Heya, folks!
We haven’t done any interviews for a while and we’d been looking carefully at some gorgeous furry comic work done by artist Bri Shepard, a veteran of sorts to the webcomic world, as she’s closing in on 900 PAGES of “Evon”, a tapestry of beauty, sorcery, romance and adventure that’s had the furry realm talking for a number of years.
So, we recently had a virtual sit-down with Bri to get some feedback, thoughts, and comments about her webcomic.
The Depths: Bri, thanks for allowing this, we appreciate it a lot.
Bri: Well, thank you again for choosing me to interview!
The Depths: Oh, it was an easy choice since we’re enmeshed in furry fiction ourselves. How did you create Evon? We’re seeing adventure, drama in emotion, romance, it’s hard to pinpoint what this unique webcomic is all about!
Bri: The idea for Evon came from an RP I used to play with my co-writer, Mr. Wax. It was kind of a blend of D&D and anime. Back in those early days, it was just about a sorceress and a warrior having random adventures. I did a lot of art of the characters and realized that I wanted to do a comic about them. That’s when we started to flesh out the story.
The Depths: So, this sounds like Evon is your first rodeo.
Bri: Definitely my first rodeo! It was in my sequential art class in college when I drew my first Evon teaser comic. A lot of my classmates liked what I did and I decided to try my hand at making it a webcomic. I was really excited to start but had no idea what I was doing. It was after I started drawing Evon when I looked into “how to” books and listened to podcasts to help me figure out the process. Webcomics Weekly was around at that time, and I listened to them constantly back then.
The Depths: Why did you decide, “Okay, this has to be a furry webcomic”? For the cuteness?
Bri: Honestly, when I first started I didn’t even know the term “furry!”
The Depths: Oh, come on! *laughs*
Bri: No, it’s true! To me, it was just an anthropomorphic comic in the same line as Disney Afternoon cartoons. Even before Evon was a comic the characters were animals. Evon’s look changed quite a bit over the years, but her original design carried over from a character I made up for TaleSpin fanfiction.
The Depths: We watched a bit of Talespin back in the day as well. Actually, all wackiness aside, it wasn’t that bad of a concept. It just lost a lot of thrill for us when they tried to intermingle “The Jungle Book” into this and it made us wonder, “Okay, so what if Baloo didn’t meet Mowgli? Is THIS what would have happened?!” It just loses a lot of, well, not realism obviously, but it suspends belief a bit much.
Bri: I think Disney just wanted to capitalize on the renewed “Jungle Book” interest.
The Depths: Right, because Disney doesn’t capitalize on ANYTHING else and never ever has in its history. *laughs*
Bri: Oh nooooo, not at allll. *giggles* Anyway, Herodotus, our other major character, belongs to Mr. Wax and he tells me that the design for Hero came from an RPG he did long before we met. Once we started the comic, I altered Hero’s design just a little to fit my own style.
The Depths: Awesome. So, tell the newcomers to “Evon” out there what this is all about, without spoilers.
Bri: Evon was orphaned as a baby after her parents died under mysterious circumstances. She was taken in and raised at a school run by a powerful group of spellcasters that called themselves The Cabal. Years passed and Evon learned that her magic was more powerful than she ever realized, she was known as a Focus and had the ability to tap into the earth’s energy and use it as her own, a skill that The Cabal wanted to use for their own purpose. Determined not to be manipulated by them, Evon ran away and enlisted the help of a mercenary named Herodotus who was hiding from his own troubled past. As they travel the world together, Evon slowly begins to learn more about her rare power and Herodotus gradually starts to accept his faults and restore honor to his family name. All the while, they fight against the dark forces that seek to destroy their chance at a normal life and a life together.
The Depths: This summary seems to suggest a lot of storylines, sub-plots, adventures, and so on. We can see why this would be so much fun to create, with all these directions to take the story.
Bri: It’s not just that. Well, to be honest, I probably have two favorite things about Evon so far. The first is seeing my growth as an artist. I used to say that I hate when I have to refer back to those early pages and see all that old art, but now I have more of an appreciation of those pages. I like seeing just how much I’ve developed.
