Ryan Vella

Leigh Chalker (00:00:08):
Good day, how are you? Hey. Hello Ryan, how are you?

Ryan Vella (00:00:13):
I’m very well, thanks. How are you?

Leigh Chalker (00:00:15):
Good mate. Good. Well everyone out there, this is the first episode of Tuesday. This is I guess a series of chats with people in the comic book community. And the first, I’m Lee Chalker, by the way, creator, A Battle for Bustle. This shows on the come network and thank you very much for sizzle and everyone involved for letting me do this. Little Diddy with you is on a Tuesday night. But look, that really is I guess enough about me cuz I’m here with me. Good mate. And someone who I admire with their artistic output, Mr. Ryan Valer. So it’s excellent to see you sir.

Ryan Vella (00:00:58):
Yeah, it’s good to see you. It’s fun. This,

Leigh Chalker (00:01:02):
Yeah, yeah, it is something a little bit different, but we try and just, I don’t know mate, get a little bit I guess intimate, I suppose with other creators and members of the community. But just to let you and the viewers know, it’s pretty much free for all getting into areas hopefully that you wanna talk about, that you don’t often get another opportunity on other shows to talk about. But we’re gonna prompt I guess we’re gonna use six prompts, simple questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how. And over the show you can answer any of those words any way you choose mate. And we’ll just see where it leads us on this wild merry go around for the next hour. So how does that sound to you?

Ryan Vella (00:01:50):
Sounds good to me.

Leigh Chalker (00:01:52):
Excellent. All right. Well start your engines Ryan, cuz I’m about to ask you the first question. My In who?

Ryan Vella (00:02:02):
Who? Me? Yeah you. Oh wow. Well my name’s Ryan Carney, ve if you wanna know the full name. Born in Mackay in Queensland where I still reside now in a small place called Walkerton, which is just outside Mackay. That’s little area I’m from, which is Canne Farms. Mostly all around there and my family sugar cane farmers. So I grew up all around that sort of away from the city a bit. So I used to make my own fun a lot and do my own things a lot. I remember that love movies and cartoons and I loved that as a little kid. Toys just do heaps and heaps of that I suppose.

Leigh Chalker (00:02:46):
Did you have any brothers or sisters that used to annoy you?

Ryan Vella (00:02:49):
I got three older brothers.

Leigh Chalker (00:02:51):
Yeah

Ryan Vella (00:02:52):
There’s a seven year age gap between me and them. Yeah. So that might have made there’s twins there as well. There’s two twins and an older brother. So I’m not sure. I always think maybe since it was that gap, I did my own thing a lot.

Leigh Chalker (00:03:08):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:03:10):
And my family also Speedway drivers, all of them, all my brothers and my dad were Speedway dirt track races and that. But I never got into the racing sort of thing.

Leigh Chalker (00:03:22):
<laugh>. So were you pressured into it or were they sort of left wrong, do his own thing?

Ryan Vella (00:03:30):
No, I just never really into it. I used to go to Heap to Speedway as a kid and watch Speedway on the weekend and loved it, just watching it but didn’t have a desire to race. But I had motorbikes and stuff and as a teen I was a kid and right around the headlands on motorbikes and BMXs and go up creeks and all that sort of rural stuff. I love fishing and all that sort of stuff and did a lot of that. Really? Yeah,

Leigh Chalker (00:03:55):
Pretty much of that. Now are you too busy with all your creative stuff?

Ryan Vella (00:03:59):
I still like fishing. I don’t do it as much. I love fishing. Just obies. Just love it. Yeah, just relaxing the time to think and chill out.

Leigh Chalker (00:04:09):
You go out and do that by yourself when you get a chance or you go out with people and camping.

Ryan Vella (00:04:14):
Oh sometimes the family go, the family would go fishing sometimes. Yeah. So that’s one sort random thing.

Leigh Chalker (00:04:21):
Yeah. Yeah. Well what we’re here for mate is the randoms. We all like the randoms don’t we? Yeah, yeah. So mate, with when you’re on the cane farm and you had those moments to yourself and it was burn season and all that and you’re too little to go out and cuz there were machinery and contractors all in there and it was all happening and you had those moments to yourself, what was the first thing that grabbed you that in your little fell’s mind did you just always draw you go gravitate towards cartoons cuz we’re of a similar age. We had cool Saturday morning show marathon shows on our cause See the young kids now mean they got Netflix and they got all this sort of stuff they get. We used to have to time ourselves man, hey book ourselves in as a young kid to watch some of these shows. But what did you do man? Cars What?

Ryan Vella (00:05:31):
I definitely watched all the morning cards like Astro Boy was on in the mornings, the eighties series and before school I’d watch it, tape it and then when I’d go home from school I’d watch it again and then tape over that same copy the next day

Leigh Chalker (00:05:43):
Be Accord or vhs.

Ryan Vella (00:05:47):
VHS and shows like Star Blazers, love star blazers, still do what else was back then? And that was my first drawings. It was me copying those cartoons, little tiny little felt pens, drawing the spaceships and red pen drawing the lasers. That was my first drawings and I remember doing heaps of ages.

Leigh Chalker (00:06:08):
Yep, yep.

Ryan Vella (00:06:09):
And eventually my first comic I brought was in 1985. So I was a grade five. It was a good time getting the comics 85 cause I didn’t realize back then but stuff was about to go nuts. Oh

Leigh Chalker (00:06:23):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:06:24):
The first thing I brought was initial was Spiderman and the two hundreds that had manslaughter mar sail on the front and it was orange background.

Leigh Chalker (00:06:34):
Yep.

Ryan Vella (00:06:35):
The second comic I got was Heroes for Hope, which is such an amazing book.

Leigh Chalker (00:06:41):
Did you get that in a plastic bag? You could get at the news agents? You remember sometimes they’d bundle comics together and stick ’em up there like five comics, five bucks Or did you grab it off the shelf?

Ryan Vella (00:06:53):
Off the shelf? I just got lucky. That’s when I started collecting. They were out that month and Xmen and a Spiderman and I was hooked. That was it. I started follow every Mark to DC and was at the news agency all the time coming out.

Leigh Chalker (00:07:11):
So one of those first artists I reckon that would’ve stuck in your head was Bill, is that someone that

Ryan Vella (00:07:20):
From New

Leigh Chalker (00:07:20):
Your Eye

Ryan Vella (00:07:22):
From buying New Mutants? I noticed his art cause yeah. Yeah. By the time I started buying he was already drawing it. Yep. So that would’ve been the first time I saw his and it was pretty weird to me a bit, this is a bit more adult sort of. Yeah, definitely stood out. I love his stuff now Way with a mate.

Leigh Chalker (00:07:43):
Oh man. He’s still pumping out some amazing stuff I tell you. But man, like star Blazers is one of those for me too man. This is, anyway, I’ve been known to do funny worse things than this but even to this day, occasionally once in a blue moon, that bloody song meant ah star bla you know, remember that. Hey I still remember it.

