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Author Q&A Session 1/3 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-03 06:29:55
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hi, I'm going to be doing an author Q&A session on here Friday night, open to all. Send any questions you want to ask me, and I'll start answering them at about 7:00 PM Central Time. Members may submit questions in the comments here. Anyone else is free to submit questions via DM on Twitter or Bluesky, and I suppose I'll tack them onto this post or something.

If you're so inclined, you can also direct questions at any fictional member of the Powerup Comics team, if that would be fun for you.

Comments

ChromestheteAblaze

What are your motivations for working on comics? Inspirations for writing? What would you recommend to someone just starting out?

ChromestheteAblaze

Trying to come up with a ton of them because I’d feel bad about you setting this whole thing up and not getting any questions

Eli Parker
>>160224038

Lol, I mentioned doing this a while ago and like three people were like "oh, that would be interesting, you should do it." I've been learning lately that one or two people expressing interest in something doesn't actually indicate much of a consensus.

Eli Parker

@AklerPandy on Twitter asks: "Have you ever thought of doing a "thomas the tank engine" comic"

Eli Parker

@joeydaniewicz asks: when are you putting out a book? WE WANT A BOOK. that is my question

Eli Parker

@TS_Dumb_Broad on Twitter asks "What's the deal with airline food ?"

Eli Parker
>>160228692

For one thing, they generally only have one or two options and they have to be inoffensive and bland enough that everyone on the plane will get something they don't mind eating. 2nd, they don't have room for a full kitchen in there, I'm sure it's microwaved. 3rd. Something to do with the cabin pressure makes everything taste kind of bland. I think. I read that somewhere. 4th. Airlines are phasing out amenities to cut costs wherever they can, so I think that nineties airline food is probably one of those "my soulless cubicle job is demeaning" problems from the past that we would kill to have now.

Eli Parker
>>160224002

MOTIVATIONS FOR WORKING ON COMICS: A combination of scratching the creative itch, and wanting validation from strangers. When I was a little kid, my parents had a few Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts books, and they fascinated me, so I tried to make my own. When I was a tween, the kid across the street liked drawing comics too, and with the combined trendsetting force of both of us, drawing comics became the cool thing to do among kids in my neighborhood. I wasn't the best on the block, (at least at first) but I was the most diligent, and it got me a lot of positive attention, so I kept doing it. I keep doing it now because I like it, because I've got to do something creative and comics are the thing I'm best at, and because I still get positive attention for it.

Eli Parker
>>160224002

INSPIRATIONS FOR WRITING: When I was little, then as I grew up I tried to replicate Peanuts and Garfield, then I tried to replicate Calvin and Hobbes, then I tried to replicate Dilbert, then I tried to replicate The Simpsons in comic form, then I tried to replicate Qwantz, then I tried to replicate Achewood. I'm sure I've also drawn inspiration from lots of other things, From humor influences like PG Wodehouse and Adult Swim, to more eclectic stuff that only makes sense as an influence in my head, like Amos Tutuola and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

Eli Parker
>>160224002

If you're starting out, I have two pieces of advice: 1. Don't quit. Don't burn out. Find a level of effort that you can sustain, and do that. If you have to cut corners in order to not burn out, that's still better than quitting. 2. Figure out what specific things you're good at, and push them as hard as you can, while minimizing all the parts that you're not as good at. If you're best at drawing scenery, make comics that include scenery all the time. If you're best at writing jokes, optimize your format to deliver as many jokes as you can. If you're best at telling emotionally resonant stories, focus hard on that. You can worry about developing your weak areas, but put the most work into pushing your strengths as far as they'll go.

Eli Parker
>>160228605

I'm not good at making time for the business side of things. I have a plan for a book, but it's hard for me to set aside time for. I always feel like it's about a floating six months off. You can encourage a book by bothering me about it regularly.

Eli Parker
>>160228560

Thomas the Tank Engine has crossed my mind as a funny character to throw in for a little cameo. The big roles generally go to characters I know well enough to either write convincingly, or subvert cleverly. I never watched Thomas as a kid. I thought he was dorky. Characters from Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers have a way better chance of getting a significant role.

Eli Parker

@JoKingMob on Twitter asks: "Would you agree you're the foremost writer of farce working in gamer comics today?"

Eli Parker
>>160232616

Yes. I think I've cornered that particular niche. I don't think I've seen anyone doing a gamer thing do anything even close to farce. Maybe KeebyAstrokat. I wanted to write farce, and the biggest thing I had going was a gamer comic that I needed lots of material for.

thirdtotheleft

When you're writing in the voice of another author/character, do you do any prep work? is it all authors you've been a fan of for a long time? or do you have to study for it?

