Buggin' Out with Travis Gibb!

Apr 25, 2024

Hey Friends!

New Buggin’ Out! Take a look!

SCOTT WILKE: For any of our readers who have been living under a rock and haven’t heard of The Gibb, why don’t you give us a rundown of all your writer/creator credits? Try to keep it succinct, I know you have a lot and I don’t have all day.

TRAVIS GIBB: You know, I could do that. I have a list of everything that I have ever worked on but that list is massive. My first work was Government Bodies #3 - 2003 for Across The Pond and since then I have been part of just under 50 different comic books. I am most known for Granite State Punk, Cthulhu Invades, Coins of Judas, Broke Down and Four Dead Bodies, and Voodoo Nations.

SCOTT: Tell us something you’ve never mentioned on another interview/podcast. It can be a fun fact, a hidden talent, an embarrassing moment, or all of the above.

TRAVIS: I was part of a colorguard team in High School because I had a crush on a girl. However, you will never find pictures of me in a color guard uniform because I think my teacher was WELL AWARE of my motives and always had me dress up as characters. (EXAMPLE: We did Star Wars….I was Han Solo)

SCOTT: Tell us about young Travis. Was he a good kid? Troublemaker? What was he into? What did he want to be when he grew up?

TRAVIS: YES, Young Travis was all the above. I wasn't bad, meaning I would party or do drugs, but I would always fight with teachers verbally and I was always fighting people. My parents had, let’s say, a troubled upbringing and I learned my right and wrongs from comics. So, I would often get in a fight with Johnny if he upset Samatha even though it was none of my business. I just didn’t want to see girls cry.

SCOTT: Admirable, man. So, tell us where could we find Travis in high school? Theater? Football field? Library? Computer lab? Ditching? It’s okay, we won’t rat you out if it’s that last one.

TRAVIS: I was a theater kid, but was also on the Football team. I was also a serial boyfriend. I would date often because I loved being in love. I was always into a new relationship of the week that meant everything to me. I played a lot of Mortal Kombat at the Arcade as well. Last but not least, I always was a writer even as far back as high school. I was always writing plays and movies.

SCOTT: Alright, let’s time jump again. Travis just finished his FIRST script. Which book was it? What was your hope for it at that moment? Did you want to take it to Marvel or DC? Pitch it to Hollywood?

TRAVIS: I don't remember the name, but I wrote like a high school Kevin Smith-type musical using Modern Music mixed in during my high school days. It was my first Opus if you will. My teacher informed me that it would never work due to licensing. Little did I know years later that Moulin Rouge would be a thing.

SCOTT: Sounds like that teacher might’ve stolen your idea, man. Lawyer up. Anyhoo, people like to hear about EPIC FAILS. We all have one, well, except for Allen Dunford. Tell us about an epic fail in your comic career. How did you bounce back from it?

TRAVIS: I wish I could be as successful and as handsome as Allen Dunford. That is really the final end goal of everything that I have been doing. However, unlike him, I failed often, and early in my career, I signed on to a book called DOGDAYS. This book was a mess and I never had a contract. It was an original graphic novel that didn’t do great on KICKSTARTER, but caused nothing but drama in my life and with the publisher. I'm glad the book came out but I did tons of work for something that I really can’t use because the publisher wanted to rush it out to get me off his back instead of making a quality book like envisioned. ALWAYS HAVE A CONTRACT!

SCOTT: Solid advice! How about you tell us a bit about the Gibb family? Wife? Children? How have they sculpted your comics career?

TRAVIS: We really don’t have time for that here. That would be a full thing. I legit have a 3 part blog on the subject in my substack. However, I have a wife and 3 kids. (2 daughters, 1 son) I gave up comics early on to take care of my older daughter. However, my lovely wife has come alongside me to make this career in comics while we raise the other two. It's a wild ride.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out Travis’ Substack at travisgibb.substack.com

SCOTT: Listen, I got a question that’s been burning me up for months. Did your son inherit his love of cottage cheese from you? If not, what is your preferred cheese? Also, tell us a bit about what went into creating The Super-Delish-Sing-Along Comic?

TRAVIS: I hate Cottage Cheese. That book believe it or not had nothing to do with me except for spending our family money on it. My son early on would only eat COTTAGE CHEESE. My wife would sing a song while feeding him. We encouraged her to write that song and well it became a song and comic. It’s the most expensive single-issue comic book our company has ever made but it makes my wife happy. So, it’s worth every penny.

SCOTT: That’s super sweet and wholesome. Alright, love ‘em or hate ‘em, cons are the lifeblood of comic creators. Tell us your favorite con experience and your least favorite con experience.

TRAVIS: Oh, this is tough. So, I really loved Baltimore and getting nominated for a Ringo. However, Megacon 2023 had to be my favorite. It was my first direct market release and I had the whole Granite State Punk creative team at the con and we were like minor celebrities signing books and doing little sketches. It was good times.

SCOTT: For those who may not know, you and I worked together on Roseblood Manor. Tell everyone how amazing it was to work with me. :P But no, I have two questions…one, what inspired you to write your story? Two, what the hell is wrong with you? Jk. I loved it, but I gotta know what was going through your head with that one. It was delightfully twisted.

TRAVIS: LOL, I did it to make Mike Tener laugh. That was my whole goal of that story. I know you want a little bit of SEXY when you are doing Roseblood Manor. So, I needed to give fans what they wanted but well not in the way they wanted. I have always loved theatre as we discussed above but I also loved the concept of people under the stairs. So, I wanted to mix them both for Evelyn's evil amusement and make something that hasn't been seen in the Manor but also something that fits in that twisted world. However, again most importantly, I wanted a story that would make Mike laugh. If I ever get asked back. I’ll do a more directly sexy book but making Mike Tener laugh was the whole objective for this story.

SCOTT: This question goes out to our boy, Editor John. What is the Gibb Writing Session Soundtrack? You seem like a Heavy Metal type of guy.

TRAVIS: Ohhh, it really depends on what I am writing. I am a theater person so to hype myself up to write. I listen to musicals about writing Rent or Hamilton. However, when I am doing a book I listen to the music connected with it. In fact, if you look at any of my mini-series they each have a band attached to them

Broke Down - Meatloaf
Voodoo Nations - Queen
Coins Of Judas- Aerosmith

If you look at the credits page you will see the title of each issue is a song title. It’s a fun thing I do for my books. However, for Granite State Punk - It’s all PUNK ROCK. Rancid. Sex Pistols. Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Ramones, Black Flag. Etc.

SCOTT: Appreciate you being an awesome sport with this! Why don’t you take this time to tell everyone what you got going on right now? What’s in the pipeline for Gibb?

TRAVIS: Man it's gonna be a wild year for myself. I am currently wrapping up Voodoo Nations on kickstarter but following hot on its trail is Coins of Judas and Tales from Canon City (see below). We also have more Granite State Punk, The Federalist, Cthulhu Invades, Holiday Spirits, and MANY, MANY MORE THIS YEAR!!

Check out Travis’s latest Kickstarter!