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Richv1
Jazma V.P.
Canada
1133 Posts |
 Posted - 03/09/2010 : 08:57:44 AM
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Chuck Edward Sellner
Founder/Creative Director Visionary Comics
Published by: Visionary Comics Studio
Interviewed by: Richard Vasseur
Posted: 03/09/2010
Rich: Why and how did you become involved with the comic book industry?
Chuck: I've been a fan of comics since I was a little kid. I've written and drawn just as long. I did my first Superman book at like age 8, then started creating my own characters and stories around the same time. I vividly remember the first art portfolio I sent into Marvel, showing Spider-Man vs. Deathlok, another that featured Hyperion vs. Gladiator, and a story pitch to DC based on re-inventing the Atomic Knight. When I was further along into adulthood I kept making casual entry attempts now and then with little luck. Eventually I connected with a small publisher that got my foot in the door and let me connect with a number of professionals in the industry. Later, another startup enlisted me. Neither of those worked out, but I learned a lot and now had friends in the business. I felt I could take what I learned and actually apply it in a serious, concerted effort which became Visionary.
Rich: Why did you help found Visionary Comics?
Chuck: I decided to make a concerted effort to break into the industry. Visionary became an ideal way of doing so. Creating a comic book studio gave me a way to connect with like-minded, talented aspiring creators who had similar dreams. Made some good friends, learned a lot about the realities of comics, and started carving a niche, not just for me, but Visionary itself. At the end of the day, its pretty awesome to look back on what we've accomplished and take pleasure in the fact I helped shape that.
Rich; What do you hope to achieve at Visionary Comics?
Chuck: First and foremost to create some great comics. To me if the act of creation, the stories themselves are not at the center, then you're in this for the wrong reasons. Second, I want to create a viable, long term, player in the industry that has a reputation for quality, integrity, honesty, and professionalism. Third, I want Visionary to be a profitable business that someday can fully support those of us who pour our blood, sweat and tears into it. I would like to see it continue to grow and prosper to the point that it becomes a legacy of sorts.
Rich: Why do you enjoy writing still?
Chuck: Because. Isn't that enough? Seriously, writing for me is something I will always love. It's always new, always fresh. I've never really suffered from writer's block, its more like writer's flood. There are so many stories I want to tell, so many characters inside of my head (and no, they aren't voices) that want to come out. For me writing is a chance to create a world, to make heroes and heroines, to tell stories that matter. I find it also a great way to share important things. I've had stories inspire me on such lofty things as love, honor, loyalty, etc. I want to do the same for others. So, how I could NOT enjoy writing?
Rich: What is the most memorable comic you worked on?
Chuck: Impossible to name one.
On one hand, Savage World, the comic that almost debuted from Kandora. It was going to be my first published work, I got to see my entire script for it come to life, and it even got as far as a full page ad in Previews. Even though it didn't ship, it was a thrill to be part of the process.
On another hand, I'd have to say Headlocked: Work of Art, because it was a great process working with Mike Kingston on that title, especially in the script stage. He wrote it, but I was very involved in editing his first drafts and working with him on honing that story. I'm still very proud of the tale he told there.
On a third hand, I'd have to say a story I'm working on right now for the Heroes Fallen: Untold Stories From Iraq and Afghanistan Collection out later this year. It's a collection of real life stories from real-life heroes, our military. Each story tells the tale of some soldier's experience over there. I'm telling a very powerful story of a young man's best friend who didn't get to come home. It's been very moving for me. I'm also doing a cover for another story in that collection that is an equally powerful story, so, a double-whammy. It's also pretty cool that Jerry Bingham, Batman artist emeritus is drawing the story I'm writing.
Rich: What do you think of "Aposperos: Merchant Of Souls" and the creative team on it?
Chuck: I am thrilled beyond belief that this book is finally seeing the light of day. Nektarios Chrissos and Georgios Martzoukos are two of the greatest guys I've ever worked with in this industry. They are laid back, very friendly, supportive, and professional. They are eager to pitch in and collaborated well throughout the process. A joy on every front. The book they created, Aposperos, is a book I think worthy of Vertigo. It's one of the most unique ideas I've read anywhere, and the art on it is hauntingly beautiful. It is one of the best looking books I've ever been involved with.
Rich: What can we look forward to reading from you in the near future?
Chuck: I've got a story in Bluewater's Vincent Price Presents series entitled "Pawns" coming out this summer. It will be solicited in the May Previews and ships in July. The story is a nice little monster tale where things aren't quite what they seem. It is beautifully illustrated by Manoel Magalhães and I think folks will enjoy it.
There's also the aforementioned Heroes Fallen collection which will hopefully hit this year that features both my writing and art. Its a great book and all funds from sales will be donated to support organizations for wounded soldiers and their families, and the families of soldiers killed in action.
We'll also have a couple more volumes of Visions coming out that will feature the serialized novel Books of Creation as well as other short stories and cover art by me as well as a number of other incredibly talented folks I feel very honored to be sharing a printed page with.
That's all I can talk about right now, we have a couple other deals in the works, as always.
Rich: Why would someone want to buy "Visions"?
Chuck: If they like genre fiction, they'll love it. Visions is a prose anthology series that features horror, fantasy, sci-fi, westerns, thrillers, adventure and super-heroes. It features work from award winning and professional authors who have written for companies like Wizards of the Coast as well as talented newcomers to the prose fiction market. It is chock full of art from a variety of top notch artists, and it's a great value, around $10 for over 250 pages of original material per volume. Every review on it has been glowing. It's been called the new answer to pulp magazines as well as top rung mixed genre.
