I recently had the pleasure of chatting with John Chihak about his Kickstarter campaign to fund a reprint of Fuzzyface: The Agnew Chainsaw Massacre 3. I have not yet read Fuzzyface and have contributed to the campaign to make sure that I can! Fuzzyface debuted at the 2010 Phoenix Comic Con and has completely sold out of its initial print. This looks like an amazingly awesome book and I cannot wait to read it! You have until September 18th to contribute!
Do you think that you will be able to reach a new audience with the reprint?
Absolutely. We’re going to have a much larger print run this time around. Plus, with everything I have learned from a few friends about promotion is definitely going to help out. Plus we can also say that we had a successful first run, add quotes and reviews to the table. Knowing that Fuzzyface is not just a comic, but a horror comic gives a whole other outlet of press and promotion. The first three websites that carried the story about us on Kickstarter were horror sites.
Why did you choose kickstarter? With the other options out there what about kickstarter did you like?
Well, in all honesty, last year about this time we attempted to get a Xeric Foundation Grant. Unfortunately we didn’t get it, but the experience has also helped in learning how to promote properly. Kickstarter was a no brainer, cause they are exclusive supporters of art in all its forms. Comics, are a huge part of their funding abilities. Plus there has been a great success rate with them. The guy I learned from had a 3 times over successful funding campaign with Kickstarter. And they promote. In 2010 they had a few panels at San Diego Comic Con on how to promote and fund your comic project. Plus Kickstarter is so easy to use. When I submitted my proposal for the Fuzzyface project they responded within 24 hours. I like that about them. They need projects to promote and I needed to promote a project, and they worked on it super fast.
Is there anything you would have liked to change about the story or do you love it as is?
I love it as is, however, with that being said, we are going to add to it, but not change it. Venus of Necro did such an amazing job with the story that I wouldn’t want to alter it for fear of making it crumble. She put such passion into Fuzzyface that it would be almost immoral if we did anything to alter it. I would like to improve the artwork at places, but I honestly feel it’s the best sequential storytelling I have ever done. And every time Venus saw the artwork as it progressed she just smiled and said for me to keep going in this direction.
We are going to gray scale the pages and reletter them. We’re also going to ad a prologue and epilogue to help the main story flow a little more. And we’ll have some new pinups and two new covers in store. But the main story stays in tact as is.
Do you have any plans for any other books?
Absolutely! There were some people who didn’t get the joke in the title, but it screams for sequels. Venus has been thinking up more Fuzzyface ideas since she finished this story. I can’t reveal too much about that, but I can only say it will be equally hilarious and puppetcidal in nature. Leatherface is my favorite horror icon, but I and so many others grew up with dozens of horror movies and the amazing “heavies” that carried those stories. There are so many possibilities for appeal and story ideas, it’s ridiculous. But that behooves us even more. Plus, I think working with Venus really brings out a lot in me, creatively. She and I know the characters so well, it’s a real symbiotic relationship.
But Anti-Hero Brand Press has been doing comics since 2006. There’s Youth in Asia, where Agnew and the human characters in Fuzzyface come from. The Book of Grrry which is a spin off of YiA, and Got Crayons? Agnew’s colouring book series. In Got Crayons? Agnew dresses up as different pop culture characters from some of our favorite movies, video games, television shows and comics. The series predates Fuzzyface, but was also a catalyst for the graphic novel.
If you were to be a serial killer what would you do with the bodies?
If I told you, I wouldn’t be a very good serial killer would I? I know one thing though, I wouldn’t use a gun. That’s way too easy, and unoriginal.
I have seen a lot of references to Fuzzyface being “Jim Henson meets the Texas Chainsaw massacre” is this a comparison you agree with or no?
