We are finally back with interviews, and who better to kick it off than with Genejoke, one of the most prolific, helpful, and active creators in the Duck!

Genejoke is invaluable in many group projects, including our top event, the Drunk Duck Awards, and its side event the Red Carpet. He also makes reviews of other webcomics by DDers on the site that are themselves fun little collaborations with other webcomic artists.

With all this incredible range of work, today we get to learn about him from himself directly, so let's get to it!

1. First things first. Tell us about yourself! (feel free to add photos!)

I'm a disabled weirdo in my late forties who makes bad comics and I hail from the south of England. By disabled I mean I can barely walk these days. I also have severe nerve damage in both hands, so traditional art is hard work these days. As well as doing comics I dabble in game development and gaming in general, mainly retro stuff.

2. Now tell us about your comics!

Yes… Well there's Lite Bites, an anthology and community project which is a mixture of short stories and reviews.


A bunch are on hiatus and I recently deleted some as well during a creative burnout.

Albion is a star trek fan comic that has been on hiatus for a while. A touch of burnout and the original motivation for making it became a little irrelevant.



B.A.S.O. is pretty much dead, it's been on hiatus so long I lost the feel for it.


Covent of order is a new comic that hasn't gotten very far, it's a space opera/legal drama that I need to get back to soon.


Lore is a long defunct fantasy epic. again one I'm too distant from to continue without restarting it as I would do it differently now.


Oblique is a sci fi drama that started with art from Davidxolukoga, but as he has largely fallen off making comics I started over with my own art, but it's been slow going.


Peregrination is a light hearted space opera that I have been failing to update recently. There's a pattern here. Although it's mainly as I am trying to focus on finishing other projects.


The Mournbringer is a fantasy/sci-fi/super hero-ish story, that has been on hiatus, but I have recent started continuing it with my own art as it seems David will not be able to finish it and there are only a couple of chapters left.



3. When did you discover the world of webcomics? What was the first webcomic you recall reading (and enjoying especially)? (by Amelius)

Around 2010, although I was a long time comics fan I had hardly looked at webcomics. I had starting drawing again after many years being too busy to do anything. Drawing comics is something I had enjoyed in my teens but like many it fell by the wayside, I started drawing again and a friend suggested doing a webcomic. At the time I was largely oblivious to them so lots of research ended up with me finding drunkduck. The first I recall really getting into was Shades by DAJB right here on DD, since then it has of course spiralled.

4.When you first start thinking a story, is your fist idea the beginning? the ending? or perhaps some character, or something else? (By Marcorossi)

Often it's the basic concept, or a vibe/genre I want to play in and it builds from there. One of my now deleted comics, Mountains and Molehills, came from hearing people saying what fantasy worlds they would like to live in and imagining 40 somethings thrust into a medieval fantasy without their medication and modern world conveniences. Sadly I deviated from my original outline and I wasn't happy with the direction it went.

In a different vein, the original seed of Oblique came from a dream where I found myself in a broken down world of fog. trying to figure out the wider story I pulled together a few ideas that had been lurking in my brain pan a while and weaved them together.

5.Show (or tell) us where the magic happens! Do you have a dedicated workspace or something else altogether? (feel free to add photos!)

It's largely my PC, nothing exciting or unusual. Well when it comes to writing I do most of that on my phone, so my workspace is wherever I happen to be.

6. How do you organize a community project like Lite Bites? What are some pros and cons of your experience doing it?

It mainly involves monthly sacrifices to ancient deities. Well tbh it's very hotch potch and I'm rarely on top of it and should push it more. Most of the organization is in my head, it doesn't take much as long as I keep it ticking along. The main PRO is collaboration feeding inspiration. That and seeing different sides to creators and the friends I made along the way. Comicking is often a fairly solitary hobby and community projects help bring people together. Folks like Gunwallace, El cid, Banes, DavidxoLukoga, and Zero Hour, to name just a few, have really helped give life to Lite Bites.

As for CONs well DD isn't as vibrant and lively as it once was, it's often hard to get people interested, some things I've tried have fallen flat on their face. Also I'm essentially getting people to write and draw stuff for free while they probably have a job and their own projects to be getting on with, and I'm not offering a whole lot in return. Granted Lite bites sits in the top ten on DD most of the time these days and it may get extra eyes on their work… “may” being the operative word. I feel like a pub owner trying to get bands to perform for free saying it's good exposure.

It's hard to nag at people or push for deadlines without feeling like an pushy asshat. At times it feels less of a community project than I'd like, and more of an anthology of my own work.


7. Which do you enjoy more? Writing or drawing your comics? (By Spooky Kitsune)
Yes! I'm inclined to say artwork, but when I get going with writing I absolutely love it.

