Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, is joined today by Shaun Sunday, who is launching a double billing Kickstarter campaign featuring two stories; Below the Waist and Snuffles the Indomitable.
COMIC BOOK YETI: Welcome to the Yeti Cave, Shaun! We first became acquainted through the Australia & Aotearoa Comics Creator group, which I believe I was clued into by Gary Proudley after I interviewed him over his book, Talgard. How did you get involved in the Australian comics community, and what should our readers elsewhere in the world know about Aussie comics?
SHAUN SUNDAY: Oooh, great question. Well to be honest, I’ve been into local comics since I was a little kid - I got my hands on Southern Squadron and Dark Nebula at an early age, and collected Da’n’Dill comics at the Dubbo Show and in K-Zone magazine for a long time. My first year in Uni we had Stewart McKenny as a guest lecturer for one of my illustration classes, and that was it, my love and passion for comics was fueled even further. The main thing I think folks should know about Aussie comics is that there are HEAPS of us here, even though the industry doesn’t look the same as it does overseas. There’s folks like Frew Publication, indie creators, and of course, Gestalt Comics who are making some of my favourite books with awesome creators - like Gary and his book Talgard that you mentioned just before! I think we have pretty interesting and unique perspectives on stories over here and I encourage people to seek them out (Gestalt is on Globalcomix, so that makes it easy!)
CBY: Yeah, there's so much to check out in the Aussie comic scene. You’ve got two comics included in your forthcoming double billing publication; Below the Waist and Snuffles the Indomitable, but you’re also four seasons into No Capes!, a creator-owned comic-focused interview show which has featured Comic Book Yeti’s own Matt Ligeti and various other familiar faces from the indie comic scene. As someone who regularly engages in conversation with creative practitioners, what insights have been most salient from the interview process you’ve developed over the years?
SS: Oh my gosh, that’s hard to answer - with my ADHD, it can be hard to remember specifics but there are a few key things that ALWAYS pop into my brain as important. Outline your story before you write it - I find this helps me so much more in hitting key plot beats, etc., and making sure the VIBE is right before I start writing an in-depth script. Don’t let your first book be your Magnum Opus, or at least, not your BIG GRAPHIC NOVEL idea - you need practice. Write shorts, put them out digitally, pitch for anthologies! Get that practice so you can do your Big Idea™ justice by honing your skills. WORK WITH A LETTERER - quality lettering can make or break a comic. I often say when lettering is great, you shouldn’t notice it at first glance, because its so holistic with the art and the story that it serves to pull you in, immerse you in what you’re reading. Then when you re-read it, all the reasons why it was amazing will jump out at you immediately. Editors are important!! Even the best writers can make mistakes, or get carried away, and a good editor is there to help you craft your vision and polish it into its purest form, they’re not there to rewrite your story on you, or kill your dream. Work with editors that your peers recommend, especially if their portfolio matches the types of stories you’re trying to tell! Those are probably some of the biggest things that I can articulate.
CBY: All helpful advice for creators to get the most out of their work. Before we get into the world of each narrative, you shared some very helpful process images of your work on both stories. I see you’ve got a detailed grid and spacing method for your page layouts. Can you talk a bit more about your tools and techniques to achieve the look you're after for both of these comics?
SS: Sure thing!! I use the Golden Ratio for comics guidelines from an article I read years back by Bizhan Khodabandeh, it really is an invaluable tool for composing the page and works great for both sequentials and pinups. I’ve been using it for about five years now and swear by it! I even made a version for A4 pages for those of us not in the USA to use for pinups and posters.
The basic premise is that as long as a key aspect of the figure/object/building is touching/parallel with one of the guidelines, it’ll sit well in the composition. In the original version of the article they showed the guide overlaid on some of the Fraction/Aja Hawkey run, and they just fit SO NICELY. Another favourite tool as a writer especially, before I even hit concept art stage is Heroforge! Most folks use it for TTRPG minis, but I love using it to cycle through aesthetic ideas for a character and help me find who they are, before i work on an official design, and it often helps me work out backstory in the process. This can also be handy for if you need a SUPER specific reference too, as you’ve got access to heaps of props and other body parts, etc. that a lot of art posing sites don't necessarily have - you just have to make sure you’re paying attention when referencing, cause the anatomy on these models is made for 3D printing, so it’s not accurate to comic book scales necessarily.
CBY: A couple of really great ideation/layout tips there - I've used Heroforge for some comic character design, as well. Now, you’ve written and illustrated the interiors for both comics, but you’ve pulled together contributions from a number of different creatives to bring this book to the public; you’ve got a logo design by Chris Benamati, colours by Pete Collins, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and Toben Racicot, and cover designs by Marcus Jimenez and Matt Harding. Can you share with our readers a bit about what went into assembling this team of collaborators and getting everything organized between all the conversations to result in a completed book?
SS: Oh, boy. Yeah, this has been a huge undertaking honestly! I mostly just think of myself as lucky that I’ve built relationships and connections with these wonderful creators over the last few years as I developed my art career and also my show No Capes!, and it really just comes down to asking. Ask your peers if they’d be interested in your project, ask what their rates are, work out how you’re gonna handle that. It’s the same way I got some of the amazing guests I’ve had on No Capes! - you just gotta ask! As far as organisation goes, that’s been a lot more chaotic, but it’s getting there - it’s been a LOT of emailing and DMing, sharing Drive folders of assets and references. Everyone is doing a great job, and I DEEPLY appreciate all of them. The official logos from Chris and the covers from Matt and Marcus haven’t been revealed yet, so stay tuned for those!
CBY: It sounds like there's plenty yet to reveal from this project. So to get into each comic of this double-billing, let’s first talk about Below the Waist. You mentioned it was an exploration of toxic male culture and creature-feature horror. When dealing with both topics, what are stories or experiences that inspired you and informed your approach to the genre?
SS: Well, honestly you could kinda point to any part of growing up in Australia for some examples - we’ve always, even in our tourism marketing, had a real “tough guy” culture here. I experienced a lot of bullying as a kid, and have had more than my fair share of run-ins with people bearing the scars of that culture, there’s a lot of insecurity in Australia. It’s all about sports, “getting on the beers” and “you won’t, you’re scared” sort of attitudes. It’s definitely improving in recent years, but that’s due to folks doing a LOT of work in the age of social media to discuss and dispel that mythos. So in this comic, as in my previous comic The High Cost of Living, I’ve chosen to explore that through the lens of a creature feature - which is my favourite genre of horror - and use that to explore how the poor choices born of that insecurity and false bravado lead to really serious consequences.
CBY: I think that is a useful introduction to some of pervasive elements of toxic masculinity Australia is dealing with. Conversely, The Indomitable Snuffles is definitely drawing from Akira Toriyama’s well to an evident degree, at least visually. What sort of rules do you abandon when building a story with fantastical elements? Are they taken at face value? What do you work out in advance, and what do you leave for the audience to infer?
SS: Hahaha! Yeah, the interiors for Snuffles still trend towards a western style I was cultivating for a few years, but after doing a Toriyama tribute piece this year, I decided that I wanted to let myself have fun with my style again, and try experimenting with bringing in elements inspired by the cartoons that influenced me to be an artist growing up again. I’m experimenting more with being less specific, I guess, with things, and being more representative. So instead of more textural, grainy shading to imply dust clouds, I'm having fun with big swirly, curvy shapes, and sharp geometric shapes to imply action and impact and things like that. It’s still an experiment at this stage, so it’s sort of hard to explain further than that!
CBY: We'll see more soon, I'd imagine. So in the forthcoming Kickstarter campaign, what sort of rewards do campaign backers get to look forward to? It sounds like you’ve got other releases available and additional art offerings planned - care to elaborate so people know what to expect?
SS: Yeah for sure! I’m really excited, genuinely - I’ve tried to make the campaign as accessible as possible, while offering options to make sure this thing gets funded.
So we’ve got the basic digital and physical tiers at AU$5 and AU$8, respectively, and they kinda are what they say on the box - a digital copy of the book, plus a phone wallpaper and a couple of digital comics from Gary Proudley, Tim McEwen and other Aussies - and the Physical tier is the same thing except with a physical book, and a sticker of the Double Billing Logo. But on top of that we have things like sketch covers (on BOTH sides of the book!), custom art tiers and stretch goals like a special Snuffles print by Adam Markiewicz, an origin story comic of The N.E.T.W.O.R.K. Man and also trading cards. There’s more, but I’ll let people discover those in the campaign itself!
CBY: I mentioned some of the other comics you’ve released as campaign rewards at various tiers. Can you speak a bit about Brainbeast Studios; what can our readers expect when they check out your work?
SS: Of course! So Brainbeast Studios came about because of my love for D&D and also my focus on being upfront and open (I guess you could say an advocate?) about ADHD and my experience with it, which I sometimes describe as my brain being a beast of its own. I regularly talk about it in my content and on my socials, and like to be transparent about the limitations that come with it when I work with collaborators. So Brian the Brainbeast was the first D&D creator I ever did a custom design of for my work as a solo studio, and quickly became my studio mascot. So when searching for a new name to operate as, Brainbeast Studios was the choice! When you check out my works you can expect a lot of aspects of neurodivergence in my characters, and honest discussion about that in my video content on Twitch and in No Capes! I try to give accurate and positive representation for myself and my fellow ADHDers where I can, and I like to encourage an environment of acceptance and welcoming vibes in my community for folks with similar experiences!
CBY: You’ve been building a really unique voice with your creator-owned work, and focus on new stories with your interviews on No Capes! If you did get the opportunity to pick up the pen on behalf of an existing title or character, what story would you decide to tell?
SS: Oh gosh, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write for Spider-Man if I had to choose a licensed character to work on. I always related to Peter growing up, being a more quiet, bookish nerd of a kid, and honestly just now while thinking about this question realising that Pete’s powers in some ways really replicate the experience of living with ADHD. The heightened reflexes and awareness, but not being able to control where and when it’s focused, or necessarily know what it’s trying to tell you? The constantly being distracted by things your brain and body have decided are more pressing concerns? Pete’s life falling apart constantly, despite his best intentions to focus up and improve in a lot of areas he needs to - it all resonates with me in a way I didn’t truly realise until now. So I guess I’d explore that, and how being a Spider-Person really does come with its own limitations and issues, despite all the benefits.
CBY: I've never looked into any Aussie iterations across the Spider-Verse, but there's always room for new stories! I also know you’re an advocate of the work of many creators, but for our audience, once they’ve checked out your double billing, what other comics, films, art, literature, music, etc., should they check out? What’s been inspiring you lately?
SS: Well as I mentioned earlier - definitely hit GlobalComix and read EVERYTHING by Gestalt Comics, and make sure you include Dark Heart and Cleverman in that! First Nations stories are super important, and the more support those titles get, the more stories by indigenous creators we’ll get to see. I’ll also recommend Queenie Chan, Mat Groom, Ryan Lindsay as some of my other favourite Australian creators to keep an eye on. GO WATCH ULTRAMAN RISING! It’s like the Spider-Verse of Ultraman, in terms of really exploring the character, and pushing the boundaries of the aesthetics of that genre within the realm of animation. I’ve been on a HUGE Aussie Punk/Ska kick lately - Go check out Jebediah, Area 7, The Grates, The Chats, and The Kittyhawks! While you’re at it, The Swellers recently got the rights back to all their music so they have re-released some amazing vinyls - go give them some love and tell them No Capes! sent you - Nick Diener from the band created the Season 3&4 Theme song!
CBY: Shaun, it’s been a pleasure, and thanks for all the recommendations! Queenie, Mat, and Ryan have all made contributions to the Comic Book Yeti conversation. Please let our readers know where we may find your portfolio, publications, and social media with any links we may not have included above.
SS: If folks wanna go ahead and hit Brainbeaststudios.com - all my links to my merch, D&D creations, comics, Youtube and more are all on the front page! Thank you so much for chatting with me, it’s been my delight!