Gabrielle Cazeaux: What’s your favorite sandwich?
Bobby Singer: Buffalo Chicken with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and honey mustard.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: Nowadays, stories focused on political injustice, inequality, and exploitation of the working class are becoming more and more common, almost turning into a staple of this era of art. What made you want to write about it?
Bobby Singer: There wasn’t, really. The original idea for Final Gamble was very different from what I ended up writing. Originally, the book had a greater focus on gangs and the criminal underworld. As I was outlining ideas for future storylines, I came up with the idea of a society of elites who gamble with the lives of others for amusement, and I ended up deciding that that was where the real story and thematic depth was.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: There’s a trans character who’s part of the rich that exploit the lesser classes. Considering the archetypes of characters minorities get to have as representation is severely limited, this feels like an exciting opportunity for writing and reading. How was the process of creating the character, and is there more like that throughout the story?
Bobby Singer: The character in question, Mandy Chalk, was not originally conceived as a trans woman. When I first wrote the scripts for the first six issues, I still identified as non-binary. However, since January of this year, I have come out as a trans woman, and with that, my desire to see better representation for trans women in media has been amplified. So, noting that there wasn’t any trans rep in Final Gamble, I decided I wanted one of the 3 main characters to be trans, and she made the most sense to me as a choice. And yes, all throughout the story it is shown that people of all races and sexualities can be corrupted by wealth.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: Other projects that tackle the fight against the system often fall short, solving things by, for example, putting the blame only onto individuals instead of the system itself, causing it to lack the depth it has in real life. How are you handling this matter?
Bobby Singer: The rich own and control the world. It is made clear early on that the protagonists are on their own because their enemies own every law enforcement organization and government in the world. There is no moral justification for being a billionaire, and this book shows the lack of morals in everyone who has that type of wealth.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: The work you have made until now has been really varied. Did you encounter any changes that you found difficult or maybe exciting with Final Gamble? Were there any similarities with previous work that surprised you?
Bobby Singer: Honestly, there haven’t been any challenges. My team, consisting of Jorge Santiago Jr, Harry Saxon, and Geroge Gant, is incredibly talented and we all work together well. It’s definitely exciting dipping my toe into the thriller and horror genres. And I wouldn’t say I’ve spotted any similarities to my previous work.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: What kind of dynamic do the two protagonists have? What was your process for creating them?
Bobby Singer: Danny and Jasmeet come from different worlds. Danny’s an asshole who’s done whatever he had to to survive for years, while Jasmeet is a kind and respectable guy who was a superstar MMA fighter but lost everything in a moment of weakness. They butt heads right off the bat, but as they’re thrown into life or death situations, they start to bond. I knew from the start that I needed a gambler and a fighter, and as I thought about the kind of relationship I wanted them to have and the experiences I wanted to put them through, their personalities and backgrounds formed.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: How do you use the supernatural elements present in the previews?
Bobby Singer: The Hell in this book created by the elites of the world is one in which those trapped in it have their humanity stripped away and are treated as toys. Clothes and food are luxurious privileges granted only to some, you can lose your life on the whim of an elite, and your suffering is a form of amusement. In essence, it’s an extreme encapsulation of reality.
Gabrielle Cazeaux: On the Kickstarter it says there’s the possibility of continuing the story. Do you already have a mental outline of what you want to do, maybe a script or something similar?
Bobby Singer: Currently, the first six issues are fully written, and I have a written outline for 18 issues. I have ideas for even more than that, but I think we’d need to be a pretty huge success to make that happen. But hey, maybe we will be!