Our Creator Interview series continues with Brett McGowan of Mythoverse Comics, creator mastermind of Changeling: An Urban Fairy Tale! Exploring folklore worldwide and about to celebrate its 5th Anniversary via Kickstarter currently aiming to fund Anniversary editions. Thank you so much, Brett, for answering our questions!
GlobalComix: For those new to your work as a Writer and Artist on Changeling, can you tell us a little bit about your work and yourself?
Brett McGowan: My name is Brett McGowan. I live in Tacoma, WA, and I'm the writer/creator for Changeling: An Urban Fairy Tale along with the head of community outreach and public relations over at the Mythoverse, as well as one of its owners. I've wanted to make comics ever since I was a teenager, and this is me living my dream.
GlobalComix: Can you also tell us a little bit about what you do for Mythoverse as Community Outreach/Public Relations Manager? What sort of duties does that entail?
Brett: I would say my main job is keeping my finger on the pulse of the community. Between Matt and myself, I'm more active in our Discord, so I can know what's going on. I also manage the official Mythoverse Twitter, YouTube, GlobalComix and Patreon accounts. Basically anywhere the Mythoverse has a social media presence of some kind, I manage. I also do a lot of interacting with our fans and fellow creators.
GlobalComix: Working in Community exposes you to a lot of people and ideas from readers and other creators. Does working in community and PR impact your work and how so?
Brett: If it does impact my creative work, I think it's negligible at most. As I've become more involved of the business side of comics, I've learned how to schedule my time more effectively. Especially considering that I have a day job on top of all this.
GlobalComix: Where did the idea for Changeling: An Urban Fairy Tale come from? Tell us its origin story!
Brett: The short version is Changeling's story is a combination of anime/manga I was into back in high school, my experiences growing up in the church, elements of the lives from both my younger brother and childhood best friend, and my fascination with Celtic mythology/British Isles folklore.
GlobalComix: What your hopes are for its growth in the future as a creator-owned shared comic universe like Mythoverse?
Brett: For myself, I want to be able to see Changeling's story through to the end and even launch more titles within the Mythoverse. For the company as a whole, I want to see more people be able to bring their ideas and hopefully launch their own careers with us.
GlobalComix: Is there a dream project or mythology pantheon that you’d like to make a title for?
Brett: I'm already doing it. Changeling's very rooted in Celtic mythology.
GlobalComix: What have some challenges that others who want to make a similar shared universe should look out for?
Brett: Yeah, make sure everyone is on the same wavelength, for starters. For better or worse, you need to have someone at the top to be the final word, otherwise you quickly wind up with too many cooks in the kitchen. That doesn't mean you don't allow others to be able to voice their opinion or contribute ideas, but someone needs to be essentially leading the vision for there to be consistency. Especially if the group becomes large enough. On a related note, listen to the people you bring in. They've got ideas too, and you owe to them to at least hear them out. Finally, get a feel for the business side as much as you can. It's not as sexy as making the comics, but it needs to be done.
GlobalComix: How have you overcome some of those difficulties? (if any)
Brett: Creatively speaking, the hardest parts were early on. At that time, we quickly realized we needed a general set of rules everyone was willing to abide by, otherwise the universe itself would be inconsistent. On the business side, Matt and I have had to figure out a lot of things by the seat of our pants. Whether it was getting registered as an LLC, getting our bank account set up, establishing a relationship with out printer, what have you. Neither of us have a ton of experience when it comes to running a business, so there's been a lot of learning as we go.
GlobalComix: Can you also share some of the best memories you have that are because you work in a shared universe?
Brett: Our first KS from five years ago. Just the fact we managed to be successful with three books from an unproven publisher was amazing, and getting that first issue done was one of the best feelings I've experienced in my life. Since then, I've gotten to see how this has grown and taken further shape.
GlobalComix: Are you looking to expand the creative team and universe at Mythoverse?
Brett: Long-term, yes. Short-term, not so much. At the present time, we've reached a size we're comfortable with and can manage. We think it's more important we develop the group we already have, rather than try to expand as quickly as possible.
GlobalComix: What about mythology draws you to it, and why choose to make a collective publisher around it?
Brett: The fact these stories are about as timeless as you can get for one. We are not likely the first to combine disparate mythologies into a single universe, but creators keep returning to these stories because there're eternal truths in them. I think mythology still has things it can still teach us. Mythology is part of man's story, and I wanna see what I can learn from it. As for why we chose to make a shared universe from it, when Matt, Dan (founding member and former partner), and I were exchanging ideas between each other for our individual books, we found that they fit together quite well. So we decided to combine them into a single universe to see what would happen. The rest is history.
GlobalComix: Do you have a favorite mythological creature? What do you like about it?
Brett: I am very partial to fae just because of how alien and unpredictable they are presented in the original stories. They can either be your best friend or worst enemy, depending on their mood.
Thank you so much to Brett McGowan of Mythoverse Comics for taking the time to talk to us about his work and experience! We wish you all the best on your 5th Anniversary Kickstarter campaign for your omnibus editions.
If you want to keep up with all the amazing work Mythoverse is putting out, we've got a list of pages and profile links right here for you:
- Follow Brett McGowan on Twitter here
- Read Brett McGowan's Changeling: An Urban Fairy Tale here
- Follow Mythoverse on GlobalComix here
- Read titles from Mythoverse on GlobalComix here
- Read Matt Trinh's Interview here
- Ssupport the 5th Anniversary Kickstarter Omnibus campaign
- Join the Official Mythoverse Twitter for future updates
- Support Mythoverse on Patreon
- Watch Mythoverse on YouTube