By: Nicole D’Andria
Promoted as being “full of fantastic fairy-based fun” (Pipedream Comics), FairyFare explores an urban fantasy setting where the fairyfolk make money by launching an app allowing them to grant wishes. Today, “Kickstart the Week” is finding out more about this colorful world from the mouths of the creative team themselves.
The first issue of FairyFare is a fully colored 24-page comic about two sisters, Phil and Tash Spaight, who sign up for the app known as FairyFare. The app employs an army of pixies who make users’ wishes come true (at a sensible price!). However, Tash starts to question if granting these wishes really makes the world a better place and why the fairyfolk are so interested in money.
The creators of the book are writer Nick Bryan and artist Rosie Alexander. Nick was previously featured on “Kickstart the Week” during his campaign for another character-driven urban fantasy, And It Snowed. Rosie, who is also doing the colors and letters for FairyFare, was previously featured on “Kickstart the Week” for her artwork on the all-ages space adventure comic SAFFRON: Spacetime Academy Adventures. The two previously worked together on the black-and-white one-shot The Little Deaths of Watson Tower. Now these “Kickstart the Week” veterans are back with another fantastical story on their hands!
Help the creators reach their goal, which is $2,058, before the campaign ends on September 4, 2021, at 6:59 AM EDT, by supporting them on Kickstarter. Rewards include digital (£2/about $3) and physical (£4/about $6) copies of FairyFare #1 as well as a sticker sheet (£6/about $9), the creative team’s previous work The Little Deaths of Watson Tower (£7/about $10), and a variety of art prints from guest artists!
I spoke with Nick and Rosie about their project in-depth below, kicking off with Nick’s thoughts on writing the series followed by Rosie’s artistic experience on the book. Plus spilling what they would wish for with their magical app!
Me: FairyFare is an urban fantasy comic book. Can you tell us more about what inspired you to combine the urban setting with fantasy?
Bryan: I’m a long-time urban fantasy enjoyer, from Hellblazer to Buffy as a teenager, to more recent entries like the Lucifer TV show, Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London novels, and comics like The Wicked + The Divine and… well, still Hellblazer. The recent Si Spurrier/Aaron Campbell run was great.
So it’s a genre I’ve gravitated towards a lot, including in a couple of my past comics, and I tried to find a fresh spin on it. In this case, influenced by Rosie’s art, the angle is pulling away from darker more gothic stylings towards a combination of brighter neon colours and more down-to-earth relatable human moments.
Me: How would you explain the FairyFare app?
Bryan: It’s basically Uber for wish-granting—one fairy created it and gives the app’s employees (her “pixies”) a share of her magic powers, which they use to help the customers out for a small fee, often by enlisting fantasy creatures to pitch in.
Me: If you could use the FairyFare app to make a wish, what would you wish for?
Bryan: I’d probably ask them to recruit some kind of teleporting imp to finally bring me my takeaways before they get cold.
Me: The book focuses on sisters Phil and Tash Spaight. What can you tell us about them and their relationship?
Bryan: Phil and Tash are sisters with a loving but tense relationship in a way that I wanted to try and make three-dimensional—they’re both hopefully able to have a valid point and help each other, rather than one always being in the wrong. Phil is used to being the “sensible one,” and if anything that’s maybe made her a little too dismissive of Tash. But there’s some back and forth on that throughout the series.
Me: Can you tell us a bit about your creative team (artist, colorist) and why each of them was the perfect person to work on this book?
Bryan: Rosie Alexander does everything on this comic, and the script was more or less written around her. Everything from the styling (bright coloured hair to add more colours) to the focus on character emotion to the use of creatures was aimed towards stuff I’d seen her do or going further in the direction we’d established in our previous book together, and she absolutely exceeded all my expectations.
Me: There are also a bunch of lovely guest prints on the Kickstarter. Can you tell us more about the individual artists and how their art style as well as art print content represents FairyFare’s world?
Bryan: For the prints, we’ve focused on the mythological creatures in the modern world for maximum dynamic visuals. Robert Ahmad did a great job locating the weird stuff within realistic cityscapes, as he also did during our last comic And It Snowed, as well as some strong, direct character acting with the Spaight sisters themselves making a cameo.
Lane Lloyd went more cartoony. His work just has a huge amount of energy. I think it nicely represents the sillier places the FairyFare concept ends up going—which I’d rather not spoil, but oh boy, we get there by the end of #1.
