STICK CITY - LIVE FROM A COMIC BOOK BLOG

A wise man once said 'Know your your own limitations, and always try to use them to your advantage'. Granted, I know that this does sound very 'fortune cookie' in tone. Plus on top of that, the wise man who said this in the first place worked for a 'fortune cookie company'. Nevertheless, this is a ideology that my Canadian mate, Brennan, has used, to create his comic book 'Stick City'. Here, check out a pow-wow we had the other day in a Armenian brothel .


Stick


1) Obviously your comic is a homage to Frank Millers ‘Sin City’, but what other inspirations have you utilise in your work?
You know it’s funny that I hadn’t really thought about people making that connection until right now. Well, I don’t know if I’d call it homage as such - the story is very far from the high-styled crime noir that Sin City was - but it was clearly influenced by my love for Frank’s early work and the title and color scheme do pose some striking similarities.

The truth is that 'Stick City' came about very much by accident. I was working on another project; a story called 'Incident', about a middle aged man who becomes a vigilante after his daughter is brutalized and left for dead at a party one evening. And I had an artist I was working with on this book with - I won’t mention him by name, because frankly he doesn't deserve the attention - long story short, we had a falling out when I sent him some panel layouts for the story that I had happened to fill in with stick figures portraying the characters in the story. Now for some reason this really upset him, he thought it was unprofessional - and as a result we ended up parting ways. A few days later I’m looking at these layouts and I’m like “I think I might actually have something here.” And so 'Stick City' was born. Really, that’s what happened.

2) How long did it take you to create ‘Stick City’, and how did its initial inception change to its final outcome? After I had my little moment of realization, it took me a few days to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with the story. The story actually sort of grew around the art. You see the book is basically about what happens to our reality after a group of scientists manipulate a frequency wave that had been supporting the constructs of our universe via human imagination. They accidentally put over 99% of the population into a state of deep coma and the ones that are left only have enough combined imagination to form a bland, two dimensional, “Stick Universe” to which they all now belong.

So you see the story is about the art. Anybody can make a comic about stick figures, but so far I’m unaware of anyone who’s been able to base it firmly in reality and make it make sense. I hope that answers the question, I got sort of sidetracked talking about the work.

3)What type of fan feedback have you received so far, and have you had any critical response from the industry?
So far not a lot of people have seen it to be honest with you - but I’ve gotten some positive feedback from the few that have. Justin Jordan (Luther Strode) called it “extremely clever” and I’ve gotten some positive return from a few shop owners who have agreed to stock the work. Cal Johnston, owner of Strange Adventures comics (and 2012 Eisner Judge) here in The Maritimes and Jason Arnold, who runs the Fredericton location have both come out in support of the book and will be hosting it on their shelves this April. Curious Comics in Victoria, Langford and Nanaimo BC will also have it on shelf. Bill, the owner, enjoyed the book quite a bit and seems enthused to see it in his shop.

4) Where could a punter buy your comic? And does it come in more than one form?
Right now you can pre-order / pre-pay for the book at >www.acomicbookblog.net or wait until April and try your luck at either Strange Adventures in Halifax, NS and Fredericton, NB or Curious Comics in Victoria, Langford and Nanaimo BC.

So far it’s only going to be available in Canada apart from web sales - but I expect that to change soon.

The book will never be released digitally. I’ve come out against this medium on a number of occasions and I just don’t want to be a part of what it’s doing to the industry. I know a comment like that really should require some explanation - but I think that most people have already come out on one side or the other in that debate, and I’m not about to sway anyone. Of course never being released digitally does mean that I stand a chance of producing the very last comic in the history of the world that will actually appreciate in value with time. You know, since there won’t be an infinite number of copies out there for download.

5) If your website was a comic book, a movie, or a piece of music, what would say it was in conceptual terms.
I love this question - of course that doesn’t mean I have a decent answer for it. I think if my website was a piece of music it would be whatever I have blasting in my headphones when I write an article. Lately it’s been a lot of Kid Cudi and Lil Wayne; next week it might be Third Eye Blind.

6) If your website was a person, who would it be and why?
If my website was a person it would be Jesus Christ, because without imagination neither would exist


7) What was the first comic book you ever read?
In Canada anyway, if you Google the words “The First Comic I Ever Read” you will actually find a link to an article that I wrote about just that. It was Uncanny X-Men #237.


8) What do you think of current mainstream comic book wares? And in your opinion, what are its advantages / disadvantages?
Clearly the advantage of mainstream is being able to reach a wider audience and get your story to more people than you would without that added exposure. Of course the downside is being forced to tailor your work in such a way that it appeals to as wide a market as possible. Nobody likes to compromise their work so as to better appeal to the lowest common denominator, but we all make sacrifices for our passions don’t we?


Bottom line, I buy mainstream, I enjoy its offerings, but I also make sure to see what else is out there because if you get too caught up in the big 2 you can really miss out on some fantastic stuff.


9) I have always liked the noir style myself – both in movies and in comic books. What attracted you to this stylisation?

Necessity, basically I can’t draw for shit and the more of the panel I can fill with the colour black the less apparent that becomes. 

Now isn't Brennan a top class chap! When you have the time, please check out his website (www.acomicbookblog.net), follow him on twitter (Twitter.com/acomicblognet), and do the facebook 'like thing' (Facebook.com/acomicbookblogfanpage).

All the Bless, and may your God go with you.