Pulp Culture + Benji Bajorek

On this week's edition of Pulp Culture Plus, Melbourne-based comic creator Benji Bajorek, a true indie talent who writes, illustrates and letters his own work. Known for bold, genre-driven stories across horror, sci-fi and noir, Benji’s titles include Deadsheet, The History of Monsters and Flower. With a gritty, cinematic style inspired by the likes of Frank Miller, he’s carving out a distinctive voice in Australia’s comic scene. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey, it's Nathy here and welcome to another edition of Pulp Culture Plus. With me uh this week uh is uh Benji Bajoric, um who is a Melbourne-based comic writer and illustrator known for his bold and uh genre-driven storytelling across uh horror, sci-fi and crime noir, and also a bit of an adventure. Uh, a true independent creator. He often takes on multiple roles in his projects, writing, illustrating, and lettering uh in his own works. His uh current Kickstarter is in full effect with Troubleshoot. Uh, please welcome to the show, Benji? What's Adam? Okay, Fendi, so maybe uh I've given you a bit of a spiel. Uh is is is all of that correct? And is there anything else that you want to tell us a little bit about you?

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Oh uh yeah, so my comics include in chronological order, History of Monsters, Um The Flower, uh Dead Sheet, Um, History of Monsters 100 Page Special, Um, The Unknown Road, and my current project is Troubleshoot, which is a sequel to Dead Sheet.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yeah, fantastic. Um and uh so you've been uh you've been doing this for a for a for a short period of time. It's it's probably been what about 10 years-ish or less than that?

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Less. Um so I I started like putting comics out uh in 20 late 2019, like really slapped together zines, um, none of them are available anymore for good reason. Um because lockdown kind of saved me. I thought I was doing my best work, and then lockdown stopped me from doing any tabled events, so I um ended up working on the history of monsters, which was like you know, the the big story that I never thought I would do, because I never thought I would have the skill level, and then you know, having two years to just develop over this 300-page epic really gave me the I guess the uh education I needed in making comics. So, you know, I always look I love that book, but you look at it as 300 pages, and the first issue looks nothing like the last issue because I was really learning as I went, and then so yeah, it's late 2019, early 2020 was when I really started making taking it seriously um and just haven't stopped since then. But I've been writing for over a decade. I I always thought I was gonna be writing prose or writing comics and getting other people to illustrate, but I've been writing since I was a kid, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Yeah, that's fantastic. What um what what sort of made you think uh I'm gonna do a comic?

SPEAKER_02 2:39

All-star comics. Um the the idea that you could make your own comics was never a thing for me until I started I I came into All Star the week they opened, not realizing it was a new store. Um someone mentioned there was a shop on Queen Street, uh uh Lonsdale Street, um, and I popped in and met Mitch and Troy, and then you know their local section took off, and it was always in the back of my mind because I knew I always wanted to write something, but yeah, drawing was just I was too lazy for it. I didn't have the patience for it. I wanted to write, and then I'd put it off because I could just never figure out how to get the funds together um to get someone to draw comics because I was too busy going to the pub with mates, you know, priorities. Yeah, um, so it's always been on the back burner, but yeah, if it wasn't for the local section at All Star Comics, then I I wouldn't have thought about it.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Yeah. So we were talking so you're talking about local uh local talent. Um is there any influences there in local talent that sort of helped to push you? Is there a book that you read, or was there a couple of artists or writers that that sort of come to mind at all?

