Jason Horn Talks Ninjasaur, Heading to Thrillbent and Kickstarting a Second Print Volume

The popular webcomic is also currently engaged in a Kickstarter campaign to try and fund a print edition of the second volume — something Horn has already done twice before.

Horn joined us to talk about Ninjasaur, the crazy month he’s got ahead of him and the appeal of Thrillbent.

You’ve got a couple of different major projects going on — moving to Thrillbent and working on the Kickstarter. Are you pull your hair out yet, or is the fact that it’s rereleasing archival material making it a little less daunting?

Yeah, it’s a lot of plates to spin at once. But I’ve been working in comics and as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator for a while now. So juggling lots of projects is the norm. But almost all of this work is 100% done. I finished the Ninjasaur story that’s running on Thrillbent.com a while ago. And the hundred pages of story going into Ninjasaur: Volume Two for the Kickstarter is done, other than coloring on the last ten pages.

Do you plan on continuing on Thrillbent, or is that going to be essentially a reprint platform?

Creating a “digital first” comic was great. After seeing the interesting type of transitions people started doing on Thrillbent and eventually on DC and Marvel’s digital platforms, I really wanted to play with comics made specifically for digital devices. The story I made for Thrillbent is an all new Ninjasaur story that couldn’t be printed. At least I wouldn’t even want to think about how I’d have to tweak it for print. I’d love to do more work like this. I’m already planning how to push digital storytelling techniques further in my work.

Our kids will grow up in a world where comic books will have always been pulled out of the air like magic and read on mobile devices. They will undoubtedly look at comics differently than we do. Since my comics are aimed mostly at kids, it would be crazy not to let that effect the way I create them.

Thrillbent creators, and Mark Waid specifically, have been doing work that I consider to be the proper way to advance digital comic books. A lot of other platforms have experimented with music and motion comics, and there’s nothing wrong with experimentation, but all that fancy business is distracting to me. It makes comic books more passive to consume, and that’s not what I feel comic books should be.

I met Mark at Baltimore Comic-Con a few years ago and showed him the Ninjasaur app that my friend, Ben Morrison, and I created. (available now at the Apple store). Mark loved it and we talked a few times after that. He told me if I ever wanted to do a Ninjasaur story for Thrillbent, I’d be welcome.

I immediately started writing one. Later after I told Mark about it, he asked me to email him what I’d written so far. That’s when I started to sweat. When Mark Waid asks you to send him a script, that’s when you go back and make sure every word is as good as it can be. But Mark has been great. So helpful and encouraging.

Are you building in some jumping-on points in the webcomic now, for people who are just hearing about you for the first time?

The Ninjasaur web comic is toward the end of a large story I’ve been working on for years now. But there is a link to the various chapters where people can jump in.

Okay, so what’s the elevator pitch for the series?

Ninjasaur, as you can imagine, is a dinosaur ninja. He is the only hero with the skills to keep the peace in a world where everything exists at once. Cavemen live alongside robots. Cowboys work in cubicles next to pirates. Ninjasaur is a stealthy, sarcastic hero of a crazy “smash-the-action-figures-together” type world. He’d rather be at home in his recliner watching infomercials, but he’s always ready for danger.

Having Ninjasaur be the hero in a world where everything exists at once was a sneaky way for me to be able to draw whatever I wanted. If I want to draw aliens, I can. The next day, if I fancy pirate monkeys with cybernetic tails…totally doable. It’s like working with random characters from the bottom of a kid’s toy box.

Are you making any changes to the archival material to work better for Thrillbent?

The biggest change was trying to think of interesting transitions and interactions that make sense in the story. Just doing a bunch of fancy things because the comic book will be read digitally seemed silly. When digital first comics are at their best, you barely even notice that new interesting things are happening. The reader should be invested in the story, not the techniques you can show off just because they’re reading it on an iPad.

What do you think is the added value of having a print edition out there?

The main reason I’m seeking Kickstarter funding for a print version of Ninjasaur is because kids want physical books. It’s funny that, in a world where they want comics on the iPad, they’re still buying tons of comics. If you think kids today don’t want printed comic books, go ask my friend Raina Telgemeier. Go look at her bookscan numbers.

It can be tricky, but we need to be everywhere now. We live in a world were the internet has (sort of) created a level playing field for entertainment. Comic books are competing for consumer attention just like movies and TV. We need to be accessible and cheap to survive. In a world where streaming services are killing network TV, it’s clear that the internet can be a platform that replaces the norm and delivers content to anyone at any time. Comic book creators need to harness that power any way we can.

How would you describe your audience? The concept itself seems very all-ages friendly, but on the other hand, even from the little I’ve read, there are some big ideas.

When I first created Ninjasaur, I only thought about people around my age (now late thirties). But when I first started selling Ninjasaur mini-comics at HeroesCon (my favorite convention) all these kids started picking it up. All of a sudden I realized that I’d created an all-ages comic book. There wasn’t anything bad in that first comic, but it did change the way I create the book. I try to make comics for everyone. The way a Pixar movie is great for kids but their parents get a kick out if it too.

I see a bit of Kirby in there, too. Who are your big influences?

I love Kirby. When I was a kid, I didn’t get Kirby at all. Seemed so weird. Now, he’s one of my greatest influences. Along with Moebius, Mike Mignola, and Guy Davis. Those guys are the best.

What’s the deal with the “digital extras” book?

The digital extras book I’m offering on the Kickstarter was a way to offer the sketchbook content that I didn’t want to put into the print version of the book. I love sketchbook sections with cool character designs, but I didn’t see the point in having a bunch of black and white drawings in my full color book. I was trying to keep the page count (and the printing cost) down. With the digital extras book, everyone still gets all that cool concept design stuff.

Is there anything major that you want readers to know going into both the Kickstarer and the Thrillbent era?

Just that I’m doing my best to create an interesting, silly story about a dinosaur ninja who’d rather watch TV than save the world but does it anyway. It’s hard work making comic books. But I keep at it. Just keep reading. And if Ninjasaur sounds like fun to you, consider contributing to the Kickstarter!