ChromestheteAblaze

We know that Shadow has had a couple of cats over the years and that Dilbert had Dogbert, but do any of the other characters have or want pets?

Eli Parker

Aleks on Discord asks: "So, when I started digging up around Powerup Comics, you know, to get a peek behind the curtain, I was shocked to realize you were actually doing these since 2008 (this I mean positively, mind). How'd you keep going, not get tired of the bit?"

Eli Parker
>>160233695

I don't know. Maintaining interest is not something that requires a lot of conscious effort. I've never become tired of the bit. I've never run short on ideas, though my ideas have grown further and further from the original "parody of gamer comics" premise. I did "end" the comic in 2010, but that was mostly because it was a forum-wide collaboration and everyone else got tired of it. I wasn't really tired of it.

Eli Parker
>>160233502

I generally only try to mimic characters whose voices are already very familiar with me, and if I don't feel like I have a good grip on them, I usually try to subvert them in some way instead, like Steampunk Buzz Lightyear.

Eli Parker
>>160233516

I don't think any canon answer exists on anyone else. I think Dorkwinkle or Moobs or someone getting a pet would be a good starting point for an arc.

thirdtotheleft

How do you feel about the 100 page backlog model for patreon?

Eli Parker
>>160233516

BEHIND THE SCENES: Those malamutes are inspired by a malamute that a guy I used to know had. I would paint sets in his basement for community theater productions, and when I would come up from the basement I'd always have to be careful not to step in pee.

Dieting Hippo

Are there plans to make a personal site for Powerup/Abbeycourt/Gamer Dilbert, possibly with searchable archives? I recall some of them getting posted to Drunk Duck in the past but it'd be rad if there were a location to find some strips easily. (Also thank you for making these great comics)

Eli Parker
>>160235107

Yes, but I don't want to actually put in the work and I keep spending the money I intend to use to pay someone to do it. Ideally I'd want a site where the different comics are in different "tabs", and it's easy for me to add new tabs on a whim if I start a new comic.

Eli Parker

Aleks on Discord writes: "Have you ever taken reader's suggestions wrt the course of an arc, or do you have a consistent idea of what will happen?"

taijitu

My question is: I love yer stuff hope yer having a good one

Eli Parker
>>160235504

I can remember one instance of a reader suggesting something that I used directly, and that was Diane from the classic webcomic Terror Island predicting that the Ninja Turtle Hentai arc would culminate with Wally being challenged to prove the hentai was his by masturbating to it, which was a much better payoff than whatever I had in mind. Reader responses do kind of guide me toward what threads people are thinking about and what they're responding positively to, but (unless I'm forgetting something) I haven't taken any major audience suggestions aside from this one. I may have changed a small plot twist or two because someone guessed it in advance. Can't remember.

Eli Parker

CaptainNuevo from Discord asks: "How much of an arc is planned out when you start vs something you end up stumbling into as you write?"

BEAT

The thing that always blows my mind about powerup comics is how many spinning plates you add to any given story. Do you plan all those out in advance or do you just decide to add another element midway through making any single comic?

Eli Parker
>>160236222

It varies by arc, usually I have sort of an endpoint in mind. Sometimes I have an outline. I think when I wing it, it's usually more exciting to read day-to-day, and I can usually work faster, but when I plan more, I can write cleaner setups and payoffs. The 2nd Gamer Dilbert arc where Dilbert clashes with the army is a good example of a very pre-outlined arc. The arc where Shadow and Chug become gay is a very improvised arc. Most arcs, especially if they're farces like the one I'm wrapping up now, are improvised until about the midpoint, where I start thinking about how I'm going to solve all the problems that have piled up.

Eli Parker
>>160236236

Just sort of answered a similar question, but usually I add complications on a whim as I go, and then when I reach a certain point where I think there are enough complications, I sit down and plan out how to resolve them all. Sometimes I STILL throw in a new complication even when I think I've got a good outline, and I'm obliged to come up with another resolution midstream. Lyman's ashes are a good example of a plot complication that I introduced out of nowhere into a plot that I was already satisfied with, just because I thought it was a good gag.

Eli Parker

@KeebyAstrokat on Twitter asks: "how old is unwinder supposed to be"

Eli Parker
>>160235107

Like really what I'm looking for is more like my own personal webcomic hosting site for me alone than just a webcomic archive.

Eli Parker

Fortunes Favor on Discord writes: "How much planning went into the first gay arc"

Eli Parker

Fortunes Favor on Discord asks: "What is your personal favorite arc?"

Eli Parker
>>160244320

My favorite changes frequently, but I think the boxing arc is probably eternally enshrined on some level because I feel like that was where I really put together the whole farce thing and figured out how to make storylines that are genuinely funny and clever without totally sacrificing Powerup being really dumb.