We contacted Zach Cranor again to find out more about his recent work. However, first, we asked the artist what some of the most rewarding aspects of being a comic artist are, and what keeps him motivated to continue creating. Cranor shared with us: “Comics are dope in that if you think about it, you can do it. There are no practical concessions you need to consider aside from time and skill (and even those can be minimized through abstraction and stylization). It is rewarding to see the thing you imagined realized without compromise. So, creation is its own reward to a certain extent. It also helps to have people out there who connect with what you're doing and vibe with it. It's neat to see your work land with people just the way you'd hoped, and really funny when people react in ways you couldn't have predicted.”
We wanted to know more about the evolution of Zach’s style over time, and the factors that influenced these changes. The artist told us: “It's just better. Smoother lines, better proportions, stylistically more consistent. Things just become easier with repetition, I guess, cause I made no concerted effort to improve in that way.”
Asked how he balances the creative aspects of his work with the business side of things, such as marketing and promotion, Cranor said: “There is no business side to Last Place yet. It's in the pipeline, it's just been exhausting and riddled with roadblocks so far. I don't want to inadvertently sell anyone a bad product. My friend Chesca of Litterbox Comics has threatened to put me on blast if I don't wrap it up soon. I've never seen her be anything but nice so this is kind of terrifying.”
We wondered what opinion Zach has about what makes a good comic, and what common mistakes artists should avoid. We found out that: “It's difficult to say because there are so many great comics that are so wildly different. I'd say ‘Don't copy and paste too much, body language is important to help sell a feeling’ but then there's something like Dinosaurcouch which doesn't need it due to the strength of its dialogue. I'd say ‘Don't overburden yourself with realism, you need to think about how you can do this week after week’ but then there's False Knees who's out here dropping stunning art every update. You can approach comics in so many ways, saying what is good and what is a mistake becomes very broad and unhelpful.”
Lastly, we were curious how the artist stays up to date with current trends and developments in the comic industry, and how he sees the industry evolving in the future. Zach said: “If I'm being honest, I'm not doing a whole lot. The only real difference is I'm posting on three Twitters now (yay...). Some are venturing into TikTok and IG reels with mixed results. I'm an old-fashioned, sound-off web browser whenever I'm on my phone, but if wearing earbuds all the time becomes the norm, then webcomics will probably lose their niche to short video content. Comic dubs may become mandatory, but we're definitely not there yet.”