I absolutely agree with the comparison. Honestly I would kind of be insulted if people didn’t make that comparison. It’s partially how the whole project happened in the first place. I think it was 2005, I was sitting in Safehouse Espresso Bar in my home town of Tucson and I was drawing in my sketchbook. I drew a picture of Grover, with both arms ripped off and his gut slashed open and stuffing pouring out. It was gonna be a t-shirt design. But then I started to think, what if Agnew took on the persona of Leatherface, but went after the Muppets? It just sat in my head until 2008 when I told Venus about the idea. She immediately jumped up and said, “I’m writing that.”
Venus and I both, like many grew up on the Muppets. The movies, the television show, Muppet Babies, Fraggle Rock and so many other things Jim Henson did. The man is a god in my book. And I won’t throw that term around willy nilly. But when I hit my teens, I started watching horror movies. And that became a new love and passion. And after so many years, I decided the two should come together in yet another passion of mine, comic books.
Official Press Release:
Ever wondered what would happen if a diminutive, chainsaw-wielding, puppetcidal maniac were running amok in the Jim Henson universe?
Of course you have! And here’s your chance to see it in all its printed glory.
Fuzzyface: The Agnew Chainsaw Massacre 3 is the graphic novel that’s a must read. And now, it’s being made available in a reprint campaign on kickstarter.com.
Originally published and debuted at Phoenix Comic Con 2010 by the comic book imprint Anti-Hero Brand Press, Fuzzyface was written by the enigmatic Venus of Necro and drawn with the original character created by John Chihak, creator of Youth in Asia.
Simon Bisley, the artist behind DC Comics’ “Lobo’s Back,” and Heavy Metal magazine calls Fuzzyface, “Bloody Frankenbear!” Fuzzyface is also supported by the likes of Jimmie Robinson, creator of Bomb Queen from Image Comics and Mike Debaflo, comic book cover artist at Zenescope, not to mention a horde of rabid fans and creators alike.
This press release is already being carried by HellStreetJournal.blogspot.com, BleedingCool.com (calls the $20 tier, which includes a signed copy of the book, postcard and button, our best reward),
365Horror.co.uk and Horrorbid.com.
Fuzzyface is the tale of professional sidekick Agnew Pennyworth, who has ridden around in John Chihak’s backpack in Tucson, Arizona, for the past decade and a half.
One day, Fuzzyface decides he’s going to don the faces of his often furry and usually inebriated victims.
But don’t get the wrong idea, Fuzzyface: The Agnew Chainsaw Massacre 3 is a love story under all the stuffing that hits the fan.
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Fuzzyface will be posted on kickstarter.com as a project Friday August 19, 2011. To help fund the project, pledge to the campaign. Only if we reach our goal will backers’ pledges be collected. Our funding goal is $3,500. This will get a large reprinting of the book, buttons, postcards and other promotional material to spread the gospel that is Fuzzyface. If we ecee
We are offering special incentives to our backers . Included are original art from the book, a chance to have your pinup style picture of Fuzzyface added to the graphic novel and in four very special instances, backers will be added to the mayhem where they will be victims of Fuzzyface. Meaning, your likeness will be comic book, puppetized and put into the book and you’ll be one of Fuzzyface’s many victims. Every backer gets something. From a “What Would Fuzzyface Do?” postcarsd or buttons with new artwork, to signed copies of the book, or one of five original pages being offered. Not to mention the eternal thanks and gratitude of two creators who know that sometimes all it takes is a smidge of furry mayhem to make the world a little bit happier.
Writer Venus of Necro lives somewhere in the Western Hemisphere. Fuzzyface is her second time writing comics. The first was G2: The Book of Grrry, which she also collaborated with Chihak. She sends her love to those who support the book and small press.
Illustrator John Chihak lives in Tucson, Arizona with his three baby dogs, Sabu, Foley and Grrry and his sidekick, Agnew Pennyworth. When he’s not coming up with the “next big thing” in comics, he works overnight shifts at a group home for adults with developmental disabilities and on call shifts at Emerge Centers against domestic abuse. To him, Fuzzyface has been the best experience working in comics to date. Oh and his three dogs appear in Fuzzyface too.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of the process of creating a story made by two young up and coming creators in the comic book industry