We went to Sonya Kinsey for a more detailed fantasy centaur illustration, and she both nailed that brief and added a lot of enjoyable touches herself—it’s a really cool piece and I’m saving it as concept art for the maybe-inevitable movie.
Me: You previously worked together on The Little Deaths of Watson Tower one-shot. How do these two works differ?
Bryan: Well, we’re in colour now, which sounds like a facile answer but I think makes a huge difference to the look and feel of the comic. Rosie’s great with colour, it absolutely bounces off the page, and I fully understand if the neon palette is the first thing people notice.
And in story terms, FairyFare is more “adult” in terms of character age and subject matter but without losing the sense of joy that Little Deaths had. Although that’s possibly an odd tone to hit, it’s a very enjoyable one.
Me: What inspirational words do you have for aspiring comic book writers?
Bryan: Just do what you can. Especially when everyone is only showing their successes on Twitter, it’s easy to get down on yourself for not having made a thousand comics yet, but ultimately you just have to work within whatever your limits are (personal, financial, psychological…) to do whatever’s possible.
Me: What is the number one reason why you believe people should pledge money to back your book?
Bryan: Between the art and the tone of the comic, there’s not much else like it. It’s a lot of fun. Rosie’s work is beautiful and demands to be seen. Check it out.
Me: Promote yourself! What else are you currently working on that people can look forward to seeing in the future?
Bryan: If you want to back more of my work on Kickstarter, I’ve actually got a ten-page story in the Fletcher Cross anthology which is up right now, with Boris Pezikovic and Kevin D. Lintz—a quick short on the premise of “What if Doctor Who was a nasty little snot?”
Beyond that, I’m just getting pencils through on a new series with an artist mentioned elsewhere in my answers here, along with finalising future FairyFare scripts for Rosie. Follow me on Twitter where I’ll definitely mention those as they happen.
Me: Now, let’s fly over to Rosie Alexander and discuss her artistic talents!
What kind of art and lettering style are you going for with this book?
Alexander: Well, it’s funny, the style of something always kind of presents itself as you’re world-building and illustrating the characters. We knew we wanted colour, lots of colour in the magical areas of the story to contrast the non-magical elements, and me being an absolute #neongusher, I just fell into the glorious flow of it. Not to mention colour aberration—sweet lord, that gives you the best effect for magic.
Me: Which character was your favorite to design and why?
Alexander: Probably the sisters themselves. As soon as the idea to give them fluorescent hair came about, we actually wrote that into the story. That the fairy hair colour would eventually fade the less they were employed by FairyFare. It’s brilliant when character design can influence a story.
Me: If you could use the FairyFare app to make a wish, what would you wish for?
Alexander: Hmm, probably to magically finish all the projects I want to have done right now. And a magical spa day, in another universe. That’d be so awesome.
Me: What inspirational words do you have for aspiring comic book artists?
Alexander: Keep. Doing. It.
Whatever you’re working through with styles, inspirations, emotions, just keep doing what you’re doing. Artists find the path, no matter how lost the path feels. It took me thirty years to even begin to like my own work. But that journey is so utterly important, and diving into your life experiences will no doubt shape the type of artist you are becoming. Embrace it all.
Me: What are your top three tips for aspiring letterers?
Alexander: Almost feel like I’m incognito within the lettering crew because I’ve never thought of myself as one. Definitely feel like I’m still learning all the tricks with each new comic I do.
One tip I would say is if you’re the artist and the letterer… draw and colour the entire page. Colour under that speech bubble… ‘cus you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you ever need to move it.
Me: What is the number one reason why you believe people should pledge money to back your book?
Alexander: Because it’s so joyful. Nick’s writing is always so fun and cheeky to read. Plus, y’know, independent artists will only keep making more if you support them!
Me: Promote yourself! What else are you currently working on that people can look forward to seeing in the future?
Alexander: I’m currently working on a new comic with writer Mike Finnie, which will prove to be something huge and brilliant! As well as a few other comic stories that are still in talks! Everything feels very exciting right now, just have to make sure the burnout doesn’t catch me up.
But the biggest project will be releasing another artbook and launching my own solo art show in the coming year!
Me: Thank you both for taking the time to discuss this unique urban fantasy setting that you’ve created through comics. Readers interested can check out FairyFare #1 on Kickstarter right now!
Do you have a crowdfunding project? Want to be interviewed about it and have the project featured on “Kickstart/IndieGogo/GoFundMe the Week?” Let me know in the comments below or message me on my website. Also check out the official Kickstart the Week: Interviews with Comic Book Kickstarter Creators Volume 1 on Kindle.
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