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| The man, the myth, the legend |
Independent comic creator, master salesman, and former world
champion thumb wrestler (one of those is a lie) Victor Dandridge is a comic
book double threat. Both a talented artist and writer, he has created several
creator owned comic titles including Origins Unknown, The Samaritan,
and The Trouble with Love as well as a prose work, 8 Minutes.
If you ever met him at a convention you likely spotted him slinging stickers
and prints featuring his amazing 8-bit renditions of a multitude of pop culture
characters. Victor was kind enough to agree to be my first victim for my Indy
Spotlight feature!
Victor, how did you get interested in comic books? What was
the first comic you ever read?
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| The beginning of an era! |
I actually talk about this in my U Cre-8 Comics
presentations!! I didn’t get into comics until I was 10yrs old. I HATED reading as a child -- not that I
struggled with it, but I just found the stories BORING...that is, until they announced on the news
that Superman was GOING TO DIE!! I remember kinda casually being like, “Superman’s gonna die -- I
wanna read that.” And my Mom went APE -- like, “Whatever it is, I’ll get it!!” So, I started
reading comics with Superman:Man of Steel #18 part one of the Doomsday Saga!
I have heard you talk before about Daryl Banks being an
influence on your artistic style. I for one see
shades of JRJR when I look at your work as well. Just
exactly what artists do you feel inspired by?
Darryl was a big influence on me, PERSONALLY -- he was
the first professional creator I had ever met and he was a tangible figure, we sorta had the same
high school teacher (which is how I met him -- he was brought in as alumnus to my high school’s
vocational arts program). So, yeah, that’s where Darryl -- or as I call him, “Dad”, fits.
Stylistically, though, I’ve definitely admired and drew from [pun intended] JRJR -- since Uncanny X-Men #300, he’s been
one of my faves. I’ve tried a number of styles over the years, so also on the list are Alan Davis,
Joe Quesada, Larry Stroman, Howard Porter, Bruce Timm -- geez, the list goes on and on and on...Haha!
On the other hand, what writers inspire you?
My love of writing came kinda late in the game (my
goal was to be a penciler!) but my go-tos for
inspiration are Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis when I
need some depth and metacontext. Mark
Millar and Robert Kirkman stoke my inner 10yr old
fanboy -- really making me feel that magic when I first started reading comics. I’ve also got a soft
spot on my bookshelf for Frank Miller (I JUST GOT Born Again -- that’s a dense, but AMAZING read), Alan
Moore (it took me a while before I fully understood why Watchmen is so great, but now that I
do...I know why DC never let it go outta print), Mark Waid (I convinced my 10th grade teacher to let me
use Kingdom Come for a book report...and then at Gem City, I was the opposite “celebrity guest”
against Waid for $25,000 Pyramid -- full circle!), Kevin Smith (my love of him has been gushed
on MANY occasions, it’s almost obscene), Kurt Busiek (“Ultron, we would have words with thee -- best
7 words ever uttered!)..that list is pretty big too -- I better cap it there.
What’s your favorite book without pictures? Are you a sci fi
fan or some other genre?
Oh, that’s easy -- Fight Club! I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE
Palahniuk’s work! From Lullaby to Choke, I think I’ve read almost EVERYTHING! The last series I
read though was the Ishmael series from Daniel Quinn -- if you’re into thought-provoking,
self-sploration, I HIGHLY recommend it -- BUT YOU GOTTA BE OPEN-MINDED!!!
Your work “Origins Unknown” is up for a Glyph Award (Vote for Victor!) from the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention Incorporated. Tell us a little bit
about how your independent book got nominated alongside mainstream work such as Ultimate
Spider-Man.
I think the common denom is the use of an ethnic
minority in the lead role. With Miles Morales, I
think Marvel took an amazingly original step with an
iconic character -- they’ve virtually eliminated the risk of rehashing old 616 tales or having similar
threads between the current storylines and the Ult. U. Having said that, last time I checked though,
Origins Unknown was in 2nd place, TOTALLY SMASHING Bendis & Co. -- HAHA!!! I wonder if he
even knows...
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| Look at all these books you need to buy and read! |
Do you feel that the comic community is becoming more
accessible to a diversity of creators?
I think comics have always had a sense of diversity,
particularly with regards to content and style, but I think there’s a hesitancy when it comes to the
creators, at least in certain “obvious” aspects.
But...and I’m probably shooting myself in the foot
with this one -- but I don’t think there needs to be an effort to become more diverse with regards to
gender, race, creeds, orientations and all of that. I don’t want to be marginalized on the basis of my
background, even if it gets me in the door. I don’t want to be a “BLACK” creator, I want to be a GOOD one!
We writers are tasked with creating voices not our own all the time and I don’t think you need
exact experiences to write about certain things (though I have no doubts that Stan Lee was once a
Herald of Galactus...I’m just sayin’).
Do you think more black creators at mainstream publishers
would lead to a change in readership
demographics?
