If you’ve ever thought about entering the world of indie comics publishing, then you could do a lot worse than follow the advice of TPub’s Neil Gibson, who has put together a handy guide to making your own comics and shared it with the world – for free?! We catch up with the Twisted Dark publisher to find out the secret to publishing the TPub way, as well as find out about their new app and release of Twisted Dark volume 5!

You’ve recently launched the ‘How To Make Comics The TPub Way’ program, tell us a bit about it and what inspired you to start it? Is it a bit like Comics Experience? And how to people get involved and what do they receive?

NG: I go to a lot of conventions and at every convention someone asks me for advice on how to make their own comic. If you want to learn how to draw, I can’t help, but I thought I’d share my thoughts and experience to help others get started making comics. Comics Experience is for more professional people I feel, whereas my program is aimed more at beginners, though I use the tools on a daily basis.

What are the plans for the program? Will you be publishing books off the back of this or are you just looking at this as a way to give back to the comic community and share your knowledge and experience?

NG: Mostly just to help people who want to get started or break into the industry. We are actually publishing titles from new creators and if on the back of the course some creators submit a comic we really like then for sure we will publish them!

You’re also about to launch into the world of a digital comics app (which is currently in beta testing at the moment, am I right?) How will this app be different to current apps on the market and is this your attempt to take on the might of ComiXology and Sequential?

NG: Ha!  No desire to take on the big players. This app (which is currently going through testing and can be accessed here www.pub.co.uk/index.htm ) is to help people understand the connected nature of the Twisted Dark world.

You’re also launching new volumes of Twisted Dark soon, what can fans expect from this? Will it be continuing any stories from previous volumes? And are there any particuarl gems in this volume that people should be looking out for?

NG: Yes volume 5 is released this month and the connections between the stories continue to increase. I have to make it clear that this is not a linear series. It is designed to be like a puzzle and it’s meant to be reread before you spot all the connections, but rest assured – it is all building up to one ending! In fact at the end of volume 6, something major happens and a lot of the characters will end up in the same location.

There are a lot of high quality indie anthologies out there at the moment, with Twisted Dark feeling like quite a big dog in that field, thanks to it’s longevity and level of quality so far. Do you look at other anthologies out there to take inspiration from or do you just try and push yourself further to make it the best collection you can and not worry about the rest?

NG: Well I must stress that Twisted Dark is NOT an anthology!  All the stories are connected and it is all building to one ending, just more slowly than most titles 🙂  Though I love reading them, I don’t normally take inspiration from other comics, most of my ideas come when I am reading the news or in the shower – odd but true!

What do you think the secret of a great anthology is?

NG: What I like in anthologies is a variety of stories that are short, sharp and punchy that leave you thinking. I am a fan of short stories by Issac Asimov in particular. This is what I think make a great anthology, but everyone is different.

You also have the excellent Theatrics webcomic on your site at the moment, how is that being receieved? Can you tell us a bit about the back story to that? And are there any other really great webcomics you have on the site at the moment which people should be checking out?

NG: Reaction has been really good so far and it sounds like you also like it to which is nice! It’s set in 1920s New York and is about a great broadway actor who gets beaten up and left for dead. He loses everything and has to rebuild his whole life from the ground up and it’s how he chooses to do it that makes it interesting.

Your readers can read it for free here: www.theatricscomic.com

All that makes you sound as if you are super busy and there is so much great stuff for fans to check out already, but is there anything else you have coming up this year that you could tell us about (or give us a sneak peak at?)

NG: We have a lot of things in the pipeline but the most exciting items are Theatrics and Turncoat (which will be out in September). It’s about an assassin who kills superheroes, only he’s unfortunately really bad at his job. to make matters worse, his ex-wife is brilliant at it. You can read the first 3 chapters here  turncoatcomic.com

You can find out more about TPub comics visit TPub.co.uk and read all the fantastic free webcomic they have available.