Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: animation, axe cop, Axe Cop: American Choppers, Comics, dark horse comics, entertainment, Ethan Nicholle, malachai nicolle, webcomics

Axe Cop: American Choppers Is Coming From Dark Horse And You Can 'Ask Axe Cop' – The Bleeding Cool Interview With Ethan Nicholle

Brace yourselves: you'll soon have another format in which to experience the phenomenon of Malachai and Ethan Nicholle's world of Axe Cop. Dark Horse will be bringing a new Axe Cop comic series called Axe Cop: American Choppers to print in a three-part miniseries arriving May 21st.

Axe Cop started off in 2009 when artist Ethan Nicholle decided to draw a webcomic based on the stories created by his five year old brother Malachai, and launched on a dedicated website in 2010. The series' strange history and success is steeped in the viral affects of social media, and the transformative abilities of the comic to jump from webcomics, to print, to animated series on Fox. The transformation continues as the Axe Cop universe expands through interacting with readers on platforms like "Ask Axe Cop", hosted on the Axe Cop website, where readers send questions and get their answers in comics format providing meta-material for their experience of the characters.

The first issue of the Dark Horse series American Choppers promises to feature a variety of "axe-weilding heroes". Who could ask for more? Here's the official teaser:

President of the World, Axe Cop reunites with Super Axe, an old friend from college, and the two of them decide to start a superteam of axe-wielding heroes to defend America called The American Choppers.  They are joined by Captain Axe, Axe Girl, Axe Woman, Axe Dog, and other axe-wielding heroes.  The only problem is that there is no bad guys left, but that all changes when mysterious giant creatures attack the city.

Ethan Nicolle kindly agreed to answer some questions for Bleeding Cool about the Axe Cop series, its origins, and the way in which it transitions across platforms, offering fans a variety of ways to engage with their favorite characters.

Hannah Means-Shannon: When you first presented Axe Cop to friends and readers, it was via social media, right? What do you think that social networking and viral media can do for comics creators and the medium?

Ethan Nicolle: Well I have to be thankful Facebook did not have so many restraints in place for pages when I first made Axe Cop.  Initially, I just shared Axe Cop with family and friends on my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.  I had not even created an Axe Cop fan page on Facebook yet.  The morning after Axe Cop went viral, a fan had created it and invited me to be an admin.  I had a small group of fans from the band I used to be in and the few comics I had put out up to that point.  It was just enough to spark a forest fire.  Tools like these are indispensable, obviously, in the age we live in.  Word of mouth is key to a new comic gaining traction, and that can happen faster than ever with the Internet.  If I didn't have Facebook, Twitter and sites like Meta Filter and Reddit, Axe Cop would not be my job.

HMS: Your website is getting very interactive and full. Can you tell us a little bit about your motivations to do "Ask Axe Cop" and what you think that contributes to reader experience and the comic itself?

EN: It was directly inspired by Strong Bad email.  I fully admit it.  I loved the idea and always wished I had a character to answer emails with.  I think interaction is a great feature of web-based content and I think readers love being able to affect the Axe Cop universe with an email.  The "Ask Axe Cop" episodes are a lot of fun and for a lot of people, their favorite way to read Axe Cop.

HMS: I'll get a little more esoteric here—regarding shape-shifting in the comic— how does that change the mode of visual storytelling in the comic for you as an artist? How do you think it affects readers in terms of following the plot and identifying with characters?

EN: Hah!  Well, I have to admit I generally vouch for Axe Cop not to over-shape-shift.  I think the Flute Cop character gets lost pretty easily through all the changes he goes through, but in Axe Cop it works.  It's funny, because in the Axe Cop TV show the shape-shifting had to be dialed way, way back.  It just doesn't track well.  But in the comic we are free to derail the story like that, and it is very emblematic of A.D.D. storytelling.

HMS: When a story is free-flowing and not concentrated on backstory and continuity, what freedoms does that allow for storytelling? What do you think storytelling's most essential elements are?

EN: I think the most important element of storytelling is character and transformation.  You need a character that you either root for or are fascinated by.  You need to be witnessing change.  I think those elements remain in Axe Cop and I try to ask Malachai enough questions until the basics of a story arch are in place.  It is not totally free-flowing.  It is simply bound to a logic that is ever-changing and a rapidly developing sense of reason, paired with a desire to be as awesome as possible and have fun with every sentence.  I think continuity is loosely held to as well.  If a rule is established in the Axe Cop world (like blood causes transformations) then it becomes part of the comic's continuity.

HMS: With Axe Cop jumping between mediums and formats, but now coming to print and digital from Dark Horse, how do the different mediums change the stories and characters for you? Is Axe Cop essentially the same guy, whether you meet him in one form or another?

EN: I think the Axe Cop of the TV show is a slightly darker, slightly meaner version than the comic.  But it may be such a subtle difference that only I see it, as a creator.  I love both versions.  I think that we see Axe Cop's softer side a little more in the comic (so far at least).  But either format, you get the basic character and I think either is a great place to start.   One effect that having a TV show is having on the comic is that Malachai is inevitably writing Flute Cop more like the TV version of the character (amazingly portrayed by Ken Marino).  In fact Flute Cop was rarely in the comic until the TV show made him so prominent, Malachai started using him again.

HMS: Do you consciously compose either for digital format or for print format? Can you walk us through the steps of composing a page for print vs. digital?

EN: I try not to worry about it.  I may be more conscious of having a page be a little more self-contained if it is going to be digital, but in general I try to make every page like that.  The only big difference is I never do double-page spreads in the web comic.  Only in the print comics.  Also, I have to have a solid story written with Malachai before I draw a 2 page issue of the printed comic.  But for the web comic, I can draw a few pages and not know where it is headed until we talk again.  So the web comics probably tend to be more random than the printed comics, which are a little more planned out.

HMS: Can Bleeding Cool send you an "Ask Axe Cop" question from our readers if we do a bit of a competition on social media to pick the best one?

EN: Sure, let's do it!

HMS: Ok, you heard the man, Bleeding Cool readers. Ethan Nicolle is willing to let us participate in a special "Ask Axe Cop" session.

Send your questions for 'Ask Axe Cop' (which will be answered in comic format by Ethan) to hannah@bleedingcool.com by midnight EST on March 11^th to be considered. Rich Johnston and I will pick a winner, send it to Ethan, and when he's worked his magic, we'll post the results up on Bleeding Cool crediting the winner. Get thinking!

Hannah Means-Shannon is EIC at Bleeding Cool and @hannahmenzies on Twitter

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