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21st March 06

Only a few anthologies replied to my submissions, among them was Phil Hall and his Mutant Media fanzine. I did a Wolverine spot illustration but it was badly distorted when it saw print. A minor point but still quite disillusioning to a 15 year old.

So I thought about doing an anthology myself, arranged the use of the Science Block’s photocopier, and advertised as Infinity, then later Invictus Comics. The idea was to get other people to do strips alongside my own. It fell apart though after a few months when the other enthusiasts who agreed to help put the comic together dropped out. I distinctly remember most of the people who submitted, including someone who just sent a load of heads drawn on exercise book pages with swastikas on it, to Samurai Jam-era Andi Watson. If any of them are still out there and read this, except swastika boy obviously, please get in touch (I still have most of their submissions).

After that I joined the Ian Hering Cartoon Workshop at Liverpool College in 1995, which was an invaluable education. My mind was suddenly expanded beyond 2000AD and I started to get introduced to the likes of Taboo, Exit, Maus and Luther Arkwright. They also had visiting artists, including Carl Critchlow who took the time to sit down with me and go through my work. Every city should have a Cartoon Workshop and a Carl Critchlow.

How did the formation of Engine Comics come about?

There were still stories that I had developed and messed around with during Uni in 1997 and after working at the comic shop there decided to get back into trying to make some. I think it was at the UKCAC 97 that I first met Shane Chebsey. I got to see him again at various conventions after and became firm friends, introducing me to the likes of Bulldog and Streetmeat, and proving that people could do their own comics.

Artwork by Marc Olivent

It really wasn’t until 1999 after I graduated that I could really start to get back into it, and advertised again in Comics International. I think it was Comics 2000 in Bristol, Dez Skinn held a talk to create the perfect comic book, christened Well Hung Judy by the crowd, and had four black and white 8 page stories, very similar in fact to Dez’ Warrior.

Both that talk and Warrior were the main influence for Fusion. I published Fusion Zero in 2001, which had four very different self-contained stories in it, 40 pages, and was given away free. The plan was to create a group where people could get feedback on their work and develop, rather than just getting any old crap published. As it was, not everyone liked getting feedback, but I think it’s absolutely important to grow creatively.

It’s also really cool when you get complimentary letters.

What was the idea behind the Accent UK collective?

Through marts and conventions and Shane’s help, a group of us realised were we all more or less in the same area around Manchester, we all were dedicated and serious about developing our work and producing our own comics, but were still limited by money. So it made sense to agree a partnership, and pool resources. This was November 2002, and we came up with the name and logo over cups of coffee and jaffa cakes in my cold leaking studio. We decided to do a US format as a tester, called Remembrance Days.

What led you to decide to publish a magazine about UK comics itself in Redeye?

A lot of what I like to do is looking at what’s being done and seeing what ISN’T being done, what should be there, what I would like to see myself.

At the time there wasn’t anything like Fusion being produced. Now there’s loads of A4 anthologies. There wasn’t any US format anthologies either, likewise people have starting to do them also. With Redeye, we were in the Hotel Bar of Holiday Inn at Comics 2003, and by 4am we had done a 26 point list of a SFX style ultimate comics magazine, including square-binding, colour pages and cover mounted DVD’s, but with less adverts. At the moment we’re only on the fourth point, so still plenty to do.

We realised that there was nothing out there besides CI’s reviews section and TRS2 that was covering the massive developments in the scene, or gave it any focus. I wanted to format the magazine to treat any small press title with the same integrity and approach as CI or The Comics Journal. The idea was that if we took ourselves seriously others would do as well. Presentation and content was improving rapidly year on year and now it’s pretty much impossible to distinguish a small press or indie title from anything else on the shelves at Forbidden Planet.

So when you can no longer make the distinction, why bother trying? In the end its all just comics, and no one except the anorak fanboys really cares if it’s by Marvel, AUK or Bulldog, all they want is good stories. And that should be the only criteria. If the comics industry is ever going to expand they really need to get beyond The Big Two mentality and realise that superheroes are just one genre among many, not a medium upon itself.

Artwork by Marc Olivent

If anyone creates their own comics or magazines to get thanked for it then they’re going to be disappointed. People should create comics because the love doing it. I love doing Redeye and the rest, and sometimes I do get encouraging emails. Only now and then do you get something negative, but you can’t please everybody all the time. You just do the best you can.

What do you enjoy most about producing your own comics?

I always remember Ridley Scott’s answer to the same question about making films. I love creating worlds. I love the fact that having a blank page in front of you gives you god like powers to build or destroy universes. You can go backwards or forwards in time, can look inside the windows of those in power and imagine their conversations.

I started to realise just what could be done when drawing comics when I started off in Fusion Zero. I was drawing a conversation in Deviants Zero, between myself and the comic shop manager I was working for, and decided I wanted to be wearing a Superman T shirt, which I didn’t have at the time. I then drew my manager Noel in a Punisher T shirt, which were also handy symbols for doing the captions. As I was doing all the detail in the backgrounds, I just started adding in-jokes, like the entire shelf showing books from Watchmen, or fanzines I had been doing stuff for. Bending reality even more were adverts and toys for characters from other strips within the Deviants universe and for Engine Comics itself. In the background outside, as the fight rages between two super-humans, I trash a second hand bookshop where I’d had a very bad experience with the aggressively rude elderly manager there. No doubt his body was crushed in the debris.

