Xavier Xerexes (which isn't his real name, by the way) is the publisher and driving force behind Comixpedia. He also has a real job, and a real life, which he doesn't talk about on the Internet. Actually, none of the staff know what he actually does, except that he's a lawyer.

Interviews editor Leah Fitzgerald kicks off the staff interviews with a talk with our illustrious publisher.

A "Sadistic Shoujo" manga with an Angelic Layer theme, Rules of Make-Believe is another one of those webcomics that surprised everyone last year – starting out of nowhere, and gaining notice faster than a speeding broadband connection, Ju-Lian and co.'s work is a quality-rendered webcomic that's about a very specific game, without being a gaming comic. Leah Fitzgerald had a quickie chat to pick Ju-Lian's brain about the whole thing, as well as gloss on gaming and sprite comics, too.

Brad Hawkin, the creator of Monkey Law, talks to Leah Fitzgerald about his art and politics, and the business of making monkeys homeless.

Stephen Notley planted his first comic seeds the mid 90s while drawing weekly strips for the University of Alberta's Gateway (a student newspaper that managed to churn out not only Notley's work, but also Cigarro & Cerveja, Deathworld, and the now-defunct but fondly-remembered Space Moose all in the same span of time). It did not take him or his comic idea about a disgruntled sentient weed – umm, sorry – flower to take root and bloom brightly in the still-Edenic Garden of Webcomics. Now already releasing his fourth book, the creator of Bob The Angry Flower can be seen on the comic convention circuit sporting large yellow petals on his head and pollinating truths about life, the universe, and political everythings as only an angry, petal-bedecked person could.

Jon Morris may claim "the things he writes and draws make people sad," but he has had a hand in several well received webcomics. Starting with the Ignatz nominated Jeremy and moving on to current anthology project Open Book, Morris continues to expand the scope of material he brings to his particular style and approach to comics.

Tom Hart and Leela Corman are married – and so are their professions. Both are artists behind successful comics, Hart on the web (Hutch Owen) and Corman in print (Subway Series), and the two manage to balance close quarter living and their artistic differences.

Comixpedia: Do you find you are competitive with your significant other?
Tom Hart: No not at all. Supportive. In fact, Leela is extremely helpful in scouring the world for observations to fuel my work.
Leela Corman: No, because our work is so different. We're coming from completely different places in terms of background, training, and interests. I started out with painting and serious figure drawing, and am also an illustrator; Tom has always had a stronger commitment to comics. It shows even now – I think he cares a lot more about the history of the medium than I do. For me, they're just a means to a story I want to tell.

I often wonder what would have happened to me if I'd taken the relationship example of Betty/Archie/Veronica/Reggie seriously.

They tell you cleanliness is next to godliness. They being those people who write those books of guidelines explaining how you're supposed to behave. They give rules about eating candy in church and putting the toilet paper either under or over the roll.

In this case, I'm not sure they're wrong.

They're not taking it away, really. They just expect me to pay for it now. Darn. There go the free comics.

Ucomics.com went to a pay system last year, offering either all your comics in one big email or on one special webpage. They still offered the option of getting one comic for free, knowing that someone who's just getting Adam or Foxtrot or For Better or For Worse wouldn't pay for a service that was supposed to be a convenience to the people getting twenty comics a day.

MegaTokyo blew up almost immediately when it appeared on the webcomics scene three years ago. Fred Gallagher, the creator behind the strip, goes by Piro, a nickname he took only temporarily. A former architect, he now lives on the spoils of the site's merchandise.


Comixpedia: How did you start doing MegaTokyo?

Fred Gallagher: Well, the roots of where MegaTokyo came from go back years before it actually started. My first webpages were actually anime websites about specific series.