It has recently been my pleasure to interview creator and publisher Shane Chebsey. Our discussion began when I simply asked for an appropriate photo for our interview. Here was his excellent reply:
"Ok here's a photo of me with my pal Charlie Adlard at a signing in Birmingham. Charlie is also the Drummer in my band, Cosmic Rays. We're currently recording songs for our third album."
I quote Shane, with his permission: "I'm on the right as Charlie Adlard is one the left. I'm the fat bald one" (Those were Shane's words, NOT mine!) During the interview there may be other fun photos to enjoy.
Paul: Can you possibly say what were the very first comics you remember buying and enjoying? AND how old may you have been?
Shane: It's really hard to remember as I was so young. I read a lot of comics that were given to me or bought for me as a toddler. I was taught to read about a year before starting school so I was reading Planet of The Apes, Tomb of Dracula and Mighty World of Marvel, but also Tin Tin, Beano, and other humour stuff. I pretty much devoured anything I could get my hands on between the ages of 4 and 6. Then the first comic I bought with my own pocket money on holiday with my grandparents in Blackpool was Draedevil #123 from a spinner rack. It was an old comic even then to me, but I really enjoyed it. The longer more sophisticated stories from the British reprints and all of those cool characters just amazed me. My love of Daredevil continued and I collected the title from the early 80's through to the mid noughties.
Paul: It may sound like a weird interview question, but there is a logic to it. Are you a DC or Marvel fan? Or are you totally independent?
Shane: I'm a comics fan. So I tend to follow creators as opposed to any publishers, as it's the creators who shape how good any particular book is. I think a lot of fans follow characters, or they are genre fans, but my love of comics comes from a love of how the medium tells stories. However if you'd have asked me that question 25 or more years ago I'd probably have chanted "Make Mine Marvel"
Photo note: "This one is from left to right, me, Charlie and Mark Buckingham at BICS 2008 I think in the Radisson Bar."
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Paul: Are there specific creators you make a point of following?
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Shane: Quite a few of my favourites have passed away unfortunately or are no longer prolific. However I always buy anything by Mike Mignola, Sean Phillips or Chris Samnee without question. I don't follow too many writers religiously as if they don't have good artists on board it affects the storytelling, but I do tend to enjoy stuff by Mark Waid, Ed Brubaker, Peter David and Anne Nocenti. I'm finding Ram V is consistently good these days as well. Otherwise it's mostly Indy and small press I buy. Peter David in particular I felt was such a great character writer on titles like Hulk and Supergirl. I think Scott Snyder is an incredible writer and I'm a big American Vampire fan. As well as Ed Brubaker I'm currently enjoying work by Ram V, John Layman and will always buy stuff by John Arcudi. I could go on forever listing writers and artists I love to be honest.
Photo Note: "Me with Dave Gibbons at Comics Salopia last year."
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Paul: How do you define yourself? Creator? Artist? Writer? Which do you prefer?
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Paul: All creators have experienced those unfortunate rejection letters or emails If you have, how did you react to them? And can you say who they may have been from. After all it is nearly a rite of passage.
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Shane: Ha ha.. yes indeed. I've had many such letters from the likes of 2000ad, DC and Marvel. One is from Tim Pilcher back when he was running Vertigo UK, which is funny now as we have become really good friends. I also have a very polite rejection letter from Marvel UK, which I absolutely deserved after sending them a pile of drawings of my character "Devil-Hunter" at the age of 14, proclaiming he was better than any of their Marvel characters and they would be better off publishing my character. I do cringe when I think of that now... So embarrassing. (Although I may revive that character one day and totally reimagine him). However Paul Neary at Marvel UK was very forgiving and 5 years later I was invited into the Marvel UK offices in London to show him my portfolio after I sent him some samples. (I'll see if I can find scans of those samples to send you for a laugh 
) He was incredibly generous with his time and took over an hour to sit with me and my college pal Chris Stockton to go over our work and make suggestions for how we can get work with Marvel with a few improvements to our inking and storytelling. We were both on the cusp of getting work, when Marvel UK closed down. By then though I'd already started self publishing my first comics, so I think that was my last attempt at any "work for hire" in comics.
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Photo Note: Shane and the legend Bob Layton
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Shane: Printing services vary so much and even the best printers are currently experiencing challenges. Paper availability and prices are constantly changing due to sporadic supply chain issues. Sickness, absences and recruitment all affect how quickly a book will be printed. Just recently we lost 2 weeks on a print job due to a combination of these issues affecting our printer. Thankfully quality is something I keep a very tight eye on and although there may be delays I can't affect, I never let anything sub standard go out to the reader as that is something I can control.
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) He was incredibly generous with his time and took over an hour to sit with me and my college pal Chris Stockton to go over our work and make suggestions for how we can get work with Marvel with a few improvements to our inking and storytelling. We were both on the cusp of getting work, when Marvel UK closed down. By then though I'd already started self publishing my first comics, so I think that was my last attempt at any "work for hire" in comics..
