SS: In your current storyline, Steve and Andy are going out with Katie’s boss to do mountain biking. This isn’t based on a real event?
Wes: Sort of based on a real event.
SS: Hopefully Katie’s boss is not based on your wife’s boss…
Wes: No, but he is based on one of my wife’s bosses, I will say that. I take him to another degree though. I’ve never been on a bike ride with my wife’s boss, but I thought that would be a funny thing to happen.
I do have some mountain biking experience, so a lot of things they are experiencing in the strip really did happen. In 2001 or 2002, some of my buddies really wanted to go mountain biking, and I said okay. I still lived with my parents and didn’t have a girlfriend or anything at that time, and I had all this money, so I went out and bought a $300 bike and all the accessories. I went on one mountain bike trip and after 15 minutes my lungs were killing me. So now I use it for a road bike.
SS: Been there done that…
Wes: The experience though was used earlier this week, where Andy and Steve were at the top of the hill and talking about how hard the experience was, and that is taken directly from my experience.
SS: At what point did you realize that putting You’ll Have That on the web was going to be easier than trying to get something into print?
Wes: Not only had I been submitting to newspaper syndicates, but I also sent them to some of my favorite cartoonists. I was blessed to be able to contact them. This is something I suggest to anyone getting into cartooning, or even comic books. Most of them would be very honored to give you their two cents about your strip. I have several letters in a box that I dig out whenever I get discouraged and they make me feel much better. The advice they gave was to just get published somehow, even it is in a local newsletter or something, because it gets you into a rhythm.
I thought I could do a web comic, and actually had someone helping to make a site, but I didn’t like waiting, and didn’t have the experience to do it myself. I kept looking at comic book companies, because PVP and Liberty Meadows had been published with Image, and I thought there might be a market for You’ll Have That in comics. So I submitted to Image, and shortly after I noticed Viper was looking for a web comic. I submitted to them, and four days later they came back with an offer for online and book form.
SS: Viper is an interesting group to go with because some of their titles are different from the theme of You’ll Have That.
Wes: Oh yeah. What’s neat is if you look at some of the things they publish, the titles are different from one another. They have two books that are kind of all ages. Then they have Dead@17, which is their flagship title, which is more PG-13 oriented. They also have The Middleman, which is tongue-in-cheek sci-fi. But you are right; they have a lot of different stuff there. And that is what is neat about them, they are not afraid to take on something that might be different from what they are already publishing. If they think it is good, and the story is good, and the art is good, they’ll take a chance on it. They are laid back and very cool people to work with. Viper has been very supportive of the strip. Very supportive.
SS: They’ve kept it around for a couple of years, so that is saying something…
Wes: Yes.
SS: So has You’ll Have That been successful enough so you don’t have to go to a day job?
Wes: I wish. I’m working on it though. I’ve made some money on the side from selling artwork – right now I’m selling prints from the artwork. That brings in some money that allows me to buy new accessories I need for my computer to get the strip done. I still need my day job. The book is selling pretty well, I’ve been very happy with the numbers…
SS: Did it sell out at Amazon.com?
Wes: At Amazon, it did sell out, but they have more in now. I checked it a while ago and they had only three left, but more are on order. There are still plenty at Viper headquarters, so if people want to order the book there are several ways to order; their local comic shop, direct from Viper, or Amazon.
SS: I bought two – one for my wife, and one for my personal collection. I got my wife addicted when I showed her the strip about long toenails in bed.
3 Comments
Great interview of one of my favorite webcomic artist.
You should review Comic Life. It would fit the theme of the site.
Great interview, fun and insightful!