Rust (comic)

Paeter, if you haven't already, check out Rust. It's a great comic book. And it'd be awesome (this is me begging) if you could get an interview with the author, Royden Lepp. He's a Christian and sounds like he's led an interesting life. Rust is apparently in the process of being made into a movie, though it sounds like he is not very involved in that at this point. Oh, and he's involved in the video games industry. Can you think of a better fit for the Spirit Blade community??

Royden is an awesome artist and a very cool guy. His David comic was incredible! (David: The Shepherd's Song.)

BenAvery wrote:Royden is an awesome artist and a very cool guy. His David comic was incredible! (David: The Shepherd's Song.)

I love Royden's work! And the Rust volumes are amazing!!!

And even though Shepherd's Song was never completed .... it is still recommended highly! It's one of my favorites!

I'll see what I can do! Can I count on you guys to help me come up with questions? I don't know his work at all and will have to spend some time researching just to get a basic familiarity with him.

Nathan James Norman wrote:And even though Shepherd's Song was never completed .... it is still recommended highly! It's one of my favorites!

Aww...not completed, huh? As in it's a dead project and will not be completed? I was going to pick it up (and still may). I really like his art style.

Also, to be clear, this is a comic book; originally I just said "book" but I've edited that now.

Paeter wrote:I'll see what I can do! Can I count on you guys to help me come up with questions? I don't know his work at all and will have to spend some time researching just to get a basic familiarity with him.

I've got an interview scheduled with Royden next Wednesday night, but I need some questions ASAP! Unless all you want is the usual "What's your current project, what are your influences, in what sense is it 'Christian', who will like it, where can they buy it" questions that I ask pretty much every guest.

Not feeling a particular pull to his work myself, it would be far better to have some questions from fans that he can respond to.

Wow...great job getting the interview so quickly. Your standard questions are fine, but I will try to think of some additional ones and post again before Wednesday. One question could be asking about the David project and if/when it will it be completed.

This may seem insensitive (use your own judgement), but another thing that caught my attention is that his dad taught him how to draw -- even with his dad's disability. Maybe he could talk about that some...what was different in his dad's technique? How did that affect and influence his own style?

I'll try to think of something else, but I'm sure others can think of better questions than these.

Some more thoughts I had about the interview...

I found this quote in an interview, and thought that the quote could have been Paeter saying it in one of his podcasts.

Offenberger: Have you been a fan of religious comics?

Lepp: I haven’t read much but I’ve never seen anything I would buy. I’ve never been a fan of religious entertainment period. Its focus has always been something other than honoring God with quality art and story telling. It’s true that the main goal is to arrive at the gospel but unfortunately I rarely see it done with skill and talent. That sounds prideful but I don’t know how else to put it. With books like ArmourQuest and HeroBear and the Kid, It looks like that’s changing. I hope I can help it change.

I think this could be a great doorway to a discussion about quality Christian entertainment.

Another thing I'd like to hear about is any update on the Rust movie. It sounded like he's not heavily involved in that. How was it to "let go" like that when Rust is pretty much his baby; he is the writer *and* artist? How was that decision made, etc.?

His second comic book is coming out next month, I believe. Second of a four-book series. Is that all he's working on or are there other projects in the works?

He has a background in the video games industry. What has he been involved in there and maybe he could talk about that a bit?

Will post more if I think of anything else.

I suppose the following questions would come to mind:

1. Is there any chance of completing the excellent "Shepherd's Song"?
2. Are there release dates yet for the upcoming Rust books?
3. Who are some of your favorite authors (comics or otherwise)?
4. Who or what are some of your biggest influences?
5. Are there any projects you're working on after the completion of Rust?
6. Are you able to be a full-time artist/author? If not what do you do to help pay the bills?

Thanks for the questions guys! I'm choosing from them and sending the final set of questions to him now.

How did the interview go?

WhiteBoy wrote:How did the interview go?

Great! I'll be playing it in January or February. A good chunk of the questions posted here made it to the interview and were a great help! I hope you guys enjoy the results!

I'll have to keep this instance in mind. A cool way to do interviews that both ensures you guys will be interested in my guests and saves me time researching and coming up with questions.

Let's do this again!

Sweet. Thanks for doing it, Paeter. Can't wait to hear it.