Brandon Starocci discusses his comic series Avalon and how it focuses on mental health in a post-apocalyptic zombie world. He explains how he portrays mental health in a visual medium and uses the zombies as an allegory for facing mental health challenges. Brandon also talks about the unique narrative structure of Avalon, where each character has depth and screen time, and how he keeps himself engaged in the story despite the time between releases. He shares his experience working with co-writers and artists, and his goals for the series and future projects. Brandon also provides advice for running a successful Kickstarter campaign for comics. Brandon and Ryan also discuss their perspectives on AI in the creative industry and the potential impact on artists and writers. Check out the link to the latest Avalon Campaign at:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avaloncomic/avalon-issue-1-6?ref=profile_created
Takeaways
- Avalon is a comic series that focuses on mental health in a post-apocalyptic zombie world.
- The comic portrays mental health in a visual medium by observing and relating to real-life experiences and incorporating them into the story.
- The narrative structure of Avalon allows each character to have depth and screen time, making them feel like main characters.
- Managing the time between releases and keeping oneself engaged in the story can be a challenge, but it’s important to stay consistent and find new ways to surprise and engage readers.
- Working with co-writers and artists involves collaboration and finding a balance between creative input and trusting each other’s expertise.
- Running a successful Kickstarter campaign for comics requires research, showcasing artwork, offering appealing rewards, and proper scheduling. Create engaging rewards to attract backers and make your campaign stand out.
- Building an audience is crucial for crowdfunding success. Utilize networking, interviews, and social media to promote your project.
- Attending conventions can be an effective way to market your comic. Look for smaller conventions where you can engage with potential readers.
- As a writer, focus on genuine conversations and networking to promote your work at conventions.
- AI in the creative industry is a controversial topic. Some creators prefer to stay away from AI and prioritize human creativity and jobs.
- The Avalon Comic campaign will launch on September 6th. Follow Avalon Comic on social media and visit their website for updates and more information.
Ryan (00:12)
Hey everyone, welcome to Indie Insights. I’m here with Brandon Starocchi. Brandon, how you doing? I’m great. Busy, busy kind of end of the summer. Just got kind of get back from vacation and getting my head wrapped around things, but I’m doing well. And I can say you’ve been pretty busy kind of gearing up for this next campaign, right?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (00:17)
Good hurry today!
Yeah, of course. same kind of deal. You got work, you got life, you know, and then on top of it, we’re really kind of planning for us and doing some new things with this campaign coming up here in September, too.
Ryan (00:42)
Yeah, yeah, it’s like, I wish I could be a full -time, just full -time comic creator would be nice. I think it’s like having like a second full -time job on top of regular work. So it’s always like, when you’re in that creation mode, it’s a lot, definitely.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (00:55)
yeah, yeah, 100%. It really ends up finding its way to add a little bit more stress to everything, but you do it because you love it, you know, and that’s the only reason why we kind of stick around doing all this stuff.
Ryan (01:01)
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. All right, so we’ll get right into it. So I’ve had a chance to go read through. we talked a while back, at least a year ago. Yeah, least, well, yeah, about a year ago, because I was gearing up for my first campaign around then. That was a little bit over a year ago. So, but I had a chance to go through issues five, but for someone who hasn’t read Avalon, what’s the elevator pitch for somebody who hasn’t read the book?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (01:12)
Mm -hmm. Head open, yeah.
yeah of course so i have one is as post -apocalyptic zombie story that falls the whole castle family we decided to do a little bit different narrative in cast away from the heroes journey for the whole family as the main protagonist and avalanche zombies are almost a little bit secondary we focus on things like mental health and physical health amongst every character that we kind of show showcase as well but again you’re gonna be really following this stuff that
more so than actually learning about the zombies that you know that that’ll come but that’s basically the center focus of this story
Ryan (02:07)
Yeah, no, so that’s interesting. So focusing on mental health, comics are, it’s a tricky medium, because you only have so many words and it’s all visual, right? You’re not really, know, unless you’re doing a lot of thought bubbles, you’re not really dealing with interior or internal monologues, you’re not really dealing with what’s going on from the character’s perspective more than what you’ll see visually. So how do you face a topic that’s pretty complicated, like mental health, in a visual medium? How do you do that and kind of do it justice?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (02:35)
I have a good team around you first and foremost and second really is just seeing people, know, family members, you know, I have some, you know, some anxieties in my own life just with my own stresses and stuff and I see people outside of me, family members as well, you know, friends that kind of deal with their own kind of anxieties and mental health issues and again the physical health problem as well that kind of goes hand in hand with some different family members but kind of watching people, you know, I like to kind of show or tell people that I’m kind of like a sponge, I like to watch.
