mindpollution.org

This week’s webcomic creator interview hit the site a bit early, as I didn’t want it to drown in the flood of Comic-Con coverage we’re planning.

I’ve been a fan of David Willis toy-store diary Shortpacked! for many years now, having worked at a KB Toys store in Crossgates Mall (located in Guilderland, NY) throughout much of high school. Willis’ assessment of life at the toy shop isn’t that far from the reality of the experience, as I remember dealing with many of the same sorts of obsessive collectors, bat-shit loony parents and bosses who seemed to expect their minimum wage, 15-year-old staff to take the job far more seriously than they did - and to do it while wearing “Power Ranger Power Gloves With Power-Action Sound Effects!”

Yes, I worked in a retail toy store during the Christmas Season of “The Power Ranger Craze of ‘93,” folks. You want to know what war is like? Try telling a crowd of stressed-out parents and collectors who have been squatting in the store all day waiting for us to open the latest shipment of stock that there is only one Green Power Ranger per box - so we only have three to sell this week. It’s like staring down death and living to tell the tale.

As always, here’s an excerpt of the interview with a link to the full interview on ComicMix at the end of the post.

As the opening day of San Diego Comic-Con International looms ever closer, it seems only right to turn the spotlight on a webcomic that draws from the world of comic books and toy collecting — the often-overlapping fan cultures that have long provided the backbone of the comic convention scene. With that in mind, this week’s interview subject is David Willis, the author of one of the toy scene’s most popular webcomics, Shortpacked!

Since ending his celebrated series It’s Walky! in 2005 and turning his full attention to Shortpacked, Willis has managed to elevate his semi-autobiographical account of the lives of toy store employees to a prominent role in collectible toy culture  — so much so, in fact, that Willis currently produces both the original, ongoing Shortpacked series and a special version of the comic for Toy News International, one of the most popular toy news sites on the ‘Net.

While much of the series chronicles the oddball cast of characters who work at the toy shop where the series’ main character, Ethan, earns a paycheck, the series often detours into commentary on superhero culture, contradictions and fandom, and rarely shies away from poking fun at the fan culture it calls its own.

I spoke with Willis about the origins of Shortpacked, his decision to "pull the drama tag" in the series, and what toys are on his must-buy list for this year’s Comic-Con.

COMICMIX: Can you tell me a bit about the reason you started Shortpacked? I know it started out semi-autobiographical, but what elements of your life at the time inspired you to run with Shortpacked and end It’s Walky!, your previous series?

DAVID WILLIS: It’s Walky! was coming to its natural end, and I wanted to try something different. I’ve collected toys for most of my life, but what really spawned Shortpacked! was working for a few years at Toys "R" Us. So much of retail work is spoofable. Laugh at the "Customer Protection Rackets" in Shortpacked! all you want, but they’re real. They’re just called something slightly nicer.

CMIX: Often, strips that start out somewhat autobiographical become less so as time goes on… is Shortpacked still "semi-autobiographical" to you?

DW: As long it’s about being a fan of toys and being a reluctant fan of reading message boards about toys, that semi-autobiographical hook will always be there. On the other hand, now I have to write this gay guy. That’s really tough, for a hot-to-trot, chick-banging, manly-man such as myself. Seriously, I’ve had sex with a woman. She even wanted to.

CMIX: I worked in a toy store throughout much of high school, so I get a kick out of a great many of the references in Shortpacked. What made this particular job such a great source of material for you?

DW: As I mentioned above, I’ve walked that employment road myself. Plus, there’s this intrinsic train wreck quality to the retail environment. On one hand, you have the "idea men" up the corporate ladder who’ve got crazy ideas to make quick easy money… ideas that totally work on paper! And this time, they’ll work! And on the other hand, you have the high school and college-aged employees who really don’t give a crap. It’s just not really a formula for success.

CMIX: The strip definitely took a turn when Robin pulled the "drama tag" — why did you chose to move the series in that direction and explore more dramatic storylines?

DW: If you insert a reasonable amount of drama and continuity, it really opens up the possibility for a wider range of humor. Comedy is seeing bad things happen to other people. Consider the Drama Tag storyline itself — sure, Amber’s abusive father was introduced, but that created a whole new framework for comedy as Robin tried to "fix" everything. It really opened up the world for more jokes.

Head over to ComicMix for the full interview with David Willis of Shortpacked!.