Tony Trov and Johnny Zito have been garnering attention for their collaborative efforts in comics since their Harvey Award-nominated webcomic Black Cherry Bombshells, which was first published by DC under their Zuda Comics imprint back in 2008 and won Zuda’s competition that year for Best Comic. Now, with Bombshells, The LaMorte Sisters, D.O.G.S of Mars (which is being developed into a film by High Treason Pictures), and the recently-released Moon Girl (Red 5 Comics) out in the world, their company, South Fellini seems to be setting the stage for global domination.

I had the chance to speak with Philadelphia natives Trov and Zito about their plethora of projects, why they are so drawn to female protagonists, and how sometimes, starting a company is entirely dependent on finding the merchandise first.

How did you two meet, and when did you decide to go from friends to artistic collaborators?

Tony Trov: Zito and I are both from South Philly where everyone knows everyone. We ended up attending Temple University together.
Johnny Zito: Our first collaboration was a rock opera about the Military Industrial Complex.
TT: It drove the ladies wild.
JZ: We received excellent reviews but the Actor who played Eisenhower was seriously injured during a wire stunt and we had to shut it down.

When and how did you decide to start South Fellini?

JZ: We always made fun/silly things but weren’t organized enough to put a name to it.
TT: Then I found a box of t-shirts around 2005 that said South Fellini on them.
JZ: And we wore those shirts.
TT: And built a fort with the box.

You generally write female protagonists, which is really refreshing! What is it about female characters that interests you, or is fun to write?

TT: We started out writing about “two normal bros, just hanging out.” It’s something a lot of writers fall into.
JZ: There are plenty of stories about white dudes angsting, so we wanted to try something different.
TT: Our first project, The Black Cherry Bombshells available through DC Online, was a story about girl gangs in a world where all the men are zombies.
JZ: The high concept forbid us from writing a single male character in the whole story. It became really fun exercise and we applied it to our next few projects, LaMorte Sisters and Moon Girl.

It’s been said that women are portrayed powerfully in genre stuff in a way they can’t be in more realistic fiction. Is there truth to that? Why do you think that is?

JZ: Women are marginalized in real life. Genre fiction embraces outcasts.
TT: I think people might confuse strong female characters for powerful female characters sometimes.
JZ: Yeah, Clarice Starling is a strong woman but not physically powerful.
TT: Is Silence of the Lambs realistic enough?

D.O.G.S of Mars: tell me about where the comic is going and about the upcoming film!

TT: We like to describe D.O.G.S. of Mars as being in the genre of space-ploitation.  It’s a love letter to Japanese gore-core, 90′s MTV cartoons and the Mercury Astronauts.
JZ: Nocturnal monsters stalk astronauts marooned on Mars. Zoe, the swashbuckling captain of Earth’s first off-world colony, struggles to maintain order. Isolated on the farthest frontier of civilization, Zoe faces mutiny, death and dishonor. It’s Star Trek meets Lord of the Flies for horror fans.
TT: A four issue mini-series is available right now on Comixology.  We tried to stay character oriented and not get bogged down in tech speak.
JZ: We hit you with the maguffin right off the bat and spend the rest of the story chipping away at these character’s humanity as they struggle to survive.
TT: The comic is actually optioned by the film company High Treason Pictures. They’re putting out a film this summer called The Best and the Brightest with Neil Patrick Harris. We’re extremely excited.
JZ: We co-wrote the script with one of the producers.  High Treason also chose the illustrator for the book; Paul Maybury (Aqua Leung, Strange Tales II).  They’re looking at the comic as R&D for the movie.  It’s an interesting approach to film making.
TT: Wait, who is Maguffin?

Not everyone has a Droid or an iPad (like me!), so they can’t use their fancy apps. Does Comixology – or do you guys – offer your stuff in other formats, online or otherwise?

TT: Comixology is always advancing their technology. But you can actually read all of our comics on the web though Comixology, just click the “read online” button next to the comics. Our DC Comics stuff is also available on the Playstation Network.
JZ: For all of the analog comic book fans, please check out Moon Girl from Red 5 Comics. The first issue should be on selves at your local comic shop right now. Moon Girl is about masked vigilantes waging class warfare from the roof tops of 1950′s New York; it’s sorta like The Dark Knight meets Mad Men.
TT: The art is by the amazing Rahzzah who actually draws the whole thing with his beard.
JZ: I read Rahzzah’s beard is friends with Banksy.
TT: I read that Razzah’s beard IS Banksy.
JZ: Twist ending!

To keep up to date with these talented comic creators from Philly, check out the South Fellini website! You can also follow them on Twitter: @SouthFellini, @TonyTrov, @JohnnyZito

Words by Teresa Jusino. Pictures courtesy of South Fellini.