observe and take things in just kind of you know relating to a lot of different things as well and then kind of putting into a comic fashion is just doing it because in this question up or this part of a lot in a lot of interviews i’ve always asked myself how i would survive in a zombie apocalypse so that i kind of stem that from just knowing people that have to deal with those those kind of things as well and
and then giving the people something to read that in case like you know with mason per se like has anxiety and there are going to be some characters you know the later issues here that you may have physical health issues and physical setbacks as well that people can relate to so it allows anybody to pick this comic book up and just be like okay i can relate to this character
Ryan (03:50)
Interesting. now I guess question, obviously we get a lot of times, especially with zombie movies, we get that with vampires, that they’re kind of some allegory for something going on in our actual society. Do you use these zombies as an allegory for mental health or dealing or facing mental health issues? Like, do they represent some kind of a challenge that you then utilize your story to tell?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (04:11)
Yeah, sure. So with that alone, definitely, I think you hit the nail right on the head with that statement there. And also just just regular daily things that people deal with, again, on a day to day basis. So a lot of what we did with our family here, the Castle family that the readers are following right now is really dig down and dig deep into this family’s past and their issues that they had before this apocalypse kind of even just transpired.
and and that’s gonna be a lot of things to kind of unfold as seasons and issues kind of come in the future here to cause right now there’s just a lot of chaos is just a lot of you know riots you know unknown things going on yet zombies are running people so once that you get a minute to these characters kind of give a minute to sit down you’ll see the other aspect of things like you said like the zombies are you know kind of portraying the mental health thing and and and all just normal day life stuff will come up in in later time
Ryan (05:09)
Nice. So obviously the zombie genre is pretty crowded. I know we talked about this a little bit when we talked last year, but how does Avalon differentiate itself from other kind post -apocalyptic stories as far as like the narratives and the themes that you try to work with?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (05:25)
Yeah, think first and foremost we don’t choose a specific hero’s journey. I know things have done that in the past as well, but really allowing each character to feel like they could be their own main character to anybody reading the comic. We really tell in a diverse way where each character has a lot of depth where they could feel as if they are a main character. There’s a lot going on in the way we’re telling it as well, the screen time per character.
not one character has way more screen time than another one at this moment and that’s the kind of the idea of writing further with the abalone as well. Another thing being is just the rawness of the characters, the rawness of the world, the realism that we try to bring into this and articulate in this world as much as possible.
as well the one thing that we really harp on with Avalon is really keeping the mental health and the physical health things in the story not really just showing it real quick and then slowly having it fade away like one of the characters has to deal with asthma this is the easiest one to kind of explain so he deals with asthma so this isn’t going to be something where you see him take a an inhaler a puff of an inhaler once or twice and then you’ll never kind of see it again this would be an ongoing deal with this character and kind of
trying to overcome this and dealing with it and with the end of the world and once when when he runs out what happens you know so a lot of those things are going to actually be interweaved with the storyline rather than just kind of show when it’s when we think it’s necessary and kind of disappear
Ryan (06:52)
So to tell a little bit of sidebar. if you said kind of part of this is how you would survive the zombie apocalypse. So what would be your five tips for surviving the zombie apocalypse?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (07:03)
geez, now at this point I feel like I’m so invested in the characters I’m thinking the way they are. basically, you know, it’s funny cause I think about it on a day day basis, here and there, but right now I’m, I’m on the mindset and it’s probably wrong, you know, it’s probably wrong, but going into some, hunkering down, going into a school, you know, with a generator and it kind of just, you know, a high school that has like high points and then blocking it off and then, again, just trying to get as much weapons, food and shelters you can get and
Ryan (07:06)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (07:32)
keep family around, people are numbers, people are, you know, keep you around.
Ryan (07:37)
Yeah. So you mentioned something and that I’ve noticed is an interesting aspect of the comic is that it does shift focus. So it’s like, you know, you’ll have one issue that’s focused on one character, the other, you know, other issues that are going be focused on more the family and you’ve got them kind of coming together, you know, as we get towards issue six. But I guess this question I had for a little bit later, but since you brought this up, you know, I’m curious as how you manage it, cause I’m facing kind of a similar issue. So the releases right now, it’s not like a
typical, like you’re not doing monthly releases, right? You’re doing it every what? Quarterly or every six months. Would you say.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (08:07)
Mm
So yeah, I mean, at this point, it’s just when we’re getting it done. But yeah, I’ll answer. I don’t know if there’s more to the question or not.
Ryan (08:18)
Yeah. So, so I guess the question is, you know, with so much story to tell, how do you keep yourself engaged only being able to share so a little bit at a time, you know, in that, you know, you’re, you’re only, you know, and like I I’m facing kind of the same thing is that I have, you have this big story to tell, but whether it’s fine, you know, obviously with comics, it’s expensive and timing. It’s hard to, know, you can, it’s not like you’re releasing monthly where you, know, every month you got that, another bit of that story. So like for, you know, a big
Brandon – Avalon Comic (08:40)
yeah.
Ryan (08:47)
A big thing happens in issue five that I’d love to know the answer to that I would have wanted to know way back in issue two, right? So, or issue three. so like, how do you keep yourself engaged and keep people motivated to want to know what’s going on, knowing that like the releases do tend to, there is some distance in between releases.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (08:54)
Yeah, yeah.
I think you just asked the question of the century for all the independent creators right now. I think, I mean, I guess to answer it in one way, because I do put a lot of thought into that right now, especially. The unfortunate thing right now is we’re just trying to get this first season, I call them seasons, this first volume out at ASAP. And that being one through six. six will be the finale of season one.