NOT AT ALL! We had an influx of Black creators during
the Milestone era and it didn’t really lead to a growth of Black readers -- it’s certainly not what
drew me in -- and to a big degree, that was the BEST time for it. There was more of a concentrated effort
in being Black that would’ve lended itself into that. But now, no...I don’t necessarily see people
identifying with Black culturalism that way anymore. At least not in younger generations -- I
think there are still enough of older creators who were kinda kept out that still want it, but I don’t
think that my generation of creators need it. I think now, though, we just need to stories that will WOW
people again -- not pander to one demographic or the other.
Your U-Cre8 and Pi: Mathematic Monk are both cool forays into helping kids create and
learn using comics. Do you have a background in education or
do you just believe in the educational
power of comics?
No, no formal education for teaching -- in fact, I’m
certain if you compiled ALL of my completed
undergraduate courses, I’d still be considered a
FRESHMAN!! My whole push about using comics to push education is because that’s how they worked for
me -- they paved the way to my reading more, speaking better, being more receptive socially --
EVERYTHING. I feel like it’s my job to show the next gen of readers/creators the same opportunities that I
found. So, yeah, it’s corny, but I VERY MUCH SO believe in the educational power of comics.
What kind of response do you get from kids with these
materials? Do you see a bright future with
comics in today’s children?
It depends, honestly -- I’ve done a lot of work with
urban students and there’s an extremely dense
wall of interference that keeps them from latching on
to comics like I did. Despite their ages, their
lifestyles (environment, mostly) doesn’t always incite
their imaginations in that way. At least not
yet! I’m still working on what will excite and engage
them -- even going as far as sharing The
Samaritan -- which is NOT really age-appropriate, but
certainly environmentally acceptable -- with
them and THAT’S seemed to work. Other students -- ones
from more affluent backgrounds, both with regards to actual money or focus on educational
values, are WAAAAAAAAY more interested and consequently more accepting of considering comics and
what they can do. They eat it up like butter on toast! Overall though, I think the future of comics
is quite optimistic -- there are so many capabilities and applications availed to young
creators that I seems IMPOSSIBLE for the form to die.
On a related note, you are entering into some legal action
to protect your U-Cre8 line. Tell us about
what led you to do this and what you think will be the
outcome.
I can’t get into it too much -- legal advice and all
-- but...what I hope to come out of this with is the
retention of my U Cre-8 Comics brand. I’ve worked
REALLY hard to make it what it is and have barely scratched the surface of what it CAN do. And honestly,
after seeing how it’s opened doors for so many students and teachers, parents and their kids, I
really can’t let that go without a fight.
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| GHOST RIDER! |
Your 8-bit pixel creations have become quite famous. You
have even been featured on big time comic sites like Comics Alliance. How did you get started on
these little guys and why do you think
they have proven to be so popular?
Out of jealousy and spite! Hahaha -- well, kinda...I
can draw, but I’ve not been the most confident in my art skills (detective skills and ninja skills are
without question, tho), so when I was really trying to make a name for myself, I wanted to do something that
my friends -- amazing artists like Ren McKinzie (the artist for The Samaritan) and Mike
Watson (creator/artist for Hotshot from Freestyle Komics) -- WEREN’T doing. The first show we were all
going to be at was Champion City Comic Con, a comics and gaming show -- so I thought it’d be clever
to put the two ideas together. I NEVER imagined how that would blossom into a gallery of
nearly 500 designs, products from prints to buttons, stickers to posters and one of the GREATEST
convention attractions, hands down!
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| The greatest cold blooded heroes ever |
I think their popularity stems from them being so
familiar and simultaneously unique! I’m certainly not the first person to play with pixel art, but one
of my consistent compliments is that I’m NOT using a set sprite-template or mapping over existing images.
That originality makes the pieces stand out even more and people have great time connecting with
that! Plus with the 8 Bit Challenge (where you have to successfully name 10 characters off of a
banner to win a prize) lets you prove your geekiness and at a comic convention, we ALL want to be
the biggest and bestest geek there!!
Well on a final note, Victor is there anything you would
like to say to the people reading at home, work, or on the toilet?
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| Vantage Inhouse Productions |
I’m going to BOLDLY state that my publishing imprint,
Vantage:Inhouse Productions will be up and running for only another 2 years! I LOVE
self-publishing and I’m seriously proud of EVERY book in our catalogue, but I’ve always had the goal of working for
a mainstream publisher and that’s what I feel all of this work has been leading up to. I just need
to be on more people’s radar -- and YOU can help me do that by making for noise for me and my books! Go
to your local comic shops and talk about them, hit up some message boards, like V:IP on
Facebook, follow us on Twitter ! And also, help me beat Bendis -- I love that guy’s big, bald head, but
those bragging rights on my resume would be the schnitzel! Hahaha!
I would like to thank Victor for his time and being willing
to talk to me! Be sure to check out his site
http://vantageinhouse.blogspot.com/. You can link to his
Etsy store to buy some really cool 8-bit art, or to digital versions of any of his books, which all come
with the Jonathan Q. Larson stamp of
approval! Be sure to talk to Victor at any of upcoming
convention appearances as well. He’ll be at
C2E2 at the end of this month…
Jonathan
Jonathan
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