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Printer-Friendly ModeStudent designs, writes comic
Fine Arts senior works with SVSU to produce and sell Mime in Action
April 9, 2007 —
At the age of eight, Jason Nuttall had no idea that watching Popeye the Sailor and reading comics would ever amount to anything. Little did he know that years later, his childhood interests would help him create and release his very own comic book.
Nuttall, a senior at SVSU, will be promoting, selling, and signing his comic M.I.A.: Mime in Action on Thursday, April 26 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and again on Monday, April 30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in front of the SVSU bookstore. Alongside Nuttall will also be students Ben Robinson and Brandon DuVall, who will also be promoting their comics.
Nuttall inked, designed, wrote, and illustrated his comic on his own in Associate Professor of Art Michael Mosher's comic book workshop.
The book is a follow-up to Vietmime, a comic designed in 2005 by Nuttall and written by Tim Schaiberger.
The pair called themselves Nutberger Ink. The book will be sold in the bookstore until around July and then put back on the shelves again for the fall semester.
The storyline of the comic book follows a man touring Vietnam. An explosion occurs and everyone involved in the accident dies, except for the main character. The explosion, however, burned makeup into the man's face and fried his vocal cords.
"He literally has to mime his way through the war," Nuttall said.
He ensured there was plenty of backstory in M.I.A.: Mime in Action, so those who know nothing about Vietmime won't be lost or confused.
Writing comic books has not always been what Nuttall has aspired to do, however. Although he is very much inspired by comics such as Groo and enjoyed drawing Spiderman and Wolverine characters in his elementary school days, Nuttall later shifted into drawing more realistic artwork.
"Once I started getting older, I basically started drawing girls in class to get their attention," he said.
Nuttall also mentioned that he enjoys drawing some of his favorite characters and then putting his own spin on them.
"If there was a picture that I liked, I'd try to recreate it," he said.
It took Nuttall an entire semester to finish his work. Drawing didn't begin until October of the fall semester and didn't end until mid-December.
The only time a computer was used was to type, cut, paste, and print. Inking and thumbnail sketches were all done by Nuttall.
The entire comic book was printed at SVSU. He mentioned that having three children and a wife left him with little time to work on his book at home.
"I'm married with three kids, so I don't get a lot of chance to do much of anything. I have to force myself to do it at home and I pretty much ignore my family," he joked.
Nuttall also hopes to have a book opening in his hometown in West Branch, where he can hear from other local artists and promote his comic book more.
He also anticipates the comic sparking interest in other students who are into comics on campus.
The book opening is important to Nuttall because he wants to show his fellow students what can be produced through the SVSU art program.
"My idea was that because this is a project for SVSU, it just shows what can be accomplished in this course, on this campus, at this school," he said. "This is pretty much an SVSU book."