At the time of this interview Jon David and Nicole Guerra were completing their fourth issue of Nightmare of Professional Wrestling and had released a black and white ashcan of Ghost King. The Nightmare of Professional Wrestling web comic is on-line at nightmareprowrestling.com. The books along with the Ghost King Preview are available for sale at the site's shop. You can also follow him on twitter @jondavidguerra and should like the NightmareProWrestling Facebook page.
As a couple what is the division of labor on these books?
Usually
bounce ideas off each other during the writing process. We talk about
dialog and make sure it works well with what we want to convey to the
reader. I also like for Nicole to look over the page and make sure every
thing makes sense with the story and art.
As indie comic book creators why did you settle on an all-ages story?
We
wanted to create something that anybody could get into and enjoy
together. Our ideal setting is parents reading NPW to their kids and
both really enjoying the comics.
Do you think all-age books are under represented in the mainstream, on-line or at conventions?
I
think a lot of times mainstream books do tend to take themselves too
seriously and market all ages books as just kids books. Online and at
conventions seems to be better places to find them as you're able to
find more and more independent creators that want to do all ages books.
You use very stylized caricatures not just in Nightmares of Professional Wrestling and Ghost King but also in your poster work. Whose work would you say influences you caricatures.
A
french artist by the name of Fabien Mense has really been influencing a
lot of my work lately. He has an interesting take on caricatures. I
would also say Bill Wray and a lot of Ren and Stimpy, and Looney tunes
cartoons.
It seemed like hyperrealism or New Yorker
minimalism dominated a lot of American comics when I was a kid. How
much has the success of anime and 3D animated kids films affected the
appreciation of more diverse styles of cartooning? How much has it
affected your work?
I've
been into anime since I was kid. That has definitely influenced a lot
of the way I do action in my comics as well as some of the comedy. I
would say I'm actually influenced by 2D classic Chuck Jones cartoons
rather than any 3D animated films. The cartoons comedic beats and
character acting has definitely influenced those same things in my
comics.
Am
I correct that you are working exclusively digitally? What are the
strengths of working digitally, like having back-ups of every stage of
your work? What are the drawbacks, like not having original art to
sale?
Yes,
I now work completely digitally. I find it a lot more freeing. Not so
much for having back ups but more for being able to control your work a
little more. For example, if the characters head is to small or too
large I can adjust the size to the way I want it. Not having original
art to sell is one big draw back. I've had a few people ask for original
pages but I didn't have any. Another would be problems with the
technology you're using. I used to work from a lap top that would crash
every now and then. I've had to start a complete page almost from
scratch, in the early days of the comic.
In sitting down and writing this I pulled up the archive page of Nightmares of Professional Wrestling
on a non-portable devices. I was surprised how much storytelling was
conveyed in the inch tall thumbnails. How do you keep clean narrative
flow in your layouts?
Cool!
I'm glad to hear you say that. I try to make it so you would be able to
understand what happens in the comic even if it didn't have any dialog.
Like I said early, my wife and I examine the page and make sure every
thing is readable with the images and enhanced with the dialog.
The Ghost King ashcan from Staple! 2013 got me hooked. What is next for Casey and the crew?
I'm
glad you like it! I'm planning on doing thirteen issues of the
mini-comic to coincide with his thirteen ghosts. At the moment that been
put on pause for a little bit as things move forward with Nightmare Pro
Wrestling being the main focus of what I do.
What really attracted me to Nightmares of Professional Wrestling
was the amount of motion in your layouts and the energy through the
continuity. That and your dynamic panel shapes remind me of pre-war
Jack Kirby. Who has influenced your action sequences?
A
lot of the action is inspired by the creative team known as Catfish
deluxe. They include Fabien Mense, who I mentioned early, Bill Otomo,
and Gobi. Anime has also played a big part in my action sequences too.
As for the dynamic panel shapes and layouts, my biggest influence is an
indie artist called Jerzy Drozd. Who always pushed cartoonist to use
panels and layouts as part of telling the story in the comic.
Finally, besides the tale of the spunky team of Grave and Lobo, there is a playful x-factor to Nightmares of Professional Wrestling.
Some of my favorites are the great Dr. Nightmare’s Referee race scene
in issue four; the Luna sup-plot in issue two; and the Nightmare
Tortoise itself. Are there any deployments that we should be keeping
and eye out for?
Funny
you mention the Luna sub plot.We've actually gotten rid of that! It
pulled the focus away from the story we wanted to tell. It was available
in the first few copies of Issue two but now is only available through
the collected edition as bonus material. Recent issues have been
reworked so it reads fine without it. It was also up on the website for a
while but has since been updated.
We will find out where the NPW Referees come from. I'm even planning on doing a short story from their perspective.
The
Nightmare Tortoise will eventually be mapped. I want to include a
detailed drawing/map of what is on the tortoise and where everything is
located. I'm planning on putting that in future collected editions.
I
have big things planned for NPW's future. Right now I'm in what I like
to call "Phase 2" of the comic and it's ideas. Some big characters will
switch sides and others who aren't used to losing will lose, big time.
There is also a BIG thing happening for Nightmare Pro Wrestling that I
can't reveal quite yet. Be on the look out for some major announcements
soon.
