Call for Q&A questions: July 2025

A late question I just thought of. When making comics for the direct market, is there ever any issues with ensuring that you still own the rights to the characters and settings? For example, “Kill or Be Quilt” is copyrighted to “John Allison & Max Sarin” and not “Dark Horse Comics”. Has there even been difficulties with that?

Hi John, I'm a longtime fan of your work, Bad Machinery is particularly dear to me. Two things I've been wondering: What was the deal between Mad Terry and Bobby Swaps in The Case of the Team Spirit? And, not to mess with poetic ambiguity, but was Ellen's foster-grandmother a selkie, too?

Always happy to see these and read your responses. 1. I feel you often have goth/alternative women characters in your comics. Are you "drawn" to creating/writing/drawing these characters or is there another reason you return to them (e.g. popularity with your readers)? 2. Giant Days finished at the end of 2019, just a few months before the global pandemic and a fairly major shakeup in the world of comics. In hindsight, would you have done anything differently with (ending) Giant Days and your next series knowing what was going to happen next?

Is the impression we should have of Esther that she has (as said by Oscar Wilde) "Put her genius into her life, and only her talent into her writing"? Are we finally going to see some ambition (or maybe that of someone close to her) get her to REALLY decide what she wants to do ? Conversely, while Ester is a double drama-magnet (especially romantically) Shauna seems to shed drama, but she REALLY goes for pretty faces. It was fun to watch her realize just how irritating she found Bryn once the "goggles" were off. I think she's going to have to file that info away, or she's going to be neck-deep in trouble half the time.. Did Esther ever cross paths with the Manga "Laughing Target" while doing time at the shop? https://www.facebook.com/100063699037043/posts/2220874407949739/ It's a story of a boy's old childhood fiance/cousin etc. coming to the big city to meet him, and finding he's outgrown her. One of Rumiko Takahashi's Horror forays, and also a likely influence on the creator of "Fate Stay Night". It's the sort of look Esther could "put on" in half an hour. She'd have to show it at a pretty big convention (it's an OLD story), maybe half a dozen folks would recognize it. But five of them would LOSE IT..

What's next for you and Max Sarin? (I've just finished reading KOBQ, and I need more!)

What are your thoughts on Gilmore girls? I noticed you comparing a scrapped giant days sequel to year in a life and was curious what you thought

I hope I'm not being rude, but I'm curious about the economics of comic-book production. I guess nobody goes into it to get rich, but I hate to think of you starving in a garret (or living off bread-and-dripping from Weegmanns) to delight your fans.

Just something I'm curious about: In a previous Q&A you mentioned that you had the opportunity to work on a few video games but it didn't fit into your schedule at the time. Are you at liberty to say what any of those games were?

Will there be any more Destroy History after NEMS is done?

Your music taste fascinates me. Is there anything you'd consider 'mainstream' that you also enjoy listening to?

What comes first: the story you've written or the idea of having a real life surprise celebrity guest pop-in to do something with the characters

I miss Ryan. Back in the day he was my favourite character, and he often felt like the most rounded. I know he’s from the distant past but was he based on anyone you knew? Is there any remote possibility of us catching up with his exploits? Thanks.

A couple years ago, I watched the film Our Little Sister after you shared your thoughts on it. I really liked it. Do you have any recommendations for nice TV or film (stuff that isn't just fluff, but also isn't about absolutely horrible stuff)?

what on earth should i do with my life?

I just want to say that I think the whole Wen-Tack arc is great. Carlos the Prawn and all that.

Any hope of seeing the Solvers-Steeple crossover someday? The thought of poor, older Mrs. Clovis in prison waiting for someone to discharge her makes me very sad.

Have you ever considered taking things in a slightly more bawdy, NSFW direction, even for just a few frames or side plot? I don't mean Oglof-style hardcore, but more "Rated R" (according to the googles, its closest equivalent is a "15 Certificate" in the UK). Now that your themes/characters seem pretty thoroughly transitioned from teens and pre-teens to full on adults, you've touched on some more mature themes (Wicked Things comes to mind) but have never really addressed them head on (so to speak). Is this a conscious artistic choice? A personal preference? Just something you've not yet felt compelled to do?

If you could go back in time to say something about comics to an ealier comics-making version of you, what would you say? And would younger you have been able to recieve it?

Is there a mainstream US comics character that you'd like to write, and if so, what story would you like to tell?

I feel like all writers have one at least one story they mentally hone and refine for ages that may or may not see the light of day, for better or worse. Was there ever a particular idea, character, or storyline that took years to fine tune before you finally decided it was worthwhile?

When writing, do you work from a structured plot and flesh out scenes, or do you bank a bunch of loose dialogue and character interactions and then build out the story around that? Or some secret third method?

Another batch. I’m also willing to agree to a “no more questions until 2026” rule like last time. -This question’s a reverse of one from last time. What’s your LEAST favorite story/chapter you’ve ever done? (You don’t have to think of ones from multiple series.) -When doing a character’s dialogue/speech pattern, do you ever write it with a specific sounding voice in mind? -What’s your favorite video game series? I know Mario gets referenced semi-often in your works, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the answer. -What’s some advice you think you can give to someone (such as myself) who wants to keep practicing creative writing? -Related to an older story, but I think it has some merit. With the reveal that old man Ralph was “the real devil”, was this something you quickly improvised, or was there any kind of long-term plan? Even if it’s the former, it sort of worked given how he was already tied to a lot of supernatural ongoings in Tackleford.

John, are there new web comic creators who have caught your eye? Is it even a thing you have time or interest to explore?

How do you manage your diet of visual inputs and the fine calibration between “too much” and “too little”? Do you have any version of the “artist’s date” from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way? And what was the last art exhibition you saw that, to quote Will.I.Am, blew your tiny mind?

Do you think the writers of the new Superman movie were referencing Bad Machinery when Lois referred to Mr Terrific's t-balls as circles?

Do you notice the specter of your style influencing the youths? I've seen a few things that I think "ooh, Scary-go-round-esque art" and instantly pick it up, but I'm curious how you feel about being around long enough that you're a coldcut in the "I am a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy" comics sandwich.

When did you develop your love of wendigos? Are they your favorite cryptid?

I was just curious if balancing tone in your stories has ever been a challenge considering that you've written Bad Machinery which is definitely more YA oriented and then going all the way over to Steeple which probably has the most mature themes in any of your work.