The following is an interview with award-winning creative director Jim Fletcher (DC Ame-Comi Statues, DC Uniformz, DC Core) regarding the Kickstarter campaign launch for Flippitoons Odditome of Deadlies and Dreadlies, Volume 1 in collaboration with Clover Press. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Fletcher about his curation process for bringing the collection to life, the incredible backer rewards available through the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: What can you share with us about your curation process for the more than 160 creatures, as well as the rhyming prose, included in this collection?
Jim Fletcher: As more Flippitoons keep getting discovered, I realized I need some way to explain them, what they were, how they should be categorized, etc. Luckily, James Martin Martin (my writing partner and fellow Oddibodologist) jumped in and has acted as both a Flippi-archivist, made further scaracter (his name for the individual creatures) discoveries, naming classifications, co-wrote the prose for the chapters Flippitoons, and the main rhyme that defines the entire concept of Flippitoons.
The prose was really fun to work on together, and we had a great (and sometimes challenging) time bouncing the poems off each other and figuring out all the cadences while hoping not to duplicate words too often.
This required a lot of time we both spent with the thesaurus!
I remember one very late-night working feverishly on the poems for this project where I couldn’t stop hearing everything in rhyme after a while…
BD: Your work has spanned various forms of entertainment media, from illustration to toy design. What do you find to be most attractive about the creative process for character design?
JF: That is a great question! The initial concepting is always exciting, and I work at a frantic pace in the early stages, as I don’t want to lose the initial ideation. It’s the same way I sketch out my music, an entire toy line or an individual character design.
When I get to dig into the final character designs, that’s where I really enjoy the artistic journey, when everything becomes the final vision for what’s in my head.
I think what I find most attractive about character design is that it lets me bring so many things I love into my work every day, like monsters, music, and general mayhem! In the case of Flippitoons, it’s a wide-open project. The imagination of both “Other” James and me is the only limitation in creating these confounding creatures!
BD: Given the unique format of the Flippitoons with each character being designed as two creatures (depending on whether right side up or upside down), what can you share with us about your creative process in bringing these creatures to life on the page?
JF: It’s been a great design challenge to make sure there are two distinct faces on each “scaracter”. As I mention briefly in the book, the first one of these came about by either accident or fate! As I was randomly sketching some weird creature, it fell off my desk and flipped upside down, revealing its other side!
Now that James has been involved, we talk over distinctive classification groups and how we can add to them.
Once the initial sketch has been hashed out, I’ll bring it into the Illustrator program where I can really hit the level of detail I want in the final design.
Oh, and believe it or not, I’m still drawing all the final versions with a non-wireless mouse!
I really should get a digital pen one of these days…
BD: Why do you feel that crowdfunding – Kickstarter in particular – has been such a valuable resources to ensuring the success of today’s creators?
JF: Kickstarter is a great way to quickly get new and fresh ideas in front of a larger audience, and gauge interest in your concept at the same time.
This is my first Kickstarter project…so I am looking forward to working with Clover Press, and seeing how this process goes for Flippitoons!
BD: In light of the Kickstarter campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
JF: We will be rolling out:
- enamel collector pins
- a collection of stickers
- a collection of temporary tattoos
- promotional trading cards
…all of which can be viewed in two directions!
There will be some other great items, as well, but that’s all I can confirm for now!