Ryan Vella (00:08:15):
I remember it all too much.

Leigh Chalker (00:08:17):
Yeah. Do you still banging out sometimes man?

Ryan Vella (00:08:22):
Pardon?

Leigh Chalker (00:08:23):
What is it? Something about ish candar or something like that

Ryan Vella (00:08:27):
Wouldn’t it? For a distance star heading off the ish can we can so watch a few weeks ago. It’s on YouTube’s Got it all.

Leigh Chalker (00:08:37):
Yeah, yeah Ripper. I’m gonna check that out. Hey I’ll tell you what man. Geez you brought back some memories there but so when you’re in that eighties period where you’re like, cuz you’d been drawing previous obviously the Star Blazers and stuff and on a, I’m willing to bet that you probably drew some of those Tiger stripe <laugh>. I think

Ryan Vella (00:09:05):
The bottom’s just black and yellow little blocks. It’s like that’s the ship. That’s what I was trying to draw in Gray one or two. Yeah, yeah absolutely

Leigh Chalker (00:09:17):
Mate. Beautiful stuff cuz I used to draw them as well. Frantically I used to make ’em outta Lego and cut up mum’s old cereal boxes and try and sticky tape models together of the ships cuz up in Townsville they didn’t sell all those specialty items at that stage. So I guess you just had to do with what you had and <laugh> if it was a place back that was cool.

Ryan Vella (00:09:40):
Well Townsville very much Mackay. I mean it’s not too far away and it’s very similar sort of towns or cities. I’ve been through Townsville a lot of times over the years. Yes,

Leigh Chalker (00:09:52):
Yes. So I’ve been through the Mackay a lot of times too over the years as well mate. So yeah I used to have inner city swimming bloody carnivals and stuff man. And you know get whole cities of kids over the other side of the 50 meter pool. So good times mate. Family travel. But mate, judging from all your early influences and stuff, please keep adding to this too, but what was the first thing I guess at that impressionable age that you really in the back of your mind, the idea for comic books and storytelling and writing and stuff drilled in there and started fermenting for you and when was it that, because you’re pretty, you’re gotta say I reckon you’re pretty ballsy creator mate. You know definitely throw a lot of different stuff out there and I admire that. I like that you don’t play it safe with a lot of stuff and it’s good gets people thinking and it’s a bravery to that a lot of people don’t have and I definitely admire that I guess When did you think you wanted to do your own comic book?

Ryan Vella (00:11:25):
I remember I did, I did one in 87. It would’ve been when I was in grade seven. I got an issue of Alpha Flight. Yeah I had a monster. It had a monster in it or something and for some reason I thought I wanna do a comic with monsters. So I drew it and just fold it over typing paper and drew it all with felt pens and it was called the Sewer Squad and I wish I had it still would. I had just monsters and they lived in the sewer and they fought some big monster and that’s all that happened in it. I don’t remember much else about it. I so wish I had it cause I think I just got paper and stapled it and just drew on it. And that was the original art was the comic. But then were

Leigh Chalker (00:12:10):
You writing at that stage as well? We add your own word bubbles and

Ryan Vella (00:12:13):
Stuff. It would’ve been, but it would’ve been like die kill, I hate you. It would’ve been really, really simple what you do in grade seven type stuff. It was very primitive. It would’ve been, I wish I had it. I so wish I had it.

Leigh Chalker (00:12:28):
Yeah and your mum or no one had it tucked away in one of those little suitcases under the bed mate with all your first set of shoes and all that drive.

Ryan Vella (00:12:38):
It’d be one in a million chance would turn up at somewhere in some suitcase, but I don’t think so. It would’ve turned up by now. I think so.

Leigh Chalker (00:12:48):
Oh you never know. You never know if you get lucky, if you get lucky mate you gotta show us all.

Ryan Vella (00:12:54):
Oh well absolutely. That’d be so excited about finding it <laugh>. But I kept reading comics and buying comics but had no desire to do my own. I used to draw still and all that but I used to read comics but I was drawing and I got more into painting and fine arts and watercolors and just canvas painting and I did all that and especially in school I read like that. But I always still read comics and it’s not till I guess when all the image sort of stuff happened. Cause I kind of got out of reading mainstream comics. I only read 2080 for a few years, like year 11 and 12. I kind of more interested in girls and so I didn’t really care about superhero stuff around then. But then I got back into it after I left school and that’s when image had sort of happened and I thought I wanna try and draw a comic And that’s when I did my first sort of full length comic piece pipe,

Leigh Chalker (00:13:54):
Which I

Ryan Vella (00:13:54):
Did self-published in Mackay.

Leigh Chalker (00:13:59):
And what was your thought behind that? You came up with piece pipe, you got into it, you had no concept of page sizing or anything like that?

Ryan Vella (00:14:10):
No, I drew it. Oh I drew a three size would’ve been the original art. I still got it somewhere. Original art, I know I have it but then it got printed a four size the comic and that was 1994 then

Leigh Chalker (00:14:34):
Were you, you would’ve been what say 17 ish? 19? Yeah you’re right. Yeah that’s that cuz that’s not size ’em up in the computer and ship ’em off. Ship ’em off to the printer or stuff. That’s a fair bit of work to get that stuff done mate.

Ryan Vella (00:14:53):
Yeah I remember I spent ages doing a few months. It was just slowly doing it and it’s like 20 page sort of story and that and it was a local comic shop in Mackay at the stage sort of thing. So I got to put it somewhere and I sold, I dunno under five copies it would’ve been, you know what I mean?

Leigh Chalker (00:15:15):
That’s typical sales mate for us. Indie creators. That’s right.

Ryan Vella (00:15:19):
Yeah,

Leigh Chalker (00:15:21):
That’s a good day. <laugh> hey mate with in They’re a strong art scene because you’re in a band, you’re in Viper syndicate and you’ve been doing that an awful long time cause yeah we heard of each other long, long ago. Yes. That had never met and you were very much kicking along there with gigs and stuff and you’re still doing it and you’re wearing your black flag shirt tonight. You very good hard work and band traveled the lengths of America mate touring and stuff.

Ryan Vella (00:16:03):
Raymond Petty art artwork there.

Leigh Chalker (00:16:06):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:16:07):
Is the brother of the Terrace of Black Flag. That’s right. Old school stuff people d

Leigh Chalker (00:16:13):
Yes. There you go. Hey educational mate. That’s what I love about this show. Throwing some punk. But mate get into that. I reckon you’ve got a real punk vibe going to your artwork and your creation too man. And I mean I’m not sort of saying punk. There you go.

Ryan Vella (00:16:30):
Like leg technically.

Leigh Chalker (00:16:32):
Oh

Ryan Vella (00:16:33):
I’m punk throwing through

Leigh Chalker (00:16:35):
And it definitely comes

Ryan Vella (00:16:36):
Through the metal.

