Sampler

08/03/2021

09/11/2016

- The Spectromancer Chronicles

Exclusive interview by.............................Ken Anthony II
1) How did you get into the comics industry?
I was admitted into Marvel's intern program and went to school for creative writing, along the way fell in with some artists who were doing their own books. I've been indie ever since.

2) Who do you feel are you biggest influences?
Spielberg, Alan Moore, Ed Brubaker, Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Mark Waid, Erik Larsen, the list goes on and on.

3) How would you describe your style or your intentions within that style?
Never really tried to put it in a 'style' per se, but it really depends on the story. My voice is still warming up so I guess time will tell.

4) What projects are you currently working on?
I'm writing season 3 of "I fight Ghosts", as well as "Charlatan" for the Nu-Verse from CAE/Big Pond comics. Got some other's just on the stove and will keep you updated as they progress.

5) What, if anything, do you have planned for the future?
A lot :)

6) What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?
2005, Rob Rhine asked me to write for him. That's what I consider my start in this business.

7) What are the most interesting characters, to you, that you have worked on?
My own.

8) 😎 When you eventually leave this field, what would you like to leave as your lasting impression on the public?
Goya.

9) Do you have any shameless plugs?
ifightghosts.com

10) If you had one sage piece of advice to try to break into the business…what would it be?
While you sleep, your enemy trains. and you're enemy is you. Get to work.

http://www.ifightghosts.com/

25/08/2016

Home

As promised...here's the exclusive interview with Rochelle the Teen Cockroach creator, John Crowther!!! Enjoy and show him some Love and Support!!!

1) How did you get into the comics industry?
I have always been a fan of comics, particularly as a kid growing up in the late-70s and early-80s.
One of my favorite artists during this time period was a name named Dell Barras. Dell had done
some work for DC and Marvel in the 80s, most notably on DC’s Blue Beetle and Marvel’s Deaths
Head series. One day, while sitting at my desk in my law office, I decided to reach out to Dell and
tell him about my dream of creating a comic book series (Rochelle). About 2 months later I
received a letter back from Dell which read, “Let’s do it! Send me a script.” From there, I was
introduced to Mark and Stephanie Heike of AC Comics, a Florida based publisher. They agreed to
run the first Rochelle as an issue #0 flip book with their long-running series, FemForce. About 2
months after Rochelle #0 was published in March 2015, I opened discussions with my current
publisher, Antarctic Press, and we were set for the current 3-issue Rochelle miniseries.
2) Who do you feel are your biggest influences?
There are really too many to list and none really stand out as my primary influence but, in
comics, I would have to say Marv Wolfman. I was a big fan of Wolfman, particularly his Crises on
Infinite Earths series. Artistically, Dell obviously was a big influence (hence it’s an honor to
collaborate with him now), but I was also a big fan of John Byrne’s style. Another influence, and
you will see hints to it on some of the stories, is the great John Carpenter.
3) How would you describe your style or your intentions within that style?
I would like my style to that of the comics from my childhood in the late-70’s and early-to-mid-
80’s. It’s a fun style, not overly serious, but not childlike. You’ll see Rochelle deal with life as a
teenager and life in the “Big” World as well. I have fun with character names, for example the
play on “roach” with the title character, Rochelle, Rochelle antagonists named Major Mess and
Big Country, and a school mate named Lopside.
4) What projects are you currently working on?
The two primary projects I am currently working on are Rochelle, which is published by Antarctic
Press, and Nikolai, a biographical comic miniseries I am currently writing for WWE wrestling Hall
of Famer, Nikolai Volkoff, which is being published by Inverse Press and Cosmic Times. The art
on the Nikolai series is also being done by Dell Barras. Balancing my law practice with these two
projects keeps me busy.
5) What, if anything, do you have planned for the future?
As long as the fan support is there, and continues to grow, I will continue the Rochelle series.
Issue 1 of Nikolai is tentatively scheduled for release in early-2017. Dell and I have a few other
concept series on the backburner that we will be submitting to potential publishers, so…we’ll
see!
6) What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?
Ha! It seems like every day brings a proud moment, but probably my proudest was opening the
box from my publisher and holding Rochelle #1 in my hand. Nothing quite like it. Almost two
years from the date I conceived the idea of Rochelle and I had the finished published product in
my hand.
7) What are the most interesting characters, to you, that you have worked on?
I would have to say most interesting characters (in the short time I have been writing comics)
would have to be the lead characters in my two titles, Rochelle and Nikolai.
Rochelle because I created Rochelle for my daughter, who often joins me at conventions cosplaying
as the Rochelle character. Physically, when she has not activated her exoskeleton,
Rochelle is modeled after my daughter. Also, the character is a bit deeper than just the typical
superhero. The purpose behind the Rochelle character is two-fold. First, I wanted readers to
have a strong female lead character that has not be oversexualized in her portrayal. You won’t
see that in the series. Secondly, what I people to gain from the character is the understanding
that, just because someone or something is different, doesn’t mean it is any better or worse,
just different. Hence the combination of an innocent teenage girl and a “disgusting” cockroach.
Most people find a cockroach disgusting, but where does Rochelle get her superpowers? From
the cockroach. Even cockroaches have positive attributes if you take the time to understand
them.
Nikolai, due to my love of history and my wrestling fandom. As a kid in the 80’s, I was a huge fan
of professional wrestling so, when I was contacted about writing the miniseries for Nikolai, I
kicked into full fanboy mode. After speaking with him, I became more enthralled by his past
than by his wrestling history. I’m not one for spoilers (you’ll have to read the series) but his life is
one of assassinations, defection, international fame and fortune, and a whole lot of wrestling
insider history.
8) When you eventually leave this field, what would you like as your lasting impression on the
public?
I’m not planning on going anywhere soon, but I would hope that people would look back and
say that I did my best, stayed true to my convictions, and was always there to lend an ear or a
word of advice to other aspiring writers and artists.
9) Do you have any shameless plugs?
Always!
LOL You can follow Rochelle and our appearances at www.rochelletheteencockroach.com
(which has links to all of your social media). You can purchase Rochelle digitally at
comixology.com and can pick up hard copies at your local comic book store or directly from
Antarctic Press at: http://www.antarctic-press.com/.
You can keep up-to-date with the Nikolai series on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Nikolai.volkoff.Comic/
10) If you had one sage piece of advice to try to break into the business…what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to put yourself and your work out there and never give up. If you present your
work to 100 people and 99 say no, but one says yes, you’ve succeeded.

