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The DrunkDuck Interview:
Amelius
Our first interview is with Amelius, creator of Charby the Vampirate, one of the top DrunkDuck comics.
What are your favorite comics today?
So many to choose from! In print, I was introduced to Scud: The Disposable Assassin and Crimson by some good friends of mine only a year or two ago, and certain arcs of the Army of Darkness series, especially if the artist Nick Bradshaw is doing the pencils. Newspaper comics I like are "Pearls Before Swine" (though my paper doesn't carry it) and Hal Foster's "Prince Valiant". As for Web comics, there's quite a few I'm still catching up on and the list of faves is too long to list here. Just a few are: Jump, 3rd Party Fantasy, Vampire Phantasm, Mildly Mundane, Ever Hollow, The Adventures of the Blue Kotatsu and Vindibudd. A few of my faves were scattered to the wind after the big crash, sadly. Off DD, I read Sins: Venials and I'm still trying to get through the archives of Zebra Girl (slow dialup internet, ugh!)
What recommendations would you give to the starting artist?
Never put the cart before the horse, the horse isn't going to push it! Don't be afraid to listen to advice, and don't be put off by it. Not everyone that dislikes your stuff is a "brainless moron" or "just jealous", because everyone has a right to their own opinion, as well as you do. Art wise, I would recommend a lot of practice, but because every artist would say that too, I'll just say try to do your own thing as best as possible. And if you're going to do someone else's thing, do it better than them! Try to blend your influences though, think of it like making a cake. If you do it right, it should taste like a cake, not its ingredients. Same goes for art: if you can see your biggest influence in your art, so can everyone else. Most of all, do what you enjoy. Having fun drawing will be a sure way to improve, so do what's fun. If I'm not having fun drawing a comic, I draw something else. It keeps me motivated to sit at the drawing table another hour, and not abandon it because the page isn't turning out like I wanted. And never think in terms of your limitations, because you can overcome them. If you spend all your time thinking you will never improve, then you won't. If you convince yourself you can't draw a circle, you won't. I have a wrist that hurts whenever I use it, but if that put me off drawing, Charby would never be where it is today. Bottom line: just do it and keep going!
How does it feel to be so recognized and get so much feedback for your comic on Drunk Duck?
I have mixed feelings really. I absolutely love to hear from people who bother to read the comic! It truly makes me feel special. But at the same time it makes me paranoid. It seems sometimes that "popularity" gives some people the idea that it is their right to "take you down a notch". For example, I have been regarded to rather coldly in recent times by a few of the very same people who were very friendly to me when my comic was still very small. I'm not saying everyone is like this but it has happened enough times, and it really hurts when it happens. I guess it's easier for some to assume you're a self-centered snob because you have more readers, than to bother getting to know you at all. But I care about my readers a great deal. They have been a tremendous support both on the comic and in my life offline, and I really feel that I owe them a good comic at the very least, so I try my best for them. I listen to every one of them too and I've even taken a lot of advice, so I don't want anyone to think just because I have a lot of comments that I don't take every one into consideration!
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