Jeremiah Allan interviewed me for THIS ARTICLE in the Ottawa University Newspaper. It focuses on the comic books I've created and published over the years, and my history as a self-publisher.

I've archived the story here in case you'd like to read it.

Mark

An Independent on Independents
Interviewing Mark Stinson, Graphic Artist
by Jeremiah Allan

The Campus, Ottawa University's Newspaper

Mark Stinson is a Kansas City police sergeant, married with what he describes as "three wonderful kids" and has interests as varied and diverse as Asatru, the Ghost Vigil program he helps maintain for area youths and the dreaded, oft-maligned comic book.

Stinson has been in and out of the self-publishing arena for over two decades and has learned that the life of an independent graphic novelist takes a lot of time and dedication.

"I started drawing comics in high school, back in 1985," Stinson mused.

He was hanging pencil-drawn comics on bulletin boards, making fun of teachers and school rules, when his father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

"He said that if I inked my comics and drew them on folded pieces of paper, he would pay to print up to 100 issues. I took him up on the offer, and sold my little photo-copied comic books for 75 cents," Stinson said.

These books became a signature of Stinson's high school years, so much so that his only photograph in the senior slideshow was at his drawing table.

"They became pretty popular. I was selling about 150 copies of each issue by the time graduation rolled around," Stinson said.

Stinson's self-publishing career became a little less prolific in college, where his artwork primarily appeared as cartoons in the school paper and four years' worth of party posters in and around campus.

"After college, I struggled to find what it was I wanted to do with my life," he continued, talking about his progression from the light-hearted stories of his adolescence to more mature stories, adventure-oriented books that were usually full of violence.

After nearly three years of balancing real world work and his creative passions, Stinson finally completed Void Pulp Comics #1 in 1995.

Stinson financed five hundred copies of the book at a professional printer, and found the entire process highly addictive.

"My dad had taught me that it took relatively little money to self-publish, and I was hooked. Through the rest of the 1990's, I turned to writing and illustrating horror fiction. I self-published thousands of copies of these stories and distributed them by hand, through the mail, and at comic book stores in the area," he stated.

In 2002, Stinson turned his attention back to comics and finished Void Pulp Comics #2, an artistic experience highly different than the previous incarnation thanks to advancing technology.

"VPC #1 had been hand-drawn and inked on paper, lettered by hand, and the gray-tones added with hand-cut printer's film," Stinson said. "VPC #2 was penciled on paper, but then inked [on] my computer. The gray-tones were Photoshopped in. The seven years that had passed between VPC #1 and VPC #2 had seen an entire revolution in how comic book artwork was done. Void Pulp Comics #2 was sold through a website, at local comic stores and at comic book conventions I traveled across the country. It was a great experience."

Around that time, Stinson also become a due-paying member of the Kansas City Comic Creators' Network, a new organization that boasted nearly 110 members at the height of its popularity. Stinson credits part of the group's success to the Show & Tell anthology series that allowed many of its members' work to see print. The first issue was 210 pages long and was a collection of five-page short stories, all graphic fiction, by individual creators."Nothing motivates artists and writers like a chance to be published," Stinson said. "We printed 500 copies of this book, sold-out, and had to order a second printing. The Show & Tell Anthology #1 was distributed nationally by Diamond Distributors. Show & Tell #2 and Show and Tell #3 followed eventually, but neither was quite as successful as that first issue."

With the death of his father in 2004, nineteen years after introducing him to the world of comic book self-publishing, Stinson turned once more to his inspired side to grieve. In honor of his father's life, Stinson printed Jack Skull #1.

"In the comic, Death (personified as a walking, talking skeleton) travels the earth taking people as they die," he said. "The book is about how we die - how we face death. Do we face it with fear, or do we face it with dignity? The last chapter of the book has Death sitting down next to an old man in a park. The old man is modeled after my father. Dad and Death have a little conversation. For me, Jack Skull #1 was a way to honor my father... but also to teach people about how my father looked at death. And I think Jack Skull #1, more than any other book I've published, shows the power of comic books to teach us and touch us about life."

Stinson hasn't published much since Jack Skull #1, a few short stories distributed solely on the web but nothing on paper or in print.

"But, if you look over the dates of my published works," he joked, "everything's a few years apart. I'd say I'm probably due to finish something new and self-published in the next year or two."

To read Jack Skull #1 or sample Stinson's other work, visit www.comixfree.com.