Leigh Chalker (00:16:37):
Yeah, yeah. Oh mate, I like punk too cuz it comes through it’s energy, you know what I mean? It’s a bit of a fist in the face of the oppressor sort of stuff. Stick it up. It’s a good attitude to have for a creator. But the Mackay art scene man, when you came out with your comic book and there’s a comic book shop and stuff just from the sounds of it, you probably had a comic book shop couple of years before we did in Townsville. I used to buy comic books from a military store man on Davis Towers Road. My dad was 10, I was riding, my dad was into military and every time he’d go in every few weeks to get medals and talk shop with other military collectors, I’d wander around and in these drawers this guy had military shops, they GI Joe’s and Commandos and heaps of that sort of stuff. So I got real heavily into early GI Joe men and loved that. And he used to get comic books in there. So you’re pretty bloody lucky to have a comic book shop. But the art scene man, what’s it there? Is it Harmon? Are they believers, supporters and stuff?

Ryan Vella (00:17:55):
A pretty good it always has a pretty good art scene with the fine arts sort of thing. But they’ve quite supportive and especially B, they’ve been very acceptive of my stuff and I’ve exhibited a fair few times at Art Space, which is the sort of big council art building in Mackay and they’re really cool, great people and really supportive and the stuff I’ve got away with, I can’t sort still believe some of stuff they’ve let me show at the local show things and stuff.

Leigh Chalker (00:18:28):
Yeah. Oh that’s mean. That’s the best thing. Hey at least the bureaucrats are supporting some artistic expression mate. That’s how people get their messages across. Better that than running around belting people up. Hey should be more people. Do some painting and stuff mate. You know what I mean? Might calm ’em down a little bit doing a bit of creativity. But I’m glad Mackay’s like that cuz towns will getting there slowly but surely. We’re very much a military garrison town I would describe us as and probably a sporting town more so than anything else. But hearts are creeping in. But I would say that to me, I enjoy your output of creativity. So you’re playing in a band, you you’re painting, you’ve got an interest in that. I mean you’ve got a family so you’re finding time for that too. You’re drawing I think a high quality pieces on mass really compared to my speed. Do you know what I mean? I’ve seen sent me photos and said I’m gonna ink this today. We can take Rosie for example and I’m in starting pencil and something and then three hours later you’re sending me a photo and it’s done. And it’s just like wow.

(00:20:02):
Over the years man, you’ve never stopped I reckon doing comic books. Cause what do you got? Got four issues of turbo Supermax came out and they’re not small issues. You’ve had, what is my favorite, which we can veer off into something shortly, is the deadly hands of Jesus Christ if that’s the name. Because if anyone can get their hands on a copy of that comic book, well worth a read. I enjoyed that immensely. And what have you had, you’ve had peace pipe you’ve had of late, you’ve come on with a big burst man you know got your battery hens, you know, have collaborated with me and spy with Ring around the rosy and stuff and you know are just about to do another story in that. It just doesn’t seem to be a stop in your man. When do you find the time to fit all of this in and work?

Ryan Vella (00:21:11):
Good question. It’s what I like doing. It’s what I sort of do to relax a lot too, I suppose. No, it’s a

Leigh Chalker (00:21:25):
Good question. Do you take those moments if you got an hour or two down, do you pick up a pen and go, I’ll belt out a panel. You know what I mean?

Ryan Vella (00:21:33):
No, I’m sort of like when I’m gonna start, if I start, that’s it for the day and I’ll go until whenever it goes through the night until the next morning or type of thing.

Leigh Chalker (00:21:50):
Recently. Well you did that 24-hour comic recently.

Ryan Vella (00:21:54):
Yeah, I’ve always wanted to try doing one of them but I thought I’m only at the point where I think I could do it. Yeah cause it’s so hard to do a page an hour. You think I could do that but just you physically, you mentally just you start to drain and you just, oh man, it’s so grueling. I’m so glad I did it but I wouldn’t do it again. It once things should just do once in your life and that was it. Yeah.

Leigh Chalker (00:22:19):
Yeah. You say you’re proud of it so a hell of achievement.

Ryan Vella (00:22:23):
I like how it turned out.

Leigh Chalker (00:22:25):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:22:26):
Consider I did it in a day. Yeah.

Leigh Chalker (00:22:31):
It’s putting me in. I can’t draw a page in a day. No

Ryan Vella (00:22:35):
Way. You gotta have no distractions at all. My family had gone away for a few days, I thought now it’s the time to do it. Just me by myself and had everything set up around me and in food and snacks and all that, just <laugh> a pre plan dinner. So I’ll have a gap for an hour and cook. I got ahead of time so I’ll cook some food and him fit in a shower. I, you know, really gotta think of stuff like that. I would go to the toilet, I’m losing time.

Leigh Chalker (00:23:03):
Yeah. But hey, from one cigarette smoker to another, did you find that 30 seconds to sneak sneaky and a diary every hour? <laugh>?

Ryan Vella (00:23:12):
I smoked so little that day cuz I was just going out run back in just,

Leigh Chalker (00:23:18):
Yeah, maybe for your health we should all do a 20 hour comic. Quit smoking man. Do a 24 hour comic.

Ryan Vella (00:23:28):
I think with your previous thing about with with the type of stuff I do, after I did piece pipe, I had really no desire to do comics. And I moved to the Gold Coast for a few years and I was just being a bum basically living beside the beach, being a bum. And I didn’t surf or nothing or skateboard. I was being a bum. And one day of my flatmates come home with a mini comic by our two mini comics by Troy Ingram. And I’d never seen mini comics before and I saw them went, wow, this is so cool and raw and this lad’s just doing these books. I could do a book like that and I thought straight away I wanted to do mini comics cause I could just self photocopy it myself and get ’em done. And that just hooked me and I just started writing it. I wrote to Troy and he through me and him and other people and just writing back and forth to the whole sort of thing. Cause

Leigh Chalker (00:24:27):
Once told me that’s how you sort got started was by doing your mini comics and letter. You laughed with me one day you said, I actually used to send letters in the Postmates to people with copies of comic books in it and stuff like that.

Ryan Vella (00:24:42):
That’s all I did. Cause there wasn’t many shops to sell ’em in and make a comic print, whatever, many copies, send it out to all the other comic people I knew in the country and they’d send me their books for free too. So I just did that for years and just making contacts pretty much. And back then in the nineties the scene was so raw and crazy and people doing the craziest, nutty stuff, sick puppy comics is a good example. Everyone just going nuts. That ingrained in me that sense of no censorship was doing there. Everyone just go nuts. And what’s just in my dna, I think. And it’s just always people. And look, I love superhero comics, but I also love that di DIY sort of style. So it’s kind of me as a mash up of this. I love superhero comics to read, but I like the craziness of the underground.

