Interview by Paul Dale Roberts

Interview with Rich Henn, Creator of Timespell

Question: Rich, tell us something about your family life, the schools you attended, where you were born and raised?

I was raised in upstate New York, about 7 miles from the Pennsylvania boarder. My high school was 15 miles away, and the nearest neighbor was about 1 mile down the road. I have often said that my father built our house so far out in the middle of nowhere that it was a pimple on the ass of the middle of God's country.

Question: What was the first comic book you ever read?

"That's a tough one. Because I have searched high and low to find this book again. It was a horror comic, probably by DC. It had no cover, so I don't know the title. Early 1970's, and it was a 3 story comic. The first story was about a kid who has an abusive father. His dog is killed, and then comes back from the dead to protect him. The second story is about a prison escape from an island, a lot like Alcatraz." It was a prison secluded on an island. The prisoner escapes amid a riot. Everyone is killed, except him. Years later, he returns to the island after it has been deserted. The ghosts of the all those killed in the escape/riot, string him up on the gallows. The third story is about a family of three, involved in a car accident. The car blows a tire, and crashes. In the hospital, the spectre of death comes to the father and gives him a choice. Who dies? You're wife or your kid?

The father, figuring he can cash in on his wife's life insurance policy says "Take my wife. She's lived a long life. My boy has his whole life ahead of him, and is young." The spectre of death says "OK, but now you join her. After all, how else could you have talked with me if you weren't already dead?"

So if ANYONE out there recognizes this book, PLEASE contact me. rasmus@timespell.com

Question: What comic books do you read now?

I read a lot of independents. I've all but given up on Spiderman and X-Men. I grew up on Spidey, and would just like to remember the good stories of my childhood. The late 70's early 80's. All that stuff now is crap. And what kills me is that Marvel can't learn. The clone story had potential AT FIRST. Then they milked it forever. Now this duel and quadruple identity thing. I figured it's the perfect time to quit. I'm not missing anything. They can't keep a creative team on ANY one given title for longer than a couple months.

And the Legacy Virus in the X titles...was a nice touch, at first. The mutant equivalent of AIDS. I met Lobdell 4 years ago, and he told me the, that the virus story would wrap itself up in a year. That was four years ago. I don't think anyone even CARES anymore, it's been so long. But then again, Lobdel is gone; and the X-Men have always been nothing but fodder for loooong soap operas.

My favorite comic story? Spiderman versus Willow the Wisp. A three parter from the early '80's. Oh, and a "What If Phoenix Had Lived?" That was cool. She comes back to earth after roasting the alien planet, and smokes all the X-Men.

Question: For the readers who are unfamiliar with Timespell or your company Club 408, can you please give us some details?

Well, the REAL Club 408 was my dorm room in college. I was in that room in Porter Hall of Buffalo State College for 5 years. My roommate and I would have beer ball parties every friday night...after awhile, our friends justing started calling it Club 408. I started writing TIMESPELL 10 years ago. When I decided last year to finally get down to brass tacks, I felt Club 408 sounded better than "Rich Henn Comics". My co-writer, Russ Colchamiro, was my roommate and fraternity brother for the last year of my college stay. He's a very talented writer, and helps breathe the life I need into my characters. When he gets on a roll, I just let him run with it. For example, the prologue and first 3 pages of TIMESPELL #1 are all his. I really liked what he came up with on the Phillip Deasy bit. And the Harold Gillespie story in issue #0 is all his too. I think everyone will like just how creepy Russ has made Gillespie and his background.

Question: Can you tell us something about the characters of Timespell?

Well, our first antagonist is Harold Gillespie, a serial killer. The press has dubbed him "the Cradle Robber" because of his penchant for pregnant women. Now, I know that sounds sick. But I need to point out two things. One is that when I set out to design this guy, I did a lot of research on serial killers. I actually went to the library and dug up microfiche on David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, ect. I needed to design a guy so unique and horrific in his own way, and still make it integral to the story I am trying to tell. Second, there is a method to my madness. You will find as the story moves on, just WHAT his motives were. And believe it or not, Bystander Apathy will play a HUGE part in all of this. For those of you who don't know, Bystander Apathy is a psychological study of the human condition.

