I'm a day late posting this interview with writer Paul Tobin, who co-created the new graphic novel Gingerbread Girl with his wife, artist Colleen Coover. Lucky for you, though, you can still read the entire book for free online at Top Shelf's website, or pick up the smartly designed volume at any of your friendly neighborhood comics retailers.

The book is about a young bisexual Portland woman, Annah, with an odd relationship to her own senses: She's convinced that when she was a girl, her father removed the part of her brain that processes touch, and from that part, created a "sister," a new girl who feels all of Annah's feelings. When Annah's sister goes missing, so too does Annah's ability to experience sensations. It's an odd premise, mingling science, speculation, and talking pigeons—it's also completely adorable, thanks to Coover's lighthearted art and a sense of fun that underlies even the heavier themes. Q & A after the jump?

Can you describe your collaborative process?

It's remarkably non-collaborative, by this point. We so know what the other one is capable of, and how they go about what they do, that we don't stick our noses into each other's work much. I go off to one of my various writing places (studio, home, coffee shop, Laurelhurst Park, etc) and work on the stories, and then I hand off the completed scripts to Colleen, and step aside. That said, I know what she likes to draw, so I lean in those directions... but I throw her some curves just to keep her guessing.

I feel like Gingerbread Girl must have been inspired by a Scientific America article or an OPB special or something. Was that the case? How much science-y research did you do?

At one time I worked at the downtown Powell's Books, and was in charge of the science sections. Because of this, I was always bringing science books home, and neurobiology and the mechanics behind how the "human machine" is run... that's something that I find fascinating When I read reports on the Penfield homunculus (a section of the brain that plays a key part in the graphic novel) I began to think in terms of how I could work this fascination into a comic.

One thing that I thought was interesting was how you had a character with a somewhat typical level of emotional disconnect, who has a really atypical explanation for that disconnect - ie it's not that she's traumatized from her parents fighting, it's that she has a secret brain sister who's feeling all her feelings. Why were you drawn to explore that mental state; and/or, why were you compelled to explore such a radically offbeat explanation for Annah's condition?

I think "how someone sees the world" is a common theme in my writing. I find it fascinating (and often frustrating) that a group of people can look at the same exact event and take away completely different ideas of what just happened. Because of that, I wanted to do a bio comic about someone whose mental state couldn't be trusted... whose life was a bit of a mystery, and let readers judge the truth for themselves.

The way you guys kind of relay-raced the narration—handing narrator duties off from character to character—was unusual Can you explain why you made that decision?

Most works of fiction, almost ALL works of fiction, take the form of a slow release of incontrovertible evidence about characters and events, but I wanted to shake that up. Gingerbread Girl is more of a trial setting... where witnesses (in this case, the various narrators) provide evidence for one side of the case or the other. And it was more fun that way... each of the narrators (pigeons, boyfriends, girlfriends, magicians) have not only their own thoughts on Annah, but also their own perspectives on life, and that colors what they see.

I know you worked at Powell's for a while, is that why it played a role in the narrative?

Somewhat. It's more that Powell's is such a Portland fixture, and Portland is a very real setting for the graphic novel. You can see the statues outside of the old PGE Park, and there's a Voodoo Doughnuts billboard, and so on and so forth. So much of the story takes place on a mental level that I wanted to physical level to have a firm foundation.

Any plans for further Gingerbread Girl adventures?

Not at this time. But... I love the characters, and if something occurs to me, they might be revisited.