Self-publishing in comics is core to the whole artform. There is no scarlet letter in comics as there still is, to some degree, in prose. As no publisher for a long time would publish serious work in comics, the only way a lot of it came out was because of self-publishing. Many of the greatest works of the medium are self-published.
Kieron GillenIโve always thought that if comics are a part of pop culture [then] they should reflect pop culture, but a lot of the time comics, superhero comics especially, just feed on themselves. For me, comics should take from every bit of pop culture that they can; theyโve got the same DNA as music and film and TV and fashion and all of these things.
Kieron GillenPhonogram was explicitly about our world. Itโs a fantasy which is happening around us all, unnoticed except for those whoโve fallen into its world. In a real way, itโs real. Conversely, W+D is much more overt. The appearance of the gods changes the world, and has changed the world going back. Thereโs the strong implication that certain figures in our world simply didnโt exist in The Wicked And The Divineโs world, because they were replaced by a god.
Kieron GillenPhonogram is the memory of a long period in my life through a surprisingly small filter. Those characters are basically the golem who accompanied me on that decade and a half.
Kieron Gillen