All right, it's 1030 pm on Monday night - I'm finished ogling the women on HBO's ENTOURAGE and done with my weekly G.I. Joe action figure battle with Billy in apartment 10E. I'm liquored up on gin and Listerine strips and pushing off writing a column for Scryptic Studios and the last fifteen pages of THE BIG KAHN, my second graphic novel for NBM Publishing with Scott (DAYS LIKE THESE, SCANDALOUS) Chantler.

I'd like to implode face first into my bed, mere feet from boxes of NINETY CANDLES and dog-eared issues of LOKI but first I promised Dana that I'd answer some questions about comics.

So here we go.

Neil, thanks for the intro -- let's start this interview off with you telling us about yourself.

NK: What's to tell? Born to poor sharecroppers right before the Star Wars revolution, my childhood was fairly uneventful. Schooled by Rabbeim of varying social stature, summers on the isles of Boblo and Mackinac surrounded by mediocre delis and even more mediocre local parks, I fled Detroit by Hobo Rail at the tender age of eleven. Fending for myself in Inter-continental Hobo Knife Fights, I quickly learned to defend my body with the only talent I possessed: the buck-and-wing. Eventually, I turned to drawing and writing comics as a way to give my knees a rest while still doling out comedic hoohah.

These days I find myself in a posh 3 bedroom on Manhattan's Upper West Side. I wake up screaming each night to a grand view of Central Park and begin toiling on acclaimed comics such as Ninety Candles, my Xeric-winning graphic novella; and my upcoming graphic novels: Brownsville and The Big Kahn, both from NBM Publishing (a finer purveyor of graphic illustration you'll never find). There's also Bit City, a 128 page tome about cops with the name "Vector" and assorted mini-comics, cartoon stories and work for hire, usually about Jews, knives and Jews with knives.

During the day I work as an art director. But I live for the nights when I ice dance for the adoration of Scandinavian tourists.

Look, pretty: www.rantcomics.com

Now, tell us about your Xeric-winning graphic novella, Ninety Candles.

NK: Ninety Candles, a 48 page graphic novella funded by a grant from the Xeric Foundation, is a completely improvisational comic book - no script, no net. Each panel of Ninety Candles represents a consecutive year in the life of its protagonist, Kevin Hall. The "spaces" between panels morph into "spaces" between years and as such the reader experiences our intrepid cartoonist's life, the decisions that shape his existence from birth to death.

More information can be found: http://www.rantcomics.com/rant-ninetycandles.html

When you came up with the concept for Ninety Candles was it the story narrative or the improvisational idea that came first? Or was it something else?

NK: Well, that depends - is life a narrative? If so, the narrative. I knew I wanted to do something about a person's life. I just didn't know what the actual narrative was going to be - that was the improv part.

So, to answer your question, "the egg."

Do you and the main character relate to one another?

NK: He stays away from my wimmen and I stay away from his!

I suppose Kevin Hall's story is my "projected" autobiography… I mean, a lot of the first 30 pages of the book are how my life turned out (apart from being married, I guess)… but I don't know. I guess it's rather presumptuous of me to think I'm going to win an Eisner, eh?

Hello, Eisner judges!

Would have Ninety Candles seen print without the financial aid of the Xeric Foundation?

NK: Probably not. To be honest, I stopped working on it at panel 60 around the time I submitted it to the Xeric Foundation. I was starting working on some scripts and such and was having trouble sticking to the panel-per-day schedule...so I sent it off and made a promise that if I won the grant, I'd finish it. If I didn't, oh well - failed experiment. Thankfully I won, right?

The Xeric Foundation is a godsend. They're really supporting some fantastic creators who simply don't have the cash to put out some amazing books. Folks like Josh Neufeld, Ben Catmull, Lauren Weinstein, Sam Hiti and more were able to achieve their dream book with the help of the Xeric Grant and I'm honored to be included in the presence of some amazing books.

You are originally from Detroit - did you move to NYC in pursuit of a career in comics?

NK: No, I moved to NYC in pursuit of moving out of Detroit.

The comics thing just worked itself out. Hell, for my first two years here I was acting instead of doing comics! I didn't do my first mini 'til 2002.

Was Detroit that bad?

NK: Well, let's get past the fact that everyone who hears I'm from Detroit asks me "oh, have you been to Eight Mile?" and the fact that I know at least ten Michigan comic book creators now living in the NY-NJ area.

I mean... it's SUBURBAN Detroit. Not even the heart of the city or Hamtramck, for god sakes. It's... well, dull. Here in NY I can walk out my door and everything is at my fingertips - restaurants, convenience stores, art stores, crackhouses - yet in Detroit I have to drive. Like at least for five minutes. It's depressing. Also, I used to spend Saturday nights writing and drawing at home. Now, here in NY... well, I still do that, but if I
WANTED to I could go hang out at Jigsaw, in Soho, in Brooklyn. Ok, maybe not Brooklyn. But at least Brooklyn is better than a 7-11 parking lot or another night of bowling. I dunno. I like the Lions, Tiger and Red Wings (oh my!) and I dig cruising WoodWard Avenue... but it's just not the same as life here in the Apple.

Where else has your work been published?

NK: www.indyworld.com
www.opi8.com
www.houseoftwelve.com
www.manualcomics.com
www.geekpunk.com
www.aboutcomics.com
www.trueporncomic.com
www.benefitcomic.com
www.skydogcomics.com

and this year, www.nbmpublishing.com

I read online that you have been pitching ideas for mainstream comics - What kind of projects would you like to be involved with?

NK: Ones that pay.

That being said, I'm a total sell-out. Apart from my own OGN ideas and the many publishers I'm dying to work with them on, I'd love to play in other folk's playgrounds. I have pitches into two companies with characters I'm hoping to work on… neither of which I can say anything about yet.