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Or um honestly, it's off the top of my head right now, I can't remember her name. There was one book, a black and white, a very black and uh black and white horror comic. Um the name escapes me, but that was something um but also it was around the time Jess Parker was working here and I really enjoyed her work. Um and there was also a um a project that never really came to fruition that I was like really excited for, and it was kind of the kind of comic that I wished someone was gonna make. And when that project fell through, it sort of led me to making my own stuff because I really wanted that comic to exist, and so I decided to write my own sort of version of it, and that's sort of what led to these three monsters. Um so yeah, it was more just the idea of the self-publishing and um uh yeah, realizing that you can just put something together. It doesn't have to be, you know, the most amazing uh produced work, as long as there's a story there, you can the my literally my first comic I stopped here was just a few folded pieces of A4 paper that I printed on the sneak.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Um well you've got to start somewhere, right? And and and and that's and that's and that's what it's about. You know, um, you know, I've done a few comic panels, um, you know, cons and uh you know published books myself and um one thing that you know gets asked a lot is is you know, how do I how do I start? How do I get how do I get into comics? Um and and I think my answer for most people, which is exactly what you've done, is just start. Just start somewhere. Um and it doesn't it doesn't matter how you start, it's it once you start, then you'll get the bug or you'll realize that it's not for you. Um but one way or another, at least you've done something that not a lot of people have done. And that I think that's an accomplishment in itself.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Yeah, uh thank you. Um yeah, actually one of my biggest uh two of the things that sort of really led me to drawing my own comics as well. Um, so I'm a huge fan of Brian Michael Bendis. Um I grew up reading Ultimate Spider-Man, but then as an adult reading his indie stuff, especially the black and white, and seeing how he, you know, with limited uh skill, um, was you know using photography and collage and illustration and a mixture of mediums to make his in black and white indie comics, and you know, I could look at, you know, I can't do a Jim Lee comic, but I could do a Benders comic kind of thing. Um but also I listen to, you know, I listen to your podcast, I listen to a million comics podcasts, and you hear creators get that question, like, how do I get into comics? And it always seems to come from a place of can you give me a shortcut? But the creators always say, like, no, just make a comic, and that's how you get into it. But um, so yeah, uh Bendis' book on making comics words for pictures, there's a section there with uh is it Diane or Diana Schutz from Dark Horse Comics? And she says, No one likes being handed a script if you can put together a comic, even if it's really poorly drawn, but you've written it and can show that you can complete a project, that's all we want to see. And that really inspired me because I'm like, Well, I can't draw well, um but I can definitely put together a story and I know how to lay out a page, I know how the storytelling works, and then that just led to yeah, I never wanted to draw and now it's all I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah, but you know, I mean, and you say that you know you don't draw well, but you know, your your books are selling, um, which means that that you do have an audience and and those people see you for more than than what what you obviously see for yourself. I mean as as as creatives we are our probably our uh our our worst critic um and um we can be we can be like brutally hard on ourselves um with no filter and and obviously that that can stifle the creative process at times. Um when you get into that sort of that that and everybody does, what's uh what's sort of your go-to? How do you sort of get out of that rut? How do you change your your mentality or your process?

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Um I just I get obsessed with anything I love. Like I I really like I'm a fan, everything I love, I I sort of don't dabble in a lot of things. Like for example, a perfect example is like, you know, I'll never get into Star Trek, I'll never get into Doctor Who because I'm an absolute completist and I love to be totally obsessed with the thing I like, and that's just overwhelming. So there's things that I'm just leave aside and I focus on what I love, and with comics, I just need to get it done, I need to finish it, and I have this horrible like groundhog day curse of just like I just gotta finish this project and then I can have a break, and then I can relax and play some video games, but then there's always the next project, and there's never there's never an end. Um but I also I think the difference with me is I because I don't view myself as an artist, I view myself as a writer. I and I have this conversation all the time with artists who they draw for fun. Um, you know, they do fan art, they do things like sketches, doodles, you know, they go get a coffee and they're sketching, they're on the train. I don't do that, like I purely do it just to get the story done, and that's the difference. So I I don't view illustrations for fun, so I don't view myself as an artist. It's just it's all part of the writing process in some weird way in my head, and that's how I justify it. Um so I do get into a rut, but it's just I have to finish it. I have to finish what I start, and that's how I get out of it.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

So would you say that you're a storyteller with an illustration component?