Ryan (09:10)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (09:32)
Our goal is to kind of okay so now we want to get the trade paperback out now we can almost reach a whole new audience because there’s a lot of People out there who just read trade paperbacks. They don’t really get the you know the individual copies You know all that you know good stuff that comes with that they want to kind of read it all at once They want it all in a book in that fashion so our first goal is to kind of get that out And I’ve told people in the past so when that first fall or volume is out We’re gonna take a look just just a minor step back kind of look at what we got
have to meet just kind of catch up in the art really kind of grind out that are not you know we’ve been putting through a lot he’s been doing an amazing job in the time frames that he’s been given but really take another you know i’ll step back and pausing and and really completing things and sitting back and go okay let’s start really i want to release and march and october just for
to random months right now. Let’s just, know, March and October, Demetrius, do think you can get two issues done in that timeframe of the year? So it’s really kind of getting ahead so people can anticipate, okay, I know Avalon comes out every time at this time in March. I know Avalon comes out in October. So, or, know, if that’s just it, so that’s like the plan that we’re trying to figure out after we get this whole volume out, because again, that’s like a whole new market. That’s a whole new bunch of people that, you know, can read it and get their hands on it and really start pushing it and.
getting people excited for it, then the fan theories kind of come out. And then you start entertaining those theories as well, because with Avalon, we try to do a lot of little Easter eggs so people could talk about it and kind of keep the chatter going with it, I guess.
Ryan (11:04)
Yeah, so issue six then becomes kind of like a, it ties up this arc at least for, know, enough for a trade paperback. Nice. So what do you, so I guess, how do you, so I know you have a co -writer and I was gonna ask some questions about that, but so to ask you, is Bill Dalton, has he been your co -writer on this throughout or has he been a more recent addition to your team?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (11:10)
Yeah. Yes, yes.
more recent you know a good long buddy of mine i’ve known for years i’m a big fan of just you know entertainment creating and writing and in script writing all that i had allen dingfeller from issues one through six on that i can i get another long friend of mine that you know into the same kind of deals as you know all of us here we kind of granted out that issues one through six
Ryan (11:34)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (11:54)
Bill Dalton’s gonna be helping me with a lot of season 2’s aspect and so on if he wants to kind of stick around which would be great. But again, he’s been really with season 2 here. And again, just having him a part of it, it adds a whole new layer to it. It gives me a whole new fresh mind. It’s always nice for me personally to have an extra person there with me and kind of just banter with and kind of figure things out together. But yeah, yeah.
Ryan (12:21)
So what’s the process when you’re working with another writer? Like how do you, what does that look like? Do you get on, do you have kind of creative calls? Do you just write stuff and read each other’s work? Like how do you deal with that process of creating when it’s your brainchild, but you’ve got other people, know, other cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (12:40)
Sure, so basically what we’ve been doing right now is just like the creative calls like you said that you’ve had a kind of coming together to go through a document together You know listing out because because I have a general scope of how I see this story You know and I’ve kind of told them this as well and at first I’ll kind of give them a very Basic okay. This is where the story’s going then each I’ll break it down by season and and so on as well We’re obviously we’re on season two right now. So
he has a good understanding of the scope of it now all the little minor details of it in a little things that i come with it as well and in the arts the smaller arcs and all those little fine details that’s what we that’s what we brainstorm together that’s what we’re chatting on you know we have our our white piece of paper up and we’re kind of just chatting as we go along so it’s been a good process for me and a… bill and i as well for for this season
Ryan (13:38)
So now have you, have you ever had, with any of writing partners, any kind of knockdown, drag out fights over, know, I want to do this and the other person doesn’t. And like, have you had those big, that, you big argument over something, where you kind of stuck to your guns and just fought it out.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (13:52)
So no big big argument, but we’ve had a you know a thing where I was like, No, I have to be like this, you know I definitely had it like that and it’s funny because you know, there’s there’s also things as well for the Panel layouts or specific scene that even with Demetrius as well as I’m like if there’s something that I can’t I’m like no it has to be like this We’re doing it like that. But you know the best part about Demetrius and working with him over the years is
99 % of the time he brings something up to me. We’re rolling with that I feel like we’re dead We’re like parallel with each other and and this story, you
this point as well. He loves this story, he loves this project, know, he puts his heart and soul into this. So I just feel like we’re very, you know, speaking of me and Demetrius here, I think we’re damn near a parallel here in trying to figure out what we want in this story and the goal that we kind of see eye eye.
Ryan (14:46)
Yeah. So now speaking of the art, your artists, you know, that’s also always an interesting thing about comics is like the relationship between the artists and the writer. And so do you tend to, when you’re writing your scripts or collaborating with, with your artists, do you tend to say, you know, be very specific in what you want him to do, whether it’s panel layouts or, or specific panels, what you want, or do you generally like leave it to him to figure those kinds of things out?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (15:10)
So story wise it Depending on what it is exactly I guess but most of the time story wise what we’re pretty much like, okay It has to be you know, if it has something specific to the story, you know the the scene specific scene per se it has to kind of Articulate that a bit A lot of the panel layouts now. He’s kind of just taken took an under his wing here He did again. He just kind of surprises me each time. I have I have very general descriptions of the
the panel layouts now and what I want and again just kind of more so for the story the direction specific scenes per se but you know he’s kind of developed a knack for just really killing these these panel layouts and stuff like that so he again like I said he’s finding new ways to improve and and just surprise me each in every way but if there is something story specific it’s got to be that way and I’ll leave I’ll articulate that to him before we even kind of start with the you know the whole art process but yeah.
