There's an incredible wealth of articles in the ComixTalk archives: features and columns on craft, theory and business, insightful reviews and interviews with some of the most interesting folks in webcomics. We'll be taking a regular look back at past issues and catching up with creators we've previously covered.
We interviewed Ramon Perez and Rob Coughler in our November 2004 issue and Ramon Perez did the cover for Comixpedia's 2004 End of the Year issue. Perez and Coughler have had a busy year between their webcomic Butternutsquash and helping to found the new webcomics collective Transmission-X so it was a good time to catch up on what they're up to as we head towards 2008…
Where are you guys located these days and what are you up to during the daytime hours?
both rob and i are still happily residing in toronto.
during the day (more like most of the day) i spend my time at a shared studio space with five phenomenal artists! the name on the door says royal academy of illustration and design" and once you pass through you'll find the likes of karl kerschl, cameron stewart, andy belanger, scott hepburn and kalman andrasofszky. the talent pool here is amazing and i'm happy to be sharing the space now for almost two years.
rob on the other hand has left behind the confines of the coffee and smut business, though we still have plenty of stories to share there, and has ventured into the more respectable realm of the book store industry. his days are filled with happy customers and cute coworkers, so who can complain? when we finds the time to actually get together we knock out heads and see where we can take butternut beyond what we have now…
You've been updating Butternutsquash again this year! What's the current plans for the future of BNS? Are you looking again at getting it into print at some point?
right now the current plan for bns, as season 3 ends, is to take a break and gather our thoughts and ideas and see where we can take the stories and characters in the next season. as of novemeber 15 we will be taking a 2 month hiatus (for peace of mind and mental health), though the site will be active with a slew of great guest strips by some great talents! already slated is daniele corsetto of girls with slingshots and chris jones of grumps, as well as many many other super talents, including some of the boys from transmission-x! it's gonna be awesome, i can't wait to see what these fine folks pull off.
regarding print, rob and i are both eager to take another stab at it. however, rather than do your standard 22 page comic book, we're focusing on trying to assemble an trade paperback. something akin to the collections put out by most newspaper strip comics. whether we go through a publisher or do it up ourselves we hope to have something out for sometime in 2008.
You're part of the new collective Transmission X. How did that come about and what kind of stuff are you doing with them?
transmission-x came about when a bunch of us, while hanging out and talking, decided we wanted to do something outside of our mainstream works. while, i already have butternut with rob, i was eager to tackle some of the other ideas in my head. as well as stretch my writing muscles and go it alone. i have been part of the transmission-x idea since the ground floor, but had to push back the launch of my comic as i was too busy designing and prepping the transmission-x sites for launch.
it has been a bit overwhelming doing two webcomics a week. but it's very satisfying at the same time. kukuburi appeals to a different readership than butternut, so it's interesting to see it grow. though unlike butternut, kukuburi will be following finite arcs. so the current story will probably wrap at 80 pages, whereupon i'll take a break and work on the next story or perhaps a new idea that's been percolating in the back of my mind.
Did you guys have fun with the big webcomic cross-over at Butternutsquash this past Spring?
we did! it was fun to see how people would have rob and cola interact within their comics. we were happily surprised by peoples ideas! due to the timing many people had to back out, but we had a great turnout nevertheless.
still hope to do some grand crossover with danielle over at gws. jamie and hazel are like the female versions of rob and ramon, i think worlds would collide – in a good good way!
What do you both have planned in terms of comics and other creative projects for 2008?
rob has a comic project he's been toying with titled garden variety. i'm a bit overloaded as always as i'm currently working on a three issue arc starring wildcat in dc's jsa: classified. the story is written by b. clay moore and being coloured by dave mccaig. it is set to premiere in february.
that aside i have some other fun projects i'm contracted to later in the year such as a children's book and an inuit mythology collection. i also have a crime noir graphic novel that i've been slowly researching and plotting out in my spare time… needless to say it might be a while before that one sees the light of day 😉
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