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, because it's all part that's the thing with comics, right? Is you know there's always you always see that argument pop up online, like what's more important, the writer or the artist? And it's like, no, no, no, it's the same. It's one and the same, it's a visual medium. Um and people forget that, and you know, the writers forget that, artists forget that, but it all works together, it's all part of telling the story.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Um But it can be it can be hit-miss, right? I mean, you know, we we've had this conversation on the on the show before. You know, like you say, you know, if you're reading a a really great comic but the artwork's really poor, how long do you continue with it? Um and vice versa, you know, if the artwork's really good but the the the storyline is really poor, what you know, which one which comes first, the chicken or the egg. Um but I think you're right. I think if you're it one way or another, if you're enjoying whatever side of it is, it doesn't really matter.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yeah, and one thing I will say is, you know, as as we're I I have developed as an artist where I'm sort of I can be proud of the things I draw, but the one thing I I can feel confident in myself saying is I know how to lay out a comic page. Um that's one thing, you know, there are amazingly talented artists that can draw the most incredibly detailed things, but I'll open up a comic and I don't know where to look on the page. And there's word balloons everywhere, and it's just this is a mess. And that is now I've gotten to the point now that I didn't used to see that, you know. And now when I've started making comics, I'm starting to see how page the eye flows across the page and things like that. Um so when I pick up a book off the shelf, it's not really necessarily the plot or the the art itself that grabs me, it's the like the flow, like does it capture my eye, does it make me want to continue? And I think that's so important. And you can be a very unskilled illustrator, but if you can lay out a page in a way that's eye-catching, I think that is stronger. So that's where you know the argument about art is different because it's not just about skill and detail of illustration, it's yeah, telling a story, you know. It's the same as you'd be editing with a film, you know, a a a very beautifully, you know, big budget film can be made, but if it's poorly edited, it's not interesting to watch.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yeah, no. So um with the with the with your creativity, you've you've uh self-published some of your books, and some books have um that you've put on Kickstarter. Um you've currently got a Kickstarter at the moment, which is a um a sequel to to Dead Sheet. Maybe tell us a little bit about that and where that um this news story came from. Um because I think you you've confessed yourself that you were kind of it was going to be a one and done, and then you weren't gonna move on with that. And um obviously there's been something that's been gnawing away in your brain there. So maybe give us a little bit about you know the new book um and then tell us about how uh you know the Kickstarter process.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Yeah, Dead Sheet was such a funny book. Like I actually quit making it a few times while I was making it, um, and then you know I had some positive reinforcement from people who read it and said, No, this is good, and just had some advice and finished it, did the and that was my first Kickstarter, and that went well, and it was all just flying by the seat of my pants. I didn't know what this book was. And then I was really happy with it, but I just I liked the sort of not I want to say ambiguous ending, but I just liked that it had this ending that was sort of you could interpret, um, and I liked that it didn't answer all the questions, and I think that's important. Like I think a lot of you know, there's there's the Wolverine's origin, there's Mytaclorians, there's all these things where getting the answer doesn't necessarily make the mis like make the story good. It's the mystery is half the entertainment. Absolutely. So I didn't want to build too much on it because I didn't want to ruin a good book. But then um then in 2024 it was nominated and then won the Comic Arts Awards of Australia, which I did not see coming.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Yeah, congratulations for that. It was a great win.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Um yeah, it was the most nervous night of my life because I saw I was sitting there and they kept announcing these nominees. I'm like, someone's pranked me, and I haven't won anything. And it was the very last one, and I'd been an empty stomach, and I'd just been nursing this beer, and I was like, what is and then suddenly I have to give a speech. It was and then you know, and then the end of the night, I like ended up sleeping on a park bench at the airport because I missed I didn't catch it. It was a whole experience, like it was so strange. But um that sounds like a comic. Oh, yeah, it was it was seriously like I'm literally sitting there with my award, like huddled on a park bench. But um anyway, so getting that award and then realizing because you know, especially with self-publishers, you don't often hear back, like the book sells, and then the store calls you and says, Hey, we need more stock. But I find when people hate something they'll tell you, but when they like something, they're content. Yeah, so you don't really hear back. So this was the first time really hearing that people enjoyed the book, and it got the sort of my mind flowing. I'm like, Oh, do I want to revisit it? Um and then the other factor was when I got to meet um the Prodigy or my favourite band, and their music was a huge influence on Dead Sheet, um, and I got to sort of present them with copies, and that was an amazing experience. Um, and then that just sort of made me think, like, oh, you know, maybe do I want to revisit this? And then like life is always full circle. So the thing that really led to the creation of Dead Sheet was not only lockdown, but I had to move house during lockdown, and I ended up moving, living a floor above one of the worst human beings imaginable, and that's where the idea really came from. If I had a spreadsheet, tell me about it.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Um it's the it's the old list, right? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

Everyone has that list. Yeah, or you know, there's the button, the Richard Matheson story, like there's always those stories. Um, and he was a nightmare, and it was just living in almost fear sometimes, um, and then eventually moved away. But the story came from that.