Ryan (16:06)
Yeah. And you could tell, like, you could see his evolution through the, through each issue. Like each issue you can see, you know, he’s not, he’s always been good, but like the panels get more dynamic and the art’s more, there’s better contrast. And I think also for like, cause you do mostly black and white with just red. And I noticed definitely towards, you know, the, the latter issues that he’s doing a much better job with like the values. And really making that like the black and white looks really interesting.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (16:16)
Yeah.
Ryan (16:35)
It’s really great contrast. And again, the panels look really good. So I think it’s, like, can tell his own evolution as an artist as over the, you over the course of these zero first five issues.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (16:44)
all hundred percent and and that’s you know how do you find the best way of saying that he gets better better time goes on you know i don’t want to take away anything he’s done the past because it’s always great you know i i say all the time but each week each issue you like even with this issue coming up here you know any sending the pencils and and the layouts and i’m just like you just find new ways of just surprising and just getting better and better better each time it goes on again not to take away from anything and the past but it just concept he’s he’s he’s just amazing or god
Ryan (16:52)
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Like it’s not never, it’s not never been bad or amateurish, but you can see it’s become, it’s more dynamic. and like the evolution, right? Like that’s, think where it’s gone, which, know, which, which also I think works because I think the first few issues, it’s, it’s a little bit more story, not, not that it’s not as much story now, but I think the first few issues you’re trying to lay the groundwork. So I think it needs to be a little bit more subdued and you need to kind of be there to learn what’s going on.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (17:15)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, right. Perfect word for it,
Ryan (17:39)
And now that things are really rolling and it’s more action, you see him showcasing his chops a little bit more.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (17:45)
Yeah, 100 % and I think that was and that actually speaks because I’m a very I like things to be consistent and as funny because you could just tell like with issue one how strict I was with issue one because again, this is my baby project, you know and when we first met and you know, I was kind of telling him everything I wanted to do and I was very I don’t want to use the word micromanage because that’s obviously a negative term But like I’m just like, know, it needs to almost be like this
Ryan (17:58)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (18:12)
i’ve gotten way more lenient you know the trust builds between the two of us and then he kind of showcases his art he just gets you know he does all these cool things he just keeps you know pushing him out there and then i am like okay yeah it’s all yours dude you’re doing an amazing job love what you’re doing we’re on that same page and you know let’s just keep grinding these out
Ryan (18:30)
Yeah. So now do you have like personally, like, do you have an end game for this series? Like is it, you, do you know how many, how many issues you want to put out? How many series you want? Do you have goals beyond comics? Like what’s your kind of, do you have any thoughts on where you want to go? Or are you still in a position of like, I’m loving this, you know, the story’s great. Let’s keep going with it.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (18:50)
Yeah, of course. So Avalon is going to keep going until we basically run out of ideas in the meat of the potato and the potatoes of it. You know, I have a general understanding of how I want this kind of to end. Do I have a number of issues I know? No. But I have a good understanding of like the, you know, the arcs and the plots, you know, and the seasons and then how I, you know, kind of want this to end. You know, and speaking of where I want to be, you know, my whole dream was to be just, you know, a director. That was the first initial dream.
was just be a movie director, making big picture feature films. And then I slowly started to gain love for the writing aspect of things. So having the writing kind of a part of this whole deal, doing writing feature films, even short films as well, doing all that stuff, but just getting into cinema. That would be my ultimate goal. To stay in the comic world would definitely be a goal of mine as well. I already actually have a bunch of different ideas that I’m working on.
slowly you know they’re getting there but you know that the main goal is avalanche at this point to but there but there’s couple other comic projects that i’m working on as well as i just you know i love the creating thing just kind of pushing things out there making things new
Ryan (20:01)
So how do you do that? how do you manage? you know, just the creation of a comic, a single issue is take so much work from the marketing and the kicks to crowdfunding and the writing and everything. How do you manage other projects with such a big lift, you know, that you’re dealing with right now?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (20:19)
I think, I don’t know exactly, getting into the personal kind of understanding of the characters that I’m writing, because that’s totally invested into the characters of Avalon. When I’m making these other projects that I’m working on and kind getting to the beginning process and of bullet pointing things, how I want this story to of pan out and all that, there’s no real emotional connection to it just yet because there’s no, I guess I have characters and all that, but then you are obviously making different characters as well. There are two characters.
that i you know there is an emotional connection with as well that i’m working on day in a week a feature film as well with another person and you know and you’re just creating characters like it like you would have one i guess you know just a different world different settings so it just depending on where i’m at i guess because when it’s a beginning stages no real emotional connection to it just said it just really trying to figure things out and what’s the character start coming to life as time goes on it just and i’ll just comes a life like you would meet a new person and kind of
meet a new friend and then become more and more friends with them. But yeah, that’s the only way can sort of answer your question. I don’t know.
