Digital Pimp. In Sepetember, those two words really caught my attention when I was on the convention floor at the Baltimore Comic-Con. So I wandered over and got to meet Phil Chan, one of the two major creative forces behind Digital Pimp Online and briefly talked to him about the recent release, Tales from the Pimp. To quote from the site: “Tales from the Pimp is an anthology of short stories created by Phil Chan and Joe Dunn. Whether you like comedy, suspense or drama, there's something for everyone.” To get more of the flavor of their work, I recently interviewed Chan and Dunn.
Tim O’Shea: What are the most advantageous elements of making your first series, Tales from the Pimp, an anthology format? How frequently will it be published in the near term?
Phil Chan: To answer the easiest question first, Tales from the Pimp will be published quarterly. Not unlike Marvel’s reimagined Epic line. The difference being we can guarantee that there will be a second issue. (I kid Marvel because I love!) But back to the first question, I think Joe and I both big fans of anthologies.
Joe Dunn: It allows us to have a lot of different themes, and to express ourselves in different ways. Not only with story, but with the art as well. It really gives me room to stretch out in a few directions.
PC: Exactly. Sometimes I’ll feel like writing a drama, other times I’ll feel like writing a comedy.
JD: Plus when we get bored or overworked while producing the story, at the very least we're almost finished.
PC: There’s also the added benefit of length. Arguably, today’s audience has a much shorter attention span. I was at a friend’s house and we just happened to listen to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Someone commented how long the song was, but in actuality, the song is only five minutes long. Five minutes long! When did five minutes become an eternity?
TO: Descartes is an interesting concept, a superhero with a secret identity, except his identity is a secret to him, rather than the rest of the world. Am I right with this description? Care to shed more light on the character?
PC: That’s an interesting description of Descartes. I had never thought of it that way before. It’s totally accurate I just had never thought of it that way before.
JD: Phil told me the concept behind the character of Descartes on the way home from a convention in Chicago. The character itself was so original and had the potential to be something really great.
PC: The name Descartes is obviously a reference to the philosopher Rene Descartes, who is most famous for the phrase, “I think therefore I am.” Our character Descartes is derived from that phrase. He thinks of himself as super strong so he is super strong. It’s a mind over matter thing. But every hero needs a weakness, right? How poetic is it that he can do all these amazing things yet can’t remember who he is?
I based the character on a number of different sources, the historical Descartes is one and another is the life of an early 90’s pop culture icon. There’s also a little bit of Alan Moore’s Miracleman in there. But I wish I could say that I’m even half as talented as Alan Moore is.
TO: Artistically what are some of the influences on the Digital Pimp line? What are some of the writing influences/sources of inspiration?
JD: Sam Keith, Chris Cross, Richard Corben, Eduardo Risso, Mignola the man. I can't get enough of it. There’s too many to mention. I can say though that ever since we started publishing our book and going to cons we've been introduced to so much awesome underground and indy talent. Like I said, too many to mention. But the next con you go to, spend a few hours in artist alley. It's out there.
PC: I actually have a lot of artistic heroes, but I don’t know that you would be able to spot their influence in my art. Mainly because I’m not that good.
But writing wise, I’m a big fan of dialogue. I’m a big fan of David Mamet and Aaron Sorkin. I’m also a big fan of the original Twilight Zone TV show, which was another inspiration to do an anthology series.
JD: The new Twilight Zone had zero influence...ZERO.
PC: Yeah, the new Twilight Zone, which I think has been cancelled or at the very least should be cancelled, had absolutely no influence on me or, I feel confident in saying, anyone else.
TO: What comic genres would you categorize Decisions or The Secret Adventures of Phil Chan? What are the backstories on both projects?
JD: Decisions came about after a call on the Bendis board for 6 page stories.
PC: Yeah, the members of the Bendis board wanted to put together an Anthology that showcased all the great upcoming talent on the board.
JD: We were looking for a little project and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. We spent a few days tossing Ideas back and forth at each other. Adding to each other’s and weeding out the bad. I sent Phil an outline of a story about a drug addict sent to kill someone to pay off his debt. It was long and complicated and involved a scene with a drug lord yelling at our lead character. But I think Phil saw the potential within it.
PC: Really, one of the main reasons it didn’t go that way was it was too long! That was a lot of story to fit into six pages. So we focused the story in the internalizations of the main character.
JD: The human struggle! He took it, cleaned it up, and made it about something everyone could relate to, a broken heart. The final product is the first co-production that we felt really great about. Love that story.
PC: The Secret Adventures of Phil Chan, I guess you could describe as an autobiographical dramadey. After I graduated from college, I came out with a lot of different experiences, like a lot of people do. We all have stories to tell. Then I read Bendis’ Fortune and Glory. It was so funny and had the added bonus of being a true story. It inspired me to do something like that for my own story. So that’s where the Secret Adventures was born.
TO: What are some of the greatest storytelling strengths/assets among the DP talent pool?
PC: I think our biggest strength is that we tell so many different kinds of stories.
JD: It keeps things fresh.
PC: A lot of people get pigeonholed into a particular type of story. Take someone like Jim Lee. Nothing against the guy, he’s great. But he’s mainly known for doing big super hero type stories.
JD: Yeah, that’s true. There’s no limitation to what we can do. We’re not locked down so the art and story can go pretty much anywhere we want it to.
TO: How soon before you get tired of explaining the name "Digital Pimp" or do you view it as a good conversation starter and a memorable name that people don't forget easily?
JD: I never get tired of it.
PC: I see the name as both a blessing and a curse. At conventions, I think we get about equal parts of people stopping by because of the name and people who start walking away faster.
JD: It’s true the name is a benefit because it can grab someone from so far way. Everyone thinks they’re a pimp. They just think the name is great. That gets them to the table. Then we can give them free candy, free stickers and a pitch about the book.
PC: Yeah, when you’re an indy guy at a big convention, you’re just a face in a sea of faces. The majority of the people going to the cons are there for the big names. Some people will actually go so far as to avoid eye contact. So you get attention any way you can. Some people dress up in crazy costumes. Other people don’t try to get your attention, which is a shame because there are so many good indy books out there. But when they see a big old banner that says “Digital Pimp.” That’s a good hook. You don’t forget a name like that.
JD: But it’s totally also a curse. Because we get parents coming by and their kids reach for free candy, then they see the word “pimp” and they pull their kids away.
PC: But it’s not like we’re irresponsible or anything. It’s not like we’re pushing a book with the word “pimp” in the title to 10 year olds.
JD: Yeah, we just have a dirty name.
PC: Interesting fact, we got the name from a line in the Matrix. The original, not the two sequels that watered down the impact of the original. If any of you out there haven’t seen the Matrix you should go rent it.
JD: Phil, I think everyone already owns the Matrix.
TO: Is there any other elements or projects you'd like to discuss?
PC: Well, there’s our website.
JD: Yeah the website’s a big thing. We work so hard on those strips. I think the strips are important because we want to stay current and we want to keep producing. We also want to keep in touch with our fans and that’s the best way to do it. To get the word out there.
PC: Even though our comic is coming out quarterly, we’ve got three strips coming out weekly...
JD: Monday, Wednesday, Friday!
PC: That’s right. Free Lunch , Matriculated and Fish Tank Tango.
JD: Monday, Wednesday, Friday!
PC: So if you like the comic and want more, you can swing by the site and read strips made exclusively for the site for free.