SPEAKER_04 14:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

The same thing happened earlier last year. Got the nose to vacate, yeah, and then suddenly was scrambling looking for a new place to live. Um, and then again ended up living next to an even worse person. Um, and it's been so funnily enough, full circle moment, as of this conversation, um, this the tenant is moving out, um, should be moving out next week, which is also when the Kickstarter ends. Yeah. Um, but funnily enough, this like moving to this place and dealing with this neighbor is what led to troubleshoot and getting some new ideas of like, okay, how can what happens after Nina discovers this disc and all that? Um but um the the I think the big difference with this project was my last book and my last Kickstarter, The Unknown Road, was a you know totally different project. It was a full colour high fantasy book. That was the hardest I've ever worked on something. It took me two years, it was full colour, it was my first full colour book. Um I struggled through that and then I was working on it through the move, and it was just this thing that would never end. Um and I just hated the experience of making that book because it was just me alone. Um and I did dabble in some collaboration with my History of Monsters 100 page special where I I I m you know built relationships with some artists over my short period making comics that I thought well because that book was like a throwback sort of 1970 style horror anthology. I thought I'll get some artists, do some pin-ups, see how that goes, got a variant cover um from an artist I love. Um and that really sort of because I always had a fear of collaboration, um the idea of someone doing something of yours, you know, the ownership of it, the thing like the that classic paranoia.

SPEAKER_04 15:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

Um but then with troubleshoot, I decided I did not want to make this book alone and I wanted to change the format of the storytelling. Because all the ideas I had were these like what do you call them? Vig ving vignettes.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Um shorter stories, shorter stories that would help to sort of carry the larger story together, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:58

