Bill Nichols’ Prescription:
Comics 10ccs of the Process with
Rich Woodall

What inspires you to create and keeps you going? 

Everything inspires me… from a writer’s POV, I find story inspiration in literally everything. From driving down the road and seeing a weird old house, to reading an article in the newspaper. Stories just flood into my brain. They aren’t always gold, but there is usually something in there I can use later. As for Art, the 3rd floor of my house is like a comic shop / museum, filled with original art, posters, books, movies, toys everything a healthy growing comic boy needs to spark his imagination.

Do you have a set routine? 

I do have a set routine. I’m not a full time comic creator, so I’ve gotta fit it in where I can. But I get up every morning between 6-7am (no alarm), get the dogs ready, help my wife get ready for work, then do freelance design work all day. If I have a lull in that I try to fill it with some aspect of comic creation, be that coloring a page, penciling, inking, or writing. After the work day is done, my wife gets home, I make dinner, then after dinner, i try to draw a couple hours a night.

What kind of output do you try to achieve? 

Very slow. As you saw above, I maybe get 2-4 hours of “comic work time” a day… a lot of that is interrupted, so getting in and out of a groove really throws me off. I’ll go through spurts of being super productive, and then other times it’s a page a week if I’m lucky.

What inspires you WHEN you create? Music? Noise? Silence? 

I like to have music on when I’m writing… scores or classical music. Anything without lyrics. Then when I’m drawing I like music with lyrics playing. I try to have a soundtrack to what I’m working on, so if it’s more action-oriented, I try to listen to fast-paced music, if it’s a softer scene, I’ll put on the Beatles or something more mellow.

Who was the first comic book creator who influenced you to pursue this? 

The first book I picked up and knew I wanted to create comics was Classic X-men 17. It has a Jon Bogdanove cover. So I guess he’s the reason I’m doing what I’m doing. 

When did you realize you could follow this path yourself? 

I just started doing it. Nobody told me I couldn’t, I saw other people doing it, so I thought “hey, I can do that.” I grew up when the TMNT, The Tick, and a lot of other Indy comics were starting to catch some heat. I was also living in Radcliff KY, and saw YOUR comics in a couple of the comic shops. I thought “Wow, here’s a local guy doing comics, so you don’t have to work for the big 2, you can just make your own books!” 

What do you find to be a challenge in creating? 

Finding the time for me is the biggest challenge. My brain is always THINKING about comics / creating comics, so I’m usually ready to hit the ground running when the time comes, but most of my time is spent doing freelance to pay the bills, so trying to figure out when I can do what I love doing is the hardest part. 

What else do you have to learn?  

Oh man. I feel like I need to learn everything. I’m constantly trying to self evaluate and improve myself. I think Self evaluation is a really big component of becoming a better artist. If you can’t look at your work and go “oh I drew that hand funky” or “My dialogue here is really stiff or bland” then you’re not going to grow. You have to be honest with yourself. Sometimes I think “That’s the best thing I’ve ever done.” And it might be… but it can be better. There’s always a next level out there that I’m chasing. 

What keeps you motivated to get better? 

The thing that motivates me to get better is, I want to make a living creating comics. I want to make enough money that I can sustain my lifestyle. I mean, that’s the big one, the other thing is, I’ve got a hundred stories in my head, and I want to tell the world about all of them. 

Can you turn your brain (creativity) off (and on)? 

I wish I could… unfortunately, it’s on 24/7. I’ve gotta take a sleep aid just to numb my brain enough to get 6 hours of sleep at night. If I don’t, I wake up at 3am and my brain automatically starts trying to solve problems… things like “this story is missing something, what can I do to make that work better” or “I really don’t like that arm I drew, I need to go fix it.”

Booster Shots 

What advice do you have for aspiring creators? 

The advice I give creators is to “just do it”. You may not be ready for Marvel / DC / Whatever company you want to work for, but that doesn’t matter, if you’ve got stories in your heart you want to tell, just tell them. Hone your craft and you will get better. Set deadlines and achievable goals for yourself. When I started doing my first regular series, Johnny Raygun, I had never produced more than 10 pages of fully completed sequentials .  Then I was in a position where I had to complete 22+ pages every 2 months (we were on a quarterly schedule.) I had to produce 3-4 pages a week, and some of those pages weren’t great, but I was on a deadline. When I did a lackluster page, I would tell myself “The next one will be better… learn from this.” So, yeah… do the work, thinking about the work doesn’t get you anywhere, doing the work, making that next page better… that’s progress.

Do you ever worry about running out of ideas? 

Hahaha, no, never. I’ve got notebooks filled with ideas / characters / stories that I’ll never have time to get to. I literally have 40 series I could be working on, and unfortunately, I keep adding to the list. 

How do you handle the slow times?  

The only slow times I have are because I’m SLOW… not because there’s no work, but because I get caught up in regular life things that don’t allow me time to do the work. 

How do you feel about the industry?

I’m personally really excited about the industry. It’s a time when IF you have an idea, you can get it out there fairly cheap. Be it via the internet as a webcomic, or finding a printer and printing a dozen books for yourself. It’s a great time to be a creator!

Do you have a website or link to promote your work?

https://www.projectpandoraentertainment.com

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by the above creator are theirs. This interview may not 

be reprinted or reposted without permission.