Talking ‘The Horrors Of Being A Human’ With Cola Pop Creemees Creator Desmond Reed

In the same way that you always hope they’ll be an encore at concerts, it’s been two years since Birdcage Bottom Books first published The Cola Pop Creemees: Opening Act. Fans of Desmond Reed‘s fictional band can rejoice, though, because the Cola Pop Creemees are getting back together in The Horrors of Being a Human: A Cola Pop Creemees Comic. For more on the new collection, check out this interview with Reed below:

Rachel Bellwoar: In the introduction you talk about going right from finishing The Cola Pop Creemees: Opening Act to working on this book. How are you feeling this time around?

Desmond Reed: It’s true! I started The Horrors of Being a Human less than a week after finishing Opening Act. I actually just completed a third book as well – I’m insane! I’ve been on a frantic comic pace for five years and have reached the point where I might actually take a break. I built my whole world around creating comics, and three books later… I’m tired! Is it possible to just be a normal person again? Was I ever a normal person to begin with? Could these questions (and more) be answered in a fourth book? Stay tuned and find out!

Bellwoar: Do you choose your titles before you start writing or did The Horrors of Being A Human come afterwards?

Reed: My original title for this book was actually Mixtape, as it contained many different stories and comics that came together to form a cohesive work. It was the good folks at Microcosm Publishing who suggested a title more descriptive of the actual content and subject matter of the book. I remember at some point the working title was Happy/Sad, but I think that was more of a placeholder. My main contact at Microcosm was Elly Blue, and after tossing ideas back and forth we eventually landed on The Horrors of Being a Human, which is the best title by a country mile. I’m very grateful to Microcosm for their valuable insight!

Bellwoar: What was it like drawing the cover for this collection (it reminded me of the joke wall on Laugh In) and could you ever see yourself doing an entire Cola Pop Creemees story in color?

Reed: When I pitched the book, it had a completely different cover. It was chaotic and colorful, but didn’t really represent what the book was about. Microcosm suggested something a bit clearer, and their wisdom again paid off in a big way. I set out to make a simple cover, and I love the way it came out. My thought was for each character in the book to occupy a different part of the brain. Is that what’s coming across? Maybe? Either way, I just like drawing the Cola Pop Creemees in color. In fact, the first 100 pages of the third book I just finished are indeed in color! It’s the first time I’ve done that, and it looks awesome!

Bellwoar: “Lefty” is a story you originally released as a standalone comic. Why did you decide to include it in this collection versus in Opening Act?

Reed: “Lefty” was actually written AFTER I finished Opening Act. Releasing indie graphic novels is weird! The timing is all off. I finished The Horrors of Being a Human in 2023 and it is only now coming out. “Lefty” was always going to be in this book because it is one of the most popular stories I’ve ever written. After injuring my right hand, I decided to attempt drawing a comic with my non-dominant left hand, and people just went nuts over it. I think I was only 12 pages in when J.T. Yost, who ran Birdcage Bottom Books at the time, offered to publish it.

Bellwoar: You also single out “Memories” as a story you’re especially proud of. Why did you want to give readers a chance to get to know Wallace T.J. better?

Reed: “Memories” is my all-time favorite Cola Pop Creemees story. I think it is only behind “Lefty” in popularity. Wallace T.J. is the comic relief of the group, and so I thought it would be interesting to have his goofiness be the product of something much darker. I have had people reach out to me about this story in particular because it affected them so deeply. I can barely read it without getting emotional… It just hits on a lot of heavy topics, juggling four eras of one person’s life. This is the heart of the book. “Memories” is also the first time I used patterns from security envelopes as textures in the art.

Bellwoar: Of the Cola Pop Creemees, Mona Gertrude is probably the character I connect with the most. I’d like to ask about “Sick,” though, and the decision to frame it as one of Mona Gertrude’s stories because with “Lefty” (another Mona story), Mona is the narrator but here she eliminates herself from her own zombie story first.

Reed: I really wanted to put these characters in an apocalyptic zombie story but knew there could be no continuity if I did that for real! Like… I don’t want this universe to include a zombie plague. My way around that was to just make it a comic Mona Gertrude was working on. I actually did that a bunch in the third book as well! What a sneaky trick!

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Desmond, and here’s to many more Cola Pop Creemees books to come!

The Horrors of Being a Human – A Cola Pop Creemees Comic goes is out now from Microcosm Publishing.