Yeah, that's it. And because they were each start, like one of them is sort of a flat out comedy, like a bla black comedy, but but they're also totally different that I thought there's no way I can draw this and keep it consistent and blend them together. So I thought I'll make uh my own sort of anthology um and find different artists to match those styles. And what was really fun about that was not only some of the artists I already knew that carried over from History Monsters, so Hoshi, um uh I discovered her by buying just a random zine in Japan while I was there, and um got in contact to do a pin-up and just have been in contact ever since. And then um uh Johnson Benjamin, so he got in touch with me with a Dead Sheet Kickstarter, and he loved that book, and he it's one of those rare occasions where someone liked a thing you did you've done, and not only did they like it, but they uh absolutely got everything I was trying to do. Yep. Um, because you know some people can misinterpret your intentions, but he and we just have gelled ever since. He is a writer artist as well, and we just love the same comic creators and manga and films, and we have been in touch, I want to say, every day since Dead Sheet, um, which is really funny. Um, because he's he lives up in the Mississippi in the States, you know, like so and I don't even know what I don't think either of us even know what time it is when we're talking to each other, but just constantly back and forth. So knowing these artists, it was really fun to not just get them to draw something of mine, but to write something for them. And so it was it kind of set me free in a sense of like I'm always writing for myself and writing for my inability. So it was really exciting to write for someone's ability. Um hone in on the the anime and manga influence. Um I wanted to find artists who could do that, yeah. And that led me to conventions I've never gaming and anime conventions that I've never gone to, and just finding this whole new world of creators who, you know, don't also don't necessarily know you can self-publish comics, just kind of doing stuff for the fun of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Um well that's the beauty of the digital age, right? I mean, you know, back in the day it was it was very expensive, um, and the technology just really wasn't there, you know, a lot of it was done by hand, and then you would have to know a printer. It was a very expensive exercise to get everything printed. Now with the digital age, you can either self-publish yourself, do it at home, um, or you know, the expense of getting a um, you know, a short run is is is very you know is is very cost effective for for it. And I think that that's that's one of the great things about the digital age now with collaboration as well, is that um, and we see this obviously with the with the sort of the bigger companies um where you know you don't have to be in the same country or in the same office as somebody to be able to collaborate and collaborate really well, you know, and some of these um you know really good, tight collaborative teams, you know, one's in South America and one's in the US, or one's in Japan and one's over in Australia. So we we we have that you know that opportunity and that fortunate um uh space to be able to, like you say, you know, if you're gelling with somebody and it and it works really well, um then you know it's kind of limitless, really, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Yeah, exactly. And I was baffled at that when I would listen to interviews with um you know comic book writers and artists I liked, and they would say, Yeah, I've never even met the artist I'm working with. I'm like, what do you mean? But now it's the same thing where I've got friendships with people I've never even actually spoken to, it's all just messaging, and it's this is such a strange experience, but it's like I I I kind of forget about it because it is so positive. Um and that that yeah, this whole project has just been like just that, just exploring and finding new artists, and then even when even though this book is done and ready for print, and I'm just waiting for the Kickstarter to to be funded, I'm still looking for artists just for the fun of it. Just because it's not just about I want you to draw my next project, it's about finding people who are like-minded. Um, because you know, I have I I've got this funny list of notes in my phone. Um, that first I went to the game expo early last year looking for a manga artist, and I saw when I went on the artist alley listings for that, I thought, oh, there's heaps of people here doing anime fan out and stuff like that. I'll find someone I'm walking through and I'm sort of looking and I'm finding some really cool art, but then that interaction with the person was a little awkward, or they might have been a bit too pushy or standoffish, you know. There was one guy who just looking at his phone and I was like, hey man, how's it going? He's just like looks up at me and looks down at his phone again. I'm like, alright, sweet. There's always one, there's always one. Um and then it was like literally the end of the I did the whole walk and I came to this one last artist, and it was Steph who's on the book. Um, and she was just really easy to talk to. Uh, one of the only artists there who mentioned I I you know I asked everybody, um, do you do you have goals to do any sequential art or are you just focusing on prints? And she was the only one to say, you know, yeah, I've had this comic idea for a while, but I just kind of haven't gotten around to it. And it was just and I then I we had like had a conversation, I looked at her stuff, walked around again, and I just kept mulling it over. And so I've got this list of like sort of experiences in my phone of just like, yeah, this person was rude, this person was rude. And then with Steph, I just had this one line that says, Really nice, really easy to talk to, really cool art. And that's all I'm looking for, is just that combination. Um, because you don't want a bad experience, you could get an incredible artist, but then it could be a horrible experience.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Um, yeah, oh look, and there's plenty of stories about that we hear all the time. Um, so tell us a little bit about the Kickstarter. So this is your uh third third Kickstarter, is a fourth Kickstarter. Sorry, my apologies. Um, definitely um not doing you justice there with your with your with your veteranship of of Kickstarting. So tell us about the process, um why you why why Kickstarter um and um and how it's going so far.