Wisest Thing I’ve Read Today

From the Reddit “Ask Me Anything!” discussion with Ethan Nicolle, co-creator of Axe Cop, on how his brother Malachai has developed as a writer from age five to age nine:

He also has begun to get a better understanding of story, why it is good to give the bad guys a motive and to make the good guys almost lose. These were concepts that made no sense to him when he was five. He likes surprising and tricking his audience now.

And as for the violence in the comic:

I always…try to envision it the way HE sees it and not the way it would happen in reality. He think[s] in video games and toy battles. One very revealing moment was when we watched this fan-made live action Axe Cop movie, which is basically episode 1 verbatim, shot for shot in real life. When Malachai saw it, he had to shut his eyes, and it scared him. He is not thinking in reality. That is why when he says something that would be really violent in real life, I don't draw it that way. Most of the bad guys heads pop off like toys. I think that kids are much better at discerning cartoons from reality too.

And Malachai himself on when he might stop writing Axe Cop:

I think I will stop when I don't have that crazy imagination any more. Around 18.

“Iconic stuff little boys think are awesome”

The webcomic Axe Cop continues to work on two levels: as an over-the-top superhero adventure not unlike the stories of the early 1990s, and as a peek into the psyche of its six-year-old coauthor. Newsarama just ran an interview with brothers Ethan and Malachai Nicolle about their upcoming Axe Cop miniseries:

Ethan: Well, without giving away too much... Bad Guy Earth is the story of two evil Psychic Brothers who create a bad guy machine and want to turn the entire earth into Bad Guy Earth. They have a gun that shoots portals to other times, dimensions and planets too, so they are able to basically make anything they want into a bad guy, including the US military.

Axe Cop is earth's only hope and it is the toughest fight he has ever fought. This is the first story where Malachai has written bad guys from the perspective of a bad guy, so the Bad Guys are about as indestructible as Axe Cop is.

Nrama: Could you tell us about some of the new characters/creatures we'll meet in Bad Guy Earth?

Ethan: There are so many... but most of it is iconic stuff little boys think are awesome. Wrestlers, lions, army men, ghosts, dinosaurs, time travel, trucks, aliens...it's all there. . . .

Nrama: Do you worry your brother will become corrupted by venturing into the psyches of the dark and twisted?

Ethan: Nah, if he delves into dangerous territory I will talk to him about the concepts just as any good big brother should. I won't let him just start gutting an imaginary nun without saying something about it.

He generally has to pretend the bad guys are under a curse and that is why they are doing evil things. He doesn't get why people would want to do evil, so he has to make up reasons. It ends up being a lot less about the reasons and more about whose team he is on. If he is on Team Good, he kills Team Bad and vice versa.

Much more about the brothers’ working methods in the interview. The student-film adaptation of Axe Cop mentioned in the interview seems to be this one. Malachai’s verdict: too much realistic blood.

Least Surprising Q&A of the Year

Comics Alliance spoke to Ethan Nicolle about Axe Cop, the webcomic he’s created with his five-(now six)-year-old brother Malachai:

CA: How have you quantified what your core demographic of readers is right now? Who do you think reads "Axe Cop?"

EN: It's mainly guys.

No!!

Axe Cop reflects a masculine sensibility just because it contains an all-male cast, weekly explosions and fights, and enough phallic symbols to keep Dr. Freud busy for weeks?

Next we’ll see little girls creating superheroes with the powers of flowers, lambs, and hearts. (Though, to be sure, “She can use the sharp part at the bottom of the heart to poke people.”)