How did you first become aware of the 'Small Press' or 'Indie' scene?

Growing up in the wilds of Lancashire and Northamptonshire, I'd been a pretty lonely comic book reader for years. Few of my friends read comics and my attempts at launching a small press magazine in Rochdale fell a bit flat. Then I discovered God's greatest miracle - the Internet!

In-between surfing for porn and buying cheap Viagra, I became a regular on the 2000AD message board and, after getting to know people, became involved in Solar Wind which is produced by the legend that is Paul Scott. My first ever piece of small press work was published in issue two; I then did the cover for issue three. I was also mates with Arthur Wyatt, who created Futurequack...err...FutureQuake and had art in its first two issues. I originally got involved as an artist, but as a full time journalist I wasn't content with spending my entire working day at a desk and soon began to want to produce my own magazine ...

What led you to try and make a comic book/magazine of your own?

Curiosity. And a morbid inability to stop working my ass off ...

How did you chance upon the concept of The End is Nigh? This was a project that was passed on to you, so how did you make it your own?

Paul Scott originally had the idea for EiN back in 2003 and I eagerly signed up then. Unfortunately, because of his enormous commitments with Solar Wind and Omnivistascope it had to take a back seat. I didn't help by not writing any of the features I'd promised! So things bobbed along without much progress and it very nearly faded away but, towards the end of 2004, Paul asked if I'd like to take the project over. Because the end of the world is such a wide and potentially vague premise, he suggested giving each issue a distinct theme and, since everyone loves a zombie, the first issue should be Zombie Apocalypse! To my utter surprise, this genius idea worked a treat and the submissions turned from a drying trickle into a flood!

As for my approach - I'm a big fan of Fortean Times and magazine journalism in general, so that became my template for EiN. One of the problems I'd observed at conventions was that some people are magazine people, while others are comics people, and others prefer funny stuff and so on and so forth. Such groups are surprisingly unwilling to pick up anything that doesn't fit into the category of what they're looking for so I wanted a magazine that had a broad appeal - this meant a heady mix of comic strips, serious features, funny articles, news and stuff. Above all else, I wanted a magazine that was value for money - at the time £3.50 was the average price of a small press comic and some of them were startlingly poor value for money, however, EiN can't be got through in ten minutes and of that I'm extremely proud; the contributors have been thorough, numerous and dedicated and I'd like to think people buy EiN out of either curiosity or because of some of the 'names' who also contribute, but read it and will pick up the next issue because of the quality.

The End is Nigh is very different from most Small Press titles, having more in common with magazines like Fortean Times - do you think this is a help or a hindrance?

As I mentioned above, it broadens our appeal and means people who wouldn't pick up a comic book will pick us up, despite the fact we have comic strips. It also allows us to explore every aspect of the theme in more detail and in different ways - we can have a serious feature about the idea of a zombie virus spreading across the globe, next to a spoof women's magazine feature set during a zombie apocalypse!

Considering the praise that has been heaped upon issue one, it's not exactly totally thankless but it can be a hard slog. The first issue was 64 pages and I designed all but 14 of them (which were comic strip pages), it was bloody hard work! And the next issue is going to be even bigger - with more feature pages! I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it though. The pressures of working for a newspaper can be very restricting and it's nice to be a bit more creative in the evenings!

What do you enjoy most about producing your own comics?

The creativity, the sheer thrill of picking up that first printed issue and, above all else, the chance to be my OWN editor for once!

How did you go about selling your comic?

I just started publicising it on various internet forums that I'm a regular on. It was officially launched at the annual comic convention in May and very nearly sold out! Since then, I've had to do a couple of reprints as people have ordered copies through the website www.endisnigh.co.uk and I was also at the London Film and Comic Con in July. In terms of publicity, we've been a part of the small press multi-ads in Comics International that Paul Scott arranges, there was a bit in SFX and we've had mentions on more blogs than you can shake a stick at! We sell in several comic shops around the country, where it's also been very popular - we've even sold to Mexico!

How do you see the comics scene in general today, both nationally and internationally?

Fairly stale, really. It's the usual story of one US giant dominating the other, selling more/fewer comics and treating its creator better/worse (delete as applicable). British comics remain in a kind of limbo, with 2000AD still the only serious title.

But what I am heartened about is the efforts being put in to bridge the gap between comics like the Beano and those like 2000AD; there's a 'lost generation' of comic book readers between about 8 and 15 who aren't really being catered for and it's about time comics companies started realising that once you've lost a comic book reader, you've pretty much lost them forever. I still mourn the loss of Judge Dredd: Lawman of the Future - a great idea ruined by that damn movie ...

How do you see the Small Press scene today?

I've only been involved in a couple of years, but that period of time has seen an extraordinary transformation - it seems like we've moved from the photocopier to the print shop! The quality of magazines now being produced is incredible with full colour covers, professional-level design and more access to the 'famous' of the genre than ever before. Currently, the small press IS the British comics scene as it's the only part of it that's moving forward and improving itself. It's tremendously exciting, but at the same time scary because you have to think of ways to keep up!

What's next for TEiN, and do you have any plans to turn your hands to anything else?

The next issue of The End is Nigh will be launched at the Comics Expo in Brighton in November. Its theme is War and the Apocalypse so we've got some great features alongside the usual mix of comic strips, funny articles and apocalyptic news. 2000AD artist Boo Cook is doing the cover and we've got an interview with a very, very, very special guest.

In terms of anything else, EiN is keeping me busy at the mo but I'd like to do some kind of anthology title that does something a little different. Watch this space?

To purchase a copy of issue one of The End is Nigh, e-mail order@endisnigh.co.uk, or visit www.endisnigh.co.uk. Each issue costs £4.50 and payment is accepted by cheque or PayPal. Issue two will go on sale at the Brighton Comic Expo 19th-20th November 2005.