Comic Blog Elite

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Indie Spotlight - John Pross & Pross Comics


 I recently conducted an interview with John Pross of Pross Comics. We discuss his upcoming books and plans for New York Comic Con. As always, more after the jump.


What is your earliest memory involving comics?

My Dad used to always go to this baseball card and comic book shop to collect his cards. I just remember going there with him and seeing my first TMNT comic. Had to have it.

When did you start reading comics as a serious hobby?

It wasn't until about 4th grade I really started getting into comics. It was right around Jim Lee's run on the X-men. I remember my friend bringing in the wraparound cover of X-men #1 and thinking if the story is half as good as the art then I need to start reading this series.

  
When did you decide to start up your own company?

POSERS 
About a year ago I was working 12hrs as a Fedex driver and although the money was great, I pretty much felt like driving into a pole everyday. I just couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life. So that's right about the time I started plotting my hostile takeover of the comic world.
  
Tell us about Posers and how the story and creative team came together. 

Posers actually started out as a web series I was planning on making. It was going to be about this spoiled rich kid who thinks he could just buy whatever he wants. So he puts a bunch of D-list super-heroes on a team and has camera crews follow them everywhere. But eventually it was brainstormed into Posers. The spoiled brat was now the con-artist who has tricked everyone into thinking his team is constantly out there saving the world and they should be worshiped for it. As for the creative team's creation one word: Facebook. It's amazing how many talented people you can find just by joining a couple groups and posting.

Tell us about Slugger and everything going on with it.
 
Got the idea of Slugger from Katrina Law's character in Spartacus. She was tough but still was still sexy and feminine. Not a lot of characters like that in the comic world. So I decided to make one. Slugger the man hating daughter of Mars the Roman God of War. First Slugger book will be a one-shot dealing more with her past. But you can expect to see a series coming soon. A character as strong as Superman but with the morals of the Punisher will definitely make for some interesting reading.

Your Jam book, Danger: High Voltage features a massive amount of talent. What made you decide to do a jam book and what's the story behind the book?

Can't take credit for this one. Stole the idea from James Lynch over at Wonderfunders. Every couple months he'd get a group of people together to make a book. As my fan page grew, I kept getting more and more artists who wanted to collaborate on something. So a jam was the perfect way to not only get a book done quickly but it was also a great way to scout for new talent and make connections.

You've recently announced your presence at New York Comic-Con and your intent to sell some books there. What are your plans for the convention?
Well if everything goes according to plan we'll have 3 books there:  Posers #1, Danger: High Voltage, and the Slugger one-shot. We'll also have several talented people there. Brandon Bullock, Jimbo Salgado, and Derek Adams.


What is your publishing plan for after the convention?

All depends on how well we're received. If we do good the next step would obviously be a major distributor like Diamond for all 3 books. If the con doesn't go as well as hoped then I'd work on building up my audience more before trying to play with the pros.

What's next as far as new projects go?

I'm working on a script called Villians right now. It's going to be side story arcs about the villians in this universe I'm creating. Won't be a lot of happy endings and smiles in this one. It's from the villians' perspective, so you can expect to see some messed up stuff in this one.

What do you like to do when not running your business?

Write. I've got way too many ideas in my head for too much downtime. Plus I've kind of got an addiction to caramel frapps. So I spend a lot of time in coffee shops. Also have to make time for the family. 

John Pross
Who's your dream team for a project?

Jim Lee. If I got him on a book I don't need anybody else because let's face it, if you see his name on a cover you're going to at least look at it.
 
Who in the indie scene should we be paying attention to?
 
You mean besides me?  Haha.  I like what I've been seeing from Advent Universe so far. Also I've seen the script for Aceblade and although its a little rough, I think it has the potential to take off running.
 
If you could work on any bigger name characters, who would it be?
 
Deadpool. Death and comedy. What could be more fun to write?

 
What is your long term goal for the company and your characters?

My only real goal is to get my stories and characters out there. If I don't get it done one way, you can bet I'll back the next month trying another way.
 
 
 
 Pross Comics on Facebook












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