Curtis Lawson is a 30 year old comic writer and the owner of Broken Soul Press. In his short career Curtis has been nominated for several awards and led the fifth place creative team in the 2008 Platinum Studios Comic book Challenge. His creations include Divis Morte, Kincaid, The Sleeping King and The Insufferable Suffolk Gang. In addition to his self published efforts, Curtis has written comics that have appeared in publications by Dimestore Publications, Platinum Studios, Severed Head comics and more.

What made you get into writing comics?

Well before I started doing comics I had been playing in metal and punk bands for years. When I was 25 I had a really awful band experience and became completely fed up with that whole dynamic. The truth of the matter is that I was never an exceptional musician anyway, but friends, teachers and family always seemed to think I had a knack for storytelling. Writing also seemed particularly appealing to me at the time because of the solitary nature of the process. I was just sick of the clashing egos and the high school drama that came with playing in bands. As for why I chose to focus my writing efforts on comics? Being a life long fanboy it just seemed natural. And once I started really studying and experimenting with the medium I simply fell in love with it even more.

Can you tell us a bit about the things you have done?

I started off self-publishing under the banner of Broken Soul Press. The first comic I wrote, Kincaid, was a gritty, conspiracy driven sci-fi story. I also wrote and published a one-shot super-villain satire dubbed The Insufferable Suffolk Gang. After that initial run of self published work I decided to put BSP on the back burner and focus on work that might hit a larger audience. During that time I wrote a few horror shorts for anthologies and competed in the 2008 Platinum Studios Comic Book Challenge, where my comic (The Sleeping King) came in fifth place. More recently I wrote and oversaw the creation of a comic about the history of comics for an exhibit at the Wenham Museum. In the past year I’ve also restructured Broken Soul Press with a new emphasis on web content.
This past October I finished scripting a four issue mini-series, entitled Diaboloicus, for QEW publishing. That won’t be seeing print for another year or so I imagine though.

Are you currently working on anything now?

Presently my main focus is the two webcomics I have running at brokensoulpress.com. Our Flagship title, Divis Morte, is a serialized sci-fi graphic novel that updates every Tuesday.The story itself is an apocalptic tale about an alien world fighting a hopeless battle against vastly superior invaders from another world. At it?s core Divis Morte is really a survival horror comic. I had wanted to do something with that sort of dread feel for a long time, but the zombie thing has been done to death, no pun intended. I thought this setting would be far more interesting for showcasing characters stuck in a god-awful situation. I was lucky enough to put together an amazing art team for Divis Morte. Stephen Holcomb II takes care of the pencils and inks and has done pretty much all the visual design. Jim Vargas is the colorist and he really does some absolutely gorgeous work. I was lucky to find both of those guys. Divis Morte was actually nominated for best webcomic in the Project Fanboy awards this year. I doubt we’ll win, but it’s cool seeing my comic up against stuff like Freak Angels.
The other webcomic I have going right now is called Curtis Lawson’s Grindhouse. Basically, it’s an ongoing anthology of stories that combine a kind of Grindhouse cinema feel with the tradition of old E.C. comics. We do various genres including horror, pulp, Kung-fu and black comedy. Each story is introduced by this creepy projectionist character who is a complete tribute to the Crypt Keeper. As for print comics, I just accepted a job scripting a three issue mini-series called Blackstone for QEW publishing. Right now I can’t go into much detail other than to say that it’s going to be an action packed crime drama with just a dash of sci-fi.

You do both print and web comics. Do you prefer one over the other?

That’s a tough question. There are so many things I love about both of them. I personally prefer reading stuff in print. I enjoy seeing a book shelf full of trades. I like flipping through my longboxes. I like being able to hold something in my hand and flip trough the pages. I even love the smell of print comics, especially old newsprint books.
That being said, I firmly believe that webcomics are the future of the industry. For all the nostalgia of print, digital comics just have far more advantages. First and foremost is the huge audience one can get. More people saw Divis Morte in it’s first week than all my print stuff combined. There are plenty of other merits of webcomics too. With all the comic apps for phones, webcomics are now just as portable. In most cases they are free for the reader. There is less overhead for the publisher. There is also a huge variety of webcomics, and variety has been a weak point in mainstream comics for a long time. I think my favorite aspect of webcomics is how easy it is to connect and interact with readers. I mirror my stuff on drunk duck and have gotten a lot of interesting feedback.

