Ten Questions: Tom Brazelton of Theater Hopper

1. Go on, pitch Theater Hopper to our readers.
   Theater Hopper is the Internet’s longest-running movie-themed webcomic and it’s all about making fun of the newest releases from the audience perspective – what people really think about the plots of big movies and small independent features, the movie-going experience, celebrity worship – the whole nine yards. All fertile ground for comedy!
2. How did you get started making webcomics about movies?
   At first, Theater Hopper was an excuse to teach myself how to design web pages. I wasn’t comfortable building mock ups unless it contained content I was passionate about. Design, cartooning, writing and movies fit the bill. Also, I was just starting to get into reading webcomics at the time. Citing Penny Arcade and PvP as influences, I looked at the creators and thought to myself “If they can do it, why can’t I?” Five and a half years later, here I am!
3. Do you consider yourself a movie critic? Or do readers sometimes take your opinions too seriously?
   Criticism in general is kind of a dubious profession, so I’m careful not to identify myself as one with any kind of legitimacy. Anyone with an opinion and an audience to hear it can be considered a critic. What brought me my audience was my comics, not my criticisms – so I don’t pretend that’s the reason they’re visiting my site and I don’t go around claiming I’m something I’m not. Rather, I characterize myself as a fan like anyone else who has strong opinions about his various passions – primarily movies.
   That said, I’ve had people tell me they get more out of my blog than they do out of my comics. I’ve been told I’m a better critic than a cartoonist. But that just plays into the versatility the web allows. If I can’t get your attention one way, I’ll get it another. Anyone who takes the time to check out what I’m doing is a friend of mine – bottom line.
4. What is more important to you as a creator, the art or the writing? Why?
   I try to push myself in both directions because I believe anything worth doing is worth doing 100%. Most of my process is mostly flying by the seat of your pants, but I try to educate myself on better ways to approach illustration and writing. I read a lot of books on cartooning and comedy. Plus, I just try to stay plugged in to pop culture to stay relevant.
   But if I was forced to choose, I would have to say writing is more important. Because if you don’t have an idea to hang your hat on, no amount of beautiful artwork in the world is going to distract from that. You can try to dazzle people all you like and some people will fall for it. But most people see right through the deception.
5. Obviously, your comic is semi-autobiographical, with at least two of the main characters (yourself and your wife) based on real people. Has Comic-Tom grown apart from you over the years? What about the comic itself?
   That’s a great question, but I have to admit I don’t give it much conscious thought. For comedic effect, I’ll make Comic-Tom more offensive or ignorant about his surroundings. But, for the most part, I’d say we’ve grown more together than apart.
   In the past, I would make a more conscious effort to see things from both sides. But that complicates joke-writing to a degree. It’s much easier to take a hard line on some of your opinions even if your in the minority or even if your wrong because – if nothing else – it gets people talking (and you might actually hit on a hard truth while you’re at it). I find myself taking more of that no-holds-barred approach in my personal life, but part of my wonders if that is more due to my advancing age than anything else…
6. How do you find your artwork has evolved since Theater Hopper began?
   It’s leveled out a great deal. When I first started, I was WILDLY inconsistent. I couldn’t get the characters to look the same panel-to-panel let alone comic-to-comic. So it felt good to finally nail down my approach to how I rendered them because I felt like there was real thought and concern behind the character designs and not just happenstance. With that out of the way, I’m free to experiment more with body language, expressions and staging. I wouldn’t say I’m excellent in any of those areas, but I’m advancing my craft in small doses.
7. Recently things have changed at the comic and the website, with the birth of your son and your addition of movie reviews to the site. Do you feel this has changed the comic?
   This is a particularly timely question since my son just celebrated his first birthday recently.
   I think when he was born, there was a real question as to the future of Theater Hopper – if I would be able to juggle the demands of a thrice-weekly full-color comic and blog with the responsibilities of being a parent. The movie reviews were a way to keep content flowing into the site while I was making the transition and those have since been scaled back as I’ve gotten back on schedule with the weekly updates.
