A Decade Of Making Comics - Part III
And you’d think I would have learnt something…here I talk about the first years of being published by the likes of Vertigo, Monkeybrain, and Dark Horse
“I been in the game for ten years making rap tunes comics!”
Last time, I wrote about assembling FATHERHOOD, and overcoming those nascent nerves and thoughts that I was fooling myself even trying to play this game.
Emerald City Comic Con had been an amazing time on all fronts, and I returned to my little Australian suburban office energised. But also tired - remember: a newborn awaited me.
I prepared to take FATHERHOOD on the Australian con circuit, and I followed up with my HEADSPACE pitch everywhere I could.
I had met Chris Roberson at ECCC one night at the bar - top bloke Christopher Sebela introduced us - and I had followed up with Chris because I wanted to interview him and his co-publisher Allison Baker, and because we’d gotten along well, I wanted to pitch him HEADSPACE.
They came on the podcast, and were amazing guests, and then they greenlit HEADSPACE. I don’t remember where I was when I got that email, but I remember thinking this was a huge break for me - and it was.
Eric Zawadzki and I had initially created HEADSPACE to be a 5 issue mini, because weren’t they all back then, and forevermore more? But Monkeybrain Comics were a digital imprint, going through ComiXology, and so we knew we should probably make the issues 99c, as was a solid rate for an indie unknown at the time. As such, we wanted to make each issue shorter, so I started to remap and rebreak the story to become 8 issues, the first being 24 pages, and the rest being 16.
We had already spent so long on this story - Eric is an amazing collaborator to work with - and then we probably spent a year really prepping, tweaking, finalising, and then pushing this story out into the world. We were joined by Sebastian Piriz, and Marissa Louise, and Dee Cunniffe, and Dan Hill, and it was a dream team.
I was over the moon with every page, every cover, and every review.
The book was good. I still think it’s a great story and Eric is an absolute genius. Unleashing all 8 issues of this story was an achievement and a highlight. The reviews were really strong, it gave me something to keep sharing with editors, and from memory our sales numbered in the hundreds. The Hundreds! Ha, and they slowly dwindled until in the end I think the final issue sold maybe 100, probably just under.
But it didn’t matter, I’d done something I’d been dying to do for a decade - I’d told a story and created a comic mini-series. This was a huge step up and a massive joy. I would then be doubly lucky to meet Chris Ryall at an Aussie con, and we’d keep talking, and so IDW would come on to print the collected edition of our story. Another huge leap forward for me. Though I think it’s now out of print, you can scope details on Eric’s site.
It was at this time I had taken an Acting Assistant gig at another school, and I was writing/finishing HEADSPACE, and I had two young kids, and I was starting to hit a peak of burn out. The final straw came when I found myself, many more times than just once, falling asleep at the dinner table. I was missing conversations with my wife, missing time with my kids, I was exhausted, I would fall asleep if I ever laid down, and playing with two little kids under 3 means you lay down a lot. I was writing this book, and prepping future pitches, and still writing some review/article stuff, and teaching a class, and doing AP stuff, and I was just slowly imploding. Not mentally, thankfully, that would come later, but physically I was just burning up fumes.
I can’t remember what made me realise I needed a change, I always remember the nodding off at the dinner table as a really bad sign - but I sat down and wrote out all of my jobs and responsibilities, and I tried to work out what I could cut back on. Certain elements were non-negotiable, nothing was more important than being a husband and a father, but I also needed to be a good one, a better one. But how would I balance teaching and writing, two things I genuinely loved?
I was at school one day, putting away a trolley of iPads, and as I walked back to my office I checked my email. I had a response from Daniel Chabon at Dark Horse Comics. My pitch with them, at the time titled DOWN, had been greenlit. We were go for a 4 issue mini, and the hunt for an artist would begin.
I literally jumped in the air and did a fist pump. Dark Horse! What a dream!
Very soon after that, I was offered another year as Assistant Principal at this school, but I had thought about it and had to respectfully decline because I was going to return to the classroom - I would just teach, become a better family man, and write this new comic. The higher duties of promotion would have to wait, as would that sweet pay bump.
I’ll forever thank my wife for supporting me with this. Taking a pay cut is a hard thing for any family to do, but I guess she knew it would help me be less exhausted [maybe] and I’d be closer to not just chasing my dreams, but catching them [probably]. Having someone in my corner not thinking I was silly was a huge help.
So back to my old school I’d go, with a huge project and the hopes that I could find a new life balance.