Leigh Chalker (00:25:42):
Yeah, yeah. Well we were talking about outlaw artists not too long ago. You and I, we both discovered that whole American bloody movement. So I can totally understand that. Things like the crow and all those kitchen sink press and all those sorts of books that were out and about mate. You know what I mean? I like that sort of I guess philosophy of creating comic books as well. Doing it yourself. I’m very hands on with all of my stuff too. I never printed photocopied things, but God man, I used to my early ones, I used to sit there and cut out the word bubbles and write the dialogue on ’em and tape ’em onto the pages and things and took forever. And <laugh> leave a hell of a mess too with shavings of paper. Let me tell you, it’s not much fun to bloody clean up. Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:26:54):
Yeah, I got a little bit of that

Leigh Chalker (00:26:56):
<laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. So now you were pumping this out on the Gold Coast and stuff so that that’s blossoming there. I’m picking up that those enjoyments things from your childhood are come sort growing a bit. They’re burning a bit here. When did you come to well probably the book that everyone at that stage, I guess you sort of, well popped out onto the scene mate, he dies with a falafel in his hand. How did you get to that?

Ryan Vella (00:27:40):
I, well I moved back to Mackay in 1990. I moved to Gold Coast in 1995, moved back to back home to Mackay in 1998. And in 2003 they were having a exhibition at the local art space, which had just opened previous year. And John Birmingham, the writer of fla, he was coming to open this exhibition which had young and emerging artists and I was a part of them. There was about seven or eight type of thing. And at the opening he did, I met him at the opening and he liked my artwork and by the end of the night he had lots of drinks. I’d had lots of drinks. And with just both of us chatting, we should do, should do something. And he is like, oh fla, the 10th anniversary is coming up next two years. And he was thinking maybe make a graphic novel of it. So I was like, yeah, I’m keen. And

Leigh Chalker (00:28:42):
How many pages did that end up being?

Ryan Vella (00:28:45):
168.

Leigh Chalker (00:28:47):
Wow. That’s a huge under. What was the biggest comic book you’d ever done up until that period?

Ryan Vella (00:28:56):
Maybe 30 pages.

Leigh Chalker (00:28:59):
<laugh>. Wow.

Ryan Vella (00:29:02):
Yeah, I didn’t really realize it for some reason. I managed to do it six months.

Leigh Chalker (00:29:08):
Six months.

Ryan Vella (00:29:09):
And I was doing TAFE art at the time with art at tafe. And that’s why the artwork and flas got lots of painted and experimental. Cause I was learning stuff at TAFE and then applying it to the book, working

Leigh Chalker (00:29:23):
While learning, doing that

Ryan Vella (00:29:25):
As well. And I just really got into it doing it. And I had no he, I saw him on that night, he just said adapt it. And I had absolutely no feedback on what to do. It was just me. What do I do? Okay, I’ll just copy the words out and put pictures to it. And that’s exactly what I did. But I put the whole book in order. Cause I read the book a few times in a wrote, highlighted all the stuff I really wanted to do, put it in linear order. And then I did about, they didn’t say how long they wanted it, so I did about 120 pages and I handed it in to them and they’re like, can you make it an extra 40 pages? So to go back through the book and bring more bits out and slot it in and made it to that size. Yeah.

Leigh Chalker (00:30:18):
Oh there we go. Question mate. It was romantic side. That was the longest before for L, wasn’t it?

Ryan Vella (00:30:24):
That’s true. Yeah, the darker half. That’s my buddy Sean Craig. How Sean?

Leigh Chalker (00:30:29):
Hello mate.

Ryan Vella (00:30:30):
That’s true. That’s absolutely true. It would’ve been romantic side and Troy Ingram wrote that and Sean, what

Leigh Chalker (00:30:38):
Was that about?

Ryan Vella (00:30:41):
It’s a romance story but then it goes halfway through. It goes from romance to hardcore violence,

Leigh Chalker (00:30:52):
<laugh>

Ryan Vella (00:30:53):
Like it’s romantic side and yeah, that’s a crazy book. I wrote that book, that was fun. And I had a couple of friends Inc. A bit of my stuff like Sean Inc. Some of it. And another friend of mine, David Ramsey inked a bit of it just to have a bit of fun. So they a bit of that. Yeah.

Leigh Chalker (00:31:11):
Now mate, do you have any copies of these books floating around for anyone out there that may be interested?

Ryan Vella (00:31:20):
I need to reprint just at the point where I’m gonna start reprinting stuff. I got so much old the underground I would, but I wanna reprint ’em normal comic size though, just so they’re all a normal comic size.

Leigh Chalker (00:31:36):
What’s your thought process behind that?

Ryan Vella (00:31:40):
I don’t know. Just

Leigh Chalker (00:31:42):
Feel like it’s the right thing to do.

Ryan Vella (00:31:44):
Yeah, I just want it look like a normal comic, but like I said, a mini comic, just that’d be just something slightly different really?

Leigh Chalker (00:31:49):
Yeah. Yeah. I mate God we’ve taught heaps and I’d never even heard of romantic side, but my God, if anything like your other stuff, I’d love to read that it’d be bloody

Ryan Vella (00:32:03):
Yes. Only one copy. I think I’ve got one copy of a lot of old books and a few random things here and there and they always pop up like, oh here’s some more copies.

Leigh Chalker (00:32:13):
Are you a hoarder of your artwork?

Ryan Vella (00:32:17):
I got everything.

Leigh Chalker (00:32:18):
You got everything.

Ryan Vella (00:32:20):
I got stuff from when I was five years old. Some of those spaceship drawings. I found a couple of them from when I was in school. All the stuff I’ve done from school onwards, I’ve got from a year 10. Yeah, I’ve got everything. Like I’m looking at some of it right now in front of me. I dunno what could show you out of this. I did a story about fish. I’ve never published that fish. And it’s all fish, just doing fish stuff. Like fish.

Leigh Chalker (00:32:53):
Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:32:54):
I’ve never published that. I think <inaudible>,

Leigh Chalker (00:33:09):
When you do your artwork and you hand letter, you do your hand lettering straight onto the page. Hey, you don’t do overlays or anything like that?

Ryan Vella (00:33:19):
Nah, it’s quicker to do it on the page. Really? Yeah. Yeah. I’d rather try to cut it out and

Leigh Chalker (00:33:26):
Well I’ve just noticed you have very neat handwriting in the Times I’ve read your comic books mate. So it’s very legible and it’s really

Ryan Vella (00:33:33):
Oh okay. I think it’s a bit wonky times. Actually. All my speech bubbles a totally copy of Neil Blandon. Cause the way he does it, I love how he does the boys bubbles. So Neil, thank you. I’m stealing your bubbles, that’s why. Yeah, totally. Neil, I love Neil’s stuff he’s making, he’s so cool.

Leigh Chalker (00:33:58):
Yeah, he’s another artist that certainly puts a lot of stuff out like art on his Facebook page and that there’s posts and that

Ryan Vella (00:34:06):
Heaps. It’s

Leigh Chalker (00:34:07):
Great. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll have to try and reach out to Neil and see if he wants to come on one of these Tuesday chin wags mate and have a gas bag. Oh absolutely. Yeah. On Ryan’s recommendation. I’m cool with that mate. Why do you do it to yourself?

