The Rogue
I’ve been floored by the response to my “Indie” comic artist interviews. Thanks for sharing your stories with me. Let’s keep promoting Indie Artists work!
So, next up is Ken Eppstein. He is a writer, artist and owns Nix Comics right here in Columbus, Ohio. While Ken and I have been unsuccessful in trying to get a beer together (will happen soon), we were able to sit down by email for a great chat. I’ve become a huge fan of his work, and his passion for Indie Comics.
GGR: How did you get into the Indie Comic Scene?
Ken: You know, I was trying to get that straight in my head just the other day after watching the new documentary about Todd Loren and Rock N Roll Comics. I was wondering if his books were the first “indies” I ever bought… But they couldn’t have been in retrospect. I’m pretty sure I read Matt Wagner’s Grendel books before that. I know that I bought some of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles after the Palladium RPG came out in the mid 80s and TMNT was still indie.
I guess it wasn’t until college in the late 80s that I was exposed to what would be prototypical of what most people think of as indie modernly: Love and Rockets, Neat Stuff and Punk Magazine.
Mostly I was an off the rack comic kid; First at convenience stores and later at comic shops. I don’t know if I ever felt like part of an Indie Scene until I started publishing myself.
GGR: What made you want to start Nix Comics?
Ken: I dunno…. The little blue men who whisper things to me as I drift off to sleep?
I wanted to be a comic book artist as a kid… All the way up until college when I became frustrated with what my actual skill set was. At the time I was a junkie for the highly rendered stuff of the day… Byrne, Perez, et. al. I just can’t draw like that and I gave up. (Sadly, I might add. At the same time in college I was discovering the Ramones and the Replacements and other terrific rock bands that didn’t let a lack of perceived talent stand in their way of making great music. I was following in the footsteps of the wrong heroes.)
I never quite let go of the love of either medium. I’ve twice tried to open brick and mortar stores that sell both records and comics, both times failing because I didn’t have deep enough pockets to make things last through tough times. I successfully sold records on-line for many years… 15 or so… But that’s not super satisfying. There’s no love in on-line sales.
Tired of selling on-line, I sold off most of the records on ebay for cheap and used the money to launch Nix Comics I’m not sure when the sea change from frustrated artist to confident publisher happened, but I’m happy it did!
GGR: The writer Walker Percy once wrote, “The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair.” How do you think the characters in Nix comics are either “on to something” or are in “despair”?
Ken: I like to think that I write in fables as opposed to any sort of modern tales. My characters are mostly archetypes who are representative of my own cultural perceptions (literally in the case of Bus Stop Ned whose dialog is taken directly from conversations I overhear on my commute to work.) I don’t think that archetypes lend themselves well to the kind of existential thinking that you’re hitting at. I wouldn’t ask the same question of any of Aesop’s characters, for instance.
But I don’t want to dodge the question entirely. The characters are reflective of my personal search. Each one a tool I use to work through my personal philosophies and politics. I try not to write just “ripping yarns” or whatever… I like subtext hidden within my yarns.
GGR: What advice would give for someone wanting to break into the Indie Comic world?
Ken: Yeah… Probably too much advice for a guy who hasn’t worked out the kinks himself yet… But I’ve started doling it out only on a person to person basis. The fact of the matter is that there are a zillion ways to make comics and what would be good advice to one creator might not be useful to another. Any blanket statements would just be platitude.
Specific advice on how to do a call for artists/submissions, how to find a printer, how to find your price point, etc.? Happy to talk about that.
GGR: Tell us more about the Indie Go-GO campaign and how people can support Nix comics.
Ken: I’m SUPER excited about this project. Mark is a super writer and artist and his work for me in Nix Comics Quarterly #3 and #5 are some of my favorite stories. I was introduced to him by Denver Brubaker (who does the terrific Checkered Man web comic) at SPACE in 2011. Not long after, Mark shared with me a graphic novel about a record store closing which had been released in only a very small print run. I fell in love with it and I just had to see it back in print!
This is the kind of project i would like to do more of with Nix Comics. Not only will it help me build a diverse backstock, but it will help my favorite contributors stay in print. With any luck I’ll be reprinting Darren Merinuk’s Rockin’ Bones comics from the early 90s next!
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