Paul: So what was you first self published comic and how did it come about exactly?
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Below: Shane's first ever comic cover drawn as he said "at the tender age of 21."
Paul: What part of creating do you find most challenging?
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Shane: Well as I'm not a writer so I would have to say writing. I mean I don't draw much myself these days. For me it's really more about pushing others into the limelight. The most challenging part of that is finding funding. Publishing and editing requires getting lots of different people with various personality types to work together and get stuff done on time to a high quality. At the moment with everything going on in the world distribution and printing can be very challenging.
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Paul: I was sure you had written some material?
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Shane: Yes way back I wrote stuff, but not since the 90s. And it was shite!
Photo Note: Shane and the legend Bob Layton
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Paul: You mentioned the challenges of distribution and printing. Others who may wish to enter the field of self publishing may read this and would hopefully benefit from your experiences. Could we discuss those challengles? Could I ask first what would you say are the issues these days is regard to printing?
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Paul: That all sounds pretty stressful. So after printing, what do you feel are the headaches in regards to distribution?
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Shane: Distribution has always been the hard part for Indy publishers. How to get your books in front of potential new readers. From the logistical point of view distribution of Kickstarter copies has been particularly difficult this past 6 months. The price of overseas postage, postal strikes, storms, crappy couriers loosing whole consignments, more postal strikes, Christmas!! One book we sent for distribution in October is only now arriving with US readers thanks to a perfect storm of delays afflicting them. The other part of distribution, getting into shops, into shows etc also presents its own set of challenges. Some shops still don't see the benefit of stocking indy titles and diversifying their customer base (although many with this attitude have now gone out of business). Also Diamond take a whopping 60% of cover price, which doesn't leave much from a £4.50 book that costs £1.10 per copy to print. Of course no shows during Covid was a problem too, and now many major shows have waiting lists for publishers fighting to claim their spot. But these are all just challenges and not insurmountable.
Image note: The Kickstarter Deluxe version of Claudia Christian's Dark Legacies #1, which is out now via Getmycomics
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Paul: You neatly brought me onto my next question. Aside from Covid causing a huge blip do you attend a lot of conventions in general?
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Shane: Not as many as I'd like to, but I do intend to go to more this year, both as an exhibitor and as a punter. Also now that I've retired from organising conventions myself I want to support as many others as possible, specifically those genuinely focussed on comics. I offer advice to new organisers as well, giving them the benefit of my 17 years in the game.
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Paul: As a fan, and with all your experience, do you still get "starstruck" meeting creators whose art or writing you love? Do you have any fun convention stories you could share? I suspect you could write a book.
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Shane: Yeah after meeting so many of my idols it's been a very rewarding experience despite all the hard work and stress. The only time I was ever starstruck was when I met Kevin Nowlan. He, was our guest at BICS 2007 along with Mike Mignola. Mike didn't really want to socialise with the organisers and when I nervously went to introduce myself to Kevin and tell him how much I admired his work I was calmly presented with a taxi receipt to be reimbursed. Ha ha, that broke me inside just a little, but they were both wonderful guests and gave very generously of their time to the fans. There was also that time in 2008 in Birmingham when John Cassaday drank me under the table on whiskey after the Friday night launch party and I nearly missed my own convention, but the less said about that the better 
I think the most fun evening I ever had with a guest was a night out singing karaoke in Margate after our ICE show there, with Rodney Ramos and my team in a strange family run pub. There was a power cut and a lock in. Beer and candles over friendly drunks... This is the life of a comic convention organiser 
Photo Note: "Gary Kurtz is the older chap .. that was at ICE 2016" Gary Kurtz is a film producer, his credits included Star Wars, the sequel The Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Crystal.
I think the most fun evening I ever had with a guest was a night out singing karaoke in Margate after our ICE show there, with Rodney Ramos and my team in a strange family run pub. There was a power cut and a lock in. Beer and candles over friendly drunks... This is the life of a comic convention organiser Photo Note: "Gary Kurtz is the older chap .. that was at ICE 2016" Gary Kurtz is a film producer, his credits included Star Wars, the sequel The Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Crystal.
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Paul: I am interested to ask how you read comics? Do you prefer paper comics or do you also enjoys digital comics? Certainly it must be true that from a distribution point for Indie comics making them available digitally is a fresh and relatively new option? The point is, what do you personally prefer to read?
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Shane: Personally I only read paper comics for the most part. Digital gives me a headache and I enjoy the tactile experience of reading a well produced comic. The downside is I'm also a collector so I have 10,000 comics in my house, around 900 of which I've yet to read. I seriously need to do some reading I always offer digital versions of everything I publish though and the number of people switching to digital looks to be growing exponentially.
I always offer digital versions of everything I publish though and the number of people switching to digital looks to be growing exponentially.
