GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS!!!
No…seriously guess.
It’s time for yet another interview featuring your favorite feline interviewer, Alex.
A big thanks as always to the wonderful staff at Kemono Cafe for hosting this interview.
Let’s get this party started in here.
Introducing…Scottytheman, the creator of Ray Fox!
Hi! Thanks a bunch for having me!
Glad to have you here my good fellow!
You ready for Spring to finally get here now that it’s April?
Tell me about it, but since I’m from Chicago, I technically I have, like… one more month left before Spring lol.
I hear you man as allergies are not fun despite the semi-cold weather.
Now, before we continue, you seem to have quite the unique username as I’ve seen it with either Artz or theman. So tell me…is Scotty your real life name or is it an alias of sorts?
Nope! Scott is my last name so it’s sort of a nickname.
I have no clue how I came up with Artz or theman. But I remember coming up with “theman” just to sound a bit more unique from other Scottys.
Also good to know, that I’m still the one and only ScottyArtz on the internet as well.
Not going to lie, but “theMan does sound cool as a nickname!
While searching your Twitter account, I saw your profile on your The Main Page and saw that you have quite the impressive resume. Could you tell us a little more about yourself and your profession?
Thank you! And Sure! Why not!
I’ve been drawing since I was 5 years old. I simply just doodled a lot at first but it wasn’t until my older cousin made a random comic (that she never finished), when I felt inspired to work on comics myself. From there on, I worked on worked on many comics, wrote a lot of stories but the one that stood out was a random red fox I made up when I was 10, lol.
And that later on became the webcomic I work on today.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Illustration and I currently work as a freelance artist and designer.
I did do work as a toy designer for a half a year straight out of college back in 2016.
DANG! That’s quite the impressive resume.
While on your site, I did notice that you have quite the impressive portfolio of both anthropomorphic and human characters. I’m curious to know what you prefer one type over the other.
Thanks again! Good question.
It’s hard to say if I really prefer one over the other, I like making up characters of any origin (especially non-human ones like cute Goblin girls), but I grew up consuming a lot of media with predominantly animal characters. Like TMNT, Disney, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot and Swat Katz that inspired me to make my comic.
If anyone were to check my social media, a lot would probably assume that I only like drawing anthropomorphic furry girls, but I have more interest in non-human characters in general, even if they’re more human in appearance than an animal (like cute goblins).
I really do have a soft spot for the animals though!
To be fair, animals are cute too!
And outside of the artist world, what do you do for recreational fun or pure enjoyment? For example, cooking, cleaning, organizing bank statements…
Wait…
That’s me!
I’m glad you asked! The 2020, the Quarantine actually threw a blow at my favorite hobbies.
Besides watching movies in the theater, I like to travel and compete in fighting game tournaments!
The one I’m really good at is Competitive Super Smash Brothers! I’ve actually won a handful of tournaments over the years. In Smash for Wii U, I was ranked number #7 out of thousands of Illinois competitors during my peak. My highest placing was probably getting 4th out of over 200 entrants in a Chicago regional event.
I do hope things go back to normal soon, because besides drawing, I really do get a thrill traveling, competing, and spectating at big tournaments!
HOT DANG! THAT’S AWESOME!
Smash is such a fun game.
Now, I’ve been reading your signature comic, Ray Fox and must say that I’m enjoying it thus far.
But for the fans that haven’t read it thus far, could you tell them about it with a short summary?
Thanks! It means a lot. Ray Fox stars a goody two shoes but clumsy wannabe super who is quite destructive with his powerful pyrokinetic abilities. He aims to win the trust from the people of his city and his new partners while quarreling against a powerful syndicate and his own abilities!
OMGG! He’s on fire!?!?!?
From the multiple comics I’ve read over the years, I’ve noticed that this comic is action packed. Could you pick out your top three action scenes and tell us a little about them?
Indeed! I’m a huge fan of shonen manga so you might have seen the heavy influences in my work.
