40. The Making of a Comic: 'Dagger Dagger Vol. 2' by Matt Emmons, A Comic Magazine Anthology
Writer, artist, and editor Emmons shares why he keeps coming back to anthologies
Howdy Brave Being,
Welcome back, fine friends, to The Making of a Comic. I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I dig comic book anthologies. I love how they’re a collection of short stories, vignettes if you will, and how they offer so much of a world and yet just enough. Anthologies are also a great opportunity to discover new creators that you might not otherwise.
This week, I’m chatting with Matt Emmons, artist, writer, and curator of the sci-fi fantasy anthology Dagger Dagger Vol. 2, now live on Kickstarter. Here he is to tell you all about it. Let’s hop to it!
Dagger Dagger Vol. 2
Brittany Matter: Tell us about Dagger Dagger Vol. 2 and its history.
Matt Emmons: I’ve always wanted to get the chance to be a part of an anthology, especially earlier in my comics endeavors, but never made it into any. I either missed application windows, didn’t know, or didn’t make the cut! It had been discouraging, but I still really wanted to make a more collaborative book, which would also let me make a larger page count book without relying on only myself to do it.
Dagger Dagger itself first came about when I was asking around about trying to get in touch with an indie comics publisher I’m fond of, Peow. That didn’t really go anywhere, and then the idea for trying to make an anthology independently popped up. The book was initially a co-creation, but when we launched the first campaign I wound up running the whole thing and we opted to have me continue to do so for any future volumes. I’ve been fortunate enough to have made friends with a lot of my idols in comics (Marie Enger, Zé Burnay, and Artyom Trakhanov to name a few), so when the idea of doing an anthology started brewing there was no shortage of talented creators to get in touch with. We kept it pretty laidback and trusted the creators to do what they do, and when we launched the Kickstarter it took off much more than we would have expected. With that came a renewed energy from just about everyone involved, which wound up making the book an extra 100 pages longer than we planned, and set the stage for me to want to try and continue making more volumes. And that’s pretty much it!Â
BM: Who's creating stories for this anthology?
ME: In keeping with the first volume, we’ve got a great lineup for this book as well— Troy Nixey (who also was kind enough to do the cover art for the book as well) & Lonnie Nadler, Kry GarcÃa, Nadhir Nor, Liana Kangas, Letty Wilson, Michael Talbot, Christine Larsen, Nicole Goux, Sloane Hong, Molly Mendoza, Sage Howard, and myself with Andriy Lukin.
BM: What are you most excited about with this volume?
ME: It’s still a small operation, but I’m always most excited about getting to bring new work to print. For instance this marks Troy’s first comic he’s worked on in the last few years! I was buying his books the day they released when I was first getting into comics, and I’ll never get over getting to continue to have some of my greatest inspirations be a part of this book. That, and I’m always looking forward to letting everyone in the book do their thing and make the kind of story they want. It was what made the first successful and I’m striving to keep that spirit going for this one as well.
BM: What are some of the rewards people can look forward to picking up?
ME: I always like having rewards be pretty straightforward because the main attraction is the book so I don’t want to detract too much from that. In keeping with that, all of the rewards are meant to pack and ship easily with the books, so we have: both volumes of Dagger Dagger, a patch I designed, a selection of mini riso prints, and a could different versions of original art tiers. Mainly some rough sketches from my story as well as original pages from Liana Kangas’ story.Â
Curating an Anthology
BM: Considering Dagger Dagger Vol. 2 is the second volume and you also contributed to the anthology Weird Futures, this isn't your first go-around with creating comic book collections. What's your favorite thing about anthologies and why do you keep returning to them?
ME: I like anthologies as a kind of comics sampler, but with some cohesion between them all. Making books can also be very time consuming and expensive, so it’s nice to be able to make something where everyone can do a smaller, self contained story, but readers can still wind up with a hefty brick of a book to enjoy.Â
BM: How did you go about curating this volume?
ME: As with the first one, I’ve been very fortunate with getting to build some great friendships with other artists, and it’s helped widen the range of work I see. I’ve been keeping a running list of artists I would love to work with for a long while, especially for Dagger Dagger, and mainly base it off of looking for people who are telling unique, interesting stories on their own. Seeing if they’re already used to working in black & white is also a big plus too, that way I know they’re not being thrown into something they’re not used to.Â
BM: What are a few tips or tricks that you've learned that aspiring anthology editors, who are looking to crowdfund, could benefit from?
