Click here to read part one of this interview.

On the one hand, Gary Chaloner is a writer, artist and publisher who forged his own path in the comics industry. On the other hand, Gary makes his living as a graphic artist and has done most of his work outside of the U.S. mainstream. He knows the industry as well as anyone, but he can also offer an outsider's perspective. So, where does Gary Chaloner think comics are going?

"I have had chats about the value, or lack of value, of free creative work online. There are a lot of people out there giving the creative side away and hoping to get money on advertising or on merchandising. That's to me a bit arse up, and I don't think it'll be very good for this new little industry that's happening - Web comics. It's denigrating the value of the creative reason that you are going to that site. That's why you're there, that's why you should pay money - not to get the comic for free but pay $15 for a cap. That seems to be a bit silly.

"I don't know how practical that is, but from an ethics point of view I would have to come down on the side of not liking the trend of free online comics. Sure you need to give people a taste of what it is, but then, after the sample, you should be able to make a living off putting your stuff online - just like buying a comic on the news stand. People should pay. Creators put a lot of time into getting that stuff out there.

"There's two roads - there's the industry versus the availability of stories that happen to be illustrated. The industry is in big trouble and going through big upheavals, but there will always be comics available to buy. If DC goes through a corporate take-over, changes in executive structure are going to trickle down and that's going to have to affect the final product. Is there going to be a BATMAN comic published anymore or is it going to be a CD-ROM, or is it going to be downloadable from the net, or is it going to be subscriber-only cable animated shows? That's how it's going to change. There will still be people publishing comics, but the delivery system will change."

Gary believes there are changes that need to be made in print comics as well. "I have never liked the comic size, but the readers are locked into it. That's slowly breaking down I think. People like Chris Ware (ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY), who does each issue in a different size... good stuff," he says. "I think he's come from a similar background - knowing print production - and that's what he enjoys trying to experiment in. He's a designer, telling his stories."

'Why doesn't Australia have a good Western comic?' The industry remains dominated by superheroes, and like every fan and every creator, Gary has his own take on the matter. "I've done my fair share of superheroes, but they weren't exactly traditional versions of these things. From a personal point of view, I'm more missing other genres. I mean, I love reading Westerns and some of the greatest artists like Moebius (BLUEBERRY) and Colin Wilson (YOUNG BLUEBERRY), and Europeans love Westerns. Why doesn't Australia have a good Western comic set in colonial times? And not a bushranger comic.

"Even romance comics. You might think 'hokey', but what do you watch on TV nowadays? Soap operas are what Marvel was doing in the 50's with 'He doesn't love me anymore' and 'I'm pregnant but it's not his baby' and all this kind of stuff. It's a soap opera and I can't see why not do them now.

"And if SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and all those movies can be so huge, why couldn't there have been a reflux of war comics? The same kind of moral dilemmas can be told in a war environment. Look at the EC stuff - they were famous for their war comics. We're long overdue for some fresh kinds of stories.

"That's what I think - superheroes don't need fixing, they're quite fine thank you very much. They'll always have a reader base; they'll always have the good and the bad. If you were to have a big range of war comics done by 3 or 4 different publishers you would have the good stuff and you would have the shit as well. That's just pretty standard expectations"

Over all, then, what are Gary's impressions of where the industry is going?

"Best case scenario is that, on a very basic level, there would still be a lot of people out there like me that get turned on by creating stories and being part of constructing a story in the form of a comic. I think that [it's] fairly safe to say that people will desire to tell stories about characters that are well known like Superman and Batman; there will be people out there that want to tell their own stories; and photocopying comics might become a huge industry in the future instead of printing, because I think that printing is becoming far too expensive and restrictive. I'm pretty sure that there will always be a desire for people to put pen to paper and do their thing.

"The commercial side of it is where it's going to be interesting. I'm pretty pessimistic about the company/corporate side of thing because the skew has gone from the characters to, 'How do we make money?' I mean it always was that, but things are changing so much now. Things are going to be 'interesting', that's for sure.

"Pessimistic view? The shrinking of the industry could very well turn into a cottage industry where it's relegated to 'quilting' societies that get together and show what they've done at conventions and things like that. It turns into a 'swapmeet' kind of environment instead of something where people are making livings and careers out of it. It'll survive at that level, but obviously to me as a businessperson it's not the ideal way of doing things.

"The other thing is that the companies don't market the titles - they never have and they probably never will. The 'marketing' is you place an ad in the back of another comic or Wizard magazine - which is preaching to the (shrinking) converted. Take a book publisher like Pan when they market a new book: they advertise outside the industry; they have reps on the road selling to bookstores... the book publishers tend to have a different sensibility about how to promote and market new fiction. Everything from the big guys like Stephen King right through to the art-house publications are promoted in a way that is different to comics. Comics have no marketing budget.

"Publishers don't want to spend money on promoting the new range of comics. How are they going to sell? How are they going to reach a market? They won't, and they don't."

Finally, what does the future hold for Gary himself? He has two exciting new projects on the horizon, which he gave us the inside track on. "I've just completed the first part of a planned series of short stories about Plastic Man creator Jack Cole. It will be published in the bumper Australian anthology Dee Vee 2001, due out for the San Diego Con this year. Other creators in that issue include Eddie Campbell, Amber Carven, James Kochalka, Michael Evans, Mandy Ord, Bruce Mutard and Daren White.

"I've also commenced a new online strip that I'm working on with Will Eisner. I've been contracted to write and illustrate a relaunch of one of his characters - well, three of his characters actually, but two will be supporting cast members while one will be the title star. A print series of the same is also being flashed about at the moment. Will is serving as, I suppose, editor and head honcho. The strip will eventually be featured on Will's new web site, WillEisner.com. I'm really excited about this series and hope it's received really well by Eisner fans and comic readers in general."

Gary Chaloner's official website is at www.GaryChaloner.com.

Mike Sims is a teacher, stand-up comedian and author of several short films.

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