Through collaboration and his own love of the medium, Arscott wants to make comics that are in living worlds
At Motor City Comic Con (MC3) it’s always a joy to bump into creators of comics and find out how they spin their ideas and craft their worlds. We had the opportunity at the show last week to ask creator Devin Arscott about his own work, and how it focuses on the important and often personal stories within larger landscapes.
Arscott’s projects available for purchase
SQ: Tell us about yourself and your work.
DA: I’m Devin Arscott and I’m the Writer, Editor and Creator of Epic Fantasy Studios. This is my own publishing studio based out of Michigan. I’m an independent comic book creator who’s been doing this for almost 7 years now.
SQ: How did you get into comic books?
DA: I’ve had a lifelong love for comics. I learned how to read with comic books, thanks to my dad who had a sizable collection — and I now have a sizable collection as well. And I just want to spread the good will of comic books through my own works and the works of my friends.
SQ: Can you tell me a little bit about your style and inspirations?
DA: I veer towards a lot of superhero stuff. I grew up on Marvel and DC works, Image. My big influences are Dwayne McDuffie from Milestone. He did some modern DC stuff as well. Creator of Ben10, co-creator of Justice League the TV show, back in the early 2000s.
Jonathan Hickman is one of my biggest inspirations lately. He’s really big on world building. He’s like the world building guru of the past decade or so. I follow all his independent work, all his Marvel work. And I incorporate that into my own style, so that you get a vast world that seems much smaller just based on the narrative that I give you up front. Whether it’s my Greek mythology series, the Lion of Olympus, or my superhero vigilante book Noir, you get to put yourself in their shoes and kind of see where they’re coming from and how their world exists, and just experience it all at once.
The sickest business card I’ve ever seen
SQ: You start with the world-building and then tell these focused stories within it?
DA: Yes, absolutely. I’d rather focus on it than try and focus without it. I can see how a character feels or how they might react within that world if it’s a “real” place. It’s a sort of way to let me be creative in new ways, and can push me to make the characters more easy to connect to if their world is complete.
SQ: And you collaborate with others in your worlds?
DA: Yes, of course. I love the aspect of collaboration, because you can see how others can weave their own stories within your world, and how that not only affects their characters but maybe how it could affect and inspire what you are doing as well. I love it. I have my own partner here (in the booth) that I collaborate with and we create some of the best work together.
SQ: Devin, thanks!
DA: Thank you!
You can find more of Devin Arscott at the Epic Fantasy Substack, on Bluesky, Twitter and Instagram.
Photos by Dali Dimovski (SideQuesting)
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