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Paul: From a collectors point of view having that many comics finding enough space must presumably be an issue?
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Shane: Yeah I have a small two bedroom house. But thankfully I live alone so no angry wife due to a third of the bedroom being filled with comics 
I take a lot of pleasure from my collection I have to say. I often re read classic storylines (when I should be reading new stuff) and I don't have the added expense or inconvenience of having to keep my collection in storage as I know some folks do.
I take a lot of pleasure from my collection I have to say. I often re read classic storylines (when I should be reading new stuff) and I don't have the added expense or inconvenience of having to keep my collection in storage as I know some folks do..
Paul: Out of sheer curiosity what modern or recent comics are you interested in, or currently read?
Image comment: "Page from Dracula the Return, Art by Chris Geary and colours by Matt Soffe"
Image comment: "Page from Dracula the Return, Art by Chris Geary and colours by Matt Soffe"
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Shane: Ok. Modern Comics I'm reading: Firepower, Nice House on The Lake Hellboy/ BPRD and Detective Comics
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Paul: You mentioned you are in a band. Do you play bass? Bass players are cool.
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Shane: Ha ha. Yeah I am, our drummer is Charlie Adlard of Walking Dead fame but no, I sing.
but no, I sing..
Photo note: Shane, Phil, Charlie Adlard and our old bass player Kevin Darke.
Shane: That's Phil Winslade on guitar. He left a few years ago... But we are still pals. Me and Charlie are the only originals left... But the are 6 members now in the band. Currently recording our third album. Here's a link to our Spotify page:
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https://open.spotify.com/artist/4g2SO7Tr9wrTVKtIUi8j59?si=JOz6iT5nSperVoAkWkc93w&utm_source=copy-link&fbclid=IwAR1fP3j7N93oPcII98jAaVrm1xmKrpxy_SIT0MXqtRaqcTOCA5bTH21gIqA&nd=1
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Paul: It may sound daft but if you could have superpower what would it be?
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4g2SO7Tr9wrTVKtIUi8j59?si=JOz6iT5nSperVoAkWkc93w&utm_source=copy-link&fbclid=IwAR1fP3j7N93oPcII98jAaVrm1xmKrpxy_SIT0MXqtRaqcTOCA5bTH21gIqA&nd=1
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Paul: It may sound daft but if you could have superpower what would it be?
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Shane: I'd like Batman's super power... To be rich so I could publish more comics
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Paul: What does the future hold for Shane Chebsey? Is there anything you'd like to currently promote? What do you plan to accomplish in say for example the next five years?
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Shane: Staying alive for the next 5 years would be a good start If I manage that then the long term aim is to make Scratch Comics into a self sustaining comics publisher. Currently all of the creators get paid, but I don't. However I have a very clear 3 year plan for that to change. I want Scratch Comics to be somewhere comic artists and writers will always be able find work and find an outlet for their ideas, both experienced pros and emerging talent. I'd like for Scratch to really show the true diversity and breadth of talent this country has to offer. Currently I'm promoting our three main titles Dracula The Return, Hedrek and Claudia Christian's Dark Legacies. All will likely be available by the time this interview goes live from various outlets including Comichaus, GetMyComics and Amazon. I'm also working to get out own website up and running so folks can order our titles direct. And finally, of course, I have to give a big shout out to my podcast THE ICE-CAST LIVE, which goes out most Thursdays across Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. Sam Morgan and Olly MacNamee help me hold that little venture together. We are always looking for new subscribers and live viewers to grow the channel. We do it for fun, but one day it would be nice to cover our costs. We're currently on our 3rd season and we've chatted live with some of the biggest names in comics as well as loads of cool indie creators. It really is a labour of love.
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Paul: Thank you for you time Shane.
If I manage that then the long term aim is to make Scratch Comics into a self sustaining comics publisher. Currently all of the creators get paid, but I don't. However I have a very clear 3 year plan for that to change. I want Scratch Comics to be somewhere comic artists and writers will always be able find work and find an outlet for their ideas, both experienced pros and emerging talent. I'd like for Scratch to really show the true diversity and breadth of talent this country has to offer. Currently I'm promoting our three main titles Dracula The Return, Hedrek and Claudia Christian's Dark Legacies. All will likely be available by the time this interview goes live from various outlets including Comichaus, GetMyComics and Amazon. I'm also working to get out own website up and running so folks can order our titles direct. And finally, of course, I have to give a big shout out to my podcast THE ICE-CAST LIVE, which goes out most Thursdays across Facebook, YouTube and Twitch. Sam Morgan and Olly MacNamee help me hold that little venture together. We are always looking for new subscribers and live viewers to grow the channel. We do it for fun, but one day it would be nice to cover our costs. We're currently on our 3rd season and we've chatted live with some of the biggest names in comics as well as loads of cool indie creators. It really is a labour of love..
Paul: Thank you for you time Shane.