Ryan (21:21)
Yeah. No, that’s fair. So, so now let’s shift gears a little bit to Kickstarter. So this is your sixth campaign on Kickstarter and you haven’t been through it once and kind of preparing for the next, you know, it’s a lot. What would you, after six, like, what would you say, what have you learned and what advice would you give yourself on the first campaign?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (21:43)
jeez, it’s crazy because I feel like each you got to do it new every time you do it. So each campaign, I’m just still trying to try new things and do new things and add new rewards and see what people kind of like generate towards as well. You know, really it’s just like just ultimately finding the base and devoting time into the story itself and articulating the story and selling the story to new people kind of of strolling by.
obviously again the artwork it goes a long way kind of showcasing artwork as much as you can without giving away the whole story because you obviously want people to come in and read it and enjoy it know and invest in it as well but you know it’s really it’s been a new process each time i’ve done it because i feel like if you if you do it all the same way it’s just gonna stay stagnant and you’re just gonna kind of whatever it’ll blow over but it’s just really trying new things each and every time you come up with a new kickstarter
Ryan (22:34)
And what you what advice you give to somebody who’s looking to start their first Kickstarter? What advice would you give to them on getting a crowd doing you’re running a crowdfunding campaign and being successful? Wait specifically for comics
Brandon – Avalon Comic (22:43)
I guess first and foremost, I would say do a lot of research and by that meaning, kind of look at other people’s campaigns, kind of see what they’re doing, see what they’re telling, what they’re giving, how much they’re giving, if you’re not sure exactly how to articulate what you’re selling and not give too much away as well, or not give too little away. And just really kind of, again, showcase your art, showcase your stuff, think of some cool rewards.
that you would like as an individual. You know, there’s a bunch of things that I’ve done in the last couple of Kickstarters. These rewards that we offer here are a lot of things that I enjoy just having from other companies as well. Like, okay, cool posters, stickers, pins. I mean, I would love to do like Funkos and action figures and stuff like that as well, but that’s not really possible. And really showcasing your art and selling it to people. And then scheduling is important too. With the interviews, like we’re, know, today here, it’s really…
Ryan (23:28)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (23:40)
admiring your time and scheduling properly because there’s times in the past where I just really stressed myself out when I didn’t need to and I could have just actually took my time and scheduled.
Ryan (23:42)
Yeah.
Yeah. It’s being a rewards. think my first campaign, one of the, not mistakes, but one thing I did is I had some really interesting, like 3d printed rewards. Cause I have a 3d printer. And what’s interesting is that they weren’t as, as, as, as, popular as I would have expected. Although I did give out like a free, like little mini 3d printed, cover that people loved. So I’ve got to find a way to promote that better. Cause people really enjoy that. And then actually there’s a new printer I have that I’m really excited about cause you can do full color. So I’m going to be doing like full color.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (24:07)
Yeah, so.
wow, we’re good.
Ryan (24:18)
covers that are kind of 3D printed. I’m like super excited to, play with that. Cause I found that like, that it was like the rewards that people liked, but it was that it was like as a bonus, but I had to figure out how to make sure people see, this is really cool. People really liked it, you know, but it’s interesting.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (24:32)
Yeah, it definitely is. again, like and not to say, well, I hope it doesn’t. like, you know, one thing that works in one campaign might not work in another one. You know, so that’s that’s the crappy thing with that, too, is just like, again, it’s a new experience each and every time you want to really generate the people to kind of see like, like you said, like really just if you if you like that product that you’re given, generate your focus into that. Like, look at this, look at this, look at this. Not a lot of people might, but there’s there’s some who will. And then that’s kind of the generation there. And then
Ryan (24:40)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (25:02)
I something else to say and it just completely went out of my head.
Ryan (25:06)
So again, speaking of, so one of the bigger things also with, it comes to crowdfunding is like, you need an audience, to kind of get going. So how would you, what, what would you recommend as far as marketing and promoting yourself to get people to go to your Kickstarter, Kickstarter and, and, and back your campaign? Obviously you’re doing part of part of that right now, but, yeah, like, what do you, what do do?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (25:22)
yeah yeah doing the interviews just like you mentioned to do interviews networking with others you know is that you know speaking for myself you know we have i have couple of projects you have a pair air and raise comics as well we kind of do like a trio deal we know roles on the comics we all love zombies you know we’ve all known each other for years at this point networking in that way cut kind of helping each other out sharing stuff like you start just
again just get to know people in the industry talking to listen to all you know hearing their advice just again being a sponge in every category with that too so it’s just there’s so much to do it’s a very busy field so it’s just kind of being out there talking people just taking advice and then
always being a social media being there being active at with the fence as well i think it’s very important kind of just showcasing that look we are here we are doing things we are in the up and up so kind of showcasing that not just kind of hiding around you you gotta you gotta be there you gotta be present people guys see you constantly cuz and i forget things very easily so we could tell me something ten minutes ago and it’s gonna forget no or see something ten minutes ago on face book about completely forget you just got a constantly be there
Ryan (26:33)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (26:38)
remind every individual like four or five times before they make one click so and that that’s kind of thing the negative term would be just be annoying you’ve got to be annoying unfortunately but but but it’s not annoying because people remember every single time i see it anyway so
Ryan (26:47)
Yeah.
