STLSPEXMikayla (one of our 2020 interns) has been catching up with some of the 2019 Expo vendors to see what they’re up to. Here’s her first interview (with Cosmic Dino Books):
Cosmic Dino Books is the self-publishing company formed by my twin brother, James, and myself to publish our Dino Beasts graphic novel series.
STL SPEX (Mikayla): What inspired you to start this publication? What do you feel are its unique qualities?
John of Cosmic Dino: The inspiration for making Dino Beasts came from all the great cartoons and toys we enjoyed as kids in the mid and late 1980’s, and from our deep love of dinosaurs. We really wanted to read some comics that melded those things together, but we couldn’t find any. So, we decided to just make our own. The book is unique because their are no other comics with full casts of humanoid dinosaur characters, and certainly none where they are in a fantasy sword-and-sorcery type world. Dino Beasts is the the first and only comic book doing this.
When we were kids, our very first comics were independent comics like Usagi Yojimbo, Elfquest, and the original Ninja Turtles series. From an early age we were inundated with the idea of small press and self publishing, and with fun non-super hero characters. That really stuck with us and informed our openness to all genre’s and styles of comics.
Mikayla: On a given day how long do you typically think about writing your publication?
John: James and I both have full time jobs, so we probably spend about 3 to 4 hours each on the book during a “work day”, and then as much time as needed on weekends to complete whatever scene or chunk of pages we are focused on.
If you like dinosaurs and unique comics, then please check out www.dinobeasts.com
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