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Um well yeah, Dead Sheet was just my first experience. So again, like I said, I just didn't know what I was doing, and it was funded within the first couple days and then doubled by the end of it, and it did really well, and I got the hang of it. Um the second one was a learning experience because I was overconfident. I was kind of relying on um sort of the additional talent. Um I also so Rebecca Isaacs did a very incover for that, who I was a big fan of from her work on uh Berserker one shot. Um, and I didn't make any effort with the advertising for that, I didn't do any kind of branding. I just kind of thought, hey everyone, you backed Deadsheet. Now back this book. And I've got some cool people involved. And I remember some getting some messages from people, like, hey, do you have any like graphics that I can repost? And I was like, oh wow, I haven't done anything for this project. And I really like it got funded by the end, but I really learned like, no, you can't just rely. And then talking to other people who have done um Kickstarters, I got some advice. They said, You think you're going to carry over the people from the last one, but people don't back the creator, they back the project. And because I jump from genre to genre, people aren't necessarily going to be interested. So then with the Unknown Road, I did the total opposite again where I did zero um you know, with Kickstarter, you've got all your bells and whistles, your rewards, the prints, and things like that. Didn't do any of that. I just had the book and like a little mini zine. And that project got funded in 24 hours, doubled by the end. It was a great experience, but I didn't. I I made way more effort with the branding and the of that I'm gesturing for an audio medium. Sorry. Um But yeah, like I just kind of just focused on making sure that it was a visually appealing campaign.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Um it's really interesting because uh what you're saying there, I mean it goes back to a to a saying that um uh somebody said to me very, very early on um in my career with comics, and and it was that you're only as good as your as as your last project. Um and we see that a lot, you know, with we we might have a really good collaborative team, they separate and they go on and do another project, and then we don't hear from them for quite a lot large period of time, and that's obviously because either the collaborative team doesn't work or people aren't picking it up because it's a different genre. Um, you know, there's lots of different reasons why. So it's it's it's it's good that you know, obviously that self-reflection with you, you you can sort of see that that obviously there is Kickstarter is not just about slapping something on there and hoping for the best that there is a a level of work that needs to be done to uh to get your book across the line.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Yeah, absolutely. And I s the one other thing I did wrong with History of Monsters was I thought um launching it in the lead up to Halloween, because it was a horror book, I thought that would be a clever marketing choice, but turns out it was the opposite because everyone thought the same thing. Yeah. So there was this influx of like monster-themed books, and mine just got lost um to the mix of it, and again, luckily got funded, but it was just yeah, it was a learning experience. Um, and so with this one, I was sort of able to take all that, but uh I so it hasn't been funded. Um I'm I was I am surprised because mainly because um there are artists involved that are way more talented than me. Um I was able to get one of my favourite artists of all time, Nicholas Draper Ivy, who worked on Static at DC to do the cover, um, and all these just different range of people with different followings to work on this book, and I and I will say um proudly, like it's the best thing I've ever written, and it's one of the best-looking books, and I'm allowed to say that because I didn't draw all of it. Um but the again timing. So there are there's this influx of amazing Kickstarters at the moment. Um, there's the the Tyrant Kickstarter, which just is incredible. Um there's uh the Mateo Scalera one, the title I'm forgetting, but it's another sort of like very moody black and white type story. Um there's and then the opposite end, you've got um the G.I.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Joe one, you've got all these big campaigns. CI Joe compendium that's got that's happening at the moment. You've got Angie Spicer, who's an Australian artist as well, um, and writer. Um yeah, and I think you're right. I think it's a it's about timing. It's a it's it's it's looking at uh those windows, um, and you know, there's there's a little bit of research that needs to be done when when when putting a campaign together, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Yeah, so I just because this book got a little bit delayed um by a few months, I just I just wanted to get the campaign launched. I didn't pay attention to anything, and then at the same time, you know, we've got this global crisis and fuel and people are short on money, and it just I didn't pay attention to any of that, and then just blindly launched. Um, and look, it is it's going well as of now. We've got a week left, and I I have confidence it'll get there in the end. Um, but again, it has been a learning experience. My biggest fear with this one was honestly just there's other artists involved, um, and I felt I didn't want to let them down because this isn't just my project anymore, it's theirs is something they're a part of. Um so I'm taking I am I've been way more nervous about this one than I would about something that is just me because if it's me failing, it's me failing. But I just suddenly feel this like I want to protect them the need to succeed, right? Yeah, yeah, and I don't want them to feel like they've been fart of but been part of something that was you know uh uh didn't do too well. But um well look again, like the work is there. I'm s so proud of the book. Um what they've the artists and so the artists involved I should mention, I'm just saying they, but um, so in terms of interior artists, we've got um I've done three stories. Um then we've got Johnson Benjamin Benjamin who I've mentioned, um, and he's got this very sort of like fusion of like like a scratchier, Frank Whitley, Jeff Darrow, but also like a um Katsuhiro Otomo sort of style. Those are his influences. Um so he's got one of the more sort of horror-themed stories. Um then we've got Steffels, um, who's a Melbourne-based artist. Um I guess she's done the sort of more comedic, very like manga heavy um story, and then Gentle Coda, who's a very well-established manga artist based in Perth. Um, and she's just released her next project, Annaline Annaline, um, on for free on Instagram. Um so she's done a story there that is a bit more her style is a bit more melancholy, very quiet and moody. Um so it's just I picked something that matched each of their strengths. Um, and then we've got uh pin-up gallery. So basically, over the past year in just hunting for interior artists, I've met all these people at zine fairs, conventions, who I wanted to involve in some way, but I didn't I couldn't have basically couldn't afford to just keep adding stories, so I was like, I'll do a pinup gallery like any other anthology has and have this sort of diverse range of artists. Um and it was also a way to add a colour segment to the book. Um so we've got some uh mostly um Aussie-based artists, um, someone uh a friend who I've sort of gotten to know over the last couple years, Vero Um Stewart, she's based in the States. Um, she's the the odd one out, but I just knew when I stumbled on um her work on Instagram, she did this really cool um uh self-published uh Big Barter sort of um fanzine comic that was just uh incredible. Yeah, it is um it is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

