The following is an interview with Travis Hymel on the upcoming Kickstarter campaign launch for the comic book, Start Your Engines. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Hymel about his shared creative process in working with letterer Shawn Depasquale and editor Dave Dwonch to bring the story and characters to life on the page, the incredible backer rewards available through the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You will soon be launching a Kickstarter campaign for Start Your Engines. What can you tell us about the premise of this action/adventure story?
Travis Hymel: Start Your Engines is a passion project of mine! It follows Dare Darrington, a former stunt driver turned race car driver who gets into adventures while trying to make a name for himself in the racing world over two 24-page stories.
The elevator pitch I’ve been using is that Start Your Engines is Speed Racer meets Jonny Quest.
BD: How would you describe your shared creative process in working with letterer Shawn Depasquale and editor Dave Dwonch to bring these 2 stories and their characters to life on the page?
TH: I’ve worked with both Shawn and Dave on past books together. They both have worked in the role of writer, editor, and letterer and that experience really elevates their work in my opinion. When it came to making Start Your Engines, they brought more to the table than the role I asked of them, which led to an open work flow. Any suggestion or critique they had was welcomed because I trust them.
For instance, Shawn wanted to be more hands on with adding motifs to the caption boxes and the sound effects. The suggestions by Shawn really helped nail the Saturday morning cartoon show vibe I was trying to go for.
When it comes to Dave, after working with him on The Loose End, I fell in love with how he tells a story. I’m not just talking about how Dave writes but how he envisions the projects as a whole from start to finish. He really helped me achieve the type of story I was going for and helped me find the voices of the characters.
BD: At Fanbase Press, we always like to learn more about creators and what drives and inspires them. Are there any action/adventure stories that greatly influenced your creative process or that gave way to the genesis of this particular story?
TH: Buckle up because this is going to be a long answer. No pun intended.
Start Your Engines is a love letter to comic genres and titles that I love. I was very inspired by comics like Mark Shultz’s Xenozoic Tales, the Comico run of Jonny Quest comics and Alex Toth’s Bravo For Adventure. Bravo For Adventure was the blueprint for Start Your Engines. I was so inspired by the storytelling and sense of adventure that surrounded his character Jesse Bravo. My love of those titles really fueled me as a creator and the type of stories I wanted to work on.
About 2 years ago I was feeling really burned out as a creator. I was getting some work but it was never like any of the stories I mentioned above. So, when I had some down time I started the process of Start Your Engines. I didn’t want Start Your Engines to just be an homage to what I love in comics but to be a challenge for me as an artist/writer. I wanted to use this as the chance to work on my visual storytelling and drawing things I wasn’t comfortable with like vehicles and animals. Making this book has helped really push me further as an artist. I still have a lot to learn but I’m further along than I was because of this book.
BD: Why do you feel that crowdfunding has been such a valuable resource to ensuring the success of today’s comic book creators?
TH: Crowdfunding is a game changer. For smaller creators like myself, it gives me an avenue to fund my print run without signing on to a publisher and to present my book the way I want to present it.
I had a pretty clear vision, as well, with how I wanted to tell this story. I’m not a fan of long story arcs because I find that I would constantly forget what was going on in the issue prior. I liked the idea of a prestige format where I can have one or two self-contained stories. Kickstarter gives me that ability to offer this book to potential readers/backers exactly the way I want to.
BD: In light of your upcoming Kickstarter campaign, are there any specific backer reward tiers that you are most excited to share?
TH: There’s a couple I’m excited to share!
The first being a variant cover by the Eisner Award-winning team of Greg and Fake (Santos Sisters). The cover will be revealed at the time of the Kickstarter launch on July 14th.
Second, I will have some early bird specials for backers, such as lower pricing on the physical copies of my cover for the book, the variant cover, and a combo pack of the two. The early bird special will only be available for the first 48 hours of the campaign.
Lastly, I will also be offering several original art tiers. I’ll offer not only the cover that I drew for Start Your Engines, but art from other properties that I’ve worked on such as TMNT, Legend of Vox Machina and Trailer Park Boys.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Start Your Engines and to support your Kickstarter campaign?
TH: The best way to find out information about Start Your Engines and to see preview pages is by going to www.tinyurl.com/StartYourEnginesComic.
