Kossori's Newsfile #5

Welcome to Kossori's Newsfile. What follows is my (slightly unbiased) view of the current goings-ons in the world of comics.

This week we're gonna take a look at a local up-and-coming publisher named Skunk Comics. I'm gonna treat you to as much info as you can get, including an interview and a link to check out the first four pages of each of their launch titles.

First, I would like to say that I support any independent comics. I, myself, hope to get at least to that status. I may not always agree with what you have to say, but I believe you have a right to say it. That's very important these days.

Skunk Comics is a brand-spanking-new publisher based out of Dallas, Texas. Recently they have introduced themselves to various comic shops in East Texas with a preview booklet, called Skunk Comics Ashcan. In this sixteen page b&w promo, they showed us what they were building, giving us short glimpses into their worlds. When I saw this ashcan, I was pretty impressed. The three titles involved (Space Pirates, Ita: Code of the Dragon, and A Hell of a Place) were very different from each other. Matter-of-fact, after reading the ashcan, I had different opinions on each title. It's a great mix of diversity. Samuel Bohon, Walter Plagge, Joe Classe and Mel Canizales have done a good job breathing life into their own unique creations. The four of them are very ambitous, making plans for their company that may surprise you. You can read more about Skunk Comics at their website.

Meanwhile, check out this interview...

The following is an interview conducted by myself with Samuel Bohon, co-creator of Skunk Comics. Bohon writes Ita: Code of the Dragon and writes AND draws A Hell of a Place.

