QRD – How old were you when you first got into comics & did you always stick with them or did you come back to them?

PB – I read comics when I was a little kid; don’t really remember which was my first. I left comics when I wanted to play sports & didn’t really get back into them until the end of high school.

QRD – What was the first comic book you ever bought? 

PB – Mmm. Not sure. I think it was “Robin” I couldn’t afford the ones with Batman. My parents never gave me money for them.

QRD – How old were you when you put out your first comic? 

PB – 10 or 11. Really fun. I remember I stayed up all-night & made 7 of them. So I guess that would make it my first Graphic Novel. They all had them same plot line. A villain would attack the town & then slug boy (the hero) would beat their ass. The purest fun I’ve ever had. All the time listening to Smash Mouth cassette on repeat.

QRD – What decade do you think produced the best comics? 

PB – The double 00s only because the drawings got better. But my writing was better when I was a little kid.

QRD – Why comics instead of just writing or drawing? 

PB – I hate writing stuff. It’s just an excuse to draw & make books out of it. If I could get away with doing that I would. I’m already barley writing my stuff anyway.

QRD – Do you see mini-comics & indie comics as paths to mainstream comics or as their own unique media? 

PB – I have no desire to hear what Mike Richardson or Joe Quesada has to say about my work. I create for myself & thankfully there are people who dig it.

QRD – How many copies of your comic do you print in your first run? 

PB – Your Turkish Guidebook (06), my first mini-comic, was 30 copies I think; I still have 1 left for sale.

QRD – How much do you think comics should cost? 

PB – 15-25% above cost.

QRD – How many books do you produce a year & how many would you like to? 

PB – Not counting a page here or there in an anthology, as long as I’m producing one thing a year I’m happy.

QRD – Do you think stories should be serialized or delivered as complete works? 

PB – Serialized.  As comics. Case in point - Charles Burns “X-ed out” good art. Lame story. Not worth the $20 bucks I shelled out. Just because you have a publisher doesn’t mean you should publish it. I think it’s important for people to see the importance of the “pamphlet” form.

QRD – How are comic strips different than comic books & which medium do you prefer? 

PB – Comic books. Strips are flat. I like the idea of holding something.

QRD – How long is it from when you start a comic until it’s printed? 

PB – I don’t know. Things I make just sort of accumulate. The next book “Stinky Kitchen” is going to have stuff from August & some I’m still making.

QRD – What do you better with your comics now than when you first started? 

PB – Knowing what to draw. There aren’t really times where I have nothing to draw. I’m full of shitty ideas.

QRD – At what point in the artistic process do you work digitally? 

PB – Coloring. Comics are the only thing I feel strongly that certain things just look better if done by the human hand.

QRD – What do you think of digital comics & web comics? 

PB – Some are good, some not so much. But I do ‘em… they’re good in my book.

QRD – Do you prefer working in color or black & white? 

PB – Black & White.

QRD – How many different people should work on a comic & what should their jobs be? 

PB – It all depends. Some people just fit better if they are on a team. With comics, I like working alone. It’s probably because I’m a megalomaniac.

QRD – How do you find collaborators? 

PB – I don’t really know. The Internet?

QRD – How tight do you think a script should be as far as telling the artist what to draw? 

PB – I think it should be pretty open as far as descriptions go. I’m an artist’s advocate.

QRD – What comic book person would you is most flattered to be compared to? 

PB – R. Crumb. Which has happened & I have no idea why, but it really made me warm inside.

QRD – What do your friends & family think of your comics? 

PB – They don’t get it, but that’s okay. I feel like I came here from another planet & my parents are the Kents; really supportive of my abilities, but they don’t really get how I do it.

QRD – What do you think of superheroes? 

PB – Gay male power fantasies…. That’s why I like ‘em anyway.

QRD – Marvel or DC? 

PB – Nigga, Please.

QRD – What comic characters other than your own would you like to work with? 

PB – Jason. From Veggie Dog Saturn.

QRD – Ideally would you self-publish? 

PB – Yep. If someone would give me the money that’s the way I’d love to do things.

QRD – What conventions do you try to attend & why? 

PB – SPACE & SPX. I’ve been interested the Brooklyn Graphic Arts Festival & MoCCA, but I haven’t been to those two yet. Mostly because I know I would have an audience there & I like to buy the kind of books there.

QRD – What do you do to promote your books? 

PB – Really just the website www.pbkain.com. My work is promoted all over the Internet.

QRD – Do you think your comics are well suited to comic shops or would sell better elsewhere? 

PB – Absolutely.

QRD – What other medium would you like to see some of your comics made into (television, film, games, action figures, etc.)? 

PB – I’m studying animation right now. So, I’ll probably drop the whole comics thing eventually & just start doing cartoons. I really enjoy that process.

QRD – Do you consider yourself a comic collector or a comic reader or both? 

PB – Comics reader. I’ve never been down with bagging & boarding.

QRD – What do you see as the most viable mediums for comics distribution 10 years from now? 

PB – I don’t really understand the question.

QRD – What would you like to see more people doing with comics? 

PB – Just making more. I’d love to see my favorite cartoonists post on there blogs every day.

QRD – Anything else? 

PB – Write me!