ME: The biggest lesson I’ve learned as of lately is this can be very unpredictable. Kickstarter’s eventual pivot to blockchain poses new risks for people looking to run campaigns, and if there’s less support that makes it more difficult for anything to get made. But, the real timeless one is organization! Build your budget, try and get every cost ironed out as soon as you can to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. Money boils down exceptionally fast when it gets split up between so many people, so keeping track of everything is vital.Â
Definitely get a schedule and set expectations for everyone involved as well, but if things go unplanned—say oh I don’t know, paper shortages—just make sure you communicate with everyone! Artists, backers, everyone. Accepting you can’t control every part of the process will do wonders.
BM: From an editor's perspective, what advice would you give to creators applying to an anthology?
ME: Unfortunately I don’t have any advice on actually applying, since I’ve never done any submission type process for the books I’ve made, nor have I ever been accepted into any anthologies I applied for! What I can absolutely recommend however, is that you have a clear and accessible portfolio. Everyone I have worked with, even artists I already know, have completed sequential samples readily available somewhere. You need to show you’re capable of making completed work, especially within deadlines.
Get the Scoop on Matt EmmonsÂ
BM: As a writer and artist, what's your process like from outlining and scripting to art?
ME: My process pretty much always exists around drawing. I don’t really write a concrete script, I wind up only writing one when working with a letterer which often means I go backwards by this stage. I thumb everything real rough and tiny in sketchbooks when I get started and plan for a few specific moments of dialogue, but the rest comes in as I draw the final pages. Unfortunately I’ve got no secrets to my method, it’s all just pencil and inks on paper, then I scan finished pages and do color/edits in Photoshop.
BM: In addition to the Dagger Dagger anthologies, other works of yours include Gardener, Parent, Those That Inherit The Earth, and The Council of Frogs, which all seem to straddle the sci-fi and fantasy genres. What is it that keeps you creating stories within these genres?
ME: I fell in love with sci-fi and fantasy stories the instant I discovered reading, so there was never a doubt in my mind that was the kind of work I wanted to make. During my childhood I thought there were never enough stories about the weirder characters and creatures that dotted the periphery of those movies, shows, and books, so I started to try to make my own. There’s something that really drives me to try and make character-centric stories about weird, not quite human beings, but still make them relatable. It’s just a playground of ideas where you can tell any kind of story, and I really enjoy the freedom to let whatever half formed idea I have take shape into something. My only hope is to keep getting weirder with it, but without making it totally incomprehensible.
BM: What are some things that inspire you and your work?
ME: I’ve really been wrestling with that one for a while, because I’m seeing through lines in my work I didn’t intend but have really taken to so now I’m trying to actively refine them. The simplest ones would have to be a growing reverence for the natural world, and a bit of hope. I often (always) set my stories in pretty harsh environments, but the characters have more of a hopeful outlook, and don’t approach their surrounds from a hostile worldview, even if they’re struggling to survive. The novella Roadside Picnic really captures everything I hope to be as a writer, at least right now. It’s got weird sci-fi, but at its core it’s a very human story, and there’s a real tangibility to the characters in that book that gets me every time.
BM: What kinds of media are you imbibing right now?
ME: This ties in with my answer to the previous question, but I’ve been rereading some of my favorite sci-fi books, Roadside Picnic being the most recent. Don’t tell anyone but I’m pretty behind on my comics reading! I have a pile of about 20 books I’ve bought over the last few months that I’ve yet to read in earnest.
BM: What are you working on lately?
ME: Lately I’ve been bouncing around between a few things, mainly working on The Council of Frogs story, while finally getting to some risograph short comics as well as Parent. I’ve been itching to get to drawing the frogs for a long while because it has some of my weirdest characters in it, and I just really love to draw frogs.
BM: I’m so glad that you do because I’ve been thoroughly enjoying your frog posts as of late!
Dear readers, be sure to follow @second.at.best for frog drawings and more. Don’t forget to check out Dagger Dagger Vol. 2 before the campaign comes to a close, and remember, if you missed getting the first volume, it’s available as well.
Cool! I loved Gardener, Dagger Dagger looks awesome.