Necropit is an original, beautifully drawn comic book. You can find issue one and soon other issues at http://necropit.storenvy.com/
First off tell me a bit about yourself, who are you?
I write and illustrate the Lords of the Necropit comic zine. It chronicles a barbarian’s attempt to escape from an extra-dimensional fighting pit run by necromancer-demons. As for me, I love horror VHS tapes, old off-brand toys, unsuccessful video game systems, things like that. I’m into flea markets and thrift stores. I post about the comic book on Instagram @necropit. I also have a store at http://www.necropit.com.
What inspired you to start creating Necropit?
I love old school RPGs and one of the things I really love about them is the art. Often the art was amateurish but had a cool earnest charm to it. Check out WTF, Traveller Art!? for some extreme examples. But it’s not just in RPGs – you see it in heavy metal, which has a visual element that is sort of parallel to RPGs. You’ve got the cover of the first Slayer album – a lot of old thrash. Sometimes there’s power in someone just doing the best they can despite their limitations. So over time you have this really great stuff that’s made of these illustrations and it creates a certain vibe that I really like. I wanted to take that feeling and push it as far as I could take it.
What has been the biggest challenge creating your own story and world?
The biggest challenge was just putting it out there. You create this stuff and you don’t know if people will like it. The story and world are things that have been bouncing around my head for a long time so they weren’t the biggest hurdle. Just deciding it was time to make something for other people to see was the biggest challenge.
What’s next now that the first comic is out?
Issue 2 is done and I’m going to be printing it soon. I held off for a bit because of the Corona Virus but it seems like shipping out these small parcels isn’t going to be a problem. So look for that by mid-April. I’m going to have a comic strip in the upcoming third issue of Lurker magazine,(http://lurkermagazine.com/) which is a really cool publication that covers heavy metal, dungeon synth and tabletop gaming.I’m also writing and illustrating an RPG zine that’s a short standalone adventure. This coronavirus has really screwed up my creative rhythm and my ability to logistically get anything done so it might take a while for that to come out. I have demon medallions up on my site that I cast in resin. I really want to take my characters in that direction – making action figures out of them. I came up with the idea for a comic at the same time as I did a toy line. That’s why it’s called Lords of the Necropit, as a kind of shoutout to Masters of the Universe. I like the 5.5 inch He Man toys. Especially the ones made by other companies like Remco and Sungold. A lot of cool artists are making toys in that vein, and I think they’re a really fun way to get your characters out into the world in a really satisfying way. I’ve really just been amazed at the response to the action figures and medallions that I’ve made – I never really imagined anyone would want to buy them, but they’ve sold. It’s just cool to see other people appreciating what you’re putting out there.
What inspired your art style?
I’ve always been into underground comics, Rat Fink, gross out toys like Mad Balls. Maybe six years ago I started drawing a lot and following other artists on Tumblr and I got into a bunch of weirdo artists. Sean Aaberg definitely comes to mind. More recently I started really appreciating the heavy blacks and the stark white contrast of death metal album covers. I got really inspired by the board game Cave Evil. All that sort of sloshed around in my mind and turned into Necropit. It was really cool because the Emperors of Eternal, the publishers of Cave Evil, actually asked to carry the comic in their store https://store.cave-evil.com/ . It should be available there soon. That was really cool.
I bet you are also into horror yourself. What are your go to horror movies and comics?
I’m all over the place when it comes to horror. I love 80s horror. Alien’s Deadly Spawn is one of my favorites because the creature design is so rad. I love the Sleepaway Camp movies, Killer Klowns, Critters – a lot of stuff with great practical effects from that era. The only recent horror movie to blow me away was Midsommar. As for comics, I’ve been away from comics for a long time. I used to love EC comics, Mad Magazine, Groo, Ninja Turtles, Ralph Snart,
Tritone’s love of horror and mystery began at a young age. Growing up in the 80’s he got to see some of the greatest horror movies play out in the best of venues, the drive-in theater. That’s when his obsession with the genre really began—but it wasn’t just the movies, it was the games, the books, the comics, and the lore behind it all that really ignited his obsession. Tritone is a published author and continues to write and write about horror whenever possible.
