Notes on Goobers

Behind the Scenes with Cody Ziglar and Ryan Lee

In GOOBERS, something wicked and weird is crawling into Pine Cove. Equal parts Shaun of the Dead, Nope, and a late-night horror flick you maybe shouldn't have watched as a kid, Goobers is a full-throttle body-snatching horror-comedy about growing up, going home, and trying to keep your limbs attached when the parasites start popping.

Brought to life by Cody Ziglar (Spider-Punk, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Futurama) and artist Ryan Lee (Rick and Morty, Mountianhead), Goobers is the latest graphic novel from Vault Comics, packed with fast-paced gore, bug-infested small-town nightmares, and one of the funniest ensemble casts you’ll find in a horror comic.

Ziglar and Lee share the twisted origins, inspirations, and creative chaos that make this comic what it is—loud, gooey, heartfelt, and hilarious.

"Hello, faithful readers. This is Cody Ziglar aka “Zig” - the writer/co-creator of Goobers. I’ve been tasked with doing something I love doing – talking about the creative process of one of my projects. I was told this only had to be a paragraph but I’m verbose and annoying so it’ll go over, but luckily I don’t have to edit this down so that’ll be someone else’ problem!

Okay, where to start? Goobers came about from a movie idea I had many, many years ago while in grad school at SCAD. It evolved over the years as these things do, but the foundation was always going to be built on a bedrock of horror-comedy. Shaun of the Dead, Night of the Creeps, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Puppet Masters, and Get Out were always big inspirations for this. After writing a feature version in 22, I eventually pitched it as a graphic novel to Vault, and things just took off from there.

Goobers was a project I wrote during the height of Covid lockdown, where I had moved home to my hometown of Pine Hall/Walnut Cove, NC. Goobers was very much my way of processing all the complicated feelings I had at the time of staying in my childhood room, running into old high school friends, and generally just being a whiny brat.

Once I was paired up with artist Ryan Lee, the project really began to take off. Goobers is an ensemble piece, with Clay, Andy, Laura, and Kyle being an amalgamation of my closest friends in film school. I think Ryan did a perfect job in the character designs in giving each character a unique look and personality! The same can be said for the titular “goobers”! Speaking, since this is a “behind the scenes” blog, I’ll tell you why we call them “goobers”. I was writing for Rick & Morty at the time (shameless plug for my episode “Rickfending Your Mort”, streaming now), and we used a lot of slang in the room. “Goobers” being one of those words, which is what we used for any weird little alien/creature Rick or Morty could have a fun run in with.

Okay, I’ve already written more than one paragraph so I’m gonna hop off of here! Thanks for reading and I hope you folks enjoy our strange lil book!"
— Cody Ziglar

While Ziglar's writing layered Goobers with personal catharsis, pop culture nods, and an ensemble cast, artist Ryan Lee brought the goober chaos to vivid life and detail. With visual inspiration from horror icons like Gremlins and Junji Ito, Lee’s work turns the town of Pine Cove into a playground of expressive characters, exaggerated gore, and grotesque monsters that crawl under your skin and stay there.

"Goobers really scratched an itch that I had to tell a tale combining humor and horror sensibilities. I grew up reading goofy horror magazines and comics, and this is the perfect gumbo of what I learned from books like Cracked Monster Party and the gang of goobers from 80’s films like Gremlins, Critters, and Ghoulies. That pedigree helped me understand the chaotic whimsy that Cody’s story required. Aside from the obvious wormy monsters, an essential part of creating this book was making this city and its citizens vibrant and authentic. We all know a charming hamlet like Pine Cove. Once that backdrop and aesthetic was built, that’s when the Goobers get dropped in to burn it all down…and it’s still funny all the way through somehow. That’s the talent of Cody Ziglar!

Cody’s razor-sharp script presented the opportunity to create visuals I’ve never drawn before, both funny and horrific. The things parasitic space worms can do to a human body…not a pretty sight, but pretty damn fun to draw! Cody and the editorial and creative team were there every step of the way cheering me on: a wealth of enthusiasm and constructive suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised that on more than occasion I was asked to dial UP the carnage for the sake of entertainment. I’m a big fan of fussy and complicated noodling, so the draftsmanship involved in creating these sickening and horrific sequences was a rewarding challenge. I often detached myself from the actual horror of what I was drawing and I found myself immersed in the more technical aspects of the detailed, overlapping pieces of cartoonish gore. Basil Wolverton and Junji Ito were often my spiritual guides! Complex action-horror sequences can quickly turn into a sloppy mess so extra care was given to shape, weight, texture and legible compositions. For an effective horror story even in my cartoonish style, there needs to be a certain level of realism and energy in the ripping, tearing, imploding. On the flip side of that coin but equally important to successful suspense storytelling, I tried to make sure the main human characters exaggerated reactions/expressions were believable and hit emotionally. I really came to know and love these characters, it was a true delight drawing them."
— Ryan Lee

What is Goobers?

Welcome to Pine Cove. When Clayton Lowe returns to his sleepy Southern hometown, he's met with more than just awkward reunions and local gossip. A body-snatching alien bug infestation is quietly spiraling out of control—and it’s up to Clay and his friends (both new and old) to try and survive the splatter-fest.

Combining razor-sharp character work, absurd gore, and heartfelt chaos, Goobers is perfect for fans of Shaun of the Dead, Attack the Block, Paper Girls, Rick and Morty, Meddling Kids, and every '80s horror film you were probably too young to be watching.