The Daniel Lundie Interview: Part the Second

Back in June, indie comic creator Daniel Lundie launched ROBIN NODE from Futurius Comics. ROBIN NODE is a fresh take on Robin Hood that also serves as Daniel's playing field for the innovation of comic posters, a format that has had its ups and downs for the talented writer/artist. He spoke with TNI's Damien Wood about the launch then (in an interview which can still be found here), and now sits down with Damien again to talk frankly for a second time.

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Damien (TNI): The last time we spoke, you were about ready to kick off your "comic poster" initiative, ROBIN NODE. How has that turned out?

Daniel: Not as great as hoped. Sales have been pretty low. The support's way UP and the people buying copies seem to love the product, the format AND the characters. But there's a lot of people who don't seem to want to buy. It's a new format, so obviously it's going to be a harder sell than most, but at the moment we're not even selling enough to warrant a second issue/episode.

Damien (TNI): Format. How big a factor do you think that's played in sales or a lack thereof? Are people just not into checking out anything beyond the flip, read, flip, read standard?


Daniel: I think people will definitely give it a new chance if there's enough of a vibe around it. Anything's possible. The biggest stumbling block for me was that most of the major newssites on the internet didn't run the press release or follow up information. They just didn't go for it at all. In the real world, a lot of the shops I talked to wouldn't sell the product because of the format.

They weren't sure what to make of it or where to put it so it was out in the open yet also out of the way from everything else. So yeah, format has been a big hinderance. A lot of people are very interested in the format, but I get the impression people are waiting to see how the first few episodes pan out first.

Also, a few people said they were waiting for the trade.

Damien (TNI): Waiting for the trade... Perish the thought!

In hindsight, knowing what you know now about the tough sell... Any regrets on the choice in format?

Daniel: Nope. I would've done it eventually anyway, because I needed to know if it could work. And yes, it did work. The comic medium fits EXCELLENTLY onto the poster format. I'd have just needed a bigger push behind it to get it going. I did my best in getting word out, and am still doing so, but I'm the little guy. The underdog. So I was always going to be on the arse-end of it, trying just to get peoples' attentions.

I'm glad I did the poster format though. If you're gonna self-publish your work for the first time, it'll be a hard sell wherever you go, so going for the cheapest format is a really good idea.

Damien (TNI): Certainly. What might you have done differently (or are looking at doing differently the next time) to get that bigger push you mentioned?

Daniel: I think I would have found a way to publish the poster cheaper and quicker as a demo for myself, so I could see what could be done better in the layout once I went on to publishing it properly. I've been messing about with the layout and the way the panels are spread across the page for the second episode, and I've come up with a new way of doing it to get more information on the page.

I would have liked to've done that for the first episode and start straight away with a more uniformed look.

I've learned a hell of a lot from this though, so anything i do next will be hugely influenced by the first poster.

Damien (TNI): And if sales do pick up... We'll be seeing a second episode?

Daniel: Definitely. It'll have the new uniform design and it'll have more panels and more action.

Damien (TNI): Right on.

Something else you mentioned earlier that caught my eye... The comment about a lot of the bigger comic news sites not being willing to put the word out, and your references of yourself as the "little guy" or "underdog". Favoritism on their parts perhaps?

Daniel: I'd hope not. I see them doing some indie stuff occasionally, newsarama even having a regular indie column running on it. I don't know, maybe they just weren't too sure of the format or maybe they thought it was TOO 'underdog'. whatever the reason, I think it was a real shame. A lot of comics these days rely on that type of promotion, even if it's just Newsarama doing a press release or Lying In The Gutters mentioning it as a blurb.

Even the mainstream creators go to the newssites to get their stuff out, so it's definitely a strong factor in success these days.

I think if the product is strong enough, people will find it eventually, but it's just that initial 'grand opening' bit, y'know? That's where you want to make the big splash.

In fact, that's probably the biggest thing about comics today... There's some truly amazing stuff out there no one even knows exists. It comes out, it's available, it doesn't sell, it dies. Without anyone ever knowing it was there. It's a big problem with the industry. All the coverage goes to the things that are already popular.

It's a bummer.

Damien (TNI): Could they (the news sites) have done more? I mean, if we were talking about Generic X-Title: The Poster Adventures, we'd likely be having a very different conversation on the success of the venture. Is enough being done for the so-called "little guys" and "underdogs"?

Daniel: I really don't think so. Even before I self-published, before I even went looking for this kind of thing, I always felt there was a wealth of stuff out there I was missing that no one would mention until it was already really famous. The major sites put up what they're interested in, as it should be, but if they could push more of the indie stuff... I get pretty annoyed these days when

I see them running some really dumb announcements or press releases from the bigger companies that doesn't even class as news. You're thinking 'is it a slow news day? you couldn't find anything of actual interest to post up?'. but then you realise there's a HUGE amount of stuff out there of interest. Why aren't they spreading awareness of that instead?

