By Zack Quaintance — If you haven’t yet read Wrassle Castle from Vault Comics’ imprint Wonderbound, I suggest changing that. The book — which is aimed at middle-grade readers — is a delightful and frenetic blast of energy that combines fantasy tropes, rapid-fire jokes, and wrasslin’. It’s a breezy read, suitable for all ages, and you know what? It’s also getting a sequel.

Due out April 13, Wrassle Castle Round 2 looks like it’ll pack the same wonderful punch as its predecessor, and today we are fortunate to have an interview with co-writers Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover. You can check out our conversation below, accompanied by exclusive preview pages from the forthcoming book…enjoy!

INTERVIEW: Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover talk WRASSLE CASTLE ROUND TWO

ZACK QUAINTANCE: I thought Wrassle Castle Round One was a blast, and I was curious if much had changed on your end for round two, as far as how the team worked on the book?

PAUL TOBIN: We worked pretty much by the same method. Colleen and I would map things out in our head, and then I sit down and rough out the overall story, the page breakdowns, and the dialogue, checking with Colleen each step of the way. Once the script was a big pile of notes that nobody could understand except the two of us, we’d take turns bringing the script to full life. Then it was time for Galaad’s magic!

COLLEEN COOVER: Yeah, co-writing is quite a departure from the way Paul and I work as a writer/artist team, where he writes a complete script, and then I draw it, the same way we would work as individuals with any other collaborators. It takes some getting used to, but it’s really fun to connect with Paul on the story. And for a person who is usually the artist on comics projects, it’s amazing to watch our story be brought to the page by Galaad!

ZACK: Lydia's character is so much fun. Are there ever ideas for her that feel too over the top? Or is nothing too outrageous? Thinking here specifically of the opening and the bees...

PAUL: Offhand, I can’t think of a single instance where we decided something was too far. Maybe there were a couple “too inappropriate” moments, but Lydia is ALL ABOUT being over the top! She’s the kind of person who, if she ever stopped to wonder if she was going too far, would probably end up deciding, “Nope! Not far enough!”

COLLEEN: We were influenced by Japanese sports manga for Wrassle Castle, as well as mangas like One Piece and Dragonball Z, where pushing one’s power past any conceivable limit is what it’s all about! So scaling back the outrageousness was never an impulse we had to think about.

ZACK: Both of these books have had one of my favorite qualities in entertainment -- being able to appeal to childlike wonder while working in clever jokes for adults too. How much do you think about that balance while working on these comics?

PAUL: Honestly, I think Colleen and I don’t think about it too much on a conscious level. Our main frame of consideration is, “Do WE like this?” We’re our own first audience, especially when we’re writing together, so as long as we’re passionate and amused, it’s our hope that the readers will be, as well.

COLLEEN: Yeah, creating comics for kids is pretty much the same process for us as creating them for grownups. It’s all just a matter of keeping in mind who you’re presenting them to. It’s very much the same way you have a conversation with your little niece or nephew, versus the way you talk with your friend from college, or whatever. You know, based on who you’re talking with, what you can say and how you can say it.

ZACK: These books also combine fantasy elements with "wrasslin" so seamlessly. I'm curious, where did the idea to bring them together originally come from?

PAUL: I’m a person who sings in the shower. More, I babble in the shower. Sometimes ideas come to me there, too. I can remember one time blurting out “Wrassle Castle” while trying to make up some nonsensical song or something, and the phrase stuck in my head. I mentioned it to Colleen. It stuck in her head. So we had wrassling there, and castles are automatically fantasy-related in my head, so the combo was instilled from the very start.

COLLEEN: I was like: “It’s perfect. It writes itself!” It does not, as it happens, write itself. But the title was very much the jumping off point, and everything fell into place from there.

ZACK: Finally, what's one of your favorite wrasslin moves in the book and why? There are so many good ones…

PAUL: Offhand, I think “Slapalanche” amuses me the most, the one where Lydia slaps her opponent a couple hundred times in quick succession. It became a fave because publisher Adrian Wassel was so amused with it, and Galaad’s interpretation of it on paper always makes me laugh, with all those floating “slap” hands, and the expression of her poor opponent!

COLLEEN: My favorite move makes its debut in Volume Two, and I don’t want to spoil it. But it comes from an ally of Lydia’s, and it involves water. That’s all I can say!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He has written about comics for The Beat and NPR Books, among others. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.