Yeah. But yeah, no, I think that’s a fair point. And I think, you it’s like, you never know who’s watching what or who’s going to find you. I think if you’re not, if you don’t put, yeah,
Brandon – Avalon Comic (27:01)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Or when when they’re doing it all of it
it’s constantly being busy it’s constantly just showing face you know at this point you’re you’re just as big as a market as your title to so just like you can’t just keep throwing it you know for my case i can’t keep just on apple apple apple you gotta be i gotta be got through my name out there to like brit you know my name needs to tagged along with that one site same with the meetress to meet his name to be tagged with that we’re all you know need to promote ourselves as much as the product itself as well so it’s constantly you know just always out
Ryan (27:13)
Exactly, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that’s the like second full -time job basically is like promoting your own Kickstarter. Yeah, exactly. It’s a lot, but yeah, like it pays off, you know, in the long run, I think. But at the end of the day, just having it out there, you know, it’s like when I saw the book for the first time, it’s like, that would have been, that’s enough, you know, everything else is like a cherry on top. Yeah. So, what’s, let me see.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (27:34)
Yeah, yeah. The full, full, full -time job. that’s it.
Mm
beautiful. Yeah, yeah, 100%.
Ryan (27:58)
I had a question here. Okay. So, so I have noticed on social media that you’ve been, you’ve done, you’ve been doing a lot of conventions. So what advice would you give to indie creators? Specifically, actually, selfishly, what advice do you give for a writer who, know, I’m a colorist, so I like, can promote that a little bit as far as like doing, you know, that, that, but, like what, what, advice do you give to a writer on, on how to, know, how to manage conventions?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (28:27)
Yeah, you know what to do. It seems to be a different process again each and every time. know, the most success that I found is not, when I say small, I don’t mean small small, but like the small ones where they’re not having, where the conventions aren’t having like 40 big time celebrities there, you know, especially, you know, in today’s day and age, I find, you know, when people just want to go to these conventions, they want to go get their autographs from the big time celebrities in X, Y and Z. So it’s a little bit harder for, you know, creators in general, the indie creators,
Ryan (28:44)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (28:57)
to kind of market their book and go, look, look at me too. Even if it’s a smaller, you know, I don’t sell them for too much, you know, the $5 an issue. So it’s just $5 an issue at our table. But it’s really trying to, you know, find the cons that don’t have 40 different celebrities that, you know, that are expensive. You know, so people are more willing to kind of come there, hear you out, listen to your pitch because 90 % of the time if somebody hears your pitch full on and they’re actually giving you full attention and they have five bucks to spend, they’re going to buy an issue. You know what I mean? So
it’s really just like a you know finding those conventions that work for you a lot of horror fest work for us obviously because or zombie comics so we try to generate a little bit towards more of that as well but against the stick and tried and true to the the comic events itself to it what i like just going to bed period you know talking to people here in people stories you know i i always find myself talking to a bunch of different individuals and having them tell me they’re kind of
what they want to do, a comic or something they’ve been working on. It’s always a great time and hearing their stories, hearing their kind of journey as well, I always admire that. But just meeting people, giving people your business cards, just having a genuine conversation. The best part for me, don’t really, selling it is cool, having people buy it and have it in their hands and read it is awesome, but it’s really the conversations and kind of getting, again, the word networking and networking with others and that’s a fun part for
Ryan (30:23)
So what strategies do you use to stand out as far as having your table stand out versus others?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (30:30)
so it’s hard to say to the it’s like a lot of we call crossing guard best but the new york classic that that the last time i which is kind of funny you know i was actually does last time i was in boston with that the creators of race and and tray as well and it was it was kind of a funny ongoing
Ryan (30:39)
Okay.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (30:52)
active at standing up it you know it’s being a salesman you know as much as I don’t personally like being a whole you know salesman that you kind of see but it’s really just talking to people just again selling your product let people know what it is you kind of giving them their pitch having a conversation with them standing up saying hi you know and just stuff like that so that that just that’s always kind of work with me I haven’t had to really bombard people I don’t want to you know that’s not always fun for me to do even or be on the other side of it as well so it’s kind of just
being genuine, kind of let people kind of stroll by and then kind of saying hi and kind of pitching the book we got here. But yeah.
