By Alex Zalben
A little over a year ago, Ethan Nicolle was a struggling indie comic book creator, fed up with low sales for his otherwise critically acclaimed book Chumble Spuzz. A year later, after teaming up with his five-year-old brother Malachai, Nicolle is fielding offers from Hollywood, maintaining a profitable website, and releasing a new, highly anticipated mini-series from Dark Horse. Axe Cop, of course, became a near instant internet sensation, as much for the hilarious strips Ethan wrote (and drew) with his brother, as the back-story: not many comics are written by a five year old, and drawn by a twenty-nine year old.
With Dark Horse’s new mini-series "Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth" hitting in March, we chatted with Ethan about sibling rivalry, moving from the web to print, and just what will happen to Axe Cop once Malachai finds out about girls.
MTV Geek: Thanks for taking the time to chat, Ethan… To kick things off, what do your parents think about you and Malachai working together?
Ethan Nicolle: They are very supportive of it. I think we all have the same inclinations both toward letting Malachai be a kid, and also supporting the creative process and embracing the unique situation we are in. It's been a lot of fun for us to go through this together, and I know my Dad has fun reading new episodes of Axe Cop with Malachai whenever they are posted.
MTV Geek: Do you have other relatives who have tried to get in on the Axe Cop action?
EN: Our 12 year old sister Megan has tried a few times, and to her credit, if it weren't for her we would not have Uni-baby. She also indirectly caused the creation of the Best Fairy Ever by trying to get Malachai to insert some fairies and princesses into the story.
MTV Geek: Every creative team has its ups and downs… Do you and Malachai ever argue about the direction of the book? Or because of the nature of the collaboration, do you find it all just flows?
EN: Haha, not really. There are times where he gets mad at me, but it is usually when I won't let him play a video game. He generally wants to play video games every waking moment of life, so we will make deals where if he spends some time making Axe Cop with me, then he can play games on my iPad for a while. Once he actually starts to play Axe Cop with me we always have a lot of fun… But he is not jumping around begging me to play Axe Cop all the time. The best Axe Cop writing sessions always happen when Malachai is grounded from video games.
MTV Geek: Has there ever been anything Malachai has written that you’ve said, “I’m not going to draw that.”
EN: Not often. Sometimes he will decide all the characters die or he will put some naughty joke in there that he would totally get in trouble for if his parents heard it. At that point, I act like I am typing it into my notes but casually remind him that this comic is going to be read by lot of people, including Dad. He usually reassures me he was just kidding at that point and to erase that part. Outside of that, the only rejecting I do is just picking what to use and what not to use. Generally I get more material from him then I need so that I have something to work with when I try to translate all my notes into a somewhat coherent outline. So it is not so much that I reject his ideas off hand, but that sometimes he gives me alternative paths and outcomes and I will pick one over the other.
MTV Geek: I’m a big fan of Chumble Spuzz, the short humor collection you released before Axe Cop… Will we ever see you do more of that, or is it Axe Cop all the time, forever?
EN: I really appreciate that. As flattering as all the Axe Cop attention has been, it is a little disappointing that it has not translated to more Chumble Spuzz readers. Axe Cop does appeal to a larger audience because, let's face it, Chumble Spuzz is disgusting. But it's the kind of disgusting most dudes can appreciate. I don't plan on ever doing another Chumble Spuzz book specifically, but I do want to do more work in the same genre. I definitely want to do more of my own comedy stuff.
MTV Geek: Clearly Axe Cop has done extremely well, and you've thrown yourself into it, but when it first hit, was their any frustration on your part? That you've worked so hard on things like Chumble Spuzz, and what got you attention was working with a five year old?
EN: That is definitely something I think about. I get way less credit on this project... I was known as a humor guy before this and now it seems like the humor in Axe Cop gets attributed to Malachai. Axe Cop is the biggest stretch of my own imagination in creativity I have ever taken on, but all the credit goes to Malachai. I am stuck in his shadow on this and I guess I have to accept that, because the more credit I take on it, the less people are interested in it. "Fat guy with beard makes comic" is not as interesting of a headline to people as "5 year old makes comic". I do hope that from this success people will give my other projects a chance as they come out, but it is up to me to make good stuff. Axe Cop is a very unique situation, and I take it as a bonus to what I was already trying to do in this industry. It was an unintended success, so I just have to remember you can't choose your successes. You take what you are given and do your best with it. To complain about anything in my situation would be truly pathetic, I have been very blessed.