Ryan Vella (00:34:31):
It’s fun. I like the process. The most fun is doing it afterwards. I lose interest in printing it. That’s a big problem with me. I like doing it. But once it’s done I just, I wanna move on

Leigh Chalker (00:34:43):
And

Ryan Vella (00:34:43):
Just do some more artwork and yeah, I could of lose interest in the actual main goal. The printing bit

Leigh Chalker (00:34:52):
<laugh>. Yeah. Well

(00:34:55):
Yeah, I know it’s not a cheap exercise mate either. It’s one of those things I guess you gotta just save up your money. I have to do that too. Go for, I mean these are all the things you gotta think about in the production side. I like what you were talking about going down to the news agents and chucking in 5 cents in photocopying your stuff man. And then borrowing their big giant, that giant stapler. Do you remember those giant staplers where you could put books in and you had to throw your whole body weight onto the top of them to pierce the bloody staple through the paper?

Ryan Vella (00:35:38):
Yeah, I ended up buying some big long 50 centimeter stapler back in the nineties and I think I still got it that I used for all my mini comics when I used to do it myself. I got the printers to do it eventually just make it do a book. One of the me sitting there. Yeah, I did that a lot.

Leigh Chalker (00:35:58):
They’re good thoughts to think about. Hey it’s looking back on all that sort of stuff, man. Again, the process, it’s, I think when you’re in those moments of doing the creating and getting it all together, you don’t think about that side of things too much. Hey cuz I know I like to try once I’m in the zone it’s like get it out, get it out. And then later you think about, oh yeah that was heaps fun. But it is, it’s a strange compulsion. But doing this comic books thing, I guess what’s been the best thing for you doing it for so long, mate? I mean you’ve had a year or two off here and there, but you’ve never thrown the hat down, I assume all of us, you’ve had a few bumps and bruises mate, but you dusted yourself off and come back. Well,

Ryan Vella (00:36:58):
After Faffel I was burnt out and I stopped doing comics for three, two or three years. I didn’t do nothing really until I did that Jesus comic in 2005. What

Leigh Chalker (00:37:11):
Prompted that, prompted that comic book to as you come back, the deadly hands of Jesus Christ. What was it

Ryan Vella (00:37:19):
Then? I didn’t print it for a few years after I drew it

Leigh Chalker (00:37:22):
As

Ryan Vella (00:37:23):
Well. Oh I’m a Catholic boy my whole life at a Catholic school after drum into me. I know the Bible stuff back to front and I’ve always thought about doing a book about Jesus but making him hardcore. Yeah. Cause Jesus is actually, he’s a cool guy. So have him go nuts and break off the cross and kill a heap of people and just have a bit of fun. But yeah, that Catholic school education is make me, obviously people know my stuff, know I’m not a fan of any religion at all. But yeah, I think that’s come through and doing that

Leigh Chalker (00:38:02):
<laugh>. Well that was where I was going to earlier talking about the comic book man, I was wondering if you had a Catholic educated upbringing because <laugh>, I also have had one of those and I just recognize, I think that’s why I was having a chuckle at the comic book at the time when I first read it. Because in my mind I was thinking man, it’s like Ryan and I are almost the same upbringing here cuz in battle for Bustle I have a lot of motifs of crosses and priests and different things like that all stem back to going to church twice a week and things like that. It was do your rosary beads before bed, say that sort of thing. Yeah. Wasn’t militant, don’t get me wrong. But the schools I went to were fairly dominant I would say in their terms of you must learn this that sort of stuff.

(00:39:15):
But there’s people out there that find peace and all that sort of stuff. So God love you, good luck to you. It’s nothing to do with me but it just interested me man. So it’s like, I’m glad you said that cuz at least I know I’m not a lunatic from 12 months ago reading that comic book, having that thought that I bet you he went to a Catholic school. <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. No it’s a good book. Yeah, it’s a good book. So after that one, what was your next one? Oh, here we go. Dave Dye. Can you read that mate? Yeah. Right. Ryan, show us a page you have close to hand that you reckon you are pretty happy with and tell us what you like about it. Nice one Dave.

Ryan Vella (00:40:03):
That’s a good question, Dave. All right, well I’ll see here. What about page or something?

Leigh Chalker (00:40:13):
Anything you like, mate?

Ryan Vella (00:40:15):
Oh, I’ve got it all here. I know, I’m sure there’s a page here I like where stands out. Not a waste your time.

Leigh Chalker (00:40:26):
No, you’re right. We wanna see the goods. <laugh>.

Ryan Vella (00:40:31):
All right is page, is that right?

Leigh Chalker (00:40:35):
Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:40:37):
Well that seems cheating. That’s cheating. Oh here’s a random one. This is from the 24 hour comic.

Leigh Chalker (00:40:47):
Yep.

Ryan Vella (00:40:49):
Well Basical. Yeah, it’s got a guy there. He’s a bit of shooting but he’s in a shopping center. So I drew the shopping center map <laugh> with lots of blood and I in the hallways I know you see the little bodies. Yes. But it’s be what sections and stuff. So you see the wide out.

Leigh Chalker (00:41:18):
Yeah. Yeah. Now knowing you and for anyone else that’s watching that white out in this case being a 24 hour comic, you use white out to your advantage into further along your artistic process on page there. What were you doing mate? Were you covering mistakes in that case? Cuz it was really quick and happening and stuff

Ryan Vella (00:41:43):
Would’ve where I would’ve done the flicking of the spray for the blood. I would’ve done that. I only weren’t. Not as much. That happens a lot. <laugh>. Yeah. I use white out. I use <inaudible> a lot. Mostly now as well as cleanups. Yeah. I would add water there, I got rid of it. That’s all. Just brush and it’s splatter the gun.

Leigh Chalker (00:42:10):
Yeah, there’s plenty of texture there. A big blob of acrylic paint in the middle of that gun blast.

Ryan Vella (00:42:21):
No, that’s just more bits of white out.

Leigh Chalker (00:42:26):
Yeah. Right. Yeah dude, where did the white out and the flick that I would say is a signature of your art as well as your very deep, dark black inks. But where did the white out fascination come from? Was it just a happy accident one day on a page you were doing that you just sort of was like, Ooh, this is working. Was there a particular artist that grabbed you?

Ryan Vella (00:43:01):
Oh, for the splatter is Biley. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I love Biley.

Leigh Chalker (00:43:07):
What Biley stuff in particular?

Ryan Vella (00:43:09):
Well was an ad. So I got the very first

Leigh Chalker (00:43:13):
Part. ABC Worries.

Ryan Vella (00:43:16):
No it wasn’t. So I brought Flame the whole thing when I was collecting that and his answers blew me away. And obviously stuff a Lobo, but he’s bladders heaps with the white out. He use it a little bit. But I think it’s almost like me more emulating paint of Frank Miller’s stuff. Me using white out would to evolve from that. Like

Leigh Chalker (00:43:47):
Fairness in city. Are you when it came out?

Ryan Vella (00:43:50):
Yeah. Yeah. I really like that stuff. Not so much now. I like some of the scratchy stuff. I really like his art later on now it’s more deconstructed what he’s doing now. I love the best, which is really weird. So raw and loose and just that Holy, holy Terra is just splatter. The whole book is splatter. Yeah. Yeah. Mostly. And paint. I love that. Just sort of And as artists like Kent Williams. Yeah. And obviously, yeah,

Leigh Chalker (00:44:21):
I know Ken Williams, the painter from Wolverine back in the day

Ryan Vella (00:44:25):
And his book Kent Williams did that Wolverine graphic novel killing.

Leigh Chalker (00:44:32):
Yes he did. That was awesome.

Ryan Vella (00:44:35):
It’s so bizarre. When I first got it, I hated it. But just now I can’t get enough of that. It’s all soy and I just, how he draws is so sketchy and I really, I wanna get looser and looser I think with my heart.

Leigh Chalker (00:44:50):
Well he’s very energetic and you can tell I think he was using lots of, it wasn’t just a 0.5 market to do his ink in me man. He was using quills and paint brushes and just about anything he could do.

Ryan Vella (00:45:06):
And I love that. The bill, which is that we just like a retro assassin. It was just mixed media. I really wanna do that in my next book like that.

Leigh Chalker (00:45:15):
Yeah,

Ryan Vella (00:45:15):
Try to change it up panel by now. Seen by scene and page by page. Just try and do everything I can possibly think of and jam it into one book.

Leigh Chalker (00:45:25):
Cause essentially you are trying to improve as a storyteller because I wouldn’t just class you as an artist either mate. Like you are a writer, you’ve got ideas just pouring outta <laugh>. I mean I know that cuz it’s like we talk and that. But just looking as well from the books that you’ve brought out in the time that you’ve been doing comic books, there’s no shortage of ideas and things and enthusiasm on your behalf I guess. Are you attracted more to the art side of things than the writing? Or are there writers now that we’re talking about that spring to mind that have sort of rocked

Ryan Vella (00:46:11):
You a bit? Oh boys. I love Alan Moore. Yeah, obviously lots, his random stuff. And first of all, grant Morrison this is Garth. I suppose he’s always the most definitely you gotta have, I won’t draw it without the story that really captures me. You’ve gotta have the story. Otherwise, Liz, if it’s just, I’m really sick of just fighting stuff, I just wanna don’t know, have a really good story. Just sucked into sort of thing. Yeah, that’s the most important thing really. And storytelling. That’s why I love Steve Dto. Just his sense of telling where it’s poor. Tell the story then make the art nice if you want later sort of thing. And I think of that he all the time when I’m sort of penciling and doing layouts and all that, then I worry about how I’m gonna do the art later sort of thing. Even characters, I have the story written, but the characters I can interchange is the story that matters and oh, it doesn’t matter who’s doing it. Things sometimes on the character and it’s a big mashup job when I try to write stuff <laugh>, so many things I throw in and throw out and I rewrite. Especially with Turbo Supermax, I think I wrote the fourth issue four times. I leave it and come back, go, oh rewrite the whole thing and cause I get more ideas and just,

Leigh Chalker (00:47:39):
Well Turbo had a huge amount of characters in it mate in all of those. Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:47:50):
I counted all and drew them on a one page somewhere. I drew every character.

Leigh Chalker (00:47:55):
Yeah. How big was that page? Did just an A three.

Ryan Vella (00:47:59):
I tried to do it. Where’s Wally? I wanted to draw it all these little characters and actually put Where’s Wally there? Dead at the bottom, which is turbo, but we’re drawing really, really small <laugh>. Yeah, I just <inaudible> I think. Yeah, just look that good.

Leigh Chalker (00:48:17):
Oh man. God, I’ll tell you what’s your ideas? You’re just flowing things out. But I like Alan more too, man. I like some of his stuff. I guess he became a bit of a gun slinger at that Rob Liefeld image period. But when he was kicking Oh yeah, yeah. I watched a doco on Old Rob and he was paying him quite a bit of money to pump out those scripts, mate. I don’t think any of us would turn it down. But what was the Alan Moore book that grabbed you?

Ryan Vella (00:48:55):
I’m a huge fan of Miracle Man actually. Yeah. Yeah. I was always keen. They only come back more recently but I’ve always liked Watchman and all that. But it’s, it’s halo ball of Halo Jones. Yeah, that would’ve been the first time I read Alan Moore and I really like that. Yeah. D that’s, that’s

Leigh Chalker (00:49:11):
A classic 2000, that was 2000 ad was

Ryan Vella (00:49:13):
It? Yeah. Yeah. And Dr. Andre Quench, that’s another one he wrote back then for that. Some of those things. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I was way into 2000 ad and all those 2000 ad writers and artists all went to the US and they’re everything. They

Leigh Chalker (00:49:30):
All kicked into vertigo and stuff cuz I loved that run man. I only came to it probably in my mid maybe mid to late thirties was his Sandman run that he did. I was always aware of it and stuff, but sometimes you get the opportunity at a bookshop and the trade paperbacks are, they were 40 bucks but buy four for 25 and it was just like, yeah, I’ll take that home. And just jumped into that and yeah, he’s a good storyteller. Good long form storyteller. I think. Lots of issues, lots of groundwork and that.

Ryan Vella (00:50:14):
Yeah, he’s done a lot of good stuff too. Absolutely.

Leigh Chalker (00:50:18):
Oh, sand man and stuff.

Ryan Vella (00:50:21):
Actually. Sand man. I’ve only read a bit of the start. I’ve never read all the, I’ve lots of Neil Gaman but not much Sand Man. Yeah like Mr. Punch. Yeah. Got that book with Dave’s Art. I like that. Oh he’s done bits of done all sorts things.

Leigh Chalker (00:50:39):
I was yeah, he, he’s interesting artist to me. And he’s another Dave Mcca, he photography newspapers, just about anything he could get onto a page. I would assume that creative process would be something that would appeal to you as well. Yeah,

Ryan Vella (00:50:59):
Especially the photo. There’s a bit a panel and couple of panels and missed the punch where he is. Got the character, made the mask of the character, put it on a real person, got him out in the field, took a photo, then put that in the comic and it’s just, whoa. Got all that out for that. It’s amazing. It’s a photo of a person dressed from the character. It’s so cool.

Leigh Chalker (00:51:23):
Yeah, it is

Ryan Vella (00:51:24):
The time. I might even try to add

Leigh Chalker (00:51:27):
A bit of, I’ve tried to mate, what’s cool about it is that it was such a good idea that a young fell like yourself, saw it in a comic book and it blew your mind and wanted you to see more of his artwork man. So that’s gotta be a lovely tribute to him. Not for him knowing that he was doing that and someone out there was influenced by it. Cuz I noticed you’d put a post up the other day and you’re starting battery and you were talking about it the other night on Friday night drinking and draw. And in your post you were saying that you were gonna have a real crack at doing a lot of different mediums. So what’s your thoughts there mate? You’re gonna get out the inner Dave there and go and do these things.