These 3 sequences are some of my favorite moments in the comic so far. All 3 are climaxes from the first 3 chapters (sorry for spoiling anyone who wanted to read!) But I chose these final moments because nothing gets me more excited in story telling than a well-executed cathartic climax.
I love to see the finishing blow the hero deals to the main villain. Especially in Shonen.
After the hero goes through their journey, struggling either physically and/or emotionally/mentally with their conflict, it’s a great feeling to see them put it all to rest with one final punch! It feels good, and I aim to have moments like these delivered all throughout my comic so my readers can feel good too!
Those types of stories are the best in this fast paced world that we’re in. Action is awesome!
And I see it’s not all about the action. You have some explanation pages. I’m curious, what type of pages to you prefer?
If by explanation, you mean exposition, Ray Fox definitely has its fair share.
But I’d like to use this time to talk about the Drama or Pathos in the story. As I said before, I’ve been inspired by a lot of Shonen Manga, but of all the Manga I’ve read, One Piece remains to be on top, is one of my major inspirations. This Manga hits hard with its action for me because of how well the Mangaka delivers emotion through its characters before we reach the final battle.
The Cathartic moments of those aforementioned final blows hit well because of all the properly built up and planned out moments through the story.
There’s a lot more dialogue and heart to heart moments in my comic compared to the action scenes, especially in my upcoming chapter, and I believe those moments are why my readers can connect to Ray and root for him in his battles.
One Pice is one of my few guilty pleasures. And that is quite the fascinating set up for the comics too.
I completely forgot to ask previously that it looks like you’ve been doing art and comics for years now. I’m curious to know what your inspiration was
Yep! As I said before, it all started with my older cousin when she started her own comic.
As far as media inspirations, I’ve mentioned all the anthropomorphic characters that inspired me but not much of the comics that inspired me.
I mentioned that One Piece is the biggest inspiration, but I’ve also been inspired by Manga like; Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho, OG Dragonball and even newer ones like; One Punch man and Boku no Hero.
And let’s not forgot the western comic books and animation like the Justice League, Teen Titans, and Spider-man.
The last three are major inspirations to Ray Fox.
Justice League and Teen Titans mostly inspired the team based elements of Ray Fox, and Spider-man’s underdog story plays a major part in inspiring the main theme of Ray’s journey to redemption. Combine that with my love for animal characters and noticing a severe lack of action cartoons and comics with animal characters, and you got a very determined artist wanting to make that happen for Teens and young adult readers also yearn for that genre!
HOLY COW! Those are some legendary comics and mangas for inspirations. And I can so see that in Ray Fox.
And with years of work under your belt, I see you have quite the diverse cast. And as always, I have to ask, who is your favorite male character and why?
I think it’s quite obvious that my favorite male character is the star of my comic, Ray Fox himself!
What can I say, I made him up when I 10 year old. He’s my oldest character that I’ve decided to stick with. I’ve grown with him, evolved and shaped him. And my experiences in life helped me create the awesome character I have in front of you. He’s my life’s work and I think I’ll stay with him until I’m old.
And I’m not going to lie, he is on fire…
Literally!!!
And let’s not forget the ladies! Who is your favorite female character and why?
GAAAHHHHH!!!
I knew this one would obviously come next.
Admittedly, this one is much harder since I reeeeally like all my female characters, and if you’ve seen my social media, you’d figure out that I really like drawing girls.
But if I had to choose one now, I really like my shifty Tanuki, Asuka!
As we speak, I am currently working on her big action scene in chapter 4 so there’s a lot of bias for this choice now, but besides the bias, Asuka does rank very high among my favorite characters in general. To simply sum her up, she’s a juxtaposition of goofy responsible/irresponsible surrogate mother and badass Dual wielding swordswoman.
I think she’s one of my better written characters and I think you all will like her a lot too!
OH MY!
I wouldn’t mind seeing her change into anything. *winki
…
Thank you so much for the interview my good man.
Thanks for having me! This means a lot!
And now if you excuse me all, I’ll use my super powers…
…of organization!
Take care all!