MTV Geek: What about Malachai, though? Is he a comic book writer for life, now? Or do you see him gradually phasing out of it?
EN: I think he is wide open for anything right now. He is a very technical kid, so I could see him doing something more technological, but who knows. I don't think he sees himself being a comic writer when he grows up. I don't know if he is even into the actual idea of writing. With Axe Cop he is not actually writing, he is playing. He's doing what kids do... I'm just the big weird brother who writes it all down and asks him what happens next, then spends countless hours formulating it into art and story. He most recently told me he wants to be a chemist when he grows up, but only a few months earlier he wanted to be a wizard soldier. I don't know what is next.
MTV Geek: If Malachai did want to stop doing Axe Cop – like, say, if he started to get interested in girls or something – would you keep with it?
EN: No, Axe Cop is us... it's not just him and it's not just me. If he moves on, then it will be a fun memory and I will move on too. One thing I have been doing is even in times where I do not actually need material from him, I will still get material, so I have it on back up. There are lots of unfinished stories/characters/weapons that have not been used. I imagine when this all winds down I will do a final volume with all the leftovers in it.
MTV Geek: Tell us a little bit about moving Axe Cop from online to published format. Were there any challenges or changes going into making the recently published collection?
EN: Not really. I had gotten lax with putting text too close to the outer edge of the page since that doesn't matter online, so we had to make some adjustments so important art and words would not be chopped off on the edge of the page. I have always worked in print comics before so I made these all in a print frame of mind size/resolution wise.
MTV Geek: You’re also releasing a print-first series, Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth. How’d that come about?
EN: When I made the deal with Dark Horse to publish Axe Cop, they asked for a print-exclusive series. At first I was apprehensive, but then when I thought about it the idea grew on me. I liked the idea of going to Washington to spend a month with Malachai and attempt to write a feature length story with him. This story is 3 issues long and we wrote the whole thing before I started drawing it. It is different then anything else we have done with Axe Cop. Personally I think it's our best stuff, but we'll see what fans think when it gets released. I also love that it is in color, because as much as I love black and white comics, kids imagine things in color. If ever there was a book that needed to be in color I think it's Axe Cop.
MTV Geek: When you and Malachai talked about the series, was there a conscious effort to tell a “bigger” story than usual (though you guys don’t necessarily write “small”)?
EN: When Axe Cop first took off there was a lot of interest in it in Hollywood, but there was also skepticism that a movie-length story told in that wild, unhinged style would not work. It works in small doses, but not in a full-length story they said. I wanted to see if it could be done. This was a big inspiration because I felt like I was forging new territory in the realm of comic creation. Who has ever worked with a 6 year old to create a full 75 page story in words and pictures? I have never heard of anyone doing that, and I wanted to see if it could be done, and done well.
MTV Geek: So Bad Guy Earth is kind of what an Axe Cop movie might look like?
EN: It's closer than anything we have done just because it is written with that kind of structure in mind. If we actually were given the opportunity to do an Axe Cop movie, I don't know that I would want it to be recreated scene for scene, but it definitely is the most cinematic of the Axe Cop stories.
MTV Geek: If Axe Cop was adapted, what's your ideal medium? Live action movie? Adult Swim style cartoon? Something in between?
EN: Definitely live action movie. I know it's a long shot, but I think it would be epic. An adult swim cartoon would be cool too, but if I only get to pick one, I pick movie.
MTV Geek: Okay, back to Bad Guy Earth. Tell us about the plot of the series… As far as I’ve heard, it’s pretty ridiculous – in the best Axe Cop tradition.
EN: Axe Cop basically has to save the world from "the Psychic Brothers" who have a Bad Guy machine and are trying to make the biggest bad guy army ever... A bad guy army so big that everyone on Earth is in it, hence it would be called "Bad Guy Earth". It's a battle through time and space because both the good guys and bad guys have guns that can shoot out portals to anywhere in the history or future of the universe. Unlike the other Axe Cop stories, this one was fully written during playtime, so it is not from me asking Malachai questions as much as it is us acting the whole thing out in the back yard. It is the most imaginative and adventurous Axe Cop story by far.
