Indie Comics Showcase #164: Double Cross, Twilight Custard & Dwarfs Vs Lion

CB: What was the genesis for this project?

BB: Back in 2003 there was a fake BBC article a guy used to trick his friend. The article was about a midget fighting league and that league would have 30 midgets fight a lion. From that article, I started an argument with my friend but bumped the number of fighters to 50. The back and forth was amazing and we had napkins out writing and drawing figures oh how and why we thought who would win. The conversation bled to the table next to use and by the end of the night, we had the bar split between two teams.

This conversation still goes on today and we have a spreadsheet of stats saved from years of ideas and information on lions and people with dwarfism. I took that argument and decided to try and gamify crowdfunding with it. Create #teamdwarf and #teamlion and whoever has the most backers…wins.

CB: What kind of comic fans do you see this comic entertaining the most?

BB: I think this goes past comic fans as this is more of an interactive game with a cool reward at the end. YOU are making the comic.

CB: Let’s get into the creative and production side a little. Who is your creative team?

BB: I’m blessed to work with some badasses. We have Juanito on pencil and inking and the awesome Oliver from 656 on color and lettering. The main artist for the Airith series, NC, did the awesome box art and Dom from 656 did the patch designs. This has been the easiest project to work on because really I just write pages based on what the backers have unlocked and then we turn it into some awesome goreish fun with ink and colors.

 

CB: Let’s discuss the crowdfunding campaign. You’ve got some unique perks and approaches, not typically seen that even affect the story. Tell us about some of those aspects.

BB:  Yea, I really wanted this to feel more like community funding and not crowdfunding. The community is the star here and that is why our perks are based around that. One example is we want the backer to have a unique experience and that is why depending on which team you pick will determine which experience you get. If you’re #teamdwarf you will get the cover with the dwarfs winning, the dwarf collector’s box, the dwarf patch and sticker. The same goes for if you back #teamlion.

We also allow you to buy a perk to become a dwarf and fight side by side with the other characters in the story. Want to advertise in the book? We even did that as well to make it feel even more like a community-created book by having other creators advertising their projects.

 

CB: What have you been learning through this process?

BB:  Sometimes less is better as long as you are delivering something the backers feel like they helped create AND got their money’s worth.

CB: Thanks for chatting with us! Good luck and we are rooting for you!

BB:  Gracias! We really appreciate the support!

Check out the book here!

Chris Braly: Tell our readers your elevator pitch for Twilight Custard, Joshua.

Joshua D Wilson: The novel is about a Roswell type crash that happens across the Texas-Mexico border in the mid 1800s. A widowed surveyor by the name of Twilight Custard happens upon the android pilot and agrees to help it back to its ship in return for hopefully seeing his wife again.

CB: Where did the idea for this comic come from?

JW: The idea for this story came from a random band name generator back in like 2008. It said, “Twilight Custard and The Busted Deadly,” and I wasn’t sure what I was going to use it for at the time, but I knew I really loved the imagery that the name sparked in my mind. It then became a song while I was playing in a rock band, followed by a movie script, and finally the graphic novel. My hopes with doing this book on my own is to get myself into the community, start to grow a fanbase, and to hopefully meet some people in the industry so I can maybe get a little help when I make the next one.

CB: What kind of comic fans do you expect this comic will entertain the most?

JW: I think this book can really be for anyone above the age of 15, with an interest in comics and sci-fi. The content isn’t explicit, but it does deal a lot with philosophy and psychology, and the meaning of life and death, so if you’re into introspective character study, and historical science fiction, this book is for you.

CB: Let’s get into the creative and production side a little. How did this come together and who are you working with?

JW: Yeah, so I wrote and conceptualized the book, as well as directed the art throughout. I’m sure your readers are familiar with a comic script, but for those who aren’t, everything is pretty much written out to the exact detail. Everything you read and every image you see on a page is written in the script and then interpreted by the artist. I was so lucky to find someone who understood the meaning of my words and was able to express them so beautifully in that smudgy, hand drawn style that I love so much. His name is William Muljo, out of Indonesia, and I happened upon him looking through Reddit posts.

The cover art and internal legal and credits pages were done by a friend here in Denver named Chris Allen. I am so so happy with the work he was able to with this. We talked about what could be cool for a cover, and I have to say a lot of the sales and interest have come from people who really adore what Chris has done with that cover.