Who are your biggest inspirations in the comic book world?

The works of Scott McCloud have had a profound impact on how I script and even on how I think about Sequential art. His books, particularly Understanding Comics and Making Comics, just exude a deep love and understanding of the medium.  Some big influences on my panel work and how I set up a scene are Brian Bendis, J.M. DeMatteis and Alan Moore. Bendis will do these splash pages with a ton of dialogue. That’s something I?ve incorporated into my own work with a fair amount of success.  As far as characterization goes, I’ve drawn a lot from the works of Sam Kieth, Fabian Nicieza, Brian K. Vaughn and Stan Lee. I think all of those creators have exceptional skill for fleshing out characters and making them believable. I try to emulate that when I create my own characters.

Tell us about Broken Soul Press and how and when it was established.

I established Broken Soul Press in 2006 as a means to self publish my own work. At one point I planned on eventually making it into a full fledged publishing company, but I think I over estimated my own business savvy. Realizing that I’m much better at creating comics than at publishing them, I’ve gone back to using Broken Soul Press as a soap box for my self and a home for my webcomic projects. I don’t have any plans to do any print stuff through BSP at the present time. Although I would love to get more work from other publishers, Broken Soul Press is a great creative outlet. I have no one to answer to but myself and I have full control of the projects. There’s something to be said about having that kind of ownership.

Have you ever thought of bringing other writers and artists onto BSP?

I have an open submission policy for both new webcomics as well as short stories for Curtis Lawson’s Grindhouse. I’m only looking at projects with complete creative teams attached however. I don’t have the time nor inclination to pair up creative teams.

Tell us exactly how and what goes into creating a web comic.

Well I’m new to the webcomic thing and far from an expert, but I guess the first thing to do is focus on creating a quality comic. There are a lot of really awful webcomics out there, which kind of gives the whole webcomic thing a bad name. Electronic distribution of a comic does not excuse weak storytelling or sloppy art. I guess after having a strong comic, then you need to decide what your goals are for it. Are you trying to make money? Are you doing it for fun? Are you trying to make a name for yourself? Once those questions are answered you can make a more informed decision about where you choose to host your webcomic, how often you can realistically update, how much advertising you want to do and if/how you plan on generating revenue from it. I think another big thing to keep in mind about webcomics is the necessity to keep on a tight schedule in regard to updates. Nothing can drive away an audience, especially in the early stages, like inconsistent updates. Like I said though, I’m fairly new to webcomics. Maybe in a year I?ll have a completely different outlook on things.

What was the first thing you ever wrote?

When I was six or seven I had this Master’s of the Universe book that you read along with a tape. The other side of the tape was blank and you were supposed to record your own story on it. So I guess the first story I remember coming up with was a piece of He-Man fan-fic when I was a little kid.
After becoming serious about writing, the first story I finished was a prose piece called ?Culture Revolution in Wheaton, Illinois?. I got a very nice rejection letter from The Barcelona Review for that story and the editor was kind enough to give me some insightful creative criticism.

What are some of your favorite comics?

Some of my all time favorites are The Maxx, Y: the Last man, Lobo, Cable & Deadpool, Hellstorm: Prince of Lies, The Walking Dead, Ultimate Spider-man and select runs on X-men and Batman. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of webcomics. I’m absolutely in love with Freak Angels. There are also some great lesser known webcomics I’ve been reading like Attention: Denziens, Shades, The Fighting Stranger, and Over. Of course there is a ton of cool stuff on Zuda as well.

Is being a comic book writer something you always wanted to do?

I actually first toyed with the idea when I was a teenager. When I was sixteen I wrote three or four scripted pages of an occult/cyberpunk story. I forgot about it shortly after though, being more caught up in playing guitar and chasing girls. Throughout the years after that I always wanted to write my own graphic novel, but I thought of it more as a one time thing rather than a career choice. I have to say though, I’m happier writing comics than I have been with any other creative pursuit I’ve gone after in the past.