This is "Went to Tell Somebody," where I spotlighted different cool independent comic book series based on submissions from the indie comic book creators themselves via a set Q & A with the creators themselves. Essentially, the creators speak for their own work and "Went to Tell Somebody" will give them a place to do so!

This is an ongoing weekly feature, so if you would like to see your work spotlighted, as well, there's no time limit or anything like that. So you can submit at any time. It's not a first come/first serve thing, ya know? Click here for the current submission guidelines.

Today we look at Brendan Tobin and Nina Tobin's webseries, Blast Off!

You can check Blast Off! at Webtoons here.

You might be familiar with Brendan from his long-running stint as one of the artists on our weekly feature, The Line it is Drawn!

What is your comic about?

Brendan Tobin: Blast Off! is a serial webcomic created by myself and my wife, Nina Tobin. We're posting new installments every week or so to read on webtoons.com. It follows the adventures of Rodion Blastov, the calamitous rogue captain of the rocket freighter, "The Mulligan," through the cosmos. Through different circumstances, Blastov reluctantly gathers a crew: a longtime friend and confidant as his co-pilot, a malfunctioning robot as navigator, an android who doesn't like organics, and a simplistically naive alien. These misfits are thrown together and eventually learn to become not only a team, but a family. A deeper, more complex story lurks below the surface, and an underlying mission is revealed as the crew's journey unfolds. Secrets, adventure, mayhem, hidden pasts and conflicts come to light as the Mulligan hurls across the galaxy.

What made you choose to use the comic book medium for this story?

BT: I've always been a huge fan of comics and comic books and have read them since I was kid. Comics share a lot of qualities with cinema, telling a story through visual means, and I often try to think in film terms when crafting an adventure strip. Nina's an avid reader, feminist, and fellow lover of comics, history, sci-fi and fantasy. She thinks that the visual humor and emotional depth of this story create a compelling dynamic that will draw readers in and challenge them to question their own ethics and sense of justice. This medium is more freeing than film, and limited only by your imagination. If you can think it, write it and draw it, you can create whole worlds at little to no cost!

What aspect of your comic are you most proud of?

BT: Blast Off! is both my first long-term comic project, and my first with my wife Nina as co-author. We jive and improvise well together, and she has saved the storyline from some of my shortsighted concepts which would have robbed the strip of character and heart. I'm grateful to have her input and ideas on where the story is going and how the crew interacts. We don't always see eye to eye, but we do challenge each other to see the story differently. I think she's incredibly smart and witty and having her aboard as a creative partner has been great. We're proud of our collaboration, as it's given the Blast Off! story a humor, depth, and emotional charge that's resonating with our viewers and subscribers.

What's the one piece of philosophy and/or advice that has informed your comic book work the most?

BT: As I've seen my work change and evolve over time, I think humor, even if it's dark, has always been a prevalent force. The world we live in can be a rough, mixed up place, filled with immense suffering and adversity. Honoring this, while offering a little levity provides a necessary, even if brief escape. This applies to any genre, really. If you're doing gritty superhero, or deep existential stuff and infuse a little humor or absurdity, you connect better with your reader. Laughter is healthy.

Since this is "Went to Tell Everybody," tell everybody about another current comic book series that you would like other people to know more about.

BT: I'd like to shill for a local group here called the Boston Comics Roundtable, which is a collective of comic writers and artists that meet weekly in the Boston area, as well acting as publisher for anthologies and the like. They also work with the cats who run MICE (Massachusetts Independent Comic Expo) every year, a con that has been growing steadily in popularity. The Roundtable has just released Being True: An LGBT Comics Anthology.

Again, you can read the first four chapters of Blast Off! (with more to come) at Webtoons here.

And of course, once again, if you're interested in seeing YOUR independent comic book spotlighted in this feature, click here for the current submission guidelines.