About 5 years ago Scott Kurtz started an online
comic called PvP. A few years later he started
publishing a print version of it and I picked up a
copy at a Dallas comic convention. I thought it
was deeply entertaining, and started reading the
online version religiously. Recently PvP has
moved to Image comics. I managed to catch up with
Scott Kurtz and ask him some interesting questions
about his comic and his recent switch to Image
Comics.
Sidra:
When did you first become interested in
comicbooks and gaming?
Scott Kurtz:
I guess that happened in West Des
Moines when I got my first Atari 2600 and when my
friend Jans Dykehouse showed me his brother's
X-men Comics. I was in grade school. So ever since
then.
Sidra:
Who or what inspired you to create
comicbooks?
Scott Kurtz:
My mom bought me the first Garfield
book and after reading that about 100 times I
decided that I was going to be a cartoonist like
Jim Davis and have my very own comic strip.
Sidra:
Where did you get the idea for PvP?
Scott Kurtz:
When I was offered an opportunity to
have my comics featured on a gaming website, I
converted an existing strip about elementary
school teachers into PvP. I wanted it to be a
strip about people like me and my friends that
reflected our interests.
Sidra:
Most writers have trouble drawing, and most
artists have trouble writing. How do you put both
together to create something as great and funny as
PvP?
Scott Kurtz:
That's common among comic strip
artists. Usually it's one cartoonist doing both
the writing and the drawing. Writing is the
hardest part, the drawing is easy. I'm not that
great an artist.
Sidra:
Do you see the stories as pictures first or
as a written story first?
Scott Kurtz:
I see them as scenes in my head and I
try to build a story around it. I'm not sure if
that's a traditional or practical way of writing.
Sidra:
You use a very cartoony style in PvP. What
made you decide to use that style?
Scott Kurtz:
I wanted something that was striking
and simple. I needed for my art to be able to
still look good if reduced in size. Also, the
simpler it is, the easier it is for me to draw one
every day.
Sidra:
We all know people who are like the
characters in PvP, or even we ourselves are like
characters in PvP. Do you pull from people you
know to develop your characters?
Scott Kurtz:
They started out that way but have
developed their own unique personalities over the
years. But I get a lot of ideas and concepts from
life and friends.
Sidra:
Which character in PvP do you think you are
most like and why?
Scott Kurtz:
Skull and Brent are my good and bad
sides. They are the Jekyll and Hyde inside me.
Combine those two into one personality and that's
me.
Sidra:
Is it a challenge at times to balance the
stereotypes of gamers, while keeping the
characters believable?
Scott Kurtz:
I try to use the stereotypes as a way
of illustrating bad behavior. The rest is who the
characters are deep down. So it's not too hard.
Everyone gets caught up in the immediate and
betrays who they truly are in their hearts in the
heat of the moment. So that's what I try to write.
Sidra:
What is the most difficult part of creating
PvP?
Scott Kurtz:
Trying to keep from second guessing
myself. When PvP started I had nothing to lose,
but now everything is going really great. I'm
finding myself worrying that my readers won't like
a direction I'm going in or that they will stop
reading if I do this or that. I have to stop and
put that aside and just go with my first instinct.
Sidra:
You've recently moved from being published
by Dork Storm to Image. How did that come about?
Scott Kurtz:
Wizard Magazine did an article on
PvP. Frank Cho wanted me to work with him on a new
comic strip that we both agreed should be
published by Image since that's where Frank is
published. So he suggested I submit PvP to them.
He called to put in a good word and found out they
were already talking about PvP. That Wizard
article made a big impression on people. They
offered me a contract and I didn't think twice.
Sidra:
What are you working on currently and what
can we look forward to in the future?
Scott Kurtz:
Frank and I are working on a new
comic strip called Summer Days that you won't see
for a year or more. There's some other stuff but
nothing I can talk about yet.
