British writer Steve Thompson has learned to rely on himself for comic creation, successfully bringing several self-published titles to life. These include Hey! Don’t Go!, the zombie horror one-shot, Don’t Let Your Dead Ones Die, The Thing That Stops The Badness, SpeedRun, Street-Fighting Woman, and Detective Druid—many of them through Kickstarter. Currently, he is teaming with artist Gonzalo Ruggieri for his first graphic novel, “ILL Vacation,” through ComiXology Originals.
Ahead of its June 17th digital release, we caught up with the talented writer to ask about his creative beginnings, his work as creator and co-editor for the 24Panels charity anthology for Image Comics to aid the victims of the Grenfell fire in London, and, of course, ILL Vacation. So let’s welcome Steve Thompson to GVN Talking Comics.
Steve’s Comics Start
GVN: Before we get into your latest comic venture, “Ill Vacation” with artist Gonzalo Ruggieri, I want to get into your comic beginnings. When did you first get into writing comics, and as an artist yourself, did you ever consider doing both?
STEVE: Hello! Well, if you want to go right back, I first started making comics at age 8 based on characters I had made out of Lego. Then as a teenager and at university, I was writing and drawing these comic strips heavily influenced by Alan Moore and Vertigo books like Shade the Changing Man, then later by manga that started becoming popular in the UK. Then for years, I did nothing. I was reading comics from the US and France, but not making anything until I attended a convention and saw what the small press scene was doing, and that inspired me to write some stuff and find artists to work on it. I didn’t have the confidence to draw them myself, even though I am always drawing small sketches and very short strips for myself, I don’t think I’d be fast enough for longer-form work.
Helping the Victims of the 2017 Grenfell Fire in London
GVN: Back in 2018, you were the creator and co-editor (along with Kieron Gillen) of the 24Panels charity anthology for Image Comics to aid the victims of the 2017 Grenfell fire in London. You partnered with an impressive group of talented artists and writers for that project. (some of which I have had the pleasure of talking to in the past). How did that project come to fruition, and what did it tell you about the willingness of creators to come together?
STEVE: 24Panels came hot off the heels of 24 Stories, a charity anthology of short stories about hope and community that I came on board with after discussing it with two friends I knew only from Twitter. That book was edited by the actor Kathy Burke, and half the contributors were established writers, with the other half new to writing and publishing. It was a great mix of people, so I approached Kieron to see if he’d help me to make a comic book version of the same: new creators mixed with established talent, all for charity again. Kieron, Rhona from 24 Stories and I started approaching people and asking them to send submissions, and we assembled a book we were all very proud of. Everyone we spoke to helped as much as they could, and people were really excited to be involved, especially as the brief for the stories was positivity and hope, and creators really responded to that. That again allowed us to give all the money after production costs to a trauma charity helping Grenfell victims. Image Comics were great in that they did all they could to help us get the book out quickly.
The Lessons of Kickstarter
GVN: You have created a number of titles including Hey! Don’t Go!, the zombie horror one-shot Don’t Let Your Dead Ones Die, The Thing That Stops the Badness, SpeedRun, Street-Fighting Woman, and Detective Druid. Many of these were self-published through Kickstarter. As you went through that process, what did you learn about yourself and the process that you still carry with you to this day? Is there anything you would change?
STEVE: What I learnt most about Kickstarter was that I am terrible at marketing! To be good at Kickstarter, you have to have a great product, but more than that, you have to go all in and post on social media every day and keep the momentum going. I’m terrible at that and hate the idea of annoying people, so I was terrible at it. I made lots more comic sales being a regular at conventions and selling books there. You get to talk to the people on neighbouring tables about your work, and you can have a relaxed chat about it with customers stopping by, and that face-to-face talk about your work is much more rewarding to me. I worked with some amazing artists on those books. The back and forth of giving them script pages and getting the art returned is by far the most rewarding aspect.
ILL Vacation
GVN: As I mentioned, you are teaming with Argentinian artist Gonzalo Ruggieri for your first title with Comixology Originals, Ill Vacation. How did this opportunity come about, and what is the premise of this haunting trip into the human psyche?
STEVE: I’ll start with the premise. I wanted to tell a story about the trauma of war and its effect on the psyche. There are plenty of films, books and games about war, but behind every conflict is the terrible toll taken on the human body nd mind. This was coupled with an image I had in my head of 2 soldiers looking at a massive “living lighthouse” creature towering above them on a Pacific island. So I plotted out a story about two soldiers taking an experimental drug that is supposed to make them fearless soldiers, but instead takes their trauma and releases it on the world. After I plotted out the linear story, I started “breaking it”. I made the dialogue more pulpy and comic booky, while making the plot more fragmented to reflect the states of the main characters. I saw Gonzalo’s work on another Kickstarter project first, and then looked him up on Twitter, but didn’t speak to him much later when I was talking to another artist about the book, and they recommended Gonzalo anyway. I made contact, and he loved the script; he was ready to go right away!
Working with Artist Gonzalo Ruggieri
GVN: Regarding the talented Mr. Ruggieri, did his vibrant art surprise you? How much communication did you have during the development of the story?
STEVE: I already knew he was a very talented artist, but I think he really loved working on this project. We pretty much emailed weekly and he’d come back with suggestions for layouts that were different to how I’d described them in the script, but I almost always agreed with his suggestions as they made more visual sense. There wasn’t anything I wrote where he said, “I don’t think I can draw this”. I’d make frankly ludicous descriptions of monsters in the book, and he’d reply a week later with a fully realised sketch of it, and it would, without fail, be amazing. This constant back and forth and exchange of ideas made for a very enjoyable production process.
New Projects
GVN: I want to thank you again for your kind attention, Steve. Before I let you go, I want to give you the chance to tell our readers one more time about “Ill Vacation” and about any new projects you might have in the works.
STEVE: Thank you, too! Ill Vacation is my first published graphic novel, and not only have Comixology been very kind and helpful in bringing it to the market, but Gonzalo and I have also loved working on it. It’s my attempt to write a book where the main villain is war itself. When Comixology first got back to us, their main comment was, “We really like the book, but we had no idea what was going to happen next, and we loved that”, and I think that’s one of the reactions I wanted. I really hope people enjoy it and the discombobulated storytelling in it, and also to luxuriate in the sumptuous art! My next book is a fantasy adventure with a different artist. A more straightforward story, but also with a wonderful assortment of strange creatures and lots of twists and turns. Hoping to get it out next year! If i get to work with Gonzalo again, it will be on a prequel to Ill Vacation with a very different structure. I am also writing and drawing a book myself, but I’m slow at the art, so don’t expect anything soon!
ILL Vacation by Steve Thompson and Gonzalo Ruggieri is available now on ComiXology Originals.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
