Interview: Mike Norton Digs Deep on 'Battlepug: The Compugdium'

Battlepug: The Compugdium arrives in stores today, providing a new look at a fantasy story that is years in the making.

The comedy-fantasy series follows a noble hero known simply as "The Warrior," a rambling old man named Scrabbly, and the series' titular giant steed, the Battlepug. Together, the trio goes along on a series of revenge-fueled fantasy adventures, which get about as weird and delightful as you'd probably expect.

Initially launching as a web comic in 2011, Battlepug went on to entertain readers week after week, winning Eisner and Harvey Awards in the process. At the heart of Battlepug is Mike Norton, who wrote and drew the series, alongside colors from Allen Passalaqua and letters from Chris Crank.

ComicBook.com got a chance to chat with Norton via email ahead of the release of Battlepug: The Compugdium, which collects the entire series into one physical volume for the first time. Read on to find out more about Battlepug's unique origins, how Norton feels seeing the story collected into one volume, and which television superheroes he'd like to see cross over with the series.

ComicBook.com: If people were wanting to jump into the world of Battlepug with this new collection, how would you describe it to them?

Mike Norton: I would say Battlepug is an epic action/adventure/fantasy/comedy about the last Kinundian and his quest for vengeance. Also, he rides a buffalo-sized pug. It's a combination of all the different genres I loved as a child, so it's full of swashbuckling, magic, danger, and a surprising amount of heart.

What motivated you to initially come up with Battlepug?

I had just done a 24-hour comic about a man who became a werepirate and instantly fell in love with writing and drawing my own silly stories. Near the same time, I designed a T-shirt for the iFanboy contest. I had no personal IP I could draw for them, so the first thing I thought of was a barbarian riding a giant pug. The rest, as they say....

What were some of the influences that you drew from when creating Battlepug? You mentioned that it was a mix of genres you loved as a kid, but was there anything in particular?

My biggest influence is the Conan comic books and Star Wars. There are a ton of other childhood influences from Choose Your Own Adventure books to Dune to Masters of The Universe to well... pretty much everything I watched or read in the '80s. Cerebus, Mage, and Bone were adult influences as well.

What was the process like of transitioning the web comic into this collection?

Thankfully not too hard. It was pretty massive, however. There's a lot of material in this baby!

Are there any sequences or scenes from Battlepug that stuck out to you when you were putting the collection together?

The initial destruction of the Kinmundy by the giant baby seal was the first thing that when I drew, I knew I was on to something. From then on, I knew if it made me laugh while drawing, it was worth doing.

Are there any elements of this book that you look at differently now, as opposed to when you first published them?

Going through the original work, I was really happy at how much I DIDN'T want to change! I mean, I always wish I drew better, but it came out pretty good!

Do you think your more recent work has been influenced by Battlepug?

Yeah. The confidence it's inspired for me has helped me in all the stuff I do. I'm much more inclined to write [and] draw my own thing now, and I don't second guess as much.

What are you most excited to see readers respond to with this new edition?

Several of the original books have been out of print for a little while, so I get a lot of requests for reprints. I think seeing it all together like this will hopefully make everybody happy! At least I hope so!

What do you hope the legacy of Battlepug is?

Hopefully it will make people consider how a story doesn't have to be super serious to be important. I think I've been affected by stuff like Bone or even 'Mazing Man as I have Watchmen. I want people to pick this up and go, "This was really fun. I want to go back to this world!"

If Battlepug was to be adapted into some other medium (movies, TV, etc), what would you want that to be like? And is there anyone in particular who you'd want to appear in it?

I was very close to a giant studio for a little bit to do an animated version. I'd still love for that to happen, I would rule out live-action, but I honestly don't know how that would be possible. As for who would play what, that's overwhelming. I wouldn't know where to start!

In addition to your awesome comic work, I'm a fan of your live tweets about Arrow, The Flash, and the other Arrowverse shows. If you had to pick one character from that realm to cross over into the world of Battlepug, who would it be, and why?

Ha! Thanks! I watch a lot of TV while I draw. I'd probably choose Supergirl or Flash because they seem like they would be cool with it immediately. Also, they travel dimensions like its no big deal. Hmmmm. I gotta go call DC. I have an idea…

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Battlepug: The Compugdium is now available in comic book stores. It will be available in bookstores and libraries starting on January 29th.