An Interview With The Creative Team Behind ‘Monster Fun’ Tale ‘Sir Render’

Being brave isn’t exactly Rodney Render’s whole bag. Armed with the Sacred Slingshot of Mount Doomspire, however, who knows what kind of knight Rodney could become in writer Pete Wells and artist-letterer Stephen Webster‘s new strip, Sir Render, for Monster Fun. With colors by Barbara Nosenzo, find out more about this medieval tale in the following interview with Wells and Webster below:

Rachel Bellwoar: It took me a while to realise the genius of the title Sir Render. How did you come up with the idea for this strip?

Pete Wells: Thank you for the kind words! Like everyone, I love a good underdog story and I was keen to write about an utterly feeble, useless knight who regularly and reluctantly gets himself in, and out, of trouble. Of course, because this is the brilliant Monster Fun comic, that trouble usually involves all manner of beasties such as flatulent dragons, cheeky goblins and cackling witches. What’s not to love?

Obviously as the main character was going to be a knight, I knew he would have to be called ‘Sir’ something. I was playing around with names, trying to find something that tickled me, when I hit upon Sir Render, and I knew I was on to a winner!

This name change completely affected the direction of the strip and nature of the main character. It added a more much vulnerable dimension to our hero than I originally intended, who initially was just going to be a bit of a prat. I thought that having a very anxious main character might resonate with many of our young readers who may feel the same, as well as making us root for him during his misadventures.

I am a very proud special-needs teacher and writer by day and am privileged to work with a lot of vulnerable and anxious children. I really want young Rodney to be a voice for them. While the main goal of the strip will ALWAYS be to be very silly and funny, I hope that in future it will open the door to have some sensitive conversations around mental health in a light-hearted and accessible way.

Bellwoar: All of the names in this series really paint a colorful picture. Was there one that especially sparked your imagination, when designing the look for the characters or the setting?

Wells: I love those old historical names that contain descriptions, names like ‘Pitt the Younger’, ‘Bronwyn the Toothless’ or ‘Rangar the Quarrelsome.’ I knew the strip needed a lumpy, grumpy old wizard, so the name Boilbott the Pustular just came naturally. I’m head over heels in love with all the characters in the strip, but I think Boilbott might just edge it as my favourite, the big, daft cabbage!

Stephen’s artwork is absolutely incredible and he nailed all of the character and world designs pretty much first time. I am in awe of him! Though he has a style completely of his own, when pouring over his beautiful artwork I get little flavours of Asterix the Gaul and Calvin and Hobbes, as well as hints of my artistic comic hero, the late, great Ian Gibson. I’m thrilled to have him as co-creator, he’s exceptional!

Going back to the character names, I find rhyming names are a lot of fun to write. The main antagonist, who we meet in episode 2 is Dork the Orc, Rodney’s rough as toast mum is Glenda Render and then of course, there’s Rodney’s obstinate pet pig Brenda Render!

Stephen Webster: I can speak to the design. One of my all time favorite comedies is Monty Python’s The Holy Grail; one of my favorite comics of all time is Asterix and Obelix, and one of my all time favorite video games is Fable by Lion’s Gate Studios. All of those IPs inspired the look and feel for the art.

Bellwoar: Why did you decide to have Boilbott the Pustular act as narrator?

Wells: I really like Boilbott’s dialect and he’s clearly insane, so the perfect choice for narrator! When I’m writing his dialogue, I imagine a very strong Yorkshire accent, very much like the actor Brian Glover, or Wallace from Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit series, but at the volume of Brian Blessed. “Ee-by-gum, lad!”

This comedic accent, coupled with the mad old wizard’s cabbage obsession, really sets the anarchic tone for the script.

Bellwoar: The Sacred Slingshot of Mount Doomspire makes for a fun riff on the sword in the stone from Arthurian legend. Did you ever consider any alternate magic-infused items?

Wells: Nope, it was always a catapult! I think I was channelling traditional comic characters like the Beano’s Dennis the Menace or Minnie the Minx. However, the weapon was originally known as the very British sounding ‘Sacred Catapult of Mount Doomspire’ before Stephen coined the much cooler sounding ‘Sacred Slingshot of Mount Doomspire’ which I’m glad to say has stuck.

The big change in the weaponry department concerns the slingshot’s ammo. My original plan was to have the catapult firing magical balls of energy, or adapting to whatever situation Rodders finds himself in. However, once I’d established the motif that young Rodney was a pig scat collector, I decided that his ammo will primarily be little brown pellets of pig poop – yuck!

As you say, the story is ripe for mining the Arthurian legends and I will be certainly riffing on them from time to time. The strip is clearly influenced by British classics such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Blackadder, so like the Pythons, I will be taking inspiration where I see fit. As well as Arthurian legends, we will also be dipping our verruca-covered toes into the world of Grimm fairytales, the Iliad and any other myths and legends that will give us a giggle. Anything goes at Grotbottom, it is a silly place!

Bellwoar: The whole reason Rodney ends up in this mess because of Brenda the Pig, whose facial expressions are everything. What’s it been like giving personality to such a rambunctious pig?

Wells: Brenda certainly took me by surprise and seems to have hijacked the strip! When I was scripting the first episode, I kept writing things such as “Brenda Render looks unimpressed” or “Brenda couldn’t care less,” mainly as a joke between myself and Stephen. However, he did such a good job with her that she now has a much bigger role going forward. To add to Sir Render’s preposterousness, Brenda will of course be his stubborm, not-so-noble steed, much to the amusement of everyone. Well, everyone but her of course.

Funnily enough, Brenda was actually the name of my dear old, long-departed mother! I’m sure she’d be thrilled to know she’s being immortalised as a fat, grumpy pig. It’s what she would have wanted…

Bellwoar: This might be the most important question of all but what’s the deal with cabbage being so prominent in this world?

Wells: It’s no secret that poor Boilbott has terrible problems with his bowels; his tubes get gummed up at the slightest nibble of fly pie or the teensiest whiff of a bunion bap. It’s well known throughout Grotbottom that cabbages are great for a healthy bowel, promoting flatulence and helping to keep you regular. They are also delicious with ice cream.

Cabbages will continue to be an important part of the strip going forward. In fact, right now I am busy plotting Rodney and Co’s first ever epic journey, ‘The Quest for the Golden Cabbage!’ So watch this space, things are going to get a lot sillier and a lot more erm… cabbage-ier!?!

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Pete and Steve!

Sir Render debuted in Monster Fun’s Magic and Mystery issue. You can still order a copy of the June issue here.