12 Questions with Massachuetts Pen & Ink Artist /Author Bret Herholz.

This is a series of bi-weekly columns by Bob Heske @ Heske Horror, creator of The Night Projectionist, Cold Blooded Chillers, and 2012: Final Prayer, featuring interviews and insights from indie comic artists, writers, creators, distributors and visionaries.

12 Questions with Massachuetts Pen & Ink Artist /Author Bret Herholz

This bi-weekly column is close to home. I interview old pal and pen & ink artist Bret Herholz. I met Bret nearly a decade ago at an art show in Spencer, Massachusetts where my father was showing a few of his plein air paintings.

Unmarried and with disposable income at the time, I was drawn to a pen and ink illustration of people huddled in a graveyard with an inspector at the scene of a hanging. In the back of the crowd was a mischievous lad holding a piece of spaghetti. I bought the piece and was later thrilled to discover that Bret had published a book about the scene with Alterna Comics called The Spaghetti Strand Murder.

Several of Bret’s illustrations can also be found on my screenwriting website (www.bobheske.com) when I commissioned him to draw scenes from various film works. Soon after, I became inspired to create my own comics (working with talented artists like Bret).

Enough about me – read on to hear about Bret’s personal story:

1. Your style is eerily suggestive of Edward Gorey's old pen and inks (the artist noted for the animation opening to Master Piece Theater). Where did you go to art school, and how has your style evolved over the years?

(BH:) I went to college at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. During that time I was really getting into a lot of black and white, and heavily pen and ink work, through books like Cerebus and Strangers in Paradise. The two biggest impacts on my style were:

• My Professor Patrick Welch. I was such a fan of his artwork which reminded me a great deal of Edward Gorey's (but at the time I couldn't remember Gorey's name); however, it was Patrick's style of inking and crosshatch that really stuck with me and I tried to incorporate into my own pen and ink work.

• My college roommate Aaron Krolikowski. Aaron was the one that got me hooked on working solely in crow quill pen. In particular, the ones with the rounded nibs which I've found are a lot better to work with than the regular diamond head.

2. You have several titles available through Alterna comics. Tell us about how you hooked up with Alterna and what your experience has been thus far.

(BH:) Actually, I discovered them on Myspace. They were a brand new company at the time, and they were looking for titles, so I submitted samples of my work which Peter Simeti (the editor and chief of Alterna) liked but was looking for full stories. So, I submitted a page from Diary of the Black Widow and Peter liked it and took a chance on my work.

My experience with Alterna has been great!! They have been terrific and open to many of my ideas since Day One. And Peter Simeti has done a fantastic job getting together some of the most unique titles, such as Jesus Hates Zombies, American Terror and Novo, as well as some of the most talented writers and artists in comics.

3. Are your works creator-owned – meaning Alterna is your main distributor and they share a percentage? Have you ever pitched works to other publishers?

(BH:) Yes, and it's been working really well for both Alterna and myself. I tried to pitch Black Widow to Fantagraphic Books and Slave Labor Graphics before submitting the project to Alterna. Strangely enough, Fantagraphics liked the story but weren't too keen on the art whereas Slave Labor liked the art but wasn't too keen on the story.

4. Your most recent work is SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner. Elaborate please!

(BH:) It's based on a play written by actor/writer/and fellow New Englander William Gillette. Gillette was also the first American actor to make the character of Sherlock Holmes famous on the American stage starring as the lead character from 1899 when the play first opened until 1936 when he was 82 years old.

The play was a rewrite from a one-act play Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had written for Sherlock Holmes. Gillette added elements from many of Sherlock Holmes stories like A Scandal in Bohemia, The Sign of Four and The Final Problem.

The play itself is really a great anthology of some of the best Sherlock Holmes stories ever written. In adapting a stage play into a graphic novel, I made many changes to it myself. Some of it for time constraint, because there were a lot of scenes, incidental characters, and dialogue that work great in the context of a stage play but don't really move the story along as far as a graphic novel is concerned (or even a film for that matter).

One of the biggest problems I found with the original play is Sherlock Holmes really does not show up until halfway through Act One. And I felt I would have to change that.

Also, with a play you have to fit a great deal of action into each act. With a graphic novel, much like creating a film, you have that luxury of the cut-away. So I was able to take scenes from Act Two and lace them in with the action of Act One.

Gillette's play is also somewhat controversial in the sense where he has Sherlock Holmes fall in love. That was also something else I downplayed a great deal. I wanted to leave that up to the reader. Had he fallen for Alice Faulkner? Or was this merely admiration for her indomitable spirit?