Ryan Vella (00:52:23):
This is gonna be not me trying to do electro assassin basically. I’m not, I mean that’s type of where it’s, I gonna try every different style of whatever and the whole book. Some pencil pages, just pencil some just inked. I might even get some digital color on a couple of pages. Bit of paint, collage, photography, whatever. I can stick to the page man. It’ll go on there and just do a full color book of this random, so I’ve got the story written it’s a story that the color would actually help it a bit for certain bits cause there’s bits of fire in it and things, electricity and that’d be good in color rather the black and white book. Yeah,

Leigh Chalker (00:53:09):
I think I’m pretty sure you are gonna hit that with a whole heap of energy man. Cuz you got, you’re sort of buzzing there talking about it and they say you must,

Ryan Vella (00:53:19):
I wanna just, I’m gonna pencil these rosy pages. Me one Rosie and then that’s my next thing I’m gonna is battery had issued one.

Leigh Chalker (00:53:28):
And how many pages you reckon battery hen issue one’s gonna be, mate,

Ryan Vella (00:53:33):
I don’t wanna make it too big just for No I wanna try and make it 20 pages. Yep. Nothing bigger. Yeah, I’ll try and hold it in, but I wanna throw in a couple of splash pages somewhere too.

Leigh Chalker (00:53:48):
Oh mate. Oh hey, there’s nothing wrong with the splash page mate. I’ve been known to throw a few of them. <laugh>

Ryan Vella (00:53:55):
I must say doing a 24 hour comic, throw in some splash pages.

Leigh Chalker (00:54:01):
<laugh>

Ryan Vella (00:54:04):
I, I’d only did a couple but they saved so much time. I could have a rest. I can have something to eat. I can go to the toilet. Thank you. Splash page. So

Leigh Chalker (00:54:13):
Yeah. Hey. Oh gotta love, I’ve got a splash page mate. I look. There you go. Anyone out there wants to try a 24 comic book splash pages or savior. So there you go. At least give you a bit of time to go to the lou. So they’ll help you and you can quote Ryan on that.

Ryan Vella (00:54:34):
But then again those pages had what, 20 something panels?

Leigh Chalker (00:54:39):
<laugh>? Yeah, yeah

(00:54:42):
You do. Yeah, you do a lot of panels in a lot of pages too. But then you got a nice use of momentum with them mate, you know, don’t just sort of stick to a six block page, you know what I mean? Sometimes you could have four, but then the next page you come and it’s 15 or 16 panels and you can feel the momentum and the pace of it going which I like as well. Men that’s something I reckon that you do extremely well with your artwork and storytelling is when you are, there’s time for people and characters to speak. You allow the space for them to breathe so you can understand what’s happening in the process. But then you can also in a panel slip into just really well choreograph stuff like that. Zips you through a page and before you notice it, you’ve gone three or four pages through because the momentums just Carrie you along.

(00:55:53):
So that’s something I like about your artwork and No, that’s cool cuz yeah, I’ve gone back and had a look at a lot of your stuff man. Cuz having the opportunity to draw together and stuff mean and talk, you know, learn and look. And I think I don’t know if you sort of think the same, but it’s strange when you are inking someone else’s pencils, it sort of takes you page or two to pick up a rhythm and then when you get to beat you are like, yeah. On song with it. So I, I’ve noticed that a lot of your little intricacies and that have I guess sort of started flowing into mine a little bit. Man, I’m not plagiarizing you. I’d like to make that <laugh> stealing anything

Ryan Vella (00:56:51):
From, I’ve been stealing your smoke now. I’m stealing all your smoke techniques now.

Leigh Chalker (00:56:55):
Yeah. Oh man, I don’t even know where that came from man. Just covering feet. <laugh> went in doubt man. Back when I was learning, that’s where all the smoke came in was like if you notice some of those early issues of battle for Bustle, there’s some strategically placed smoke around their lower leg section. So there’s a trick for anyone out there too. That’s

Ryan Vella (00:57:18):
Right.

Leigh Chalker (00:57:23):
Obviously with your I guess appetite for creation and stuff, what’s your goal? What do you want to keep? What do you want from it and how do you want to get there? Are you what I mean by that? I guess are you happy with you, happy with where you are and what you’re doing in life and stuff? And as long as you can draw and you can flow with your stories and you can output in that. Are you happy or do you see yourself as publishing in 2000 ad or in an American company? Where do you see yourself? Cause I don’t see you stop at any time soon.

Ryan Vella (00:58:23):
I’m happy to do anything really. I definitely find those avenues before, but I sort of wait when things come to me and if someone asks me to do something, I’m usually like, yeah, I’ll do that. I’m pretty usually hunt for ever. I don’t go out my way to, I wanna work for this or years ago, but almost feel rude in people.

Leigh Chalker (00:58:55):
Why so

Ryan Vella (00:58:56):
Stuff or I feel, if anyone asks me, I’m always like, yeah, I’m happy to do, but I feel rude to publish my, it’s really, I feel like I’m imposing on them. I don’t know, they’ve always got this attitude that it’s not product, it’s a hobby, it’s fun, you know what I mean? Maybe cuz I have fun doing it.

Leigh Chalker (00:59:17):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (00:59:18):
That’s the money side of it’s pretty bothered me much now it eat now I so much, I eats up my time a lot and it does get to the point where, oh, the family and band and I can’t just sit around all time unless I’m getting something out of it. Yeah. Thing. But, oh, I’m sort of keen to stuff like a Marvel thing. Well

Leigh Chalker (00:59:55):
If Marvel tapped you on the shoulder and said, Hey Ryan, we want you to do Spiderman, what would you do?

Ryan Vella (01:00:02):
I can tell that’s, I said that for 20 years or more. If I did one issue with Spider-Man, that’s it. I’m done. I’ve achieved everything I could. Cause that was the, I used to love Spiderman, the little tidy kid. I think I ever did anything. Spider-Man. I’d be like, that’s it. Yeah. I don’t need to do anything else ever in my life.

Leigh Chalker (01:00:26):
Oh, I actually, I think that would be a huge achievement, man to do an issue with Spiderman. I think

Ryan Vella (01:00:34):
Draw all the buildings, but it’d be good Spider, the normal, these other ones, it’s classic costume.

Leigh Chalker (01:00:44):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (01:00:44):
Aunt MAs alive. Nothing weird, nothing continuity now who’s alive and dead? But just the old school spot.

Leigh Chalker (01:00:56):
Yeah. The young fella going through his wears and stuff, mate like

Ryan Vella (01:01:00):
Yeah. Just like I’d love to get my hands on that and do

Leigh Chalker (01:01:07):
Yeah, the trials and tribulations of Youth Spider.

