Tomm Coker

The Black Monday Murders illustrator Tomm Coker chats with me in a familiar and somewhat noisy Hollywood motel room, about following your heart as an artist, navigating an idiosyncratic career, the flaw of superhero soap operas, and some strange perspectives on our work. Tomm shares an awesome story about a high profile portfolio gut punch that even I felt as he recounted it, along with some excellent inside peaks into early Image Comics as a company. We also talk around a strange connection we share from Sacramento, our mutual tendency toward Destructive Perfectionism (I'm soaking in it), tips about cover design, building your creative confidence, and how drawing comics makes you be the best version of yourself because drawing like someone else makes the job a lot harder. We also take a deep dive through Tomm's long career while we check off the list of his many, and mostly shared, influences. I think we manage to make the comic nerd talk fit into our larger chat about our work and the fundamentals of design. Follow Tomm Coker on Instagram @tommcoker or on Facebook. The first trade of Black Monday Murders, written by Jonathan Hickman and gorgeous art by Tomm, as well as issue 5+, are available now at your local comic shop or online. Go to http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1483305-bitch-talk-story-craft-live-san-francisco/ to get your $15 early bird tickets for the LIVE! Podcast Tag-Team at the Lost Church in San Francisco, Friday, June 2nd, 7:30pm. Follow this podcast on twitter @storycraftpod and help support the show at patreon.com/monkeygong. You can also support the show by subscribing, rating and reviewing on iTunes, as well as by sharing with your friends. Follow me on twitter & instagram @kraigcomx.