Posted in: Comics, Halloween | Tagged: Bomb Scares, Comics, entertainment, indie Comics, Steve Tanner, Time Bomb Comics

On Horror Anthology Bomb Scares And Alternative Distribution: An Interview With Steve Tanner

Published Sat, 17 Oct 2015 11:00:37 -0500

Last updated Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:59:36 -0500

By Olly MacNamee

Starting off as an extremely modest Kickstarter campaign and reaching its goal within 37 hours, Birmingham based comic publisher, Time Bomb Comics, now proposes to increase the page count of their horror anthology, Bomb Scares, and all this ahead of a launch date set for the weekend before Halloween too. I caught up with Steve 'The Torturer' Tanner, the brains behind this creepy comic, to discuss the creators involved and utilizing Kickstarter as an alternative distribution system for comics. Look out for our exclusive preview of the comic coming soon.

Olly MacNamee: Your anthology title, Bomb Scares comic, it's not the first time you've published this title is it?

Steve Tanner: Well, Bomb Scares is a horror anthology, form a huge amount of talented creators form both the UK and abroad, including such A list talent as Mike Perkins who has drawn for Captain America, Luca Pizzari, who has just been announced as the artists on Marvel's ongoing Black Knight series, as well as writer Jasper Bark (Bloodfellas), who is very good at horror stories. There are other creators who may, as yet, be less well known but their talent shines through.

Bomb Scares originally started a number of years ago. The original idea was to produce a one-shot comic back in 2010. It was always the intention to do another one, because I like the horror anthology format. I think it works well for this genre. I remember Taboo, which was where Alan Moore's From Hell originally saw light as well as stories by Neil Gamain and Michael Zulli. I remember think it was a real mix of stuff, genuinely disturbing too.

There have always been horror comics, like the EC comics of the 50's and some were quite nasty at the time, and even now. The original Bomb Scares was trying to capture the essence of what makes a really good horror comic. A lot of time a horror comic is not necessarily that horrific. Taboo was, and it was that tone and style I wanted to capture in my own comic. And since then, I have always been keen to get another one out.

On this sequel, I hired the talents of Paul H Birch who, as an editor, comes with a proven pedigree and track record. He has risen to the challenge and promised to produce a further three issues over three successive years. With the first of these being launched next weekend at the MCM London Comic Con (October 24 – 25^th). Paul has been working on all three volumes concurrently. So, even though the first one is about to be published he is already significantly advanced in its production, with the third one already envisioned by Paul. He certainly has a vision for all three issues going forward. He has always been a font of knowledge and advice for me, so it's really great having him officially involved with Time Bomb Comics and Bomb Scares.

OM: With a modest and successful Kickstarter campaign behind you, what extras can we expect from any reach goals achieved?

ST: Well, what I would really like to do is get it to 96 pages. Being able to offer a96 page book for just £10, including posting and packaging in the UK is a really good way to add value to the comic. And, it properly rewards any backers. The book is going to be produced anyway; it's not reliant on Kickstarter, which only asked for a target of £500. It was never about getting hundreds of backers on board to fully fund the project. What I was looking for was how Kickstarter could rather be used as a pre-order system, a different style of distribution and possibly a different market too. So, I based it on 50 backers and 50 books, which I felt was reasonable and achievable. Anything beyond that is adding value for those backers. To others, we are looking at about £13.99 or even £14.99 price point when selling it through cons, comic stores etc. But, it will still be £10 for the backers, and 96 pages too! It's a way of thanking the backers, the supporters. When you're reading a comic, it's all about the comic. Prints are nice, but I don't think it actually adds value to the comic itself.

OM: We Brits have always done well with the anthology format haven't we?

ST: Yes, because our comics have basically always been anthologies, whether that's The Beano, or 2000AD. I mean, if you look at the UK's girls comics, they would usually have 8 -10 episodic stories in each issue and they could cover any and all topics and genres; a nice mixed bag. The same with the comics aimed at boys, like The Victor, Hotspur, all long gone now, and 2000AD, of course. It still does that, week after week. The anthology format, when done well, can still be a successful format. With the artwork already completed on the proposed 96 pages, we will be ready to roll at London. So, do come by and say hello.

OM: And you can't have a better time to produce a horror comic than now?

ST: Yes. It seems right to have Bomb Scares ready to sell in time for Halloween.

OM: Steve Tanner, thanks for your time and all the best for this and future volumes of Bomb Scares.

Olly MacNamee teaches English and Media, for his sins, in a school somewhere in Birmingham. Some days, even he doesn't know where it is. Follow him on twitter @ollymacnamee or read about his exploits at olly.macnamee@blogspot.co.uk. Or don't. You can also read his articles fairly frequently at www.bleedingcool.com too.

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