10 questions with the creator and writer of Squarriors – Ash Maczko
1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)
Ash Maczko, creator and writer of the comic series Squarriors and lead designer of the Squarriors card game. I’m also the creator and organizer of the Chicagoland pop-culture event, Count-i-Con. At the moment I’m focused on getting the Kickstarter for Squarriors: The Card Game ready to go live, as well as refining game mechanics and balancing card effects.
2. What drew you to digital comics?
I don’t personally read digital comics, but I appreciate the accessibility of the format. There are literally no boundaries preventing readers from checking out books from all over the world — instantly.
3. Webcomics or digital comics?
Again, I’m not a digital comic reader, I still get my books from my local shop. But I do check up on some webcomics here and there. Ashley Witter’s Scorch started as (and is still available as) a webcomic.
4. What do you think works with digital comics?
The biggest benefit, as I mentioned earlier, is the reach of digital comics. There’s a lot of good indie books out there that wouldn’t be able to have a global reach, if not for the digital versions.
5. Can digital comics replace print comics?
In some ways, they already have. But I believe there will always be a place for printed books. Especially in the collector’s market. You can’t get a digital comic graded… and there is no secondary market for them. Comic books, for better or worse, have a market beyond just entertaining readers.
6. How can print comics work with digital comics?
I think we are already at a point where many readers, who are also collectors, are subscribing to digital comics for reading, and still picking up printed versions to keep in their collections. Digital comics can be read over and over without hurting their condition.
7. What don’t you like about digital comics?
Enough of my life is “plugged in.” When it comes to reading comics and books, I prefer to use that as a time to be disconnected. I’m also a collector of sorts, so I like to have the physical editions.
8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?
9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?
Animated versions, trade-able versions, special “chase” editions — You download a comic with a chance to get an animated version or some other variant.
10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?
Josh Blaylock (Devil’s Due) is working on a pretty big project called PopCultivator. It’s an automated publishing suite that will put creators more in control of their titles, for both digital and print. It’s in a beta version at the moment, so I believe only DDE creators have access to it. But when it goes live, I think it will be a big step in the way comics are created and distributed.
