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Big Things: Ryan Yount
Ryan Yount lives in Oakland and works in San Francisco. He divides his time between working as Production Co-ordinator for publisher AiT/PlanetLar, working in James Sime's comic store Isotope, and writing and drawing the pirate comedy SCURVY DOGS with his co-creator Andrew Boyd for AiT/PlanetLar (after self-publishing the first two issues). writing and drawing the pirate comedy SCURVY DOGS with his co-creator Andrew Boyd for AiT/Planet Lar BIG NEWS: When I'm not selling comics at Isotope, or lettering comics and handling production at AiT/Planet Lar, I make up pirate jokes with my buddy and SCURVY DOGS co-creator Andrew Boyd. We've had an awesome response to the book ? the fans and reviewers seem to agree that it's funny. Laugh-out-loud funny, if I remember correctly. The first three issues are out right now. BIG BUSINESS: I guess I always wanted to draw comics, ever since I was a kid. But I never drew any comic pages, just little doodles and sketches. Besides two minicomics, SCURVY DOGS is the first comic I've ever drawn! Or written, for that matter. I should thank my parents for always supporting my art. They let me draw the family Christmas cards, practice pinstriping on our rusted old cars, and made me paint the house, chop firewood, cut angle-iron, pour concrete, put up fences, stack railroad ties, and weld. Well, you know, it doesn't seem as though those things would have any direct benefit to my skills as an artist, but maybe it's like THE KARATE KID, and those tasks were training my body and mind for the greatest challenge of my life ? making comics. Or maybe my dad just liked having the free labour that goes along with having two sons. The original inspiration for SCURVY DOGS... well, that depends on who you ask. See, I had just finished bolting together my latest bid for the land-speed record, the Spruce Deuce. A night-time test run on the salt flats in Utah was going smoothly. A little too smoothly; for little did I know that in a fit of angel-dust induced mania my once-trustworthy assistant Ralph had forgotten to apply Loc-Tite fastener on the required fittings. A sudden drop in fuel pressure at 400 miles per hour gave me but a split-second's warning before my dual engines, now running critically lean, exploded. Ralph, now immediately sober, was able to pull me from the wreckage. For two weeks, I slipped in and out of coma, Ralph keeping me company day and night. When I came to, Ralph handed me a sheaf of papers, all full of diagrams, insane ramblings, and mumbled jokes. My worthless junkie-of-an-assistant had finally done something right, recording all of my semiconscious mutterings. Together, they spelled out an almost complete script of SCURVY DOGS. As well as the plans for something called a flux capacitor. If you ask Andrew Boyd, he'll tell you that we started making pirate jokes to amuse the crowds we were drinking with at the bar, or hanging out with at Isotope. The idea that we should put together a minicomic was quickly scrapped when we realised we had so much material. So we stepped up to the idea of a full-length comic. Making each other laugh, that was one thing. But how were we to translate our humour into the medium of sequential art? It wasn't easy, but I think we did a pretty good job. Which inspired us to get to work on the second issue. Improving my skills, telling a story, those are the things that inspire me. Progress in my art, in my writing, in my storytelling, that's what I want out of the whole self-publishing thing. BIG TROUBLE: Time constraints abound in comics. That's just the way it is, just something you have to deal with. Sometimes you have to write or draw when you would rather sleep, or eat, or watch TV. Making comics is hard work. Most small press creators have to hold down at least one regular job, not only to survive, but to finance their comics. I haven't been doing comics for twenty years, and I'm still a young guy, so I'm not bitter at the sacrifices I have to make. BIG SPENDER: The biggest cost of making comics is the time and effort you put into them. Second to that is the tremendous monetary cost of printing and distributing your comic. It helps to have a good perspective on things. Andrew and I are both totally committed to doing more SCURVY DOGS stories. And the money thing, well, we've both accepted that it's worth it to us to put our stuff out there. The "price of entertainment", if you will. The fun lasts longer than a weekend in Reno, anyway. BIG AMBITION: I'm going to make whatever comics I want to. My goal, like most other creators, is to move past being "small press". Just like most amateur fighters desire to have pro careers. And I'm not talking about wanting to move on to "mainstream," or "corporate" comics ? I'm saying there's no reason why my stuff can't one day be as big as the next guy's. BIG UP: I always look forward to seeing the work of everyone I know who does comics. It's cool to see what they're doing and how they're doing it. Plus, it seems like I can never get enough Mignola, Mike McMahon, Cam Kennedy, or Eduardo Risso. Since I started lettering comics I also have a huge amount of respect for letterers like Clem Robbins, Ken Bruzenak, Richard Starkings, John Workman, Tom Frame and others. BIG TIME: Right now, I'd like to put out more SCURVY DOGS. People are enjoying it, and I think each issue is shaping up better than the last. Of course, there are other comic projects that I'm working on in the background. I'll talk about those when they're done. I definitely want to do more than just pirate comics! BIG FINISH: If people remember the jokes I wrote that made them laugh, then I can die happy. Just as long as my estate gets its royalty checks. On time. Big, fat royalty checks. BIG DEAL: SCURVY DOGS #1-3 can be found at any good comic shop. If you're in San Francisco, come by Isotope and buy a signed copy from me personally. If your local shop doesn't carry it, they can order it through Diamond. If you killed and ate your local shop-owner, try Khepri. Or, email me.
Buy them. Read them. Laugh. When the Cartoon Network prematurely cancels the SCURVY DOGS animated series, sign the online petition until they cave in and renew for two more seasons.
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