kossori: *turns on the tape recorder*... What is Skunk Comics about? Samuel Bohon: Hmmm...*scratches head*... Skunk comics is about five guys giving back to the comic book community with outstanding stories and art. kossori: Sounds good. Where are you guys from? Bohon: Well...(sorry, six guys...) three from Dallas, one from Plano, one from Celina, TX. kossori: All Texans... Cool! Bohon: Right on! kossori: What are the titles being launched? And when? Bohon: Okay... Here is the offical list: A Hell of a Place - January 15th; Space Pirates - January 20th; ITA: Code of the Dragon - January 31st. kossori: Who are the writers and artists on those books? Bohon: They write themselves, we shake them out of the indy tree i planted at moms house... *laughter* Bohon: Okay... With ITA: I write it, my man, Walker Plagge on the pencils, and ink, and Adobe... Space Pirates: Joe Classe writes, Mel Canizales draws, I Adobe... Hell of a Place: Shoot me! I do it all! *more laughter* kossori: What is Hell of a Place about?? Bohon: Alrighty, Hell of a Place is about a 19 year old kinda "generation Y" kid, who is charged by God (who is a stripper) to save Michael the arch-angel by double crossing Satan. For help he gets a stoner angel named "Kurt". Acting as the voice of God, of course is Metatron, who is a take no shit, all balls-no brain jack ass (who later turns gay). Zion (the kid) has a few tricks up his sleeve... He has holy beads to keep demons away, and a gun that is blessed by God to always hit its target. All he has to do is read scripture as he shoots. Thing is, he never really learned any, so he's always f$@^ing up. kossori: *laughs*... Sounds like one hell-of-a-ride! You're not in any way inspired by Kevin Smith are you? Bohon: Oh, Yeah. Huge Kevin Smith fan... And Dogma will be some what mentioned in the second issue as a joke between Metatron and Satan. You gotta look hard for it though. kossori: Sounds like one of those falling into responsibility stories. Bohon: There is a serious trick to Hell of a Place... And I guess I'll have to give it away on this thing and hopefully it wont get ruined... kossori: Oh, yeah? Bohon: Hell of a Place 1... sucks... literally. 1.2, "Hardwood Snow" (which is actually about to be sent to the printers) is a rehash of the first issue, totally trashing the last one... No idea if it will work. We are all just having way too much fun with it. It's kind of Skunk Comics "lets have fun" title. kossori: We all need to have some fun! What is Space Pirates about? Bohon: I dunno... *surfer/Half-baked accent* Ya know man, its about... PIRATES!!... IN OUTERSPACE!! kossori: Pirates in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.... Right? Bohon: Actually... It tackles a whole lot of issues... The biggest, a crew of five renegades scrourge the outer limits of space, pirating ships for a living... Of course, its never that simple... kossori: I bet... an environment such as space must leave lots of possibilities... Bohon: Man... It's such a huge question to tackle this late... kossori: Think of it as morning... *smiles*... Want to move on to the next question? Bohon: Naaaa... Okay... Lemme try this... Space Pirates is a montly book about a renegade crew intangled in a intergalactic conspiracy, and one man's (captain) quest for his own truth. Thats about as simple as I can make it. kossori: It sounds great! Bohon: With really kick ass art! kossori: Yeah... I've seen some of it... It is quite impressive! Bohon: Thank ya. kossori: Your welcome. What is Ita about? Bohon: ITA... *drums fingers*... kossori: I've heard that you call it your "baby"... Bohon: Ita is actually the middle of a gigantic story that has been growing in my head since I was a wee boy. Alrighty, four milennia ago, alien life forms from another dimension crashed landed on Earth. Stranded and half their crew dead, they have no means of which to return to there home. The best they can do is wait and manipulate the human race to develop the technology to get them home. Through the ages these aliens have been spotted. Artists and scholars have deemed them "dragons"... Hiding in the caves of Japan, these dragons have been a constant threat to the human race. And so a clan was devised to contain the dragons. Ita's father "Hiro" was the last of this clan. (Dragonia: Origin to the Code - is the story of Hiro). Hiro died when Ita was very young, and she has grown up on fairy tales of her father, never truly believing them. Now, grown up and a detective in the Kobe police department, she has come across a conspiracy. The police are being controlled and manipulated. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more people end up dead. She is afraid she knows the answer, and it may be too late. kossori: It sounds really good... I understand this one is heavily influenced by anime... Bohon: Yeah, it is. Not because its popular right now, but because I've always had deep respect for the Japanese culture. And so I guess out of that respect and admiration, I based ITA there, and put it in Kobe, the spiritual heart of Japan... Instead of the overused tokyo. Luckily, Walker digs Japan almost more than i do! kossori: Speaking of inspiration... What has inspired you? Who do you draw from? Bohon: Hmmm... Lots of people, I suppose... If it was one person who most impressed me, its got to be Todd McFarlane. His art speaks volumes to his dedication to this medium. Then next it's gotta be Frank Miller. kossori: Frank is a classic, isn't he? Bohon: Absolutely. I sleep with DKR (Dark Knight Returns) under my pillow. kossori: What did you think of DK2? Bohon: If you would asked me seven months ago, I woulda said it sucks. But it's the first issue, so I'm gonna give it some time. I still believe in Frank Miller, and I trust that he has something nuts up his sleeve! *crosses fingers*... kossori: True... You never know... Bohon: Seven months ago in reference to it, I just made three first issues... So I know what its like to have to deal with a slow start. kossori: Why did you decide to self-publish? Bohon: *cries*... CAUSE NO ONE ELSE WOULD TAKE ME!!! *laughter* Bohon: Hmmm....To pick up chicks? No... That didnt work... kossori: Who do you think your audience is? Who are you trying to reach? Bohon: I would like to think my audience is mainly people 15-50 who would like to see more from the indy world than just another Strangers in Paradise knock off... I've grown very tired of just Marvel, DC, Image, Top Cow (AND THATS ALL!!!) doing serious stuff, and I know I'm not alone! Plus we do it for cheaper! kossori: How much cheaper? Bohon: Well... Most Marvel books are about $2.50, most indy books are usually even more (paper cost are high!). We do it for $1.75. kossori: Now, that's a great incentive to at least check them out. Bohon: Thats what we were shooting for. kossori: What have you done before Skunk Comics? Bohon: Hmmmm... Comic wise...Ten-thousand sketches of Wolverine, half that of Spawn... kossori: Really? Bohon: Thats about it... Art wise... Two years at UNT of various art classes. Had a semester of drawing naked sixty year old people at 8 AM. kossori: Uuugh!! Bohon: That will make you rethink your career right there, I guarantee ya! kossori: Not something I would want to wake up to! How about now? Are you currently involved in anything outside of Skunk Comics? Bohon: As far as personal projects... Not really. I'm still a full time student, part time work at the Imax Theatre... And I try my best to not piss off girlfriend with tales of the true Silver Surfer. kossori: I understand you guys do a comic strip for a radio station's web page? Bohon: Yeah, thats something we worked out with 102.1 the EDGE morning guys, we were on their show for the release of the Ashcan Preview last November, and they have been great friends ever since. Space Jotos is a strip about a gay spoof on Space Pirates, using the EDGE morning crew as the pirates.