Other than that, Bob Schreck, Axel Alonso and Joe Quesada all know my email address.

What attracted you to the small press/independent scene of comic books? Why do you choose the comics medium to tell your stories?

NK: Freedom of speech and control. Diversity of ideas. Less bullshit. More exploring. Clipped sentences.

Less bullshit, but no pay. What's the toughest part about what you're attempting to accomplish in comics? I mean you have to create the stories, market them and yourself, plus work a day job - is it worth it?

NK: Yes. Yes, it is.

The day job is great and pays my bills... but I sit through the day thinking about comics. I yearn for the day when I make enough to just do comics - it may never come, mind you. But I do it. And in the meantime, I spend every waking minute thinking of creating, making, promoting and talking comics. Lunch break? Hell no - I'm online sending out PR. You're watching TV? I'm drawing or writing. I'm putting in the hours. It's not a job - it's a LIFE STYLE.

Sure, its hard - I miss out on down time sometimes and I spend some vacations at cons, selling comics, instead of going to Hawaii. I'm up 'til 3 AM writing or revising only to sleep for 4 hours so I can get up for my day job. I pour my hard earned money into pitch packets and retailer mailings. But I love comics. Hopefully one day, comics will love me back and stop ducking my calls.

Are there any specific creators (or I suppose people in your life) that have been influential on your work or helped develop you into the artist you are today?

NK: COMICS: Chester Gould, Eddie Campbell, Evan Dorkin, Dean Haspiel, Warren Ellis, Gail Simone, Berke Breathed, Joe Kubert and god knows how many more.

LITERATURE: Shakespeare, Jack London, Stephen King, Dave Barry, James Ellroy, Mario Puzo, Ray Bradbury David Mamet, Toby Young and whoever helped Stella get her groove back.

FILM/TV: Sergio Leone, Lorne Michaels, John Landis, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Bocho and to some extent, Orson Welles.

ART: Roy Lichtenstein, hands down.

Neil, there are so many comics, mini-comics and anthologies being printed today it's hard for the average consumer to make a choice in what to read - What's special about Ninety Candles and why should people read it?

NK: It's something different. I see the same comics, over and over, about a person's life, his wife, his family, his college, his baby, his romance. It's like in TV - every show is a Friends or Seinfeld knockoff. That's the issue I have with journal comics, man. Every other comic is about a cartoonist drawing about cartooning.

Now my book, Ninety Candles, is that as well... but it's different, you see, in that I use that tried-and-trued semi-autobio story to try something unique with comics. I'm playing with perception of the art form and method. I'm playing with time and space as it relates to a cartoonist drawing about cartooning.

I think this book is important for anyone thinking about getting into comics for several reasons:

1) It discusses the trials, tribulations, heartbreak and successes about the industry. It's not a pretty picture - lots of people find it depressing, even. It's honest and open-minded and I think anyone who's ever been in comics or wants to be can relate: from the new creator all the way to the golden-ager

2) As a new creator it will show you that there are no limits as far as what you can do with the medium of comics. This project is experimental and improvisational - no script, one panel per year - and you still get a viable story (I cant judge on whether its good). It plays with different methods of craft - pencils, charcoal, cross-hatching and brush. This book is really a great book to show to newer creators to inspire them and say "see? it
doesn't have to be panel-panel-panel-funny nor does it have to be a James Kochalka rip-off."

3) Nothing for 3 (thanks, Steve Higgins!)

4) Wonderful book design - 48 pages printed on a cougar off-white text in a Hunter Green ink by the good people at WestCan Printing; custom size and a touch of graphic design flair I never knew I had in me. It's a really nice package - go ahead. Try not to pick it up. I dare you.

Any parting words?

NK: Your mother!

No... in all seriousness.

I'm about done with the script for The Big Kahn, an OGN about the family of a deceased pulpit Rabbi that learns, along with his congregation of forty years, that he's been conning them all this time: he isn't even Jewish. It's about how his family deals with the repercussions of the lie, how they deal with the way they've lived their lives and it's got a nice Six Feet Under vibe to it. It's being drawn by the inimitable Scott (Days Like These, Scandalous) Chantler and it looks like it's going to be my second book for NBM.

I've got some short anthology stories out, the first one is "Secret Origin", a 4 pager Neil Vokes and I did for Dan Taylor's Hero Happy Hour Super Special, lettered by Anthony Schiavino. Vokes and I are planning another one for next year's Super Special. The second is a two-page strip of Bear Suits in Sky Dog Press' Even More Fund Comics Anthology to benefit the CBLDF. Like last year's volume, Even More Fund will feature work by a blend of creators, from "names" in the industry to creators still on their way up. The book ships to stores this September. Bear Suits asks the question: "what would a pop-culture raised/internet age twenty-something do if granted a fully armed robotic bear suit?" While most might be tempted to do good deeds, the three heroes of Bear Suits focus their strengths on the essentials: beer, women and comic books. Tom, Richard and Harry are Bears One, Two and Three - gifted with fabulous suits of armor that allow them incredible strength, night vision and razor sharp claws. They spend their days discussing eighties television, looking for the perfect beer stein, hanging out at their local ice cream shop/comic store and occasionally protecting the good citizens of Bigby City from dinosaurs, robotic movie directors and weird foes named for obscure Russian poets.

Beyond that? Working on various projects in various stages of production.

But seriously?

Your mother!

NINETY CANDLES is in stores now. If you can't find it at your local retailers I think it's time to find a new one. Seriously though, make them order it for you (Diamond Code: JUL043096) or order it directly from Neil at www.rantcomics.com or us.