The Depths: Trust us, that’s something we think EVERY comic or webcomic artist feels. It’s totally natural. The really great thing about that is, 99.99% of the time, the art is always better than it was in the beginning. So, you’re in great company! *laughs*
Bri: *laughs* I suppose so. But it’s not just the art that gets better, it’s also the characters.
The Depths: Exactly.
Bri: It’s so exciting seeing just how much Evon as a character has grown. Early on, while she had a strong personality, she was also a whiny brat. She grows and matures on an emotional level. She learns to trust herself and to trust others.
The Depths: And that comes through her adventures and the people she meets, and so on. A lot like life.
Bri: Mmm-hmm, we’re bringing our characters to life and helping them live those lives, and not always for the better.
The Depths: So you’re really happy with the story so far, it seems like. What can you tell us about the future for Evon?
Bri: As for the main story, it’s pretty much plotted out and there’s still a lot of story to tell. At this point, we know exactly where the story is going and how it’s going to end. I’ve done a handful of Evon mini comics that have allowed me to branch out from the main arc and explore other characters and their stories that would not fit in the main story.
The Depths: Adding these probably attribute to the comic’s success, would you say?
Bri: Oh definitely! I think what keeps people coming back are the characters. Our characters are three dimensional, even our villains have their own motivations and personalities. The bad guys aren’t just mustache-twirling villains and our heroes are not out for “the greater good.” They all have their own lives outside of being good or bad.
The Depths: One of the great faults of most comics we’ve seen that just didn’t send us was the lack of character traits. Even in our own comic, “The Depths”, we made a real mistake with Jamie right off the bat by making him, as you just described, too much of a villain. There was nothing redeeming about him, and when he succumbed to the sea, you could hear the screams of joy from readers. *laughs*
Bri: This is why motivation is so important. You hear actors all the time while making movies. They are told a scene and the reply is always the same, “What’s my motivation?” And it’s like that here too. Every comic artist has to ask, on every page, what is the motivation for what is going on in this page? Also, what personalities will we see, and what emotions are being depicted?
The Depths: Just like creating a scene in a real movie. In some ways, webcomics are indeed like storyboards. And you’re the director. And it’s a hell of a lot of storyboards. *laughs* Any other advice for folks wanting to get into webcomics themselves?
Bri: I would say to stick with your gut and don’t let others dictate how to tell your story. Don’t be afraid to take criticism, but ultimately it’s your story to tell how you want. And the most important advice is to be respectful to your readers!
The Depths: Out of all the stories you’ve done in the past twelve years or so now for “Evon”… Wow, twelve years…
Bri: Ugh, where does the time go? *laughs*
The Depths: Don’t even go there! *laughs* We’re way behind you, this is only our third year. Anyway, what’s been your favorite part about “Evon” so far, and which part are you more “Meh!” about?
Bri: I could point out a few parts of Evon that are my favorite. Evee’s escape from the alchemist’s lab was really fun to draw and it was the first time I was able to explore her personality. Belvidier confronting Cleo is also pretty high up there because we got to learn just how scary he can be. But my all time favorite moment is when Evon and Hero finally admit their feelings for each other. It was a moment that was literally ten years in the making! It’s harder to pick a least favorite moment mostly because the story is planned out so far in advance and we tend to rework things to make sure we’re happy, but one thing that I do wish I had handled differently was the fight that happened between Evon and Maximus.
The Depths: Hmm, we should probably have added “spoiler alert”, but no biggie! Finally, anything new on the horizon apart from “Evon”?
Bri: Yes! I already have a new comic in the works! I’ve been working on the script for a few months now and I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’ve started sharing preview sketches with my followers on Patreon!
The Depths: And for those curious, Bri’s Patreon for “Evon” can be found below:
http://www.patreon.com/evonallure
She’s got some way cool extra art features, including some naughty ones, woot! Also, you can commission her for personal art all your own if you take on a higher level. Bri, thanks so much for speaking to us today, and we wish you much more success and fun in the future.
Bri: Thank you again so much for having me, and I wish you all the success in the world as well!
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