.

Thankfully, our editor, Stephanie Brooks, was always on watch to keep us in line. Consistency and continuity is always key–especially in a story like this one.

You’ve clearly captured a unique and truly entertaining story for readers for all ages. You also mentioned implementing educational components, what fueled including the educational piece, and can you tell us a bit about how you implemented it into Double Booking?

Kim: Having taught in the English classroom for much of my career, I frequently have moments when I’m reading a book for fun and think to myself, “Oh– this would be a great text to use in a lesson on symbolism!”  Or, “This would be a great excerpt to use when teaching connotation.”

The teaching and learning opportunities are always in the back of my mind. It’s magic when young readers fall in love with a book that also gets them thinking, and I always loved using graphic novels in my own classroom because they are such a fun vehicle for literacy and learning.

Chas and I wanted to create a story that was funny and engaging but also activate readers’ critical thinking skills with an unusual narrative structure and an exercise in perspective.  

Chas!: As a former child myself, I can confidently say that some kids are fickle when it comes to educational books or shows. They know when a book or show wants them to learn something, so they actively tune out.

They almost feel like they’re being talked down to. I know I did as a kiddo, so I turned to “fun” things that actively held my interest. Haha, little did I know that some of those “fun” shows and books still taught me things through their storytelling.

We took the same approach with Double Booking. First and foremost, we wanted to tell an entertaining story for readers, but in the natural course of storytelling, we were able to sprinkle in educational/teachable concepts about culture, mythology, and life itself.

What’s one important thing to you that you’d like readers to know about Double Booking? Also, can we expect to see Otto and Nan return for more adventures? 

Kim: I’d love for readers to know how funny Double Booking is! Every time we’d go through the editorial process, I would laugh out loud reading it.

Our manuscripts had a lot of humor to begin with, and Nic’s incredible artwork really brings the laughs home. It is such a fun ride! And I absolutely hope that readers will get to see more of Otto and Nan in the future! They’ve got a lot of learning to do and a lot more fun to have.

Chas!: Boiled down, this is a book about empathy. We’re all in our own weird little worlds living through our own weird little narratives. Sometimes we get too caught up in life to see how our actions affect others.

Double Booking is a fun reminder that these actions have reactions, and that’s always good to see events from multiple perspectives.

As for more stories, that really depends on the book’s reception! We’d love to tell more tales about this brother-sister duo and have all sorts of fun ideas cooked up to keep things fresh, fun, and interesting. There are a lot of fun supernatural creatures around the world! 

Any other upcoming projects you’d like to share with us? 

Kim: Right now, I’m working on a teacher’s activity guide for Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat! So, educators can be on the lookout if they are interested in incorporating the book into their lessons.

Chas!: Over at my day job at Mad Cave Studios, I’m fortunate to be an editor of various licensed books. From Dick Tracy to Gatchaman to Flash Gordon and more, we’ve got fun things in the works for readers of all ages. 2024 is just the beginning!