For comic fans, it also has the unique hook of a shared universe, but not one that we just center on current time with, but one where we explore it's distant past, it's far future and many of the eras in between. The stories stand alone, but for those fans that keep reading, they will notice many threads that weave the worlds of Visions together. It's kind of like LOST on a galactic scale.
Rich: Who are some of the talent at Visionary Comics?
Chuck: We've been very blessed to have top notch talent come through our studio since our founding. We've had veteran professionals like Brian Augustyn, Lou Manning and Dave Lanphear who helped get us off the ground and running. We've had other comic luminaries who hung their hats with us, like Joe Rubinstein, Pat Broderick, and Claude St. Aubin. We've also had fairly new voices in comics who worked with us, like award winning writer A. David Lewis. We've also had some folks who started with us and went on to great success, like Sheldon Mitchell who got snatched up by Top Cow and will be working on a book with Robert Kirkman, and Colton Worley, who did covers with Visionary, then went on to do The Complete Dracula with John Reppion and Leah Moore for Dynamite, a series now up for the Rondo Award. We've also worked with some great aspiring talent who will make their mark in this industry, like Eagle nominated artist Azim Akberali.
However the most important talent are the crew who manages the studio day in and day out. Charlie Hall, our Business Manager, Ben Chafe, our Managing Editor, Jacob Bascle our Production Chief, Matthew McLean our Marketing Director and Denise Gamble, our Admin Assistant.
Rich: What new titles are coming out from Visionary?
Chuck: We'll be finishing the 9 issue run of the 2009 Comic Buyer's Guide Original Graphic Novel of the year winner Tales of the Starlight Drive-In.
April we will be debuting a one-shot science fiction title called Regulators, a one-shot that got a shout out from Kevin Eastman and was created and written by Jeff Loew and drawn by George Todorovski. The Regulators is a story about clean up men in the future, that make the big messes go away. It's very Heavy Metal-ish.
We also have a couple great new one-shots lined up for after that. A funny bad-day-at-the-office monster story called Out of Order and a great character driven one-shot called Cabra Cini- VooDoo Junkie Hitwoman. We'll be releasing more details on those very soon.
Beyond that I can't talk about yet, but trust me, 2010 is going to be our best year ever. It's going to be THE year.
Rich: What do you think of the current status of the comic book industry?
Chuck: It's a very exciting and very scary time.
It's exciting because I think there is more going on to expand comics as a legitimate form of art and a pop-culture phenomenon than ever before in the medium's history (at least in the US). Comics here spent decades under a social stigma of being seen as the little entertainment medium that couldn't. They weren't viable 'literature' because the stories were oversimplified and juvenile. They weren't viable art because they were little drawings in panels. They tried being movies but didn't measure to the big screen. However, now, all those stigmas are being erased.
This was partly society's fault, but it was also the industry's fault. For many, many year instead of breaking those molds the industry as a whole just embraced them and withdrew into our little niche market. Now however those molds are being shattered. Comic creators are recognized for their incredible talent. Writers like Neil Gaiman and Mark Millar are showing comic writers can write anything. Successful writers in other arenas like J. Michael Straczynski, Greg Rucka and Stephen King are now moving into comics. Artists like Alex Ross, David Mack and numerous others are capturing non-comic fans' attention with their quality.
Comics themselves are also breaking into other mediums and taking them over. Comics right now rule Hollywood and the trend is not slowing down anytime soon. Digital comics are becoming a popular mobile entertainment that rivals other digital media.
Technology has helped this, but so has the sheer quality and diversity that comics continue to grow into.
So, this is exciting, but it's exciting in that first leaving home to live on your own way, the way that's also terrifying. The safe, comfortable boundaries, in terms of the direct market, the format of monthly issues, the tried and true focus on super-heroes... all of that is melting away and the very definition of the medium is changing. We really can't even say comic books anymore without automatically excluding tons of new, quality, original material. So, before, we had defined the rules, the market, the medium and now we're having to redefine ALL those rules. That's scary.
Comics will make it through the change, but they will evolve and grow through it and in the end, that will all be for the better even if it's a bit of a rough ride getting there.
Rich: How can someone contact you?
Chuck: I'm very open about my contact info. You can email me at cedwardsellner@visionarycomics.com, write to me at 2610 Escondido Ave. San Diego, CA 92123, or call Visionary's Creative Offices at 858-208-8098. Visionary is always looking for new submissions (though email submissions@visionarycomics.com first) and I'm always looking for great artists for new projects.
Rich: Any final words for fans of Visionary's comics?
Chuck: Thanks, from the bottom of my heart. While the most central and important piece for me as a creator, is to be able to create, it's all kind of pointless unless what I create actually resonates with someone out there. With Visionary, whether its one of my books or one of the other titles we've put out, the whole goal is to entertain, to challenge, to maybe even, dare I say it, inspire.
When we've had fans approach us at shows, reach out to us through our networking sites, or send in emails to the studio, it's a wonderful thing. I got an email not too long ago from someone who said that discovering our comics was the best thing to happen to him in a long time. That was a great heart warmer.
So, thank you and stay with us because it's only going to get better.
C. Edward Sellner
Creative Director
Visionary Comics Studio
Richard Vasseur |
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Chuck Edward Sellner - Founder Visionary Comics
