The following is an interview with cartoonist SS Julian regarding their nomination for the 2025 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Julian about their experience in self-publishing the Octopolis series, why the nomination is so meaningful and impactful to their creative journey, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on your nomination for the 2025 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award! What can you tell us about your experience in receiving this honor?
SS Julian: Thank you! I was shocked. I honestly never considered I might be among the finalists—I mean, the past winners of the Russ Manning are legends. I grew up reading Jeff Smith’s Bone, I studied Scott McCloud in college. I’m elated just to be nominated and mentioned in the same breath as them.
BD: As a self-published creator, why do you feel that this recognition of your work on Octopolis holds significance for independent comic book creators?
SSJ: I think some people have the idea that the Manning Award is an award for visual artists primarily because the description of it is for “a comics artist.” But the whole description is of “a comics artist who, early in their career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics.”
And the art of comics is more than just illustration. It’s everything that goes into the end product, and anyone who’s made a comic from start to finish will tell you: There’s a LOT more that goes into it.
Making a comic is a tremendous amount of work! After writing and drawing and coloring and lettering the comic, I still had to lay all the pages out for digital prepress, export them for the printer, review proofs, do color correction, fix the typos, and do it all over again! Even once you have the printed book, that isn’t enough. When you’re indie, you still need to distribute it yourself — market it, sell it, ship it, and get it into readers’ hands.
It’s no wonder that nowadays if you’re working on a mainstream comic, it’s become a huge enterprise involving dozens of people. It’s probably why a lot of folks feel like they need a publisher to make a comic. I felt that way—I pitched Octopolis to publishers before eventually deciding to do a Kickstarter. And now that I know firsthand how much work it takes… I still would love to have a publisher take care of some of that labor!
But at its heart, the joy of creating comics starts with individual artists with a vision, and I think that the Russ Manning Award’s purpose is to recognize the effort it takes to make that vision a reality. More than anyone, I think independent comic book creators understand the labor and the attention and the care that goes into all the varied aspects of “the art of creating comics.” And I really do feel that in creating and publishing Octopolis from start to finish, I had to draw on every skill I had in that respect, and learn a lot of new ones along the way. I hope my nomination inspires other indies to take the leap themselves.
BD: For those who may be new to Octopolis, what can you share with us about the story’s premise and why readers may connect with the story’s themes?
SSJ: Octopolis is a sci-fi fantasy adventure about a future where humans are extinct and intelligent octopuses have inherited the Earth. So, all the characters are octopuses, and the whole story is set underwater. This first book, Holdfast, follows Kurita: a young octopus with a couple disobedient arms who finds an ancient shield and inadvertently starts a conflict with another community of nomadic, shark-riding octopuses.
I picked this subject because, frankly, it’s a collage of interesting ideas I couldn’t stop thinking and talking about. With Octopolis I’m able to touch on subjects from evolutionary behavioral biology to fluid dynamics, all while making water-related puns and allusions to Frank Frazetta. It’s a really joyful process for me.
The big reason I have stuck with Octopolis, though, is the octopuses themselves. I grew up by the ocean, and became especially fascinated by the alien biology of the cephalopod. To me, they symbolize the interconnectedness of life on Earth. People love octopuses despite, or maybe because of, how different they are from us. Our nearest common ancestor lived over 600 million years ago, but we are still able to identify and connect with them.
I’m deeply concerned about our future as a species on this planet, and I’m heartbroken at the damage being done to Earth’s biodiversity because of our inability to empathize with each other and the world around us. Octopolis is my way of both celebrating the diversity of life in the ocean and musing on the problems that have led us to where we are now, all while de-centering humans from the narrative. Octopolis is, on its surface, an action adventure story, but an undercurrent (if you’ll excuse the pun) is that humans have gone extinct. We failed, we wrote ourselves out of the story, and the Earth moved on. I truly believe that’s what’s at stake, and the challenge of our age. My hope is that people who discover Octopolis will find themselves a little more open to empathizing with the Other through the looking glass.
BD: The Russ Manning Award winner will be announced during the Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con this year. How are you preparing for your trip to SDCC and the big night?
SSJ: I grew up in San Diego, so I’ve been going to SDCC nearly all my life. It’s an annual pilgrimage and reunion with friends who share my love of the community. It’s always a special weekend, but this is the first time I’m actually going to be attending the Eisners on the far side of the partition! Just being able to say that I’ve made it that far is a dream come true.
This is also the first Comic-Con where I’ll be conducting a panel! I’m doing a workshop all about ‘How to Draw an Octopus’ along with cephalopod biologist Danna Staaf and fellow cartoonist Josue Cruz! If you’re coming to the ‘Con, please join us!
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for readers?
SSJ: I’m working on more Octopolis! There’s a lot more plot I haven’t gotten to, and I want to keep exploring the world as long as I can. If I don’t find a publisher willing to underwrite the full arc, I’ll be back to crowdfunding Book 2. I’m also working on other art set in the world of Octopolis, most recently a Tarot deck. It started out as a world-building exercise, but I realized it was a great way to depict some of the ideas that I haven’t had the time to explore in the story yet!
As far as other artists’ projects, I’m really enjoying the latest Mushroom Knight, by Oliver Bly, last year’s Russ Manning winner. Definitely check out the work of the other 2025 nominees—I have, and I’m gratified to be compared with them.
But I also want to encourage folks to check out a couple other up-and-coming cartoonists I know from the Bay Area: Josue Cruz, mentioned above, has a book coming out this year with Michael Sweater: Puppy Knight and the Golden Bones. Vince Vert recently self-published the first print collection of their Krime Guys comics. Julia Garbe wrote and illustrated all of Cloud Turtles all in the time I took to do my Kickstarter. And I just got Dan McCloskey’s Friends in Stormy Weather, his crowdfunded follow-up to the incredible Cloud Town (Abrams). I think any of them would be shoe-ins for the Russ Manning Award.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find out more about Octopolis?
SSJ: Check out octopoliscomic.com! From there you can buy the book, read some short comics from Octopolis, and join my newsletter for updates about how the latest work is progressing.
Thanks for your support!
