that with Richard Corben (later, HM introduced me to Boucq and Prado). At the same time, Art Spiegelman started publishing Raw and those two publications really opened my eyes to the limitless possibilities of the comic medium. Later on in the 1980s, fine artists like Bill Sienkiewicz and Dave McKean inspired me, as of course did anything written by Alan Moore. Big Numbers was a dream come true, what a pity that it didn't last. Then of course, the Fantagraphics bandwagon got rolling. Gilbert Hernandez's Heartbreak Soup and subsequently Charles Burns, Peter Bagge, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware and Dave Cooper all leave me in awe. My decision to self-publish Strangehaven was made much easier by Dave Sim's articles in his superlative Cerebus. He remains my biggest influence (in psychological terms). Martin Wagner's Hepcats, and in the UK, Paul Grist with Kane and Nabiel Kanan's superb Exit proved to me that the self-publishing dream could be achieved. Hepcats, that was a great comic, it's a shame that few people remember it ... You said that David Sim was the artist that showed you the way to self-publishing. If I remember well the first issue of your Strangehaven came out in 1995. How hard has been self-publishing for you? What are the pros and cons? Self-publishing is a huge subject. I get asked a lot about it from wannabe self-publishers, and I have just set-up an area on my website to help these people. It seems that since Dave Sim "abdicated" from his role as godfather to self-publishing, there's been nowhere else for these people to go. Of course the biggest disadvantage of being a self-publisher is that I am not salaried. I have had to work part time jobs out of comics (such as teaching) in order to support myself financially. This has had the unfortunate effect of disrupting my schedule and causing an erratic and tardy rate of production. But the main advantage is that I'm doing comics without editorial interference or having to pander to [continues]