I don't want to sound bitter about it. I can totally understand them not running with my stuff because it's different. It's a format that's a little out there. But there's others out there that they COULD be doing articles on, but they're not. It's scary on a creative level, because you know you can slave away on something for months, bring it out and WHAM! - never gets a mention, never gets a single sale. Your dream is dead.

Damien (TNI): What else can be done to turn them around? Assuming the voices shouting directly at them for more variety have been heard and are simply being ignored (for whatever reason).

Daniel: I don't know. It all depends what they see themselves there for. I guess if people went on the Newsarama forums or the Pulse forums and demanded more indie stuff, it'd help. But really what you'd need is an indie book that they don't feature that ends up being HUMUNGOUS. Every time there's a buzz about an indie book, the attention turns to indies for a short time.

Like when GHOST WORLD got turned into a movie, or when the same thing happened to 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, it took everyone off-guard, and all of a sudden everyone was turning to independent comics watching for the next big thing. But then that went away, each and every time. Same thing happened in the late 80s/early 90s, with TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. If it does big in non-comics media, they'll dive on it and claim it as their own, but before that I guess a lot of indie stuff is seen as low-level crap, where creators do their thing before getting picked up by the big leagues.

It's almost a class thing.

Damien (TNI): Well now, that begs the question... Have you given any thought to pitching ROBIN NODE via non-comics media?

Daniel: I always wanted it to start out as a comic then do the rounds, become a movie, toyline, animated series, computer game, then end up as a comic series again. But I don't know. It's hard to get it made into a hollywood feature when you're a poor guy living in London. It's very much a multimedia character, but because there's not a full comic series with the character yet, it wouldn't be seen as viable. Even 30 DAYS OF NIGHT had to bring out a bunch of issues before it got optioned...

Damien (TNI): True enough. So no ROBIN NODE plushies just yet then?

Daniel: Not yet. Though there's rumours of a potential action figure line, and a definite mini-sculpture, although that won't be for sale. That's just a thing being done by Jesse Farrell, a friend of mine who happens to be this huge supporter of the Node.

If any plushie-producing companies want to talk to me, I'm very available, however.

Damien (TNI): Well, this IS technically a toy news site right? You never know.

Daniel: Ha!

Damien (TNI): Meanwhile, other than the potential (and certainly hopeful) continuation of ROBIN NODE, what's next for you, creatively?


Daniel: Too many damn things to keep straight! Right now I'm doing some commision stuff for a writer whose creating a sort of cross between La Femme Nikita and Blazing Saddles, I'm organizing a Futurius anthology book with my friend and scottish comic writer Chris Bell, which will be a creative effort between a bunch of people in the creative forum on my message board at https://www.futurius.com/Futuri_Plex/index.php

We'll be publishing it through Cafepress.com and it'll be about 140 pages long. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

Also doing the regular comic strip stuff with new episodes of Ozzy Unbourne, Psychic Teenagers, a possible ROBIN NODE webcomic, a new character called FLOOKIE!, as well as the non-comics stuff like the novel and a movie script, some stand up comedy stuff for a guy, and finally a thing for one of the top four comic publishers in the US, though can't talk about that just yet. Way too early.

...Oh crap, and I forgot to mention the two mini-series i'm doing! Solarboy and Extreme Spirituality. They're still both in the writing stages.



Damien (TNI): You sure you got everything in there?

Daniel: Actually, I know I've left a couple things out. It's great being this busy, it really is!

Damien (TNI): Absolutely. So I suppose it's safe to assume you haven't exactly been bored in the absence of ROBIN NODE?

Daniel: Not at all. I think I have creative ADD. Robin's not my first creation, not by a very long shot, and he certainly hasn't been my last. It's just a case of getting these things out to the general public.

My brain's like Godzilla on overdrive sometimes. Hyper-Tokyo, BEWARE!

Damien (TNI): I believe it!

Well, best of luck to you on ROBIN NODE and all of your hundred and one endeavors, Daniel, as always.

Daniel: Thanks Damien!

Interviewer's Note: Within five minutes of the interview wrapping, Daniel Lundie remembered yet another upcoming project - Colossal Boy 3 (and MechaJon, and Leo 19, and a Halloween Man project, and a television series pitch, and...).

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When not enlightening the masses and saving the world in service of TNI, the entity known as NmX attempts to carry out a semi-normal life as a writer and a student of journalism under his not so secret identity, Damien Wood.

Look for his online projects "I Will Speak. You Will Listen." and "Mental Puppetry" sometime in the near future.