This is MvsR’s first real interview of sorts.  As such, I wanted to make this a big thing and introduce the new article as the first I’m posting after a while of being absent.  My computer’s been sick.  On top of that it is my 24th birthday (the 9th), and I’ve got the birthday blues.  You know, when you go back and reflect on how much you haven’t done with your life?  Yep, that’s it.  Well, enough moody sobbing!  I’m celebrating by posting this LONG overdue interview.  Demian5 was kind enough to respond to the interview immediately after I sent it, but I have been sitting on it for a while now.  Sorry to keep it from you guys!  So, to much fanfare, here is our exclusive interview with Demian5, creator of the Ignatz nominated webcomic “When I Am King”!

1. MvsR: Hello Demian, or should I call you Demian5? Thanks for allowing us to interview you. By the way, I know your real name is Demian, but where does the 5 come from?

Demian5: The 5 comes from far away. It traveled for a long time through space until it hit me right into my brain at the moment I made my first e-mail-address.

2. MvsR: I understand you work in the advertising field as a graphics designer. As a graphics designer you must learn how to get a message across as quickly and simply as possible. Where and how did you learn the methods you use for “When I Am King”?

Demian5: I learned it basically from studying other comic books. I never even had the chance to use this abilities in advertisement. it was just like: “You make picture of shoe bigger, so people go buy it. You make prices big and red, so people know shoe is cheap.” Yes, it’s a primitive business...

3. MvsR: “When I Am King” is a rather extensive project for a serial comic strip. What projects have you done prior to King? Were they all web projects or did you do any work on paper before “King”?

Demian5: “King” was my first web project. Before it I did lots of never-published-and-mostly-unfinished comics. I’ve been drawing them by hand, with pen and ink, on paper. Maybe I’ll publish an example on my webpage soon. I also participated in some comic-competitions with 4-pagers. But I never won anything...

4. MvsR: Webcomics have been around for a while now. As a medium, how do you feel the web has changed the world of comics for artists such as yourself? What are the pros and cons for you, personally?

Demian5: The Web is just perfect for getting your work to the readers. When I started web-publishing when I am king, end of September 2001, I was some lazy nobody, known by nobody, lost in nowhere-land. I started to do When I am King weekly, and there was some immediate response coming back to me, people started to write me nice things and my counter climbed higher and higher. I was still lazy (and still am), but this gave me the energy and the will to go on and finish this comic, because this time I just knew people are going to read it and like it and I never really had to doubt the quality and future success of my work...

5. MvsR: Scott McCloud has talked about how difficult it is to make money in the world of online comics. Web projects have the potential to reach a wider audience and can be less expensive to publish. McCloud has an interesting theory that suggests micropayment systems such as Paypal allow an artist to make money by charging a small amount to a greater number of people, rather than a large amount to a small group of people. What was it that made you decide to do a web based comics rather than a traditional style? Was money ever a concern?

Demian5: No. My first concern was “getting famous”, not too much, but enough to make a living. Now I’m thinking really hard of a way to make some money with the small success I had so far. Paypal doesn’t feed me, Paypal doesn’t buy me no underwear. About 13000 people have been reading my comic in its entirety. if everyone would have spent me a dollar or if even just a third of them would have spent me 3 dollars, I could make a living for about 9 months, which would be enough time to do another online-comic… Fact is: Street-Artists are getting far more donations than Online-Artists. I could maybe live for a week with the money I got so far. Well, I don’t know if my readers are poor, greedy, or if they just don’t have a credit card or a paypal account, it’s okay, I don’t wanna complain, I’m even happy that there are people donating, they’re the true heroes of the cyberage. Right at the moment I’m thinking of other ways to get money with my site. And maybe, one day micropayments will be a standard. Whatever the future will bring, I hope it’s solid cash.

6. MvsR: The Egyptian influences in your work are obvious. Future is somewhat of an Egyptologist (in the non-scientific sense). Is the story in “When I Am King” inspired by hieroglyphics or was it purely your own?

Demian5: There still are some deep mysteries in this world.

7. MvsR: What comics do you read regularly and who are your artistic and literary influences?

Demian5: I read every new Bone collection, “Frank” by Jim Woodring, Preacher, Strangers in Paradise, The Nimrod, Acme Novelty Library, Black Hole. There are a great variety of influences, I just drop some names here: Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith, Jim Woodring, Chris Ware, Dave Cooper, J.K. Rowling, Moebius, Terry Gilliam, Radiohead, Pulp, Bjork, Dave McKean, and more more more.

8. MvsR: What have you learned in your experiences that you would give as advice to an up-and-coming artist thinking about entering the world of Webcomics or comics in general?

Demian5:
Comics in general:
It’s a good thing just to read lots of good comics, it will give you some good sense for timing and storytelling. You also may learn a lot from doing a ‘silent’ comic. People tend to use too much words for explaining the story. And you have to read Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” before you even think about making comics...

WebComics:
Just do it, it’s easy. If you’re loading times are not too long and if your work is good, success will find it’s way to you.

9. MvsR: Have you thought of doing more merchandising other than just the T-Shirt? I would love to own a “When I am King” action playset!

Demian5: So what kind of dirty games would you play with it? ;)

Well, yeah, I’m thinking often about merchandising, I would like to have little “giraffe-camels” with movable legs and a movable neck. Like the toy-animals you find on Tristan Farnon’s Leisuretown.com.

10. MvsR: Lastly, a silly little question… We’re big fans of David Bowie. Is he big in Switzerland?

Demian5: He lived once in Switzerland. But he’s not bigger here than he’s anywhere else. I never met him, by the way ;)

MvsR: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Future and I really dig your work and we hope more people discover it. Perhaps we’ll see a new project soon? I hope so! Thanks and take care.

Demian5: I think my new project will start in November. That’s maybe not soon enough for most people, but it’s the way it is. Until then, there will be other updates on my site of course, maybe even some short comics. Maybe.

Resources:
Demian5 (home of “When I Am King")
ComicGate’s Interview with Demian
Support the artist via PayPal (or buy a t-shirt!)
Wired (There’s an article in the Sept. magazine issue about Demian5)
Spin (There’s an article in the Oct. magazine issue about Demian5)
Babyjet (Some Other Japanese, Demian)