MTV Geek: Talk a little bit more about the process of playtime, how you approach it as a writer [NOTE: This is easily my favorite question I've ever had to ask]?
EN: The only credit I take in Axe Cop is as artist, because I don't want the reader distracted trying to figure out what I came up with and what Malachai came up with, but the process is a ton of work for me. I basically would create an outline of things that I need to make a complete story. I need a theme, I need my three acts, I need something that takes me from Act One to Axe Two and from Act Two to Act Three. So each night I would go over my notes and figure out what I had gained from the days play time. I would fill in the blanks using notecards and figure out what I still needed. I would come up with scenarios and questions... figure out I needed a boss battle here, so that will be tomorrow's play time, or if I need a car chase, we will get in my car and pretend to be in a chase. When we play, we are the characters, so we create it all in first person. I ask questions, but I try to keep it fun. So if I am pretending to fight bad guy with Malachai I will say something like "he shot me with a... what kind of weapon is that??!" and I will act like I am at a loss for an idea and let him fill in the blank. That's what it comes down to. Filling in the blanks.
MTV Geek: Do you at all feel like Axe Cop limits you from honestly playing with your brother? Like, in the back of your mind you're thinking about how you'll craft this play session into a story?
EN: Nah. It's still as honest as ever, and he wins because he gets WAY more play time then he would have gotten otherwise. Sometimes we will play something else that is non-Axe Cop just to change it up. In fact we have a whole other playtime that we do that I may turn into a children' book. If you have seen the "Axe Cop Presents" stories, those are from alternate play times where Malachai says he wants to do a new playtime. Usually with those I will play with him and not take notes, but I will run and write everything down I can when we are done. I try not to always have the notebook out, and if he is not in the mood to play Axe Cop, I'll let him switch it up.
MTV Geek: Getting back to Bad Guy Earth – again - why go to print first, instead of the web?
EN: Initially it was something Dark Horse asked for as part of the deal. I embraced the idea because I wanted to try Axe Cop in a different a format I was actually more familiar with, and that is print comics. Web Comics are under pressure to have a punchline on every page. I realized this especially when we did the Baby Man part of the Ultimate Battle story. It felt like it dragged on forever, when in a print comic it would move like it is supposed to: fast, like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. I also wanted to do an Axe Cop story in color, and there is no way I could pull that off online.
MTV Geek: Will we see Bad Guy Earth digitally at some point? Or is it a print exclusive?
EN: It is print exclusive. I know that Dark Horse is debuting their digital comics store this month, but I don't know if they will be available through that or not. We haven't talked about it.
MTV Geek: In general, since you’ve worked in both mediums… Broad, overarching question here, but feel free to answer however you want… Which do you think is the future? Is print dead? Is digital a fad? Can they coexist?
EN: I don't think print is dead by any means... but print is no longer the tasting tray of the industry. Less and less people are walking into a comic shop looking to try out some new stuff. With digital comics like on Comixology, and with free web comics, people are more and more going to those sources to test-drive new stuff. I think that those who like what they find will then go and buy printed books of the stuff they have already decided they like. I think the people in this industry who are making the biggest mistake are the ones who are not taking advantage of the Internet. I got an iPad recently and read a bunch of comics on Comixology I would not have read otherwise. Sure, the publisher makes less money on those sales, but I never would have bought them otherwise. Now, of a few of them I will go buy the trade.
MTV Geek: Assuming this series does well, will we see more Axe Cop print stories in the future?
EN: I really enjoyed the process behind Bad Guy Earth. If it does well and Dark Horse is up for another one, I think I would like to do at least one more full-length and full color story with Malachai before he starts thinking about girls all day. We'll see what happens.
MTV Geek: What else can we look forward to in the future of Axe Cop?
EN: I will definitely keep the website going. As long as Malachai is up to the task I will at least put out one new comic a week. I may try to get back to doing more than that per week, but I do want to try to start squeezing in another project here and there as well. Outside of that, who knows what is in store for Axe Cop? There has been a lot of interested folks outside of comics (TV, film, video games) but what comes of all that is anyone's guess.
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