Golden age comics are alive and well with Deep Dive Daredevils! Evin Dempsey speaks on behalf of his three man group of writers known as the ThreeOneFive. The other two writers are Matt Heistand and Dan Fifield. And artist Danilo Guida speaks on behalf of himself! With their powers combined...
1. For the poor souls not already reading, please give a brief synopsis of your comic.
Evin - Deep Dive Daredevils is a golden age inspired adventure webcomic about an incredible submarine and its stalwart crew. We feature a fearless 10-year-old first mate and his courageous canine companion, a mysterious and brilliant doctor, and the ship’s Captain who has been integrated into the vessel through marvelous technology. Week after week we plunge them into the most bizarre and dangerous predicaments the sea has to offer and we always leave you with a cliffhanger that will shock and amaze.
2. What materials and/or software do you use?
Evin – We do the writing all in Word, supplemental graphics, including our weekly Radiograms updates and blog content are made with Photoshop and Illustrator, and we publish the comic with ComicPress.
Danilo – I illustrated chapter 1 in the traditional way: pencils and ink. Then I discovered the program Manga Studio, and now I ink the pages digitally. It’s a much better process when your pencils are really a mess like mine. For coloring I use Photoshop.
3. Are there any books, movies, toys, artists, or authors that have inspired or continue to inspire your comic?
Evin – Matt, Dan, and I have been heavily influenced by golden age adventure comics and the movie adventures from our own childhood. Indiana Jones is constant inspiration.
Danilo – I have many influences. For the storytelling, I can say the work of Frank Miller has left a lasting impression. In terms of style, I’ve always admired artists who expertly handle the contrast between black and white, from Alberto Breccia to Tim Bradstreet with a great range in the middle.
4. Are any of your characters based on real people in your life?
Evin – The dog in Deep Dive Daredevils is based on one of my dogs, Charlie. I show him the pages every week but it doesn’t faze him. If only every star could be so humble.
Danilo – For the Captain I started from my memory of Alberto Breccia´s face (I had the chance to study with him a short time), but eventually, I think, the Captain came to life on his own. And of course, Charlie, Evin´s dog!
5. Are there any actors you know you would want to play or voice certain characters in a movie of your comic?
Evin – Denzel Washington would be perfect as Doc McCarver, for sure. Sir Ian McKellen could play the Captain, Joe could be played by the kid from Never-ending story (back in 1984), and Cup would be played by Rin Tin Tin. So we’re going to need a time machine and some pretty good CGI.
Danilo – Agree with Denzel W. And McKellen!
6. What songs would you like in a soundtrack of your comic?
Evin – I’d want an entirely original score that blended the fun of the Batman TV series with the rousing orchestral excitement of a John Williams classic.
7. What is your overall goal for your comic?
Evin – We have always been driven by the desire to share our stories. Just the fact that people are reading our comic, commenting on the pages, and coming back the next week feels like a win already.
Danilo – I agree, it´s very exiting to see the pages uploaded every Tuesday and read the readers´ reactions. Nevertheless, it would be cool to see our comic printed!
8. How has managing a comic impacted your life?
Evin – Tuesdays (when we update) have become more stressful. But it’s all worth it when we see that new page in the blotter every week.
9. What do you do to advertise your work?
Evin – We use Twitter a lot. It’s a great way to get your product out there, and in our experience we have found that the comic book community on Twitter is very supportive. Facebook is another tool we use quite a bit. We provide extra content every Monday that gives hints about what to expect when the page comes out the next day. We also give out printed material to comic book stores and people we meet at conventions to try to get people on board.
10. Web comics can be very time consuming and sometimes expensive to keep up. Often there is little reward in regards to money and sometimes public attention. Why do you do it?
Evin – We do it because we love this stuff. Simply put, comic books are awesome. Since we’ve been making comics we’ve been introduced to such cool and interesting people, guys that we would never have any chance of meeting otherwise.
11. Got any other projects we should know about?
Evin – We have a comic on the stands right now that we are extremely proud of called Baby Girl, drawn by David Hahn. It is currently being featured as the back-up story in Image Comic’s Hell Yeah by Joe Keatinge. Baby Girl is a mature-rated action romp, and while the content is more violent and explicit than Deep Dive Daredevils, it still comes out of our shared love of adventure.
These days, we are working on a brand new series with an incredible artist, Ryan Cody. It is our own twisted and crazy take on the police procedural genre. It’s going to be very fun.
Danilo – I´m dividing my time between the Daredevils and an Indian heroic fantasy comic. Also, I have a project for the French market coming from a crowd-funding publisher called Sandawe.com. We’ve currently raised 28% of the budget.
12. What advice would you give to aspiring creators?
Evin – Just go for it. You’re going to make mistakes, we sure did. When you make them, learn from them. Keep going. At the end of the day, nobody wants to watch a documentary about somebody that made it big without a few pitfalls on their road to success.
Oh, and network. People like to do business with their friends.
Danilo – For artists, experience is very important. So, while you are learning it is good to have little jobs to work out the hand. We can do great stuff when we have all the time in the world, but even for small jobs you will have deadlines to meet. And, that builds experience.
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Thanks guys. When I think about how tough it can be to carve out time for myself to draw, color, update, and advertise it makes me wonder at the benefits and burdens of having to collaborate with multiple creators and (quite literally) get everyone on the same page! You guys pull it off wonderfully and we're glad you do it. Thanks for carving out time to collaborate on this interview.
If you dig Deep Dive Daredevils you can show your love by up-voting the submission for this interview at Reddit Webcomics. Up-voting keeps Deep Dive Daredevils on the front page of the webcomic category longer which means more people get to see it!
Thank you for showing up person who's reading this! Drop us a comment to let us know how you feel about the interview in the comments section below. Then join the Deep Dive Daredevils for more oddities in the seas!
-Mat
next week: Tales of a Checkered Man!
If you would like to be interviewed about your web-comic send an email to evanyeti@yahoo.com titled "interview" with a link to your comic.
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