CB: What makes this story unique in your mind? 

JW: To me, the uniqueness comes from the relationship between this stoic and crotchety, old cowboy character, and the android pilot. Twilight has been worn down by a hard life, and rung out by a terrible loss. We get the sense at the beginning of the story that he’s pretty much given up on living; going through the motions of every day without any extra purpose. So when the machine comes along with its seemingly infinite knowledge of the universe, it breathes new life into Twilight. I also really like the machine’s unique abilities as well, and the way they’re depicted in blue against the otherwise black and white art on the pages. I don’t think I’ve seen anything done quite like that before.

CB: Do you have experience doing other comics? When and how did you first start?

JW: My experience is mostly through writing music and screenplays. It’s only since covid that I decided to move to comics as a creative outlet, mostly out of necessity, and of being able to collaborate with someone through word documents and email as opposed to having a bunch of people on a film set. Since then I’ve produced this novel and a digital only series called “Dangerous Enemies,” which you can find on the Ghostpod Publishing Gumroad page.

CB: Does this book wrap things up or are there more stories to tell in this universe?

JW: I have so many ideas that I want to get out of me, and I’m really hoping this books will bare fruit in a way that will allow me to do so with more regularity. Right now, I’m working on finishing up the final issues of Dangerous Enemies before starting on another novel idea that I have. As far as Twilight Custard is concerned, I’ll still always think of it as a movie script first, and so it would be really wonderful to make that happen some day. I already have ideas for parts 2 and 3 if people seem to like the story and want it to continue.

CB: Thanks for chatting with me, Joshua! Good luck with Twilight Custard!

JW: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity to share my book, and look forward to talking with you again sometime.

Check out the book here!

Check out the campaign here!

Chris Braly: Welcome back to Indie Comics Showcase, Ludie. Catch our readers up on your Double Cross series, and briefly tell our readers the pitch for the latest installment.

Ludie Sexton: Double Cross is a gritty and chilling alternative-history comic book set during World War 2. We follow our hero Aesir as he retells the horrors he witnessed during the Great War and those who helped him survive it. This installment follows Aesir as he interrupts a party to assassinate Hitler and comes face to face with the German Olympians. Aesir recalls the other groups who tried to stop Hitler and his super-powered Reich – It didn’t go well. Running low on friends, he will need all the help he can get because someone is stealing the flames…

CB: Where did the idea for this comic come from, and what led to you deciding to crowdfund this series?

LS: I started writing this series a few years ago as a thank you to the people I worked with, and it spiraled into a way to turn my friends and people who believed in my dream into comic book characters.

CB: Who is this comic for? Is a new reader going to enjoy this?

LS: Obviously, those who have followed the story since its creation but for the new ones – Anyone who loves history, horror, alternate history projects, or just exciting superhero stories will love this.

CB: Can backers to this campaign pick up the previous issues?

LS: Absolutely; there are two tiers on Kickstarter to get either the Ken Krekeler covers or the Colleen Palmer covers. There’s also a tier to get all of our books.

CB: Tell us a bit about your creative team. Who helped you bring this book to life?

LS: Since the beginning of this series, two people really brought this thing to life. Ken Krekeler, the series artist, and Colleen Palmer, the variant cover artist. They both serve as assistant editors and graphic designers for the series as well. I write the script and throw my good ideas at them, and they create magic.

CB: What have you been learning from crowdfunding and creating through this process?

LS: I always learn something from every Kickstarter I do. I’m in this 100%, so I research other Kickstarter projects to see what kind of things are popular at the time. My creative team seems to create something crazier every time, and when they tell me an insane idea, I usually just let them run with it. I also love hearing back from backers because it’s all for them in the end.

CB: What are your plans beyond this book? How many more comics do you have planned in the world of Double Cross?

LS: Double Cross is an 18 issue series. We’ll collect six issues into each volume. After that, I’m curious to see what another writer can do with it. As far as Warden Comics is concerned, we have enough stories to tell for the next decade or so.

CB: Thanks for chatting with us again, Ludie! Good luck!

LS: Thank you for featuring us! The book is funded, so there’s no risk at this point, just lots of opportunities for us to give you more Warden Comics stuff.

That’s it for this installment! Support indie comics!!!

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