Interview with comics creator Nick Prolix

I first came across the work of Nick Prolix in the recently published 'Awesome Comics #1' - I instantly loved his art and wanted to find out more about him and he was kind enough to answer some questions that I posed him. So, enough of that, let's get on with meeting Nick Prolix...

1). Tell us about your current Kickstarter campaign - what can be people expect?

It’s my first time on Kickstarter as a creator and I've got to say, I'm enjoying every minute of it so far! I’ve been self-publishing my one-person anthology comic, Slang Pictorial since 2016 and I'm on Kickstarter to fund the printing and shipping of issue 3. Within Slang Pictorial you'll find my ongoing retro comic called The Sheep And The Wolves. The Sheep And The Wolves follows the highs and lows in the lives of the residents of a fictional north London neighbourhood in the early 1960s.

We follow Jimmy Angel, a wide-boy with delusions of infamy and a huge quiff as he tries to get ahead in the local underworld, his new girlfriend Linda Lemon, a machinist in a dress factory dealing with an overprotective father and an overly amorous boss and in issue 3 we meet Ida Darling, intrepid reporter on the local rag as she tries to bust a dope ring in a seedy jazz club. By my last count at the end of issue 3 we’ve been introduced to 40+ characters and the list keeps growing!

The Kickstarter has rewards where folks can get caught up on the previous issues as well as picking up my sketchbook and now two Kickstarter-exclusive art prints as well as postcards featuring guest art from a quartet of small-press cartoonists who've contributed their own unique takes on the character of Jimmy. There's also reward tiers where you can also get an original comics page that I draw and ink traditionally as well as the opportunity to feature as a cameo in the comic itself, so I reckon there's plenty for everybody!

2). Is being an artist your full-time job? If not, what do you do in the 'real' world?

Not yet, but it is definitely my goal and something I'm working hard to make happen in the near future. As for the real world, my alter ego is that of a media studies teacher, and I've had the odd chance to teach comics as part of my course which is always fun.

3). I'm guessing you've been into comics for a long time - how did you first get into comics?I had a teacher at primary school who had a shortbox of bronze age Marvel comics that he kept in the classroom and which we could read if we finished our classwork early and that's definitely where I discovered characters like Shang Chi, Tony Stark and Luke Cage for the first time. Asterix and the Normans was the first comic I remember buying with my own money from WH Smith's one Saturday and the rest is history I guess!

4). What comics did you read, if any, when you were growing up?

As a kid it was Peanuts, Asterix and then the Marvel UK titles especially Action Force and then Dragons Claws. When I hit secondary school in the late 80s I was mostly reading a lot of Marvel,  Iron Man was my main book, Peter David's Hulk, Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man, plus a ton of Groo the Wanderer and then early image stuff like Trencher by Keith Giffen and Stray Bullets by David Lapham. I was given a copy of one of Art Spiegelman's RAW collections when I was in sixth-form and that opened my eyes to alternative and underground cartoonists like Tardi and then after university with films like Crumb, American Splendour and Ghost World I was totally sold!

5). Who would you say your biggest comics influences were / are?In terms of The Sheep And The Wolves and cartoonists I've tried to learn from, the big three are Gilbert Hernandez's Palomar stories which are almost perfect comics, Maurice Tillieux's Gil Jordan books which I would have been all over if I'd found them as a kid and Seth's Palookaville which is a model for the kind of long-form comic as art-book that I aspire towards one day.

6). What comics are you reading at the moment?

I'm currently enjoying working my way thru Steve Ditko's Spider-Man run, Dry County which is the latest Rich Tomasso book from Image and small press-wise, Artist Angst by Kev Brett.

7). Where can people find your art at the moment?Apart from Kickstarter you can find me at @nickprolix on both Twitter and Instagram which is where I post all my work in progress, and my website is www.thesheepandthewolves.com

8). Are you attending any convention this year?I was at True Believers in February and I'll be at Leamington in April which I'm really looking forward to as it will be my first time tabling there. I'll be returning to Cardiff Independent Comic Expo, Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention and Nottingham Comic Con again this year and I'll also be at Thought Bubble for the first time too. I did ten conventions last year and I had a great time connecting with readers and meeting new creators but I'm looking forward to traveling a little less this year and just focusing on a few of my more favourite cons.