   I don’t know if these events have changed the comic necessarily. I guess it depends on what you mean by change. I think the quality of the comics has certainly improved. I think I’m writing some of my best stuff right now. But how much this has to do with my family situation, I can’t say.
   Have the reviews changed the comic? Again, I don’t know. I feel like it’s something I want to continue. I’m working on a redesign right now that makes the reviews feel less like an interruption in the archives and is more fully integrated into the site.
   Overall, I would say the life change placed stress on the comic because it pushed it down my list in terms of priorities. But it’s still important to me, so it’s been a question of “Okay, how can I juggle this along with my other responsibilities.” Like learning any new skill, it takes some time to work out the kinks. But I think it’s improved over where it was a year ago.
8. The Triple Feature Talkcast sounds like the delicious lovechild of not just you, but two other movie-loving webcomic creators. Care to talk about its conception?
   The Triple Feature is a weekly podcast about movies featuring myself, Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. Again, it’s just another example of how I was following in the footsteps other creators.
   Scott Kurtz from PvP stumbled onto TalkShoe and started his own talkcast. I listened to his shows and even participated in a few before I decided to try my hand at it. The first few shows were just me talking about nonsense for hours on end. Eventually, a couple of my webcomic friends called in – people I know personally, trade e-mails with and have met at conventions.
   When Joe and Gordon called in on the third show, things just clicked. It made good sense between the three of us to say “Hey, we all have movie-themed webcomics. Why don’t we do a show where we talk about movies?” It was really just another way to draw attention to our comics to people who maybe weren’t that into them.
   It’s been hard to judge our impact over the year or so that we’ve been doing the show, but we always get great feedback. I’ve gotten e-mails from people who’ve said, “I’m a big fan of Gordon’s comic, but never read yours until after The Triple Feature and now I love it.” So it’s been a very effective tool for cross promotion while at the same time providing an opportunity for three friends to get together and just talk shop for a little while.
   I don’t have friends in the “real world” that are as much into movies as these two, so it’s a real treat to sit down with them every week and talk about what’s new in movies and what we’re excited about.
9. Any advice for aspiring webcomic creators?
   The longer I’ve been in the game, the more difficult I find it to advise aspiring creators. The playing field has changed somewhat since I first worked to establish myself. Social media, for example plays a huge part in how you can attract readers to your site.
   But that kind of stuff isn’t really what it’s about. More than anything, you have to practice the fundamentals. Pick a few good drawing books and study them. I recommend Action! Cartooning by Ben Caldwell. Make every effort to simplify your writing. High concept is fine, but you have to sell your ideas quickly – especially on the internet. If we were riding in an elevator together, do you think you could communicate your idea before I stepped off onto my floor?
   Beyond that, create a schedule and stick to it. If you only update once a week, communicate that to your readers and hit your deadlines. People don’t tolerate tariness in the “real world” and they won’t show mercy for it online, either. People have to know you’re reliable – that if you make a promise of content at a certain time, it better be there. If it isn’t you’d better have a good excuse. Because the internet is a big, bad, ugly frontier and there are a lot of time-wasting web sites competing for your audience’s attention. You have to deliver the content to them in the manner that makes it easiest for them to assimilate it or they will write you off before you can bat an eye.
   Stick to those guidelines and eventually the audience will find you. Do a little marketing if you can. Trade links with other creators, try to join webcomic communities, build a little word of mouth. But nothing will sell you work more than fundimental quality and satisfied expectations!
10. Favorite ice cream flavour?
    It usually comes down to either Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Because I’m never satisfied with just one flavor.

Thanks, Tom!

Theater Hopper can be read at www.theaterhopper.com.

Tags: Followings, interview, Movies, Ten Questions, Theater Hopper, Tom Brazelton, webcomics