Talking with Tomm Gabbard of Mysterious Visions After Hours

ComicNews.Info recently conducted an email interview with Tomm Gabbard, Editor & Art Director of Mysterious Visions Afterhours, a horror anthology from Dimestore Productions.

Could you give the ComicNews.Info readers a little background about yourself?

SURE THING,

I WAS BORN IN 1966 IN NEWPORT KENTUCKY,

RAISED IN COVINGTON KY,

GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL IN 1984, AND FINISHED COLLEGE IN 1987.

STARTED BUYING COMICS BEFORE I COULD READ,

I WOULD VISIT MY GRANDFATHER ON WEEKENDS, AND HE WOULD GIVE MY TWO BROTHERS AND I $2.OO EACH,

AND WE WOULD IMMEDIATLY BEG OUR PARENTS TO TAKE US TO THE LOCAL CONVENIANCE STORE. (THEY HAD COMIC RACKS BACK IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES)

AND SPEND MOST OF OUR MONEY ON COMICS.

I CAN REMEMBER LOOKING AT THE ART IN AN ISSUE OF “WARLOCK”

BY JIM STARLIN, I LOVED THAT STUFF!

WELL, IN 2007 I WAS INKER ON A PROJECT TITLED “PINNACLE” THAT HAD BEEN ENTERED INTO THE “SMALL PRESS IDOL” CONTEST, HOSTED BY DIMESTORE PRODUCTIONS,

AND WHILE WE DIDN’T WIN, WE DID FINISH IN THE TOP TEN,

AND IN THE PROCESS OF BEING IN THE CONTEST, I DEVELOPED A FRIENDSHIP WITH IAN SHIRES,

OWNER / OPERATOR OF DIMESTORE PRODUCTIONS.

AND I MENTIONED TO IAN, THAT I WOULD LOVE TO WORK ON AN ANTHOLOGY PROJECT, MINI SERIES, OR ONE SHOT, SOMETHING IN THE HORROR VEIN.

AND IAN MENTIONED THAT DIMESTORE HAD A HORROR ANTHOLOGY SERIES,

“MYSTERIOUS VISIONS AFTER HOURS”

THAT WAS CURRENTLY ON HIATUS,

IT JUST NEEDED AN EDITOR THAT COULD TAKE THE TIME TO MAKE IT WORK.

SO I JUST DOVE RIGHT INTO IT.

ISSUE TWO WAS MY FIRST ISSUE AS EDITOR / ART DIRECTOR.

ISSUE THREE IS CURRENTLY UP FOR PRE-SALE ON THE DIMESTORE DISTRO SITE,

AND THE NEXT FEW ISSUES ARE JUST ABOUT READY TO GO AS WELL.

NOT AT ALL, LOL

THE PAGE RANGE FOR “AFTER HOURS” TENDS TO RUN FROM 50 TO 80 PAGES PER ISSUE,

NORMALLY YOU WILL SEE ANYWHERE FROM FOUR TO TEN STORIES PER ISSUE,

AND I’M TRYING TO FIND THE BEST SMALL PRESS CREATORS IN THE BUSINESS, IN ORDER TO REALLY MAKE THIS TITLE SHINE.

WHAT READERS WILL WALK AWAY WITH FROM AFTER HOURS,

(HOPEFULLY) IS A COMBINATION OF,

CHILLS, FEAR, DISGUST, AND MAYBE A FEW LAUGHS.

IT REALLY JUST DEPENDS ON THE STORIES OFFERED IN EACH ISSUE.

I GIVE THE CREATORS TOTAL FREEDOM WITH THEIR SUBMISSIONS,

SO LONG AS I CAN FIND A WAY TO FIT IT UNDER THE “HORROR UMBRELLA

LOL

WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON DIGITAL VERSIONS OF EACH ISSUE,

THEY WILL BE SOLD SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE PRINT VERSIONS ON THE DIMESTORE SITE,

COMING VERY SOON

YES, ISSUES CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES

ISSUE 2

http://www.dimestoredistro.com/mysteriousvisionsafterhours2-p-1007.html

ISSUE 3

http://www.dimestoredistro.com/mysteriousvisionsafterhours3-p-1033.html

AS “AFTER HOURS” IS AN ANTHOLOGY TITLE,

THERE HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS TO GRACE THE PAGES,

SOME FOLKS LIKE,

CHRIS MCJUNKIN, ALEX NESS, BART THOMPSON, MYSELF (TOMM GABBARD)

AND MANY MANY MORE

WORK!

IF YOU WRITE,

WRITE CONSTANTLY!

IF YOU DRAW,

DRAW ALL THE TIME!

PERFECT YOUR CRAFT!

BE THE BEST YOU POSSIBLY CAN!

AND THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS,

DO NOT EXPECT TO MAKE ANY MONEY!

SMALL PRESS IS WHERE YOU LEARN THE ROPES,

WHERE YOU PAY YOUR DUES!

DEMANDING UP FRONT PAY, WHEN YOU HAVE HAD LITTLE, OR NOTHING PUBLISHED,

WILL END YOUR CAREER. GET A DAY JOB, AND DO LOTS OF BACK END PAYING JOBS,

OR EVEN JOBS THAT PAY ONLY WITH PUBLICATION,

YOU NEED TO PROVE TO EDITORS, AND PUBLISHERS, THAT YOU CAN FINISH A JOB, AND MEET DEADLINES.

DON’T GET GREEDY,AND DON’T BE LAZY.

WORK HARD, DO YOUR BEST, AND ALWAYS BE WILLING TO LEARN!

I’M NEARLY 42 YEARS OLD, AND I’M STILL LEARNING!

I’VE BEEN WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY, ON AND OFF,SINCE 1986,

AND I STILL DO LOTS OF WORK FOR LITTLE OR NO PAY, BECAUSE I LOVE THE INDUSTRY.

TOO MANY YOUNG ARTISTS AND WRITERS THINK AT THE AGE OF 26, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES DOING COMICS.

I WISH THAT WERE MORE POSSIBLE, BUT DON’T COUNT ON IT.

IT’S A ROUGH BUSINESS! YOU HAVE TO MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF BEFORE YOU EVEN HAVE A SLIM CHANCE OF MAKING A LIVING, LET ALONE GET RICH AND FAMOUS.

DO COMICS FOR THE LOVE OF THE MEDIUM, NOT FOR THE MONEY!

(SORRY, I HAVE A TENDANCY TO RANT.LOL)

You can check out more of Tomm Gabbards work by visiting the following websites.

Personal site,
with lots of samples of my stuff
http://www.comicspace.com/tomm_gabbard

and second, the after hours anthology website
http://www.comicspace.com/after_hours/

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