Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

Penny For Your Soul's Tom Hutchinson Gets Jesse Jamesed

Published Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:51 -0500

Uberfan Jesse James of Jesse James Comics talked to Tom Hutchison for Bleeding Cool. Seriously, we couldn't stop him. He just went for it.

As a store owner almost everyday your door swings open and someone is slinging their self published comics on you. You turn on your computer and sure enough there are even more "the next best comic" emails jumping at you. However, sometimes someone walks through your door and the light bulbs goes off in your head.

Immediately you know right from the start you have a winner. So when Tom Hutchinson walked in the door and said Big Dog Ink but more specifically Penny For Your Soul it was Hook, Line and Sinker!

With BDI's debut of Ursa Minor and their super huge launch at Phoenix Comicon this weekend, I asked Tom to take some time and talk to the Bleeding Cool fans.

What part of the country are you from?

I was born in Illinois, moved to California when I was a baby and now I'm back in Chi Town 40 years later.

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I'm not totally sure I ever decided that really. It was more pushed upon me. I wanted to be an artist but after a period of time where I tried to hone that skill, it became painfully obvious that I didn't have the knack. So the next thing was actually coloring. I started to teach myself digital coloring, but again, it was obvious I wasnt going to get to the level I needed. So that's when I started to realize that for years I had actually BEEN writing. Writing things for me to draw or writing small stories that were written for me and a friend of mine for a game we had created. So that was probably about 10 years ago now that the writing thing really kicked into high gear and started with Critter.

Did you have any early mentors in your career?

None. I took this upon myself to be honest and just kind of figured things out on my own. My only mentors to speak of were the writers I grew up with in comics like Chris Claremont who is one of the biggest influences on me.

Why go the self published route vs creator owned with Image or someone else?

I actually pitched my books to Image and the usual handfull of other companies. No one ever got back to me except for Red 5 who had a very reasonable response as to why they could not take the book. Everyone else was to busy to even send a simple "No." through email. So that kind of stuck in my side and I decided I could do it without them.

Hardships starting out? Getting people to try your new brand?

Getting readers to try us was pretty easy actually. From the start people would look at our book and recognize the quality level from art to colors to paper quality. It was all far more than they expected in a small press company. The hard part was…and is…retailers. Getting a retailer to stock your book is near impossible unless you have some kind of existing track record with your talent like having a name artist or writer etc. It's been slow going but we are growing and the retail end is the biggest obstacle. I have a laundry list unfortunately given to me by readers of problems they have with their store ordering even one copy for them of our books. The retailers need to really be listening to their customers and carry the books they ask for even if the retailer doesn't care about the book. Rant over.

Was Penny For Your Soul a surprise hit or did you hit your milestones as expected?

It was a bit of a surprise. We sold out of our initial 3000 copy print run right away and went to a second print. But that said, we still didn't reach our goals with that issue. Again it comes back to the retailers. We sell hundreds of copies of our books at shows and those customers go back to their stores and try to order the books. It's 50-50 whether the store will actually bother to order the book or not and those that cant get their store to order it for them now buy it from us at a show or online. We always send people to comic shops in their area but that's all we can do. Our goals are pretty simple but we need the retail end to help us out.

But yes, it was a big surprise at how well accepted Penny become in such a short amount of time. Especially considering the story content which plays with Biblical characters and the concept of the End of Days and Revelation. It's very clear to me that comic book buyers are looking for a diverse story base, and that's what we bring them at Big Dog Ink.

What's the driving force in having so many powerful women in a majority of your books?

Women characters have always been more interesting to me than the men. I grew up on Wonder Woman and Huntress backup stories. Their stories were always different than the POW BAM WHAM of the guy books. I bought some Batman and Superman etc of course, but I always looked for the women characters as a new collector…and at that age some of the reasons are obvious…but what I hadn't counted on was that I was being slightly brainwashed by some of that stuff as a kid. Wonder Woman books in the 70's always had feminist morals and stories that were, again, different than the fighting books the guy heroes had. I think I was indoctrinated into the feminist world without even knowing it because I have gone back and read those books now as an adult, I can see all the different levels of the story that I was unaware of in most cases as a kid. So long story short, Wonder Woman trained me to write good stories about women.

Impact on your company with the success of The Legends of of Oz the Wicked West?