Ryan (31:28)
Now, do you do anything creative like, you know, outside of like, you know, I know a lot for artists, like they’re able to kind of draw things at the table. Is there any creative ideas for writers that you can offer in the moment or offered to people or fans or is that is that just kind of challenging as a writer? It’s not it doesn’t look as good as somebody who can sit there and put pen to paper.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (31:47)
yeah i don’t think it looks as good but i also a you know and with my situation now it’s kinda hard you know we get the you know it sucks if you have the day job you got all your family stuff going on right now too but there was a time year or so ago i was in a writing a screenwriting group we’re kind of like to little short stories and didn’t get too far in that you know as a local one so kinda like slowly faded away and they stopped doing it which is important
was always cool you know being in a room with you know ten people and everybody has their own kind of backstory and their own stories they want to write and you know it helps it’s like an exercise you know you know just like you would go out and work out it’s you know working out that skill of just creativity and writing small stories just getting together with other writers was a cool deal so I guess to that thought alone if you have small local you know screenwriting things or or for anything for that matter short story deals in general it’s just
helping that creative kind of mind work out and get things going there. So it could be fun because then you can get into the acting part. that anybody can be good actor, but then you still can act out the stuff you wrote. yeah.
Ryan (32:50)
Yeah, that’s fair. did, I did it, had done a short story competition and ended up just doing voice acting like the story, cause it was just kind of, this is fun. was a short, like a flash fiction thing. So it’s kind of fun. Like, know, it’s a, yeah, it’s like a skill maybe, you know, that I don’t think I’ll be doing voice acting anytime soon, but like, was kind of fun to do it. And then it actually turned into like a short comic that, that I ended up just like finding an artist, like, Hey, do this. know, so they kind of, that it all kind of worked out. Yeah. Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (32:54)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, yeah, it’s a good time.
But it’s fun. Yeah, See? There you go. There you go. That’s awesome. That’s an awesome story, then. Yeah, I like that.
Ryan (33:19)
You know, that’s kind of, it’s interesting. found that I’ve been doing a lot of like while in the midst of the larger stories is putting out shorts for anthologies. And I found that that’s been a fun little thing is like, it’s a challenge writing like, you know, you have three pages, write a story or five pages. And how do you tell a fulfilling story in that little time? In without, yeah. So it’s an interesting challenge, but I found it’s kind of helped with my own writing, building my own writing shops, especially for comics.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (33:37)
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, 100%. You know, and I would agree with you 100%. You know, like I said, the unfortunate thing is I haven’t been doing that in little while now. But when I was doing it, I just felt like, you know, you had a blast doing it, you’re doing what you love, and then it gives you that exercise. I felt when I would kind of get into the writing aspect of Avalon and other things as well, it just felt like it flowed a little bit better. Everything seemed to kind of make a little bit more sense when you’re looking at the whole
grand scheme of things. It it seemed like everything was nicer, know, everything moved quicker, but yeah.
Ryan (34:19)
Yeah. So how do you, you, as far as, as a writer, like, do you find, you know, do you schedule time to write? Do you write when like the time when you have a chance? Like what do you, what do you find works for you, you know, in your, in your own writing?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (34:32)
But both of those things that you mentioned, you know, I really like to schedule as much as I can but unfortunately not all the time that works, you know, I’ve sold my wife as well as like I do the Joe Rogan thing because I’ve heard this on one of his podcasts before where he said Even his wife and family knows as soon as he no matter any point during the day as soon as he has a joke coming to his head He has to leave the area and go write it down And even if it’s in the middle of the dinner or whatever it is and I tried to slowly incorporate that into my family’s life until my wife that I was like
Whenever I have an idea, gotta go. I gotta go quick, write this down, and I’ll be back in like two minutes. Just let me go do this real fast. But,
Ryan (35:06)
Yeah.
yeah
Brandon – Avalon Comic (35:08)
But yeah, but like I was kind of mentioning though too was Incorporating that incorporating that into our family’s life and then when I have an idea, you know I have to quick go write it down sometimes it turns into a longer deal and you know, it’s you know I apologize in advance, but it’s just sometimes that’s the way it works You know a lot of things come up random when you’re thinking of things you know nine to five job they just kind of come as it comes and
Same, you know, I’ll speak even to it. think it’s just kind of a little funny thing. When Demetrius and I actually spend time on Discord, because most times we just kind of chat over social media on what we want and all that stuff too, but you know, we’ll schedule Discord meetings. I’ll tell my wife, okay, yeah, I’m only chatting with Demetrius for like 45 minutes, you know, whatever, and it’ll turn into like two and a half hours and I’ll be getting yelled at after a little bit. But it’s always like a process, it just seems to be that.
Ryan (35:56)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, no, that’s true. no, quick, totally off topic. but just curious, like as a, you know, as a creator, what, how, you’ve, it’s effective, you affected you or if you use it, but have you, work with AI or you kind of, what’s your stance on, on AI kind of in this world? Because I think it’s a, you know, there’s a lot of controversy, you know, with people, whether it’s AI art or using GPT to write and things like that. But have you, know, what’s, where’s, where’s your stance? How do you feel about it?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (36:28)
Yeah, no, I don’t, I know there’s there’s definitely a weird stance with it. With all of Avalon and anything we do with that, it definitely stayed away from me. I don’t want any bad, not to take anything away from people who do it, whatever, I don’t care either way, in my opinion, sorry, whoever, whatever, but we just stay away from it. We stay away from it. I love the stuff that Demetrius is doing. I love the stuff that the writing room is doing. I don’t.