Ryan Vella (01:01:12):
Do a proper legit and do a crazy,

Leigh Chalker (01:01:17):
Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Vella (01:01:18):
Try and oh be amazing. DC I’ve always had a soft spot for Greenland guy.

Leigh Chalker (01:01:27):
Yeah.

Ryan Vella (01:01:28):
Or I Greenland call, but I don’t really like the comics or the movie. Obviously no one likes the movie, but I love the what

Leigh Chalker (01:01:41):
In. Who’s the one Australian character that you haven’t done that you’d like to have a crack at mate

Ryan Vella (01:01:55):
Picture of? Oh, I’ve always had a soft spot for Southern

Leigh Chalker (01:02:05):
<affirmative>.

Ryan Vella (01:02:06):
Cool.

Leigh Chalker (01:02:08):
Yeah, they’re a unique set of characters. The old Southern squadron. Well you did that drawing recently, didn’t you? Of them in that alleyway and that had heaps of bits and pieces of old magazines and stuff. You were telling me all

Ryan Vella (01:02:27):
Yeah, <inaudible> stuff like from old, just usually old. Usually the ads and old picture. And I used to a lot of that collage background on walls with posters and stuff sort of thing. Just a bit. And it comes out cool. Black and white copy, I mean photocopy.

Leigh Chalker (01:02:53):
Yeah, yeah, like newspaper ads, text, yeah, ads essentially. I guess you’re painting to a certain extent, aren’t you, with all that different stuff.

Ryan Vella (01:03:04):
Yeah. I guess you come more arty and

Leigh Chalker (01:03:07):
Yeah, we arty, we artists like to be arty. Yeah, <laugh>. That’s

Ryan Vella (01:03:12):
Right,

Leigh Chalker (01:03:13):
That’s right. You have a sip on our cheeky shotty like fuck. Next time you see me I’ll have one of those big bloody rods sticking out the end of me fucking cigarette. And I’ll be like smoking about here and a mole. I want a mole <laugh> roll with that now mate. Last question because we’re rolling into the end of our time. What’s your so far, what’s your greatest achievement within yourself that you’ve done with comics? Where have you been the most happy?

Ryan Vella (01:03:58):
Definitely. Oh definitely all I done comics again after having a break for a couple years. Again, the start of last year. So gotta think.

(01:04:19):
I have to say the thing that I started on, which was <inaudible> asking me to draw that story which is coming out. Coming out I think. But that was such a big deal, like him asking me to do that, I had no contact with him before and he’s the guy that drew that first southern squadron that I ever read and him asking me to do that. What? So I used to read, I had those Morten Stone undertaker that Ashley Wood ones and yeah, I read them and they come out and I love them. So to be drawing that woo, what the, I’m just some underground guy. What’s a what? So I think that, and that’s coming out and I do the front cover too.

Leigh Chalker (01:05:10):
Yeah,

Ryan Vella (01:05:10):
I’m really proud of that. And that was the very first thing I did was the cover. Then I did the story. So I think, yeah, that so thank you Gary.

Leigh Chalker (01:05:24):
Oh, Mr. Chaan is a champion, isn’t he? Hey, double thumbs up from me too for Mr. Chal. Absolutely mate. What’s your the one thing that you can lesson you’ve learnt that you could pass on to anyone else that’s watching that maybe stapling their own mini comics out there together and starting off somewhere, mate,

Ryan Vella (01:05:52):
Just do it. <affirmative> or this or dodgy or dodgy. You just don’t need anything flash. You don’t need someone company to hire. You can just draw the art, you can put it online, you can go down to your print shop and you make this into a book and then you’ve got a heap of comics. So you can just do it yourself. And don’t worry about, oh my lettering’s not good enough or this is just do it. It’s fun. I always go to the philosophy of Dave Cho. Dave Cho the artist, here’s my guru. Now I think with philosophy, just do it. Just don’t worry about anything stuff. Pencils, just start inking. Like just, that’s so cool. No such thing as mistakes. Just a laugh. I know it sounds odd. Oh you know, be a punk man. Just make your own comments.

Leigh Chalker (01:06:58):
I think that’s there. I think that’s perfect advice, mate. I think that sums you up very, very well, mate. That advice to anyone out there that’s listening, just give it a bloody go mate. Punky fuss all the way energy and just have a good old

Ryan Vella (01:07:15):
Crap. Then send me a copy. Do it. Send me a copy and I’ll send you some stuff. You know what I mean? Make the whole come around, man. That’s what got me into it. You know what I mean?

Leigh Chalker (01:07:25):
Now, but before we roll to a close, where can we find any of your comics. Some of your comics, I know there’s a fair few of them on the comics shop site.

Ryan Vella (01:07:37):
That’s where it’s gonna be heading to the come shop basically. And when I do my reprints, I’ll be send them to Sizzle and the come shop and he can sell ’em if he’d like to. But that that’s gonna be the place or they just contact me. But I’m in the process. So I get some stuff printed soon. I’m gonna print my short story compilation called Dead Stuff. That’s gonna be the first book I’m gonna reprint. I’m gonna do that very soon. That’ll be the first one then probably a hyperactive shooter, the 24-hour comic.

Leigh Chalker (01:08:16):
Yep.

Ryan Vella (01:08:19):
I’m not sure after that which one to do. I’ve got the Spider-Man bootleg. I’ll make some copies of, I can’t sell that. I’ll give ’em out to some random people.

Leigh Chalker (01:08:29):
Make sure you chuck that fish story in one of them, the one that’s never been printed.

Ryan Vella (01:08:35):
I’ll find, I’ll check it up with Facebook for the fish one I think. Yeah,

Leigh Chalker (01:08:40):
I’m sure there’d be a lot of people who’d love to see that mate. Alright buddy we might bring it to a close for the first episode. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself man. Cuz I always enjoyed talking you. I haven’t. Yeah, no it’s great mate. So I love

Ryan Vella (01:08:57):
That. Enjoyed my dribble.

Leigh Chalker (01:08:59):
No mate, don’t. Don’t stress about that. Loved it. Every minute of it. Got to learn more about you, your process, everything like that man. It’s perfect to me. But I would implore anyone to try and track down Summer Ryan’s work. As I said it’s on the come shop come network, which we’re sponsored through and does this show every Tuesday night. Ryan’s a regular on Friday night drinking draws as well. And as he said, he’s on Facebook and reach out and contact him mate, he’s a likable fellow and he’s a good mate of mine and someone whose artwork I greatly appreciate and look forward to. Well inking and penciling with him more in the future as time goes on mate. So Ryan, thank you very much bud and

Ryan Vella (01:09:50):
Thank you Lee.

Leigh Chalker (01:09:51):
That’s alright mate. Anytime. So we’re gonna sign off this evening. Thank you very much for watching the first episode of Tuesday next week. We will be back at 7:30 PM on Tuesday with Mr. Peter Lane from Sky’s Karn Library to see how he answers the six prompts and we’ll see what’s happening there. But thank you very much for watching. Thank you for Ron. Thank you for Comex. And always remember community is unity.