Interview With... Joe Dunn

If you could name a few webcomic artists off the top of your head, I'm more than certain that Joe Dunn would come somewhere, if not the first one. Joe has tons of webcomic projects (more than me, though I don't draw) and has just released his very first webcomic book, Matriculated, so we got our teeth into him and asked him a few questions.

Why did you decide to get a copy of Matriculated: First Semester out now?
We do a lot of comic book conventions where we sell different kinds of merchandise and as the webcomics became more popular over the years, gaining readers, we started to have more and more requests to have those in print. Of all the comics on our site Matriculated seemed like the natural first choice since it has these larger sweeping story arcs. Also, another great reason to get the books printed up is that seeing your work in print is vindicating. It somehow legitimizes it and makes those long hours at the computer worth it.

What can we expect from in its pages?
Matriculated: First Semester collects the first 13 months or so of the strip with new commentaries by me and the co-creator/author of the strip Phil Chan. There are also brand new title pages for each chapter as well as pin-ups from other webcomic authors like Mitch Clem, Brandon J. Carr and Kevin Gleason. I had a blast doing all new pin-ups as introductions for each chapter, but it was the guest pin-ups that I was most excited about. It’s always really cool to see your friends and colleagues interpret your characters.

Will your other webcomics have a book release or are you waiting to see how sales of Matriculated go?
Luckily the sales for Matriculated have been pretty solid so there are no worries there, but – yes. We definitely want to do collections for our other strips (Joe Loves Crappy Movies, Free Lunch, Retail Rage, Fish Tank Tango, Turtle vs. Bunny). Hopefully sooner rather than later. One of the strips is a movie review webcomic and the more time that goes by, the older those movies get. I’d hate to put out “Joe Loves Crappy movies: Book 1” 10 years from now featuring movies from 2005. There’s just something weird about that.

You have that many different webcomics, how do you keep it up?
Thankfully I’ve got a good support system in our collective Digital Pimp. Phil, Kevin and Irv all work hard on their strips, and that really keeps me motivated to do the best work I can. Also reader support has been incredible. Earlier this year we launched an interactive comic called Turtle vs. Bunny where reader votes determine which animal wins the race. People really responded to it and that’s a fantastic feeling.

I think it’s hugely important for a webcomic artist to find a community to be part of. The work can be very lonely and if you can band together with similar people, you’ll be better off.

Do you think webcomics with all the syndications and books being released are becoming more mainstream and getting looked at by people who probably wouldn't see them?
Oh, I’m probably the wrong person to answer that question since I’m nowhere near syndication and I’m only just dipping my toe into the world of print, but there’s no denying that there has been a huge shift in the authenticity of webcomics as a profession in the last few years. It’s not just a bunch of kids that couldn’t get their work into newspapers anymore. It’s a legitimate enterprise, and I think that’s the only reason my wife hasn’t forced me to quit yet.

Webcomics are not only delving into books but also other merchandise beyond posters and t-shirts, is this something you'll be trying your hand at? Something different?
At conventions, T-shirts are probably our biggest sellers. It’s interesting to see someone respond to an item that has something to do with an entire comic universe you’ve created, that they’ve never heard of, and want nothing to do with. For Turtle vs. Bunny we made shirts of Bunny holding an uzi and Turtle holding a bazooka. Those sold like hotcakes at the shows not because people loved the concept of two mortal enemies facing off in a legendary battle, but because a bunny holding a gun is cute.

I’d love for them to check out the comic too, but even if they don’t, at least they bought the shirt. They’re helping the cause.

Other than books and shirts the only other thing we’ve produced is buttons but we’re always on the look out for different kinds of merchandise. Naturally though I’m cautious because you can never tell what people are going to respond to. We could print up a hundred posters and not sell one. For now, as a small company, it’s just safer to stick with what we know works.

Your latest webcomic, Turtle vs Bunny, is a huge success with people having the chance to change the direction of the story. What will happen when it's over?
Well it is a race so there will be an end, and I guess we always knew that when we originally started kicking the idea around. I don’t think I would even want it to go on forever. It’s fun but I have a hundred ideas I’d like to do and two animals shooting each other is just one of those. Still, it is doing really well, and we’re not going to ignore that.

Once the race is won we’ll release a collection of the strips as well as an introduction to the race and some alternate endings. I think that will be a lot of fun.

Depending on how well that does we may bring the race back next year with a twist. Either, new animals (Snake vs. Mongoose), a new environment (Turtle vs. Bunny 2: Racing in the city), or both where the winner of the race faces off a new challenger in a foreign land. I like the idea of a race in China where the winner races against a Panda Bear and they cross landmarks like The Great Wall or the streets of Hong Kong.

All of that could be fun, but I’m trying to concentrate now on making the current race as good as it can be. Once it’s over I’ll focus on what comes next.

What is the future for Joe Dunn?
More of the same. I update about 5 comics per week, which keeps me pretty busy, and Digital Pimp averages 7 total so there’s always plenty of stuff going on. As we come closer to the convention season I’m eager to get another book printed up, and possibly launch a new strip once Turtle vs. Bunny comes to a close. Maybe not. We’ll see how the summer goes.

To visit the mass amounts of webcomics Joe Dunn does check out his Digital Pimp Online or at least check out Turtle vs Bunny.