QRD - Current Issue   About QRD   QRD Archives
QRD #60 - Indie Comic Creators Part V
QRD - Thanks for your interest & support
about this issue
Indie Comic Creator Interviews:
Mike Dawson
Floyd Lewis
A.P. Fuchs
Darin Shuler
Trevor Denham
Jules Rivera
John Steventon
Lorenzo Ross
John Allison
Michael San Giacomo
Matt Chic
Jackie Crofts
Don W. Seven
Derek Baxter

Interview Series Updates:
Nate McDonough
Jason Dube
Brian John Mitchell
QRD - Advertise
Silber Records
Twitter
Silber Button Factory
facebook
Silber Kickstarter
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Floyd Lewis
Indie Comic Creator Interview with Floyd Lewis
April 2013
Floyd Lewis
Name: Floyd Lewis
City: Savannah, GA
Comics: DARTGIRL, PLANTEVIL, SPYGIRLS, JUNGLE ANN, CAPTURE IMAGINATION, ARTOFFLOYD, ANIME ZOT, REQUESTED DOODLES
Websites: artoffloyd.com

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

Floyd – I was age 5 (1966)... a girl I knew could not afford to buy a comic book… so I folded two sheets of notebook paper together & made her one… that was Superzot… the name came from the sound effect in BC comic strips… (I would give anything for a copy of any of my comics from that era). From that I never stopped making them

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

Floyd – My first comic book I paid for was in the early 1960s, Spider-Man Annual No.1 (I still have it).

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

Floyd – I was 17 when I first self published my own comic book… 3000 copies… (DARTGIRL & CAPTURE IMAGINATION)

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

Floyd – 1968-1978 with a small shining moment in the 1980s when Pacific Comics came & went.

QRD – Why comics instead of just writing or drawing?

Floyd – It’s pure you… joining the two.

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

Floyd – BOTH (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a mini comic).

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

Floyd – Around 7000… depends on the size of the conventions I plan to be at in a year (ANIME WEEKEND ATLANTA & DRAGON CON).

QRD – How much do you think comics should cost?

Floyd – $1...mainstream charges way too much for a book full of ads.

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

Floyd – 10,000 the rest I put on Amazon (mini comics work well on most B/W readers).

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

Floyd – BOTH, I have one DARTGIRL storyline going back to 1979, but I have plenty of complete short stories & my ANIME ZOT has NO storyline

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

Floyd – I always liked comic books better… whatever is going to happen in this comic book… is going to happen today.

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

Floyd – One week to draw an eight page mini comic (18 HOURS on MINI COMICS DAY), one week promotion (finding out how many to make), one day to print & mail out orders or deliver issues at a convention.

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

Floyd – I now write the story as I draw.

QRD – Do you do thumbnails?

Floyd – NO.

QRD – At what size do you draw?

Floyd – I work in 2 sizes for mailing & conventions, mini comic 4 1/2 by 5 1/2 & 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 for specials with ads.

QRD – What kind of pens do you use?

Floyd – No.2 pencil, black Bic pen, black Sharpie.

QRD – What does your workstation look like?

Floyd – 6 feet by 3 feet desk (built myself) 2 feet 7 inches from the floor, desk lamp with old 100 watt bulb (got rid of new ones they hummm).

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

Floyd – My mini comics do not use a computer (I even do the tones by hand).  My digital comics are different; I sketch the models by hand, but make the comics ONLY in the computer… & do not print (FOR THE WEB).

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

Floyd – Digital comics/webcomics are the best way to see original comics… every time you think you have seen it all... another one comes alone even better.

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

Floyd – Black & White for my mini comics.  Color for my digital & video comics.

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

Floyd – MOST who make mini comics work alone.  But at conventions, I suggest to people who write, but cannot draw, that 2 working on a comic is best (writer & artist)… so you only have to tell the story once.

QRD – How do you find collaborators?

Floyd – Comic book conventions (small or big).  NOT the web... COPYRIGHT (copyright.gov) your stories before you share them

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

Floyd – GREAT DETAIL.  Years ago, BATMAN was mainly daytime scenes, until Neal Adams got a script that did not say, one way or the other, so he made it nighttime & changed history.

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

Floyd – At a con someone said, YOU draw like that guy who does DARTGIRL...I love that moment

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

Floyd – As most, family likes it but do not understand. Friends wonder when the movie will come out.

QRD – What do you think of superheroes?

Floyd – THEY ARE NEEDED.

QRD – Marvel or DC?

Floyd – BOTH.

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

Floyd – At the moment… Spider-Man.  I know how to write out of this whole dead Peter Parker mess (no, not the “it was all a dream” trick).

QRD – Ideally would you self-publish?

Floyd – Yes... no one to look over your shoulder to say, “You can’t do that.”

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

Floyd – DRAGON CON & ANIME WEEKEND ATLANTA...they are the best.

QRD – What do you do to promote your books?

Floyd – I GET a pizza & a Mountain Dew & sit at my computer & put my artwork on Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube (till 4am).

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

Floyd – Sell them yourself… promote yourself… comic shops will ask you to promote them in your comics.

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

Floyd – I do videos NOW… I used to make games… but stopped.

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

Floyd – BOTH.

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

Floyd – Sorry to say… the web… but MINI COMICS, will still be there.

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

Floyd – THEIR OWN THING.

QRD – Anything else?

Floyd – Don’t stop drawing. Don’t stop writing.  In mini comics the only rule is there are no rules.