7.June.2015Fresh off the heels of signing a publishing deal with Antarctic Press, we had a fantastic turnout at Rochelle's first comic convention, the Daytona Beach Comic Convention, where our creator/writer, John Crowther, was a special guest.

10/08/2016

Home

Getting ready to ramp it back up with more interviews coming soon!!! Also, we'll release a new issue of Sampler, retooled, in 2017!!! Get ready for fun!!! The next interview will be with John Crowther, the creator of Rochelle the Teenage Cockroach that is taking the Indie world by storm!!! www.rochelletheteencockroach.com/

7.June.2015Fresh off the heels of signing a publishing deal with Antarctic Press, we had a fantastic turnout at Rochelle's first comic convention, the Daytona Beach Comic Convention, where our creator/writer, John Crowther, was a special guest.

02/01/2015

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

28/11/2014

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

05/05/2014

The reboot for this magazine will be coming soon!!! Get ready for new art, new interviews and new articles, all for you!!!

11/02/2014

BLUE ROSE STUDIOS

Here's an interview by Jason Franks!!! He's a great Indy Publisher/Creator, and a friend to Artistic License Studio!!!

Exclusive Interview by……………Ken Anthony II
With Jason Franks

1) How did you get into the comics industry?

I dunno if you’d say I’m ‘in’ the industry, exactly, with only one or two mini-comics under my belt, but I got into indie publishing through mucking around on the internet. Long story short, Marc Schmidt expressed the desire to draw a short story for someone on a message board and I had a script lying around. When the art came back I was hooked—I had to write another, and another, and suddenly I found myself with enough material to produce a book of short stories. Once I realized that, I focused on writing a variety of pieces in different genres and finding artists. Now I’m almost ready to go to the printers.

2) Who do you feel are your biggest influences?

As far as comics writing goes, I’d have to say that Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and Alan Moore. Garth’s storytelling craft, sharp dialog and comic timing are second to none. Warren’s general nastiness… his ability to make unsympathetic characters compelling… is also something else that I admire. And Alan Moore is just the king, you know? His stories are always layered and thought –provoking and perfectly executed. I’ve stolen numerous ideas from Brian Bendis’ work, too, although I don’t think I could (or would want to) work in that style.