Ryan (36:48)
Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (36:55)
I don’t want any AI or any, you I don’t think we need it. I don’t want it. And again, I’m a big believer in kind of just keeping the jobs with all of us as well. So I guess there’s my stance a little bit towards the artist rather than staying away from AI as well. just do it. That’s what creativity is. has thoughts. Everybody has different things, different skills, different mindsets. just, you know, that’s…
Ryan (36:59)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (37:22)
Why do you need AI when you got all that stuff? So just think a little bit and have fun with it.
Ryan (37:26)
Yeah, no, that’s kind of the unfortunate thing is I think it’s refining it, like infiltrating a lot of different things. saw earlier today, somebody posted like art that was like, it was like, I’m an artist. And it’s like, no, you’re wait. No, that’s not like you can tell what AI art is. It’s like, yeah, you’re not. Yeah.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (37:39)
You know, you could definitely pick it out. It’s not very difficult, but it bits I mean, I guess there is some stuff that is kind of difficult as well But for the most part you could you could check out AI, you know
Ryan (37:48)
Yeah, you know, for now, I think what’s scary is when you can’t. And yeah, it’s like at this point, like, it’s like, yeah, it’s like we’re in a field where like, just pay, you know, pay the artists, let them do their work, be creative. I think that’s the whole thing, right? It’s like, it’s being creative.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (37:52)
Mmm, I get that.
Yeah, % you know and I believe in that you know and that’s what I’m saying like but I Again, I understand why it upsets people you know I’m just I’m not gonna get too upset about it You know, but I can get why it does you know I’m not you know I’m not bashing anybody in any category here, but we just stay away from it. You know we stay away from personally
Ryan (38:09)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I find like I’ve used, don’t use the AI art. I’ve used it to play with, but I, and, once I actually did, there was one time where I did say, Hey, I was trying to figure out something for my artists to do. And I was like, Hey, can you do something like this? Like, but that’s the extent that I would use it for anything create, like, you know, as far as it’s like, it’s a tool and I sometimes will use it for things outside of like writing. But if I’m going to write, it’s like, it’s my story and I don’t want.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (38:34)
Yeah, he –
Okay.
Ryan (38:43)
that to be influenced by. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (38:44)
You don’t want a robot writer writing it. Yeah, so I, right. And I got all this stuff, all these ideas, all this crazy stuff going on anyways. And then like I said, we got a team around us anyways. So we got, we got a bunch of different dynamics going on. We don’t need to add a robot into it, but yeah.
Ryan (38:59)
Yeah, exactly. Seriously. As long as we can avoid it, because I think it’s coming, unfortunately, good or bad. yeah, for now, think there was, I mean, there’s a whole controversy, I know, with Kaepernick at that San Diego Comic Con, where apparently he is starting a company that’s using AI to draw so that it democratizes the process of creating comics, which, you know, it’s like,
Brandon – Avalon Comic (39:05)
E .R .R .E .R.
Ryan (39:24)
In some ways I understand because of the expense involved, like find a better way because only, you know, because like at the of the day, there’s so much controversy around how the art sourced and then your artists and then not making their money. So there’s a there’s a lot there’s obviously like a whole big can of worms.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (39:37)
There’s a lot of… 100 % it definitely is. It’s his own discussion I feel and it’s a big one, you know, so… Again, like I understand it. I get why it upsets people, you know, it definitely, you know, I was… It was upsetting to hear the whole, the writer, you know, the whole writer’s strike thing too, you know, and that’s what’s scary though too when they’re doing… What was that one movie that just came out a year or so ago about the whole AI written movie and all that stuff too. So it’s just stuff like that’s scary. I get that.
Ryan (39:42)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, it is scary. Yeah, absolutely. Cause yeah, there was a point like it’s not very good creative writing, but there will be a point where it is and then what happens, right? You know? And yeah, so that’s going to be, know, then yeah, it’s like, need to put those safeguards in now. Otherwise you can’t, you can’t fix that. So, okay. So, so tell us, so where can people find, so guess tell me when is the, campaign for Avalon coming out and where can people find you, social media, any other information you’d like you’d want to give to our listeners?
Brandon – Avalon Comic (40:07)
yeah, yeah, 100 % N – Yeah.
100 % 100 %
yeah i you could find the kids are becoming a september six would not exactly sure the time yet but probably around seven p eastern standard will be watching it and you could find us on any social media platform if you simply look at that one comic are you basically find the account it’s with a bloody a you know you could you’ll be able to see it i mean if i want to be a you could find us all you know especially at one comic dot com it’s probably the easiest way to find us and all of our social media is our time under website as well
We have an about page, we have a creative page, we have an into the art, know, into the canvas kind of page kind of showcasing Demetrius’ art style. We have events on our website as well. And again, you know, we’re on social media platforms. So we’re pretty up to date with what we got going on. We try to update people as much and as frequent as possible. So just follow us on, you know, again, really any of the social media platforms and you’ll be up to date on it.
Ryan (41:23)
Nice. Awesome. Brandon, thanks. Thanks so much to be on the show. Good luck with the campaign. I will definitely promote it and push it. and yeah, look forward to talking to you soon.
Brandon – Avalon Comic (41:31)
I appreciate you. Thank you for the time. Thank you for having me back on.