I've I've seen that myself, so yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Yeah, and so um so I got her because the plan was to keep it Aussie focused. I'm like, oh, who cares? Um and then pretty much everyone else is Melbourne-based. We've got um Gwangy, who's got some comics in the local section here in All-Star Comics, um, uh Paul Borsches, who recently moved here, he's got his uh comic uh Ginger Origins and Flying Mao Cat. Um my wife, she's an incredible artist, and she's contributed to a few of my books. So Lauren Bajoric, she's um got a book uh pin up in there. Um Simo or 1-800 Simo, she goes by, um graphic designer and artist, does and zine artist um Paulie, uh who's also um I met this little crew of people, it's a quick tangent, um just in the zine scene. Um, and I found they all sort of knew each other, and you go on their Instagram and social media, and they're all really supportive of each other and really enthusiastic and really positive. And what was interesting, like, like had more like interaction on their social media than people who have like tens of thousands of folly followers, you know what I mean? Like it was just they were all really passionate. And so I met Simo at um Festival of the Photocopier um two years ago now, I want to say, maybe only a year, and it was because she bought my comic. Um, and then in following each other on Instagram, um, saw she does zines and was doing a zine fair. So I went to that to see her stuff, and then through that met Paulie, and then through them met Haley, and there's all these people suddenly they all know each other and all friends, and I just got I found their enthusiasm and positivity really infectious. Um so yeah, those those three uh um all have pieces in the book. Um so Horafen, um, incredible anime and manga manga artist who I met at um uh animaga last year. Okay, yeah. So Horafen has a free um web comic slash manga called Ephemeris, uh Ephemeris, um that's like this uh crazy sort of like I don't want to say psychedelic, but just it's like starting from the beginning of time with like space and stars and then animals going through Earth's history, and it's just one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Um and he's just got it up for free on the internet. Um so I just knew I wanted to get him involved. So it's yeah, I've just got this amazing talent base on this book that has just been such a fun project to be part of because basically for the last year, at least not a week has gone by where I'm not receiving a piece of art in my inbox that is just like pushing me forward. Yeah, um, and that's how I kind of want to continue making comics.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Yeah, and that's great. I mean, and look, and that's a that's obviously a compliment to you as well, because you know, if if you're producing work that is um inspiring people that want to collaborate with you, um then that's you know, that's there's also got to be some props to you for for the work that you're doing as well. Um well, we're we're we're really grateful for your contribution to the to the Pulp Culture Podcast. We um, you know, there's there's not a week that goes by where you're asking us a question or pushing us forward or you know helping to support us. So um, you know, we're we're always happy to reciprocate, and especially being a local talent, um we're we're definitely uh we've definitely backed the book. Um you can um maybe tell us uh whereabouts um everybody can find you on socials um and and also uh the Kickstarter and um go from there.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Yeah, so I'm pretty much only on Instagram um because Twitter slash X is uh hellscape. Um but uh yeah so I'm Benji's.stories um on Instagram. Um and yeah, the Kickstarter's running, it's got one week left. Um we're at 91% funded. Um so I've just recently added some new rewards, sort of push it over the edge. Um so there's some original art, um both of mine and Paul Borch's, um, his original uh pinup piece is available. Um and I'm also offering a bit of a uh self-publishing school, um, one-on-one interaction because while I don't necessarily feel confident, I think if I think if people want to make a comic and draw a comic and write a comic, you know, you can give advice, but I think people got to get there in their own way. But I think one of the aspects I am confident with myself in knowing about over my experience this last six years is not like self-publishing, printing um the shortcuts and things not to do. I find when you go to a lot of these conventions, you um you see people selling a comic that have printed at Officeworks for an astronomical amount because it's full colour, and it's an eight-page comic that they're charging thirty dollars for because they're just trying to make money back, and you don't have to do that. There's just so many ways um to get around that, which I won't tell you here because you can you can back the Kickstarter and find out from me in person.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

So um so yeah, it look, there's there's a lot of there's a lot of wisdom coming from from from this uh from this interview. Um and if you are looking to get into into publishing, back the uh back the Kickstarter, and then you can have a one-on-one chat with with with Benji in regards to that. It's been a pleasure uh to to chat with you, Benji. Um and uh special thanks to all staff for allowing us to uh to uh huddle up in the kids corner uh and have this uh and have this interview. Thanks once again, Benji.