I’m not much of an artist, but as far as that goes, Frank Miller’s Daredevil work, as well as his chiaroscuro Sin City stuff is a big influence. Leonardo Manco’s dirty, textured art looks _exactly_ the way I wish a lot of my art looked. Steven Pugh is justly renowned for his cheesecake art, but I think he actually does ugly people and madmen better than anyone else. Simon Bisley’s bodacious figures are still the primary influence on the way I draw action. Learned a lot about visual storytelling from Steve Dillon.

3) How would you describe your style or your intentions within that

style?
Writing wise, I try to be cinematic and natural. Humor is important, too, because I write pretty dark most of the time. I try to keep things moving, but I feel that it’s important to know how and when to vary the pacing throughout any given work.

Artwise, I value storytelling above draftsmanship or polish. I try to draw regular people, rather than steroid-freaks or stick figures. I like to use fast, broad brushstrokes for my inks, or sometimes heavily textured shading on top of tighter blacks and clearer detail. I’ve been trying to develop a smoother pen style as well. I think there’s a lot of interesting things you can do by varying inking styles within a piece and I’ll be playing with that a lot more in the future.



4) What projects are you currently working on?

1) A 32 page anthology of short stories called One More Bullet, containing a variety of stories in different genres: a holocaust story, a horror story, science fiction, and a war story. Art is by J, Marc Schmidt (Egg Story), Nathan Wiedemer (Same Old Story), David Richardson (Atomic Age Adventures) and myself. All stories were written by me, except for the 3 page Same Old Story short by Steve Mangold and Nathan Wiedemer.

This may blow out to 48 pages and include a travel story, a samurai piece and domestic drama/crime piece, depending on how quickly the art comes in (I had planned these latter stories for a second volume, but if they’re going to be done in time, hey!).



2) A pitch for the After Hours anthology called ‘Gavotte’ with Steve

Mangold.


3) A lot of prose fiction and a couple of screenplays.

5) What, if anything, do you have planned for the future?

1) A second volume of comic short stories. A big, badass multi-genre action graphic novel called ‘The Badman’. I’m also thinking of adapting one of my screenplays to comics and pitching it to Tokyopop, if I can find a manga artist with the right style.



2) Lots more prose work.



6) What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?

Getting that first story back from Marc Schmidt. Seeing an artist to invest that much time and effort into visualizing a bunch of words I slapped together and ask for more is a massive deal to me. Any time an artist gives me back work is a huge validation for me: they believed in what I’ve written enough to invest hours of blood, sweat and tears without payment. Their effort means more to me than any monetary reward (this may change when my books start selling a million copies apieceJ.

7) What are the most interesting characters, to you, that you have

worked on?
I’ve only ever worked on my own characters, so this is … I kinda like all of them!

I always preferred villains and monsters and losers to heroes. Stein, from ‘One More Bullet’, gets a lot of people talking. Otherwise, I guess my favorite character that I’ve created for comics (and one of the few I hope to revisist in other stories) is Netsure, the samurai who’ll do and/or pull any kind of underhanded tricks necessary in order to preserve the appearance of being honorable. (He may not appear until the second volume of my short stories book, though).

8) When you eventually leave this field, what would you like to leave as your lasting impression on the public?

I’d love to have an audience! I don’t have any work generally available yet and I’d love to have a bunch of people who read it. Otherwise, I’d like to be remembered as someone who wrote interesting and original stories.

9) Do you have any shameless plugs?

My book One More Bullet, which should (hopefull!) be available in January.

My buddy Marc Schmidt’s graphic novel Egg Story, out now from Slave Labor Graphics.

Steven Mangold and Nathan Weidermer’s ‘Same Old Story’ mini-comics, available from www.bluerosestudios.net.

10)If you had one sage piece of advice to try to break into the

business …what would it be?
Well, I dunno if you’d consider me someone who has broken in, but my advice is: do the work you want to do, then find the right venue and sell the hell out of it. Keep trying to sell and keep working on more stuff—you’ll only improve your abilities and your chances. Self-publish something as a showcase for your abilities; it’s the only way to get invited to pitch it to big publishers unless you are a rock star or a Hollywood personality.

Here's another website to stay updated with his latest works!!! http://www.jasonfranks.com/about/

03/01/2014

2014 is the year that Sampler returns! We'll post more of the older interviews, but along with that, get ready for a new issue in a new format! More details throughout the year as the return plans unfold.

