Interview: The Face Behind Moképon

When I do my daily rounds on the net, one of the many important things I do is check a webcomic called Moképon. Moképon follows the misadventures of Atty, a boy who is kicked out of the house to become a Pokémon master. The sarcastic, unlucky, cigarette eating chap gets paired up with a charmander who he “affectionately” calls, Dragonthing. And thus, the hilarity starts. That’s what this comic is: hilarious! And, lucky for me, I managed to snag an interview with the writer and artist of this comic, h0lyhandgrenade.

Pockymouse: H0ly, I’ve be following along with Moképon for a long time now, as have the many other fans you have. What inspired you to write such a comic?

H: It was mostly just a whim… There was no huge amount of planning involved before I started. I just wanted a fun comic to work on on the side which I could relax with. I leapt right in armed only with a couple of ideas for gags, a brittle idea for a plot and my character Atticus, whom I’ve had for some time. This kind of approach I would never recommend normally. Fortunately I can now say that the plans for the comic are slightly more structured… Slightly.

P: Do/Did you play the Pokemon games, watch the TV shows, or trade the cards? I know I’m still a fan of the games myself, although I prefer the classics.

H: It may be odd considering the comic I’m making, but I’m not heavily into Pokemon. I watched the show a little, and loved the old games (I’ve barely even touched the new ones), but Pokemon is more or less just something I really enjoyed as a kid. Moképon is based on my memories of playing Red version, particularly the first play through I had of it when I knew nothing about Pokemon. Which suits Atty’s approach well.

P: Atty, being the main character of the comic, has a very… interesting personality. Where does Atty get his sarcastic nature from?

H: Myself, most definitely. Which could be worrying. I think it’s normal for people to put themselves into their characters; I take this approach by putting a slice of myself into each of my characters (mostly my negative traits. It’s more fun that way). Atticus got the sarcastic, stubborn traits from me… But the pride up to his eyeballs he made himself, I must say.

P: You have a humour and comedic timing that I would kill for! You manage to fix in both subtle and in-your-face humour. Where did you get this from? Also, how do you fit it all into the story?

H: Haha, comedic timing to kill for is news to me, thank you! I suppose it’s just a case of running what I would like to happen through my head like a film, and then working with the thumbnails until I feel I’ve captured it in comic form as best I can. Thumbnailing is extremely important to me and can go through several draughts and changes right up until the last moments of making the page. As for how I fit it in, there are few jokes that are planned into the story before I come close to writing that part. The case tends to be that as I come to the next parts of the story, I run what will happen through my head and think of possibilities of scenarios, and if I come up with something that makes me laugh as I think of it, then I have to put it in. No matter how ridiculous it is. So I suppose I’m just trying to write a comic that I myself would find funny, and hoping everyone else has the peculiar taste that I do.

P: Another part of your humour that I’ve seen is the dark side of it. For example, when the pidgey gets ground up by the lawn mower (which made me laugh until I realized that it was all over Atty’s face). How do you think of these things?

H: I don’t know, and it scares me. But in honesty, I love to make people laugh, especially at things they probably shouldn’t. I don’t like taking things too seriously and prefer to try make light of things, seeing the brighter side of things…. Or maybe I’m just a sick and twisted individual.

P: Now, I’ve seen the comics that you did in the past. They are very different genres. Is drawing Moképon different than when you did your other comics?

H: Certainly. Unlike other comics of mine, existing or planned, I don’t want Moképon to become too deep, too heavy. Not meaning I don’t want it to have depth, but for the most part I want to keep it as being fun and enjoyable, as I intended it to be from the beginning.

P: Speaking of art style, how did you come up with yours?

H: My style is something I’m at constant battle with. I feel torn three ways between drawing realistic for the purpose of bettering my skills, drawing cartoony for how expressive and fun it is, and manga for how… Pretty it makes everything look. I doubt the style of Moképon should be changing too much in the future as it seems to fit it, but other works might be done in different styles completely.

P: As far as I’ve read about you, you’ve mentioned you are in university studying art. What do you plan on doing after you graduate?

H: If all goes well once I’ve finished my course I hope to become a freelance illustrator, but I’m aware that this is easier said than done. I still want to be working on comics; it is my passion, and taking them professionally would be my dream. But I’m aware I’ll likely just have to keep working on these on the side and see how things go.

P: Other than art, what are some of your main hobbies?

H: Aha… I don’t really have any. I suppose it could be said I’m quite freakishly into art and writing. Although I prefer to say dedicated.

P: Do your friends and family read Moképon? If so, what do they think of it?

H: My friends and family aren’t particularly of the reading online comics persuasion. If there were to read it they’d probably just think I need to get out more.

P: Okay, this question is necessary: What is your favourite Pokemon?

H: It’s a toss up between Slowbro and Scyther.. I’ll go Slowbro. I can relate more.

P: Anything else you want to add before we finish this off?

H: Only to please keep an eye out for other projects I have in the wings, the most imminent being collaborative pieces, one with xkrazydog and the other with Gibson Twist. I’m going to have a lot on my plate but here’s hoping it goes well and here’s hoping you enjoy it. Thank you for taking the time to interview me!

You can check out Moképon here, at: http://www.mokepon.smackjeeves.com

You can check out H0ly’s comics here, at: http://www.smackjeeves.com/comicprofile.php?id=11625

You can check out H0ly’s other artwork here, at: http://h0lyhandgrenade.deviantart.com/

Pictures used with permission by h0lyhandgrenade. No copyright infringement intended.