Talking with a Goose! An interview with new creator Graphic Goose.

Available on kickstarter Goostav Lubniki: Only Never Part I by The Graphic Goose — Kickstarter Interview by reporter Bristolian Dave for Indiecomics.co.uk

Can you tell me about your book?

My book is based on a little known old Polish film called Tylko Nigdy (Only Never in Polish) which centres around the main character played by Goostav Lubniki. He is a kind of hired gun, hitman, investigator, spy all in one and will show his struggles against the Soviet Union during the 40s. The film is from the late 60s and I'm trying to get the aesthetic of the time across in the form of my art. Obviously recreating a whole film as a first book would be a huge task, so I've broken the story into parts and this first book is part one, the intro/pre-title sequence scene vaguely introducing the officially unnamed character, which we are calling Goostav in honour of the late actor.

What is your campaign trying to achieve?

I'm not aiming to make loads and loads of money from my books, it would be nice, of course, but I started this project because I enjoy creating and making art. This is something I've enjoyed for the most part which ticks off my main reason for doing it. I just want people to like and help me improve with my art. That's all. Being a big success and making money isn't my motivation, but, again, I wouldn't turn it down.

What was the most discouraging moment you experienced while putting this project together?

The only real discouraging thing about it is that I've seen a lot of very good artists and comic makers around the indie comics world recently who have not reached their targets. Be it a crowd-funding campaign not reaching its figure or other personal goals. This being my first book, part of me is daunted by the prospect of not reaching my goals, especially when relatively few people know of me and my work currently. But I see it more as a safety net, where I can do my best and if I don't succeed then I can just go again because I can't give up after just one attempt.

When you finished your book, how hard was it for you to put the characters away—or are they still living with you?

As this is only part one, as soon as it was completed I started to think about part two, so forgetting about the character for a while was never a consideration for me. Just on to the next book. Also, as the art for the book was completed a while ago and since then I've been focusing on the other parts of the campaign, I'm excited to get started on the art for part two.

What makes your project special?

I'm not sure if it makes it special, but at least coming at it from a different angle. But almost every comic creator I've met, if not all of them, has been a big comic fan and has been reading them for many years. I, however, have not. I read some as a child, but not to a huge extent, so my best idea was to use my mental film library to come up with the best angles and shots etc. and try to translate them into comic form. Which has possibly been the biggest challenge given my lack of comic experience compared with my competition.

When you look at your work, what do you see that others might miss?

There are a few parts that are representative of other films, whilst being based on Only Never, I try to use other films as my reference point in the hopes of bringing the filmic feel to the book. There may be some minor details that might annoy me over time but nobody else would ever notice, but that's just because I'm a slight perfectionist.

How are people in other spheres reacting to what you are doing?

Everyone I've discussed or have heard from about my project has been really positive about it, and to my ideas which are different to the norm on the indie comics scene. I put this due to my lack of experience with comics in general, so my ideas and aesthetics are based on films rather than comics mostly. Although I have looked at a bunch of comics since starting this project to get to know my way around.

If you could start your project all over again, what would you have done differently?

I would've spent more time in the sketching and thumbnailing stage of the book. I would say I was a bit too eager to get into it and although I'm happy with the way it turned out overall, for a first book especially, there's always room for improvement, and that's something I plan to work on for my next book.