Thread "usedbooks interviews Hunchdebunch of Last of the Wilds, Quest for Zanvadas and others!" in forum "Interviews"

Posted at 10:11AM, Nov. 26, 2010

This interview is of Hunchdebunch, whose comics are: Last of the Wilds, Quest for Zanvadas, A Child Led Astray and others!
(interview conducted by usedbooks!)

Hello there, Hunchdebunch! May I call you Lauren?

Hi, Usedbooks! You can certainly call me Lauren, it is my name after all! :)

From my hyper spy satellites (pointed at your user profile), I see you are a teenage woman/girl/being/toaster? I know oh so many more scandalous things from my *other* satellites, but for the sake of the readers, can you state the general location in this universe where you reside?

Haha, well I am indeed a girl/woman, not a toaster! I live in England (much to a lot of the Drunk Duckersâ€™ surprise!) in a rather quiet/dull/boring village :)

When did you start making comics (web or otherwise)? What was your first project?

I started making comics a few years ago now, initially just wanting to show my intense love for Primeval by creating a fan comic, but then scrapping that to move onto my own stories. It took a long time to get my work off the ground; I had a few false starts before finally settling into working on The Door and Last Of The Wilds.

My satellite beamed me a whole bunch of projects you have on DD! They all seem quite varied, too. Which projects are you actively updating? Please tell me a super short summary of all, so our hundreds of billions of readers may become enthralled and flock to your comics to read more.

Well, right now Iâ€™m working on Last Of The Wilds and Quest For Zanvadas, but also updating A Child Led Astray (Volume One) and A Boring Life, which are completed comics.

Last Of The Wilds tells the tale of a young leopard named Pippin who, with the help of his friends, is trying to save The Wilds from war.

Quest For Zanvadas is about an alien boy named Varin who is trying to get help for his planet which is in ruins.

A Child Led Astray is based on a story by my sister, and tells the story of a young wolf who is taken from his pack to be used as a sled dog

And finally, A Boring Life was made for 24 Hour Comics Day (but was actually completed in about 8-10 hours), and tells the story of a young man named Gustav, who believes his life is boring, despite the craziness that is going on all around him.

From where do you draw inspiration both in story and in visual art?

My main inspiration story-wise would have to be my dreams, actually. Both The Door and Quest For Zanvadas initially came from dreams, and were later fleshed out. I also take inspiration from the tv shows I watch, such as Torchwood, Supernatural, and The Vampire Diaries, for things like character interaction, which I see as very important in any story.

As for my art style, I originally began by trying to draw Manga, but lost the instructions. Iâ€™m glad I did, actually, because since then my art has gradually become my own, and my most recent style (not used in any of my comics yet) is something Iâ€™m very proud of! :) Iâ€™m also inspired by David Peterson (creator of Mouse Guard) and Kazu Kibuishi (creator of Amulet), among other comic artists.

Aside from comics, what do you like to do with your time?

I spend the rest of my free time working on my art work for college (Iâ€™m doing a Foundation Diploma in Art & Design right now), browsing the internet, or writing my insane crossover fanfic, The Ultimate Story, which includes characters from all my favourite TV shows, and is absolutely bonkers!

How do you find time for all that comic making and your busy life? Are you a witch? You can tell me. I swear I wonâ€™t tell anyone!

Iâ€™m not sure, really! I tend to only actually create one page of Quest For Zanvadas and two for Last Of The Wilds each week, and I wish I could do more! It may seem that I have loads of comic because of the finished ones. Although A Child Led Astray and A Boring Life are currently updating, they were actually completed before I began uploading them. Other than that, I can only say that I donâ€™t really have a particularly busy life right now, which might help me a little! :)

How did you find DrunkDuck and why do you host your comics here?

I found out about this site from a college friend of mine; she saw my work and recommended it to me, and Iâ€™m really glad she did! This seems to be one of the best places to host my work; I get a lot more feedback here than I do anywhere else!

Where else can your work be found on the internet?

You can find my work on DeviantArt: http://hunchdebunch.deviantart.com/
And also my own website: http://www.freewebs.com/hunchdebunch

My psychic abilities detect a love of animals. Tell me this is correct.

This is absolutely correct, I adore animals! Especially wolves, so Iâ€™ve loved working on A Child Led Astray! :)

Do you have any pets? Please tell me their species/breed!

I used to, Iâ€™ve had 4 fish: Yoda, Sharky, Pearl, and Brownie. And 2 hamsters (not at the same time), called Gimli and Dr. Pepper. I want to get a dog someday, but that probably wonâ€™t happen until I move out.

Do you think possums are cute?

Most definitely! They have the sweetest little faces!

Yay! I found someone else! I thought I was the only one…

Inquiring minds want to know! Does this avatar make my butt look fat?

Not in the slightest! Your avatar is lovely! :)

Time for a hypothetical. If you went on a magical vacation to any of your comic worlds, where would you go, with whom would you associate, and what would you do?

I think Iâ€™d actually choose to go to the world of Patronus, an idea Iâ€™m still planning out!

But if I had to choose from one of my comic thatâ€™s on here, Iâ€™d have to say Quest For Zanvadas. Iâ€™d love to fly around in a spaceship, visiting different planets. I also think that Varin and…some other characters who will be coming into it soon…would be a right laugh to hang out with! I think weâ€™d probably end up getting into all sorts of trouble, to be honest!

What would you bring me back as a souvenir? (I know youâ€™d bring me something because weâ€™re bestest friends now.)

I think itâ€™d have to be either some space rock, or some exotic alien food! Or perhaps both!

As a young person, you probably have hopes and dreams and rot like that. Could you tell me about some of those?

Well, I actually aspire to go on to university to do a course in Illustration, and then hopefully go into doing freelance illustration, and also try to get my comics published, which is my real ambition, although I could settle for just the illustration, if I had to :)

I wish you the best of luck landing your dream job, and getting published.

Oh no! Iâ€™m all out of questions!! I command you to ask and answer one for yourself!

Oh no! The pressure! Um…. How about; what you do you think are the most important aspects of comic making?

The answer to that would be; the characters: They must be believable, interesting, and interact well. I love writing for characters that just bounce off of each other brilliantly. In QFZ, Varin and another character practically wrote for themselves when theyâ€™re together!

Also, I think that the stories must be able to touch the reader in some way; if the reader doesnâ€™t feel anything while reading the comic, if they donâ€™t care about the characters, and donâ€™t care about their trials/challenges, then the story needs rethinking, in my opinion!

In a nutshell; the artwork isnâ€™t everything. It helps, but the story is what really makes a comic, I think!