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kossori: Pretty outrageous stuff! Bohon: Yeah, well, it's a great promo tool for us. Plus, we get out of our daily grinds with it. kossori: What do you read? Bohon: Comics or other? Or both? kossori: Either or all... Bohon: Okay... Well comics... Alias, Ultimate Spiderman, Ultimate X-Men, most X-titles, Punisher (Garth Ennis era), Just a Pilgrim, 100 Bullets, and Codename Knockout. Theres a few more, but I forget... kossori: Understandable... Bohon: Anything by Frank Miller and Alex Ross, too. Book wise... National Geographic, Smithsonian Air and Space, anything by Tom Clancy, Arthur C. Clarke, Issac Asimov, Caral Sagan, Micheal Chriton, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Langston Huges. kossori: Really good selection there... Quite impressive! What is your opinion of the current state of comics? Bohon: My opinion is that there are too many great stories out there right now. I'm scrambling just to keep up! I actually enjoy the downslide of the comic book economy because it seems to be when the best stories are created. I love how all the companies are reaaaly changing things to try to compete more. It always makes for awesome comics... I do miss the foil covers Marvel used to do, though (Age of Apcoloypse mega-fan!!!)... I dig shiny things. So, all in all... In kinda bad shape... It's greatly improving though. kossori: What are your plans for Skunk Comics in 2002? Bohon: Hmmm... Lemme split this year up into seasons... kossori: Okay. Bohon: Winter- Establish stores in the region, produce the comics on a regular basis, establish a fully functioning, interesting web site. Spring- Join Diamond, the comic god, become nationwide, but still keep strong roots in this region. Keep making them comics! Summer.... Oh, yeah, baby! This is the big time... Along with the entourage of Summer Cons we will be attending, the Code will be released along-side an online video game that will be absolutly free. Autumn is going to be focused mainly on developing the downloadable fifteen minute ITA anime some friends at NYU are going to begin working on for the winter. And of course, the conventions, and the comic books. Next winter is the release of the anime, and of course... The comics. kossori: Sounds like a busy year! Bohon: Yeah.. It's hectic, but the road trips are a blast! kossori: About how many shops have picked up Skunk Comics? Bohon: Lemme see... So far... About fifteen.. One still in limbo down in Austin. We still have to make trips to Oklahoma (possible six), Houston, San Antonio, Waco, College Station, Abeline, and Lubbock. Then we start on Shreveport and New Orleans. kossori: What's the impressions you've gotten from shop owners? How did they react to you? Bohon: Its completely amazing... All of them have taken about eight seconds to look at it, and then looked back at me, took another three second look at it, and said... "Sure"... "Of course"... "No problem". kossori: That's very positive. Bohon: It's a wonderful feeling to know that I haven't wasted the last year of my life. kossori: Have you acquired a fan-base, yet? Do you have trouble shopping at the local convenience store? Bohon: Ha!... Not exactly. Our families love it. Most comic book people I talk to are definitely interested. I can't tell you how many of those freaking ashcans I've signed! *laughs*... We get ocassional e-mail from people that are interested. So, as far as numbers go it's been limited to the number of Aschans getting out of the stores and the hits on our web site. kossori: Which do you favor more- writing or drawing? Bohon: That is my eternal battle for existance... I may never find the answer. Right now, writing...It takes less time. kossori: Okay... Final question... Bohon: Alrighty. kossori: Who in comics today would you most want to collaborate with? Bohon: Wow... I actually never thought of this... Hmmmm... It would be quite a line up... kossori: Oh, yeah? Bohon: I'd probably team up with Kevin Smith writing, then have the Kubert brothers on pencils, with Todd McFarlane inks... With an Alex Ross Cover and complimentary posters! Colored by D-tron from Witchblade. kossori: Could be a blockbuster... Bohon: WITH BUBBLE GUM INCLUDED IN THE SET! SCORE! *laughter* kossori: Well, Sam, I want to thank you for answering my questions. Glad you beared with me, since this is my first interview... Bohon: Not a problem man. Glad to do it. You did a terrific job. kossori: Thanks. *turns tape recorder off*

Skunk Comics Launch Preview >

You can see what it's all about by checking out these previews of Skunk Comics' three launch titles. Each preview includes the first four pages and the cover.

A Hell of a Place Space Pirates Ita: Code of the Dragon

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