01/05/2013

Ethan Van Sciver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's the exclusive interview that Ken Anthony II did with Ethan Van Sciver back in 2007!!! The link at the bottom is to his Wikipedia page so that you can catch up with him currently!!!

1) How did you get into the comics industry?
The slow and painful way, although I was only 19 years old, so it didn't bother me. I started doing stapled-together photocopied comics based on my first creation, CYBERFROG for friends and family, and showed those to a small press publisher out of Elkhart, Indiana called Hall of Heroes. They couldn't afford to pay me, but they did absorb the cost of the printing and distribution of CYBERFROG for two issues, at which time Harris Comics in New York offered to publish it in color AND pay me a page rate to write and draw it. After about a dozen issues of color CYBERFROG, I was able to get work at DC comics pencilling IMPULSE each month. That whole process took about 5 years. It was made easier by the fact that I was so young and determined, and that I thought I couldn't possibly fail. But it's definitely a ladder to climb rung by rung.

2) Who do you feel are you biggest influences?
Brian Bolland, Bernie Wrightson, John Byrne, Todd McFarlane, my friends who started drawing comics the same time I did, etc. All of them were helpful in some way. They each helped me define my own approach to drawing.



3) How would you describe your style or your intentions within that style?

I don't know how I'd describe it, but I think I mean to take extraordinary things and make them look believable, without becoming photorealistic. It's a fine line. I find photorealism to be boring, in most cases. But the drawings have to look alive. Detail, unique expressions, careful acting, that's all a part of what I'm trying to accomplish. Also, I put a lot of thought into what I call subliminal storytelling, where using certain shapes, camera angles, and hidden images, I try to impress a feeling on the reader without being blunt. It gives the storytelling a little more 'oomph', and when you're working in 2 dimensional frames, you need all you can get.



4) What projects are you currently working on?

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH, a six part miniseries with writer Geoff Johns, after which I will continue on to the regular GREEN LANTERN series in 4 issue arcs here and there.

5) What, if anything, do you have planned for the future?

It's good to have plans. I have lots of plans. But things change, new opportunities emerge, and it'd be unwise to set anything in stone. However, I'm looking forward to a chance to work on Wonder Woman in some capacity. And the Flash.

6) What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?

I think this, right here, GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #1's remarkable success, both commercially and critically. It's a nice peak to have reached.

7) What are the most interesting characters, to you, that you have worked on?

I enjoyed creating a villain called Murmur, back in 2001's FLASH: IRON HEIGHTS prestige one shot, also with Geoff Johns. The two of us had a nice little phone conversation one afternoon, trying to come up with the most disturbing, creepy villain the DC universe has ever seen. The end result, a serial killer who compulsively confesses his own crimes and decides to cut out his own tongue and sew his lips closed, remains one of my favorite things I've ever been involved with. I love giving fans all over the world the shivers every now and then.



8) When you eventually leave this field, what would you like to leave as your lasting impression on the public?

Well, I don't hope to ever leave this field. I want it to be my life's work. But if I do disappear somehow from the comics scene, I hope people remember some of my better efforts, and I hope they get reprinted in a cool hardcover volume called "The Best of Ethan Van Sciver" or something like that. You have to reach the absolute top to get something like that made, like Jim Lee or John Byrne. But those guys did it. Maybe I can too.

9) Do you have any shameless plugs?

Not really. I hope people look out for future projects from me, but there's no shame in asking that, and there's nothing coming up that I haven't mentioned.

10) If you had one sage piece of advice to try to break into the business…what would it be?

Make sure this is something you want to do for a long time, because if it is, you've already been doing it on your own, and you'd do it anyway for free. It's a tough, competetive business with peaks and valleys, and it takes a lot of nerve to hang in there. But it's worth it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Van_Sciver

Ethan Daniel Van Sciver (born September 3, 1974) is an Americancomic bookartist, best known for illustrating a number of titles including Green Lantern, Superman/Batman, New X-Men, and The Flash: Rebirth.

25/04/2013

Welcome to the official page for Sampler!!! Many of you may remember us from Ken Anthony II handing these out at Megacon and other conventions!!! While it's been awhile since we published a fanzine, we wanted to add those interviews here and may have a few issues left in us for the future!!! Keep checking back.