The next step for the comics is TV, merchandise and action figures!”
In fact he has already started merchandising by marketing t-shirts with his favorite action word, BLAM! “It’s a great sound effect word,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m definitely not the first to ever use it but when I was doing the first issue of The Map, I created a panel where the background is the word BLAM with the protagonist falling backward, firing a shotgun.
I knew I wanted to use that as an identifiable symbol for the series.”
Currently there are six issues out on his series The Map and the first issue out on his new series, Bedlam In Troubletown.
So what can comic book fans expect from the new series? “They can expect a dark tale of greed and corruption set in a city where violence lies around any corner at any given moment,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s a story of redemption and survival.”
That being said, he wouldn’t change a thing and is a proponent of other ambitious artists following the same path he has gone down.
“I would tell them to do it and not to wait for permission,” Cavanaugh advised. “If making comics is something you want to do, then do it. Be prepared to work all hours of the day and night. Be prepared to eat your ego.
Be prepared to smile at everyone who asks you about it and to never get tired of talking about it, even after explaining it 100 times a day.
“Keep in mind that I spent 16 months working and reworking my series’ before I ever had a marketable product to sell,” he continued. “You have to give yourself value because nobody else is going to do that for you.
If you give your stuff away for free, you can bet that you’re just handing your hard work to someone so that they can eventually toss it. If you give your work value, the reader will give it value.”
Looking ahead to the future, Cavanaugh hopes to get picked up by Image Comics which will get his books onto numerous shelves and increase his reader base.
“I’m also actively working with my good friend, who happens to also be my legal department, to get these written for television,” Cavanaugh said. “I have great
original content that I believe will translate well into TV or movies.”
If you want to get your copy of The Map or Bedlam In Troubletown visit www.grunt1bcomics.etsy.com. Each issue is $4 and there is not currently a subscription service.
In addition to the comics, Cavanaugh also, on occasion, does t shirt campaigns so readers can get limited edition apparel with images from the comics.
But if you are a Superfan or live in the San Diego area, Cavanaugh releases new issues at his local comic shop, called Southern California Comics at 8280 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite 124.
“They treat me like family,” Cavanaugh said. “I love the people there and value their friendship and think that they have an awesome comic shop with a massive collection for people to check out.”
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Kiva Johns-Adkins
Contributor
Cron