It’s all incredibly self-referential but it was also incredibly enjoyable to do. By the time I finished I suddenly realised I could pretty much do anything in a comic book. The great thing was that Andy Luke of TRS2 wrote quite a positive review of it years ago, and I finally met him for the first time last weekend in London and thanked him for it. To see someone else getting the comedy in that strip was really encouraging.

Artwork by Marc Olivent

How did you go about selling your own books, and how do you get people to notice it now?

I originally gave Fusion Zero out free at Forbidden Planet and at conventions, likewise the first edition of the Rough Guide, I gave out at a small press panel. People seemed incredibly wary that it was free, as if there was some secret catch.

So since then I’ve gone the more traditional route of charging people instead, which at least covers the print bills.

They’re now available online, via mail-order, through Borders chain and select comic shops. Redeye itself is available via Diamond Previews, but I’m intending to move away from Diamond and look at more cost effective methods of distribution.

How do you see the comics scene in general today, both nationally and internationally? How do you see the Small Press scene today, in comparison with when you started out?

The indie scene is expanding rapidly in the UK, with a more community based spirit in conventions and online, all of us spurring each other on, and with the advent of cheap printing, PC’s and the internet, probably giving creators more of chance to find a receptive audience than those in the 90’s or 80’s.

The question as ever though is distribution, and people need to move beyond the concept of Diamond (which is essentially a monopoly) and direct sales stores as being the be all and end all in the industry and look at alternative distribution methods, and shops like indie clothes stores, music shops and so on, where there is less competition from superheroes but also people more likely to look beyond the mass produced and towards something more individual.

The direct sales market, which had its use in the past is way out of date, and has continued to marginalize a medium in the UK and US when Japan and Europe have continued to develop and become a mainstream art-form, rather than a niche subculture. Many indie and small press publishers don’t stand a chance with Diamond taking such a high cut of the cover price, which is why more distros like Smallzone and Dimestore in America need support to reach beyond the normal channels and do the leg work for creators and publishers.

Artwork by Marc Olivent

I know there's been a bit of controversy from some areas on the message boards, particulary pro creators, with the argument that if material is good enough to be published, then its good enough to be paid. Possibly the fear is that in order to maintain the Megazine's publication that it will return to the days of reprint, or even more unpaid 'fan' material, to save money, thus reducing potential pay for pros.

As it is, I think Matt Smith should be commended for just shaking up the format. It's a good thing in that it will introduce Megazine readers to the small press, hopefully to more material that isn't just 2000AD influenced but more diverse creators. But, of course, that depends on people taking the opportunity. At the end of the day, see it as a free 6 page advert for your comic, one that will be seen by 20,000 readers. That's a good deal to me. One I hope to be following up myself in the coming months.

What’s next for you, and do you have any further plans to expand into new areas?

Well, in the last two weeks things have changed drastically. I made the decision to give up the day job, firstly to finish renovating my house and sell to release more funds, and to concentrate on illustration work which I’ve had to pass on with being in a full time day job.

Immediately, besides tiling the bathroom, I’m finishing off three projects to go to print for a may release: Seven Sentinels #1, Voodoo Macbeth and Thunderhide: Herald.

For Seven Sentinels especially, I’ve been more involved in the realization of the concepts that Marc Olivent came to me originally with, expanding on them and adding my own ideas to it. It’s a perfect example, actually, of the whole world-building thing. We've developed hundreds of pages of details on the history and cultures of thirteen alien races, where humanity will go in the next 500 years, and more cosmic philosophical stuff about how all the planets in the Universe are tied together.

Artwork by Marc Olivent

It’s a ridiculous amount of detail that won’t be seen in the actual comic series, but its stuff we’ll be drawing upon for the website, which has an interactive narrative within it, and plenty of more scope for side stories and spin offs. When the ball starts rolling on this we’ll be getting around three to four issues a year out, if all goes well. I’m also drawing a back up strip for it.

After this, I want to be looking into ways a print on demand/distribution (or PODD) service would first be of interest and of use to people in the UK scene, in much the same way as Image currently works. I'm seriously considering this as a business venture in 2007, but I want to be sure there will be sufficent interest in it. The set up would be very similar to what we already do, but on a larger and more organised scale, possibly joining forces with people like Shane.

Completed lettered artwork would be sent on a cd to the editor, who will perform any art editing that is needed, then compile a copy for the printer. A small number, say 10 proofs would be produced (at our expense). These would then be sent to distributors, news contacts and reviewers. After orders are in, if they meet or exceed the print/admin cost, they would go to print (again say 1000 for arguments sake). Any profit after the breakeven point would go direct to the creator, without all the hassle.

There are other distributors, other markets, other countries to be found, that comics can be exported through and to. It takes time and effort to research and arrange, but it is doable. Just needs the time and effort to get it started.

For more information on Engine Comics and Accent UK, or to order Fusion and Redeye, visit www.enginecomics.co.uk. Redeye #5, featuring interviews with Ian Edginton & D'Israeli and Matt Smith is on sale now.