Early beginnings
Despite making its debut in the 2020’s, Bobo & Popo can trace its origins to a humble comic Zach made while attending Hayes Middle School in Albuquerque, NM. Characters such as Bobo, Popo, Lizard, and Ninja Fox first appeared when the comic debuted in 2003. Encouraged by his seventh-grade English teacher, Sally Voorheis, the comic was limited to friends, family and a brief cameo in the school newsletter in 2004. As Zach got older more mature concepts and ideas began to take shape and the comic went into hiatus, officially ending in 2006. Although tongue-in-cheek references are made to the original series, the 2003 version is considered non-canonical to the rebooted series, though old stories may be retold or repurposed for the current canon.
2016 reboot
(left) Rough sketch of 2016 reboot, (right) the prototype for Chapter 1.
In 2016, the idea for a reboot came about. Now in Portland, Oregon, Zach drew up some concepts and typed up a few scripts to begin a professional launch for Bobo & Popo. Seeing the need to whittle the cast down to a few main characters, the idea was chosen for the reboot to be tongue-in-cheek story about the characters rebooting their own series. Called “Casting Call”, this was Zach’s first use of the Clip Studio comic software and was completed around 2018, around the time he restarted his education.
Ninja Fox Solo Story
Sketch and colored versions of a panel from “Ninja Fox vs the Syndicate”.
In 2019, Zach transferred to the University of Oregon and enrolled in its Comics Studies Minor. During Covid, a second story, centered around Ninja Fox was made. This story, now referred to as “Ninja Fox vs the Syndicate”, marked Zach’s first trip into darker territory. Ninja Fox’s quest to save a kidnapped girl is marred with violence and existential crises about missing out on his childhood for his job as an assassin. Further scripts were developed and a plan to collect all of these stories into a volume was launched.
2025
Themes such as international crime, nationalism, and dissociation are explored in Vol. 1.
Despite massive life changes, Bobo & Popo Volume 1 is scheduled to be finished in 2025. Broken into 18 chapters, a physical release is pending with chapters potentially being uploaded on GlobalComix and Medibang as well.
Future plans
Concept art for Volume 2
Scripting for Volume 2 has begun, with releases to begin in the late Fall. Plans for Bobo & Popo have been under wraps for 20 years but have been layed out in a 35 Volume blueprint. Stay tuned.
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