One of Scott Bieser’s fans asked Liberty Island Magazine to interview Scott Bieser. He is the author of the libertarian comic series Quantum Vibe. He has created book covers, graphic novels and a ton of webtoons. And I had the opportunity to interview him.

 

Tamara Wilhite: Why are you most famous for the “Quantum Vibe” series?

Scott Bieser:  Probably because I’ve been at it for a decade, as both writer and artist. All my other projects have been collaborations, usually  with L. Neil Smith.

 

Tamara Wilhite: “The Probability Broach” by L. Neil Smith is a classic libertarian novel. It won the Prometheus Award in 1982. How did you end up writing the comic based on that book?

Scott Bieser:  In fact, Neil scripted the comic. I had some editorial input, and the art was all mine. Neil remarked at how closely my art matched his internal vision for the story, but there was some back-and-forth regarding the principal characters.

The graphic-novelization of the book happened because several people who know both of us urged us to make it happen. Fortunately one of them had deep enough pockets to provide the up-front money necessary for such a labor-intensive task (it took me more than a year working full-time.)

 

Tamara Wilhite: What is the “Freestate series”? I believe that’s one of your most recent projects.

Scott Bieser:  The “Freestate series″ is a project of Wayne Grantham, another friend/fan of L. Neil Smith’s. I only did the cover art, Wayne wrote the stories.

 

Tamara Wilhite: What are you working on now?

Scott Bieser: QUANTUM VIBE, QUANTUM VIBE, QUANTUM VIBE. My whole life is QUANTUM VIBE now. Except when Wayne asks for another cover (I’m also available for one-off commissions.)

 

Tamara Wilhite: What can you tell us about the business of web comics and/or digital comic books?

Scott Bieser: It’s had its ups and downs, and continually changes. Monetizing an entertainment one gives away for free has always been challenging. Advertising worked pretty well at first but not so much anymore, between falling rates and ad-blockers. Patreon has been good, SubscribeStar is good for patrons who don’t like Patreon, and I’ve just  recently dipped my toes in the crowdfunding pool (Indiegogo) and will be doing more of that going forward – until the market changes again and I have to figure out something else.

Some of that will have to be “exclusive content″ for Patreon/SubscribeStar backers. Which unfortunately means less free content because there are only so many hours a day I can work.

 

Tamara Wilhite: And what was your favorite project to work on?

Scott Bieser: I really enjoyed working on Roswell, Texas although by the end of it I was ready to leave the 1950s, and make comics about the future. Which brings us back to QUANTUM VIBE, a goal I’d been working toward for several years. I guess the original trilogy in that series is my favorite.

 

Tamara Wilhite: Is there anything you’d like to add?

Scott Bieser: Please buy my books! They are all available at http://bigheadpress.com.

 

Tamara Wilhite: Thank you for speaking with me.

Scott Bieser: Your welcome!