We had a chat with Nick Henry, creator of London Gothic. Here's what he had to say!
Tell us a little about yourself. Who are you and what do you do in the world of comics?
I’m Nick Henry author and creator of the London Gothic universe, I also write Milliganesque poetry/limericks.
How did you get into comics creation?
I’ve had the idea for LG swirling around in my noggin for a very long time, around 40 years I reckon. To be honest I have never been a proper comic reader or reader in general, I'm more of a movie fan especially horror, but I wanted to find a way to get the story out of my warped mind in some shape or form, one of my sons who is an avid graphic novel fan mentioned it would be great as one so I took the plunge, used money I had saved up for a new car and bosh, now we have LG in all its glory in production and I still have a clapped out old car!
What is the hardest part about making comics right now?
I don’t think it’s hard to make comics, I think it’s hard to find the right fit of collaborators and partners for your project that have the same mind set as you. I was lucky enough to find an amazing illustrator called Mike Burton and we clicked straight away, we also had the same twisted horror imagination, although I did interview quite a few artists until I decided to let Mike loose on my idea.
What makes indie comics so important to the survival of the comic industry?
Mainstream comics are getting very samey, stale and, in my opinion, have run out of solid original ideas. If you look to the current Indie community you are not bound by certain rules, regulations or trends. We have free reign to build characters and worlds without the need to get approval from a CEO or HR dept, you keep total control over what you are doing and decide which way you want to take it.
The end goal for most comics people used to be to get to the mainstream, the big two. We’ve seen some creators have major success in the indies, do you think the end goal for creators has changed?
I still think that if any indie was approached by the mainstream, they would seriously have to think about it and make a personal choice whether to sell their soul or stay indie, it’s so easy to self-publish now with lots of platforms to advertise or market your product that the onus of having to be scooped up by major publishers has declined. I personally love to see it when an indie comic thrives, we all live in hope!
If you had to give one piece of advice to new creators, what would that be?
DO IT FOR YOURSELF AND DON’T GIVE UP!
Many great ideas have fallen by the wayside because people lose confidence and try to please everyone which you will never do and you must accept that. Write for yourself and then get it out into the world as best you can. You may have the best thing since sliced bread but if no one knows about it then its worthless, so keep plugging away at spreading the word of your publication. My old Dad used to say, “If you work hard, what’s meant for you won’t pass you by” and it’s so true but you do have to seriously put in the groundwork and have the mental stamina to carry it through.
How have comic cons and comic stores changed since you started in the industry? Do you feel that going to cons is still worth it?
I’m relatively new to this ol comic business but speaking on what I have learned thus far is that comic cons are great, especially for us, we get to chat face to face with potential customers and if converted to a sale which they then enjoy then you have a more personal connection, people buy from people, is what I have always stood by. Most comic shops at the moment won’t touch LG, I think that's because they possibly find it disturbing, not politically correct and not diverse enough (All of which have been quoted by various shops without even opening the book), which is unfortunate because in no way and in no mind did we ever set out for it to be so, we just produced it how it was in our heads and we will not change that in any way.
How would you say the UK indie comic scene compares to the US scene?
Delivery prices!! Trying to grow your audience within the US is a bloody hard task mainly due to postage prices, although we have quite a few US fans the postage will always hold you back to getting more. I also think that the US comic scene comes across as lot more political and there seems to be many more warring factions, especially on social media where it can be a very poisonous place, I see how easy it can be to get sucked into arguments that don’t involve you and at my age I don’t have time to get in petty squabbles, I’m not interested in one upmanship, getting one over on anyone else, I like to keep my blood pressure stable thanks!
If everyone just got on with doing our own thing and made the best comics, we possibly can to find your own audience it would be much better and if you don’t like what’s in a comic then don’t read it. Everyone has a choice, and we should respect each other’s choices accordingly. I shake my head at some things I read on social media and wonder why there are so many people that get so angry over so little, comics are not life or death, it’s just bloody storytelling which has been going on for 1000’s of years quite happily.
Without stories, no matter what or who they are about, we would sit around a campfire singing “Kumbaya” and be bored shitless! If you read something you don’t like or agree with, just put it down, move on and make a nice cuppa.
Are there any challenges that new creators might face now that you didn’t encounter yourself when you started?
Higher costs mainly, everything has gone through the roof so try and cost your final publication as best you can before you start, we had our fingers burnt on our first successful Kickstarter because we put incorrect delivery costs in. We broke even which was ok because we wanted to get LG out there, but we could have made a little bit for the old fund pot if we were wiser. Also be careful who you put your trust in, there are people who want to take advantage of you and your product to steal ideas or ride on your coat tails. Think everything through wisely or you could end up getting used.
How easy is it to get press coverage of comic book projects now? Has it gotten
better or worse to do?
Bloody neigh on impossible depending on what your book is about. We have been lucky enough to have some fab reviews, but it was very time consuming sending out PDF copies of chapter 1 and hoping for feedback. We worked tremendously hard to get the name of LG out there and we're still working our nads off to do so. Because it’s 4 chapters and so detailed each chapter takes 8-12 months so I personally don’t think we will gain the kind of audience we hope for until all four chapters are published, then we can move onto origin stories.
Where can people find you if they want to support you?
You can find everything LG at www.london-gothic.co.uk and we are on FB, Twitter and Insta just search for London Gothic, you’ll know it’s us when you see the satanic symbol logo!
Thank you so much for the interview, gawd bless ya all.