Our protagonist is Michael McMurphy, a homicide detective in Manhattan. He takes a much more personal stake in the search for the Cradle Robber, because his own wife is with child. Something I'm not sure I made as clear as I would have liked in issue #1. His brother, Alex, owns his own bar. Alex McMurphy will play one of the most important roles in the story a little later on.

Eddie Cipriani, aka "Fat Eddie", is a mob boss much like John Gotti. He and his brother, Mario, own a very ritzy restaurant in downtown Manhattan. The restaurant was purchased as a cover up to their mafia dealings and the like. After a while, the restaurant became more successful than their underworld life. The two of them are a deadly pair, know among their peers only as "The Cips". But now Eddie is about to enter a world that makes his underworld look like a Simpsons cartoon. In issue #1, clues are dropped to his current whereabouts.

Joshua Steele....well, you'll just have to wait and see. His first real appearance is in issue #0. A strong female character is McMurphy's wife, Karen. And, two characters to keep your eyes on...one is Rasmus... the other is Dasher Green.

Question: What are some of your future plans for Timespell?

To develop this 12 issue storyline to it's fullest potential. It's only been in my head 10 years. My goal was to deliver a high quality indy comic, that readers would enjoy. Above that, I wanted to deliver a 99 cent book. Once I printed the book and sent samples to distributors, a couple turned me down because they couldn't make money on such a cheap book. Diamond brought me into the fold, and agreed to carry the first issue at it's cover of 99 cents, but explained that I need to reconsider the price. At 60% cover price, even they couldn't make a reasonable profit. I would need to sell a boat load of 99 comics every month. So for now, just so I can get all the distributors to carry TIMESPELL, my cover price after issue 1 is $2.95. Once the numbers begin to climb, I want to bring the cover price down again.

Question: What do you think about self publishing?

I think I need to buy stock in Malox. Seriously, it's a very growing and learning experience. I have print background, did pre-press for Marvel Comics for 3 years, and wanted to take that background one step further. That, and I was fast approaching 30 and realized I had not done a single thing with my life that I truly wanted to do. This was something I had wanted my whole life.

Question: How did you get involved in the comic book industry?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I had 3 years in pre-press development on Marvel Comics. I worked for a place in Buffalo that did pre-press and color separations for many accounts; Marvel being one.

Then I met my wife and moved to Maryland. I guy I met had done things for Archie Comics, and was looking to do his own book. Europa and the Pirate Twins was to be his take on the Manga bit. I was to be colorist. Well, after I did all this freelance work for him, he screwed me out of any money he owed me. His book fell through after two issues, and even then, it only ran as a b&w comic. So the only work I did for him that ended up seeing print, are the colors on his covers. I got credit on the inside covers as colorist, but never got paid a dime. All of that angered me enough to realize, that the only way my work would ever see print was to do it myself."

Question: Who are your inspirations in the comic book industry?

Dave Sim, Matt Wagner, Jeff Smith & Terry Moore.

Question: Who does your fantastic covers for Timespell?

Paul, let me say I am very flattered that you feel that way. The covers have always been the most antagonizing for me. My friend, Rob Cobb, does the painting on the back cover of issue #1, and the front cover of #0. I met him at the New York State Summer School of the Arts about 14 years ago. A self taught artist in his own right. I did the pencil layout for him on #0...he did the rest. Issue #1 front cover was a combo of a computer graphics and line art drawings. The bleeding hands I drew as a friend modeled for me. The background of the shattered glass is computer generated. The "ghosted" faces are scanned in from other drawings I did.

The cover for issue #2 (coincidentally, the cover of ashcan II as well) was a drawing I did about 6 years ago, with a particular feel in mind for the story. Tom Peters did the actual computer coloring on that one.