Oz has been a huge stepping stone for Big Dog Ink. Putting a book out that has a built in audience has really changed the game for us. The book has cracked the Diamond Top 300 list twice already and just skirted the list in April. We would have made it too if not for all the reorder listings for the Big Two books. We also have been praised for our depiction of Dorothy Gale. Instead of taking the average comic book method of taking an exisiting character and writing stories of her in her underwear, we created a strong willed, fully clothed Dorothy Gale who still has the girl-next-door sexiness. But don't be fooled, she will kick your ass at the drop of a hat and I would not have it any other way. I think our Dorothy is what made the book work because it can be read and enjoyed by anyone at any age as it should be.

Tell us about Ursa Minor?

Ursa Minor is about the last were-bear and her quest for revenge against every single vampire on the planet. It is horror, sex, monsters and comic books all wrapped up into one. It is everything I grew up with and enjoyed as a kid spewed out on the page. Ian Snyder was a god-send too. Without his art this book would not be what it is. And what it is is stunning, sexy, horrific, funny and intense on each and every page. Claws, fangs, cleavage, brides, blood, bats, bears, and wolves…just to get you started.

This will be a 6 issue mini series to test the waters and make sure the fans are interested and so far…WOW! A great start to this series and there is more to tell. So I am very happy to see people wanting to see more already.

Can you have too many Variants?

Possibly but I think there has to be context to that. If you do 5 variants for a book but each one is for a different show or event, then I think you are fine. If you do 5 variants for 1 show…maybe to much :) You have to understand your fan base, and what they are interested in. If you have a rabid fan base that loves art (which is what a variant cover is all about) then you go as far as your fns are interested.

Variants are all about 2 things. First art. Comics are a visual medium so having various artists drawing or painting our characters is awesome for us and our fans. And second they are about collecting. Comics have long had the aspect of being collectible, but really it's the variants that will command a collectible price in the future because they are truly limited editions. Ours are usually no more than 250 and as little as 50. That's an amount that fills the demand for now but as we grow those limited edition books will be sought after and command higher prices. So collectible art is what we have on variants and I love em and so do the fans, but you have to be careful and watch for the breaking point because it is there, and if you are doing variants make sure they are something special.

Why the name Big Dog Ink?

My wife and I have two mastiffs and so when the time came to name the company, it just fit. Simple as that. Originall we wanted Big Dog Inc. but it was taken so we got creative.

Any secret upcoming surprises for the Bleeding Cool fan?

We have a couple secret things coming with some amazing artists that some of the Bleeding Cool fans will definitely know. For now I will give you the official announcement that our Legend of Oz: The Wicked West will be returning in October as an ongoing monthly book written by myself and with the art team of Alisson Borges and Kate Finnegan returning as well!

Next year will see the debut of our first truly all ages book. Very fun, adventure, crazy characters, incredible art by an artist who will remain unnamed for now but is making a name for himself right now. We also have a new book we are just starting to flesh out that will be awesome. Probably for next summer. Then I have my back burner project called Lesser Evil that is slowly coming together and I hope to have it out next Halloween.

Digital?

Working on it, but not diving in head first. It's far to new to really know where all these companies are going to shake out. One step at a time.

Any helpful hints to new writers or self published to get into Diamond Solicits?

Well that's two seperate questions really. As for new writers, write. Every day. It's been said that if you write occasionally then you are not a writer. You have written, but are not a writer. Write every day like it was what you were meant to do. Then you will be a writer. From there, in my opinion, comics are about dialogue. No one reads a comic and reads your panel descriptions. They ready the dialogue you give to your characters. Make it sound as natural as possible. Go over it again and again. Say it out loud as you would imagine the character talking. I read so many books where the dialogue kills a book. Give your characters their own voices as best you can. It's one of the tricks I learned from Chris Claremont.

As for Diamond, they want to see a book that they think will sell. How do comics sell off the rack? Someone picks it up and flips through it. If your book cant sell itself in those few seconds you're in trouble. Art is king in the distribution world. Make your book as visually appealing as possible before you send it off to Diamond. Simple as that really. Then hope that your dialogue is really good when they read it :)

Best Pizza in Chicago?

Dondi's in Arlington Heights…I better get free pizza now.