8. What do you hate and love the most about the creative process? (by Bravo1102)
I really don't like lettering, or colouring. I love starting a new project but hate the latter end of a project and trying to push through to completion. However I absolutely love actually finishing a project.

9. Let’s talk about your own comic characters! Tell us about them and post an image of them!


Naturally having lots of comics there's lots of characters to choose from, but as I'm working on finishing The Mournbringer it seems appropriate to pick a character from that.

Jake Latham is the protagonist of the comic, while running away from a local gang Jake hid in an abandoned military facility and encountered a strange man strapped to a nuclear missile. The man offered to deal with the gang in exchange for being freed. Jake's decision drastically changes the course of his life, and maybe the course of history.



Essentially Jake is a blank slate when the story begins, a regular teenager in an alternate version of our world loosely based upon Arthurian legend. He suffers tragedy and is cursed to become the next vessel of the Mournbringer. Through the comic he gets put through the wringer as he learns what awaits him and shares his mind with the Mournbringer as it gradually overtakes him.



10. Are your characters inspired by anyone or anything? How do you come up with them in general?

They can be, they're often inspired by people I know. Some are inspired by wanting to reinterpret popular character archetypes. I tend to lean towards the “everyman” type of character, regular folks thrust into strange or difficult situations. As someone that struggles with mental health issues that is also an insiration

11. Have any of your characters run away with the plot? What happened?

Yes, in the now deleted Mountains and Molehills the character Paul who was intended to be the first to be killed off became my favourite characters and I started to rework the story to have him survive, which led to changes that made me dissatisfied with he results and losing interest in the project and eventual deletion of the comic.

12. What are the tools of your trade? (By John Celestri)

A desktop PC, a mouse, Daz studio, Blender, and G.I.M.P.

13. Show us your favorite pages from each of your comics. Why are they your favorite?

Lite Bites. This reveal moment came out just as I intended and sticks in my mind. With so many pages to choose from it was hard to decide on a favourite but I settled on one with my artwork.


The Mournbringer. David did a fantastic job illustrating the scene. it's not overly dramatic or exciting, but it conveys what I imagined when writing perfectly.


Peregrination.
Mainly for the last panel, who doesn't love a bit of gratuitous spaceship imagery?


Lore.
Silhouettes, fire and lightning. I like how this came out.


BASO Skreem killed it with this page


14. Now show us the pages you like the least from each of your comics. What don’t you like about them?

Lite Bites
The filters used for the story really muddied the details on this page.


Lore.
The colouring and inking are AWFUL!


15. What are some tropes you want to use in stories but haven’t yet?

Hmmm, well I don't really think in terms of tropes so I can't really give that an answer. Although, many stories I've come up with have unintentionally fallen into tropes I hadn't considered when coming up with them. Or I try to subvert a common trope and find it's been done before and I abandon the idea.

16. How would you describe your relationship with your work? (By Amelius)

Love/Hate. Pretty sure most creatives can relate to that to some degree. What I find hardest is staying focused on a project long term. I'm high function autistic and bipolar so I'll often work on something obsessively until I burn out on it, trying to get back into making something after a burnout is difficult for me. Which is why I have many unfinished projects… And probably why Lite bites works well for me.
It's a creative outlet, obviously, and I'd say keeps me sane(ish) especially through bouts of depression.

17. If money was no object, which story of yours would you want to see on the big screen and in what form? (animation, live action, cast/voice actor cast, etc)

Live action would probably suit most of my stuff best. Casting would be tough as I'd probably go for unknown character actors. Although the guy from Reacher would be a good fit for Stavlov from BASO.

18. How did you come up with your user name and comic title(s)? What do they mean (if it isn't obvious)? (by Paul Eberhardt)

Genejoke is an insult taken from the X-men comics, Genetic Joke, or a joke of genetics. Comic titles vary naturally. B.A.S.O. was an acronym for big ass space opera because I couldn't think of a better title. The now deleted Malefic was named to imply bad and evil but some people mistook it to mean male fiction…
Oblique was originally a title of a different story for Lite bites as I wanted something a little vague that implied it might not be what it first appeared. it fit better a longer story I was writing, which became the comic Oblique. Others are just on often simply fairly on the nose. Mountains and molehills was a play on the saying and dungeons and dragons.

19. Are there any fun little tidbits about your comic that you want to share? Examples: hidden easter eggs, funny facts about your characters that won't make it into the comic, funny rejected ideas, etc. (by Casscade)

There are often cameos in the backgrounds, sometimes characters from my other comics or occasionally from other peoples or from mainstream media. Some bit part characters get named for DD regulars, not usually directly, but if anyone ever wondered if a character was named after them, it probably was.


20. Finally, Chicago or New York pizza?

Chicago… I think. I often buy Chicago pizzas at the store anyway. beyond that I wouldn't really know the difference.


Thank you Genejoke for this awesome interview!


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