In the summer of 2020, Kickstarter comics were booming, with everyone stuck at home and independent creators finding themselves with a sudden glut of time for projects, and this was the context in which the SKRAWLLORDZ first seemed to emerge.
The UK-based group of cartoonists officially arrived in August 2020 with their crowdfunding campaign for SKRAWL: Comix Magazine. While guests to their ranks are frequent, the primary members include Russell Mark Olson, Gustaffo Vargas, Martin Simpson, and Pete Taylor.
Since that first Kickstarter, their members have gone on to work on major direct market licensed IP, ranging from The Phantom to Power Rangers, in between illustrating creator-owned books. But throughout all this, they still reunite every few years to launch a new Kickstarter.
Their latest project — Skrawl Comix Magazine #3 (see the excellent cover by Olson above) — is currently funding now, and so I set out to learn more about it, the group’s history, and why they continue making the indie comics that helped bring them together in the first place.
Check out the interview below, and find their latest Kickstarter campaign here.
The Definitive SKRAWLLORDZ Interview
THE BEAT: I’ve always wondered, how did the core group of cartoonists on this book come together?
Gustaffo Vargas: The recipe is simple: put together a group of creators (that were not great friends, yet) in the same flat for a comic festival weekend and you get a Skrawl feast.
It was inevitably great.
Martin Simpson: The exact circumstances of how we all met shall forever be shrouded in mystery. But I can reveal that the events surrounding our first meeting involved a slightly grim Airbnb during a LICAF weekend, a little too much post-con drinking one night and an unusual painting of a sinister house with two poodles staring out the windows. Make of that what you will.
Pete Taylor: The six fictionauts fastened their helmets and strode across the vessel’s science deck towards the glowing portal. The colours of the doorway shifted and swirled before settling into a block of ebony shadow above a bronze light. Black and tan, ink and coffee, make believe and memory. Emboldened, the commanders of the Skrawlship moved forward eager to pass through to worlds beyond. Lands and universes yet unmapped were waiting to be explored. As the last officer crossed the threshold, twin dog stars flared and incinerated the craft.
Vertigo passed, blurred shapes became clear, the crew found themselves seated in an cold archaic tavern. Beakers of golden brew in one hand and a stylus in the other, flat sheets of material before them. Technology must be lacking in this universe, communication with the natives must become a priority. How fortunate we are trained in the graphic language called Comix. Commence mission, unit designation: Skrawllordz.
That’s the high concept version.
Russell Mark Olson: It was back in 2017 or 18. We were all aware of each others’ work, and independently we each knew one or two members of the group. Mutual friendships and admiration seemed to play the biggest part in the formation but the exact details surrounding the origins of the SKRAWLLORDZ are disputed. We’re essentially an aged married couple when it comes to the exact story of our meeting.
THE BEAT: What does working on SKRAWL Comix Magazine allow you to do that you don’t get to do on other work?
Gustaffo: SKRAWL is my opportunity to go wild and try things that I’m almost sure don’t make sense, it’s a sandbox where we all push ourselves and where not fearing the mistake is the reward.
Martin: Experiment and try stuff you might not dare to do elsewhere. Also, it offers me the opportunity to meet lots of very cool, very talented people.
Pete: SKRAWL encourages me to climb out on that limb and try something new.
Russell: I grew up with Dark Horse Presents and Marvel Comics Presents as well as just generally having magazines about the house. Anthologies have their place, but they can suffer from being a bit bulky and lopsided. The magazine format encourages leaner storytelling and, I think, more risks. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been kept busy over the last decade with personal comics and work for bigger publishers, and I feel like a big part of that is because I have an identifiable style.
For SKRAWL, to break out of my typical aesthetic. In the first issue, I was inspired by 60s adventure and romance comics and wanted to try coloring directly on the page. In issue 2, I used found photographs to come up with a story and then used those photographs as the baseline for my drawings, forcing me to focus on line quality and texture to emphasize the narrative qualities. I love experimenting, but I don’t always get the luxury of indulging: SKRAWL offers that gratification. We also get the opportunity to bring in people who may not be natural bedfellows but whom we enjoy the work of. And we always want to give readers at least one long form interview with a comics person we admire.
THE BEAT: I know it’s hard to pick, but what are some of the highlights readers can find in this new book?
Gustaffo: That’s a tough question!
I can’t wait for people to see what Dominica Claribelle is preparing. Her art is so unique, lush and profound.
And also Tom Humberstone’s illustrated essay. He is as good a prose writer as he is an artist, and his exploration of horror cinema meeting the latest consequences of capitalism is an urgent read.
Oh…and Artyom’s art, ayayayayy!
Martin: Well I’m always fascinated to see what my fellow SKRAWLLORDZ will get up to. I’m also excited to see what Artyom Trakhanov, Dominica Claribelle and Olivia Sullivan will deliver to this issue too. However, everyone involved is exactly who we hoped to get… it’s ALL highlights really. I think it’s going to be pretty special.
Pete: The first comic work from the Mighty Nick Prolix in about five years?! I cannot wait! Shane Oakley adapting a Tom Lehrer song is going to be sequentially sensational. Me interviewing the awesome Allison Sampson, incredible! Er, hang on, have we announced that yet?
Russell: You can take it as pat that I love anything my fellow SKRAWLLORDZ do, and they’re all producing beautiful stuff for the new issue. I’ve been a big big fan of Olivia Sullivan for a while now, and her unique voice in comics captures something I’ve not seen anywhere else. She creates worlds and object-spaces completely barren of human presence but loaded with the baggage of human psyche. She’s an incredible cartoonist destined for great things.
THE BEAT: Is there any kind of mission statement for SKRAWL, and if so, what is it?
Gustaffo: In my head is this: create and go Punk!
Martin: We discussed this endlessly when we were putting together the first issue. In the end, I thought Pete Taylor nailed it when he simply said that our mission statement should be ‘to make great comics’.
Pete: Give comics what it deserves, your heart and soul.
Russell: If I had to try and define it, it would include things like: no idea too big or too small; if you suddenly find yourself outside of what’s comfortable that’s probably a good thing; SKRAWL takes craft very seriously, but never itself.
THE BEAT: Finally, if you had UNLIMITED resources, what comic would you draw?
Gustaffo: Explore more Peruvian stories, Peruvian Cyberpunk but also folk, fantasy and horror…and then I want to go out to space!
Martin: I’m actually currently making my ‘dream’ creator owned series at the moment (called ‘Rasp’). With unlimited resources, I would love to spend more time on that. I also have a cool western in mind that it would be great to find the time to work on one day.
And, of course… more regular issues of SKRAWL would be nice too!
Pete: I’m very slowly building stories around a mythical comic company, unlimited resources would speed up production of these yarns.
Russell: Oh boy. Just for the sake of it, I’d love to do something like Woodrow Phoenix’s She Lives, like a comic that can only be read from the originals…maybe painted panels for a large exhibition. I could see SKRAWL doing something like that. I’d also love to adapt the Continental Op stories from Dashiell Hammer or Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.
Skrawl Comix Magazine #3 is currently funding on Kickstarter through August 14