Question: Do you have a website, and if you do, where is it?

Yes. You can go to http://www.TimeSpell.com The site is maintained by my friend from college, Ron Benchetrit. Ron saw Club 408 form in it's earliest manifestations, and has built the site from the ground up. He's a computer programer and designer, and could probably build a PC from a toaster."

Question: How can someone contact you to get more information about Timespell?

I can be reached via email club408@usa.net or rasmus@timespell.com

Question: If you could be doing anything besides comic books, what would that be and why?

I'd rather be living in the Caribbean with my wife, and a very expensive house I would have bought on the movie rights!

Question: Who are your three real life heroes and why?

First hero is probably my Dad. He is like a real life Indiana Jones, and survives everything life throws at him.

Second would be my wife. She is the single strongest and straight minded women I have ever met. I admire how she deals with me.

Third real life hero, would have to be Dave Sim. He is the biggest front-runner in this industry. He sets the standard.

Question: Who would you like to see crossover with whom? And why?

I'd like to see a crossover with Bone and Strangers in Paradise. It could lead to some REAL kinky comics! Couldn't you see it? Katchoo, Francine, Bone and Thorn? YEAH, BABY! I think Austin Powers said it best when he said "Shall we shag now, or later?" I'm joking, folks! I like to kid.

Question: What books do you read?

The last book I read was Sphere, by Michael Crichton. That was almost a year ago. There are a lot of novels I want to get to, and others that I want to re-read. One of my favorites is Swan Song, by Robert McGammon. It's survival story after the Russians drop the bomb.

Question: What are your favorite tv shows and movies?

Favorite TV...used to be Quantum Leap. Now it's The Simpsons and News Radio. Just Shoot Me and ER round that off. Favorite movies...Back to the Future, Raiders of The Lost Ark and Carlito's Way (Al Pachino)

Question: What do you think about the comic book industry (pro and con)?

I think the strongest thing about the industry is the indy titles. I attended the SPX last year and discovered SO MUCH quality stuff. Stuff

I didn't even know existed. From HEY MISTER! to Finder. From Strangehaven to Forty Winks. There is so much in this market, tat is SO MUCH better than the crap that Marvel and Image put out.

The unfortunate truth is that the people that buy and read books like Marvel and Image, are unwilling to try something new. Shops often ask me what they can do to move indy titles. I give my advice, like move the Wolverine blow up or the "Alien" statue or the Dilbert crap out of the front...put up Strangers In Paradise or Bone posters in the windows. But I have yet to see shops actually do any of it. They want to sell what they know will move, not take a chance on something new.

Question: Where will you hopefully be 5 years from now? 10 years?

5 years from now? Hmmmm...remember Al Bundy?

Question: Have you ever worked on any other comic books, besides Timespell?

Well, as I mentioned earlier...there was Europa and The Pirate Twins. I got credit on the inside cover, but that's it. That will always be a sore spot, because it's never fun when someone takes advantage of your good nature.

Question: What other comics do you have planned in the future, besides Timespell?

I have two, actually. One is called Hershal the Rat. It's a character I developed in High School. I drew some 7-14 page comics with this character in the 80's, and even went as far to have the character copyrighted back then. I think it was 1985 I copyrighted Hershal. That was a pretty big deal, for a kid. The only other I have planned, is based on facts from my childhood. It may sound boring, but I can honestly say I had a childhood like no other. A friend of the family used to call visiting our house, another episode of "The Dick & Millie Show".

Question: Well, Rich, that wraps up the interview, is there anything you would like to add?

Yes. I would like to thank everyone who ever had anything to do with TIMESPELL for their support. Mostly, I would like to thank people like David LeBlanc of Comic Book Electronic Magazine (CBEM), yourself, Kevin Smith, Ward Batty & Cliff Biggers of Comic Shop News, Jeff Mason of Indy Magazine, and Steve Conley bf www.icomics.com & Day One Comics."