Interview: David Whalen of Correct Handed Comics

Indie Comix Dispatch: David, thank you for taking the time to do an interview! I love the name of your comic company, Correct Handed Comics! Tell us about yourself first, how did come to be an indie comic book creator?

David: Like so many others, I grew up reading comics and always loved drawing, as I got older I worked as a graphic designer, became an art teacher, and decided it was time to start telling the stories I had been holding on to for years. I felt my skill level had reached a point where I could tell my stories my way and have them come out on the page the way they looked in my brain. Now I’m a husband, father, teacher, and indie comic book creator. The name of the company Correct Handed Comics is just a little insight into my left-handedness.

ICD: So, break down Correct Handed for us? What titles are out, what can we expect next?

David: We have multiple titles available for sale on our website. Our action, thriller on-going series THE OFFSPRING issue #1 through #13. A 4 issue mini-series EVOLUTION: UTERO featuring a hero that is not even born yet. We also have a 100+ page Graphic Novel about the children of classic movie monsters hunting their absentee parents called THE LOVED ONES. Lastly, our 24-page noir thriller SHADY LADY featuring a strong female protagonist working through some of the modern problems of the world.

Next, we are going to focus on our 24-page one-shot series, starting with the action-adventure superhero story I WON”T STOP! Coming out in October.

ICD: Your longest series is The Offspring, what can you tell us about that?

David: The Offspring focuses on three young adults, Sara, Will, and Vince who were physically and mentally abused by their parents in their early childhood. Each child has developed special abilities based on how they were abused. Sara developed a force field due to her fear of physical interaction. Vince learns he can control the liquid in his body, heat it, cool it, and project it at a limited distance from his body. Will’s parents weren’t abusive as much as neglectful, falling down a flight of stairs causing his body to deform as he grew out instead of up, because of the trauma his muscles begin to expand and harden to an almost bulletproof density. The three children are taken from their homes and meet in an alternative school for struggling children. As they grow into teenagers they realize they are connected, not just by their similar pasts, but on a metaphysical level as well. Their connected powers start to act as a beacon for strange happenings, monsters, and evil that plague them and their small town. 

ICD: Will The Offspring be a continuing series, or do you see an end in sight?

David: I do have an ending, it has been planned out, and I love putting in easter eggs that readers can look back on in each issue and see that I did have a plan and knew where I was going from issue one. My plan is to finish the story at issue 50. We published issue #13 at the end of September.

ICD: You also recently published a one-shot – Shady Lady, tell us about the inspiration for that book?

David: I’m a big fan of black and white noir thriller from the ‘50s and ’60s. Anything Alfred Hitchcock or Frank Sinatra and I’m hooked. Shady Lady is my homage to those kinds of stories. A strong female protagonist helping to fix the problems of her fellow New Yorkers while struggling with her own serious issues. She’s the every-man put into very problematic modern situations and how she handles those situations is a reflection of us as a society. At the end of the book, we see her motivation and how much the world is a place of greys, not blacks and whites.

ICD: Let’s talk indie / self-published comics, who are you following right now, and who do you think others should be following?

David: I’ve been enjoying JD Calderon’s “The Oswald Chronicles”, Theodore Riddle’s fun action book at Monolith Comics “Compu M.E.C.H”. and Stephen Hines awesome “The Soccer Mom Killer” There are so many great, diverse and exciting indie comics out there, I could never name them all.

ICD: What’s one piece of advice you give to other new indie comic creators?

David: The best advice I could give to new creators is, don’t beat yourself up. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to wish you could go back and fix stuff. Don’t kill yourself over the missteps, learn from them, and make yourself a better creator because of it. It’s the journey and the learning that are ultimately going to get you to where you want to go, not taking the industry by storm with your first published book. Work hard, be kind, listen to advice, and get better as you go.

ICD: Where can people find your work and how can they support you?

David: You can find me on Facebook @correcthandedcomics, Twitter @Correct_Handed, Instagram @correct_handed, and lastly our website with links to all of our available book on our website correcthandedcomics.com