1. Hello there, and welcome to the Mind Meld here at IndieComiX! For those who may not be aware of you and what it is you do, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Its Stu!
Howdy, I’m Stu Perrins, and I’m the writer and co-creator of such books as Megatomic Battle Rabbit, Brightside and Chrono-Cat.
2. Excellent! What is each book about?
Both Chrono-Cat and Brightside are two very different stories. Chrono-Cat is an all out all ages book about the adventures of a T-Rex punching time travelling cat, which we pitch as a Saturday morning cartoon put to paper. While Brightside answers the question ‘What if Audrey Hepburn was a Steam Punk James Bond?’
3. What would you say are inspirations for you that helped come up with each title?
That’s a difficult one to answer really as both stories pretty much fell out of the sky fully formed. But, Chrono-Cat was and is an attempt to try and put some kind of fun into the world. It was primarily written during the COVID Pandemic and has we all know it was a very difficult time for us all, so the one thing I wanted to do was write something a little lighter y’know? There’s enough grim and gritty realism outside the front door without me adding to with the books I write. While Brightside is about not judging a book by its cover. My wife adores Audrey Hepburn and watching those old movies got me thinking that the last thing that only anyone would expect to see was someone with Miss Hepburn’s frame and looks effortlessly kick the ass of an army of ninjas. Which is why the character of Amelia Brightside will always win, expect the unexpected.
4. I am loving the idea of Chrono-Cat and I agree about there being too much grim and gritty realism out in the world. Do you feel things are getting better?
One Cool Cat!
I certainly hope so, and as long as we’ve got hope humanity stands a chance. But regardless of what happens next in the world Chrono-Cat will continue to be a tiny pea sized glimmer of positivity amongst the darkness.
5. Are Chrono-Cat and Brightside available in both Print and Digital? And where can both be found?
Chrono-Cat is available in both digital and print formats while Brightside is only available digital at the moment but they’ll be a trade of the first arc in print once all the individual issues have seen the light of day digitally. So watch this space.
6. Do you have other projects in the works or is Chrono-Cat and Brightside the only projects you’re focusing on?
Oh man, I’m always working on a bunch of projects including the Chrono-Cat sequel, which I’m getting all kinds of excited about. I recently tweeted that George Romero, Jiminy Cricket and Raiders of the Lost Arc are just three of the references I’ve made in the script, so if anyone can work out what happens in it from those clues they’re a better man than me. There’s also a superhero romantic comedy im working on with Mikolaj Ostapiuk called ‘Enter Alter Ego ‘ and a horror mini series called ‘Men of G.O.D.‘ that I’m working on with Fred Hildebrand, both of those are looking incredible at the moment. Plus I’m developing a ton of all ages projects which are constantly buzzing around my head. I’m gonna be very busy.
7. What’s been some of your favorite moments to create in both titles?
Oh there’s too many to mention, but if you’re putting a gun to my head I love the T-Rex pages in Chrono-Cat, its sublime work by Armando Zanker and Ron Gravelle on that book, but those pages tick every box for me. What they did really made the pages pop, they seemed to grab what I had in my head and throw it on the page. And Brightside, I think it might be the first page, its so moody and mysterious that it really drags in you, this time its the insane work of Nico Valdez and Adam Blackhat that brought that beauty to life. But that said, for me the whole process of creating comics with the guys I’m lucky enough to work with is a constant stream of wonderful moments.
8. Are your titles part of a Publisher? Or are you Self-Published?
Both books are published by Markosia. They’re an incredible publisher to work with and they are extremely support of me and my work. I lucked out.
9. You know, I can’t think of a moment where I’ve heard a bad thing about Markosia so you definitely lucked out! Where would you direct anyone interested in your work to check it out?
Page from Brightside!
Check out the the Markosia website, where you’ll find four of my books. Or failing that search me on either Amazon or Drive-Thru where there’s a bunch of my comics for free.
10. As for my final question, what advice would you give to those looking to get into making Comics?
My advice would be this- just do it. Don’t wait for ‘one day’ do it now and remember your ideas are no less important or kick ass than those of Mark Millar, Alan Moore or anyone’s, they’re your ideas and they rock. And if it doesn’t go to plan, don’t beat yourself up, allow yourself to make mistakes and above all else, enjoy it!
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Stu for taking part in this interview!