This is a project I've been working on in one form or another for the past ten years. I had originally thought about submitting the idea to a few local theater companies. The concept was the William Gillette play with my set and costume design. But nothing ever came of that. So, when I started doing books for Alterna, the opportunity arose to create a graphic novel based on the play.

5. Your other works include DIARY OF THE BLACK WIDOW, CONFESSIONS OF A PECULIAR BOY... AND OTHER STORIES, THE SPAGHETTI STRAND MURDER and THE ADVENTURES OF POLLY AND HANDGRAVES: A SINSTER AURA. All of which are published by the fine folks at Alterna Comics. Give us a snippet on each – what are they about?

6. You are also a regular contributor to the Undercoverfish Anthology. As a creator myself of a few anthologies, I understand that they can be a tough sell. What is unique about "Undercoverfish" and where did the name come from?

(BH:) Undercoverfish is derived from the last name of the editor, Andy Fish who is a friend and tremendously talented artist based in Worcester. I think the “undercover” part of the monicker is a nod to Andy's love for film noir and detective stories of the 1930's.

What's great about Undercoverfish is that the artists involved are so completely different from one another as far as style is concerned. Ranging from a very comic art style to a very fine art style to a very cartoony style to the Gorey-esque pen and ink stuff that I do. I think it really offers something for everyone.

7. You also teach children and young adult art programs at the Worcester Art Museum. Any rising stars who have gone on to publish works that you care to mention?

(BH:) Yes, I think there are a few rising stars in the Worcester Art Museum. A few of them you can go see down on the “Local Homies” rack down at That's Entertainment, New England’s largest independent comic book and collectibles store. ;-)

8. You are both writer and artist. Which comes easiest to you – the words or the images? Which story or piece of art are you most proud of having created?

(BH:) Images come much easier to me. I consider myself more of a scriptwriter than a writer. I have so many friends who are English Majors who could write circles around me. I think the type of writing that comes easiest for me is humor. And that can be a tricky thing which is why there aren't many humor comics out there. Well, there are ones that say they're humor but they're not the slightest bit funny. But the few that are, are absolutely brilliant!! I think I am the most proud of Sherlock Holmes because it's the one I've worked the longest to get out there. But I will always have a soft spot for Diary of the Black Widow because you never forget your first love ;-)

9. Are you available to work on other comic projects? What segment of comics interests you the most? And how can people contact you to hire you?

(BH:) Well people can find me on Facebook, Myspace and many of the other social website. Just type in “Bret M. Herholz” in the search engine. They can also e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for commissions or to pitch a project.

10. Tell us where we can buy your "stuff – the books, artwork and commissions.

(BH:) You can buy it on the web at the Alterna Store at www.alternacomics.com and Amazon.com, as well as Borders.com and Barnesandnoble.com. If you live around and about Worcester, you can find copies of my books at That's Entertainment, Borders Books and Music in Shrewsbury and Cormier Jewelers in Spencer MA.

11. You do a lot of grassroots “get out and meet the folks” marketing and selling. Tell our readers about some of your favorite venues to do this. And what are your favorite comic cons to attend?

(BH:) The ones I like the best are stART on the Street, Boston Comic Con, Free Comic Book Day at That's Enterainment, and Local Authors Extravaganza at Borders in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. And now I can add a new one to the list with Stitches, Needles 'N' Guns Alternative Craft Fair hosted by the Central Mass Roller Derby. Those are the ones I've had some of the best turn-outs and met both some really great artists and chatted with some really great people checking out the show.

12. What's in store for Bret Herholz for the rest of 2010? What special events or comic cons will you attend?

(BH:) I would like to do follow ups to both Polly and Handgraves and Spaghetti Strand Murder. Both scripts have already been written and pages have been started for those projects. I've also been talking with a few writers about doing adaptations of their works. Nothing I can really get into full detail about but they're projects that I really love and would absolutely love to adapt into graphic novels because they're fantastic!!

Thank you, Bret!

NOTE TO READERS: Stop by the InvestComics forum and visit me in the IndieCreator thread to give me your thoughts on this column. If you haven’t signed up, you’re missing out!

Bob Heske is creator of The Night Projectionist, a vampire horror series by publisher Studio 407 with film rights optioned by Myriad Pictures. Through his Heske Horror shingle, Bob self-published his critically acclaimed horror series Cold Blooded Chillers. Bob's trade paperback Bone Chiller (a "best of" CBC anthology) won a Bronze medal in the horror category at the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards. His "end times" anthology 2012: Final Prayer was released on November 13, 2009. Bob's works are available online at Amazon.com Zaldiva.com, ComixPress, IndyPlanet, HeavyInk, SmallZone, DriveThruComics and YuDu.com (store). You can email Bob at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .