Comic comedy
Indie artist Kendra Wells explains why their comic, Real Hero Shit, packs a comedic punch
Real Hero Shit is the name of Kendra Wells’ latest comic. “It’s very much a title that fits the mood, I think, the story,” they tell us about a book that follows four flawed adventurers. It’s Dungeons & Dragons meets Seinfeld. “I mean, they’re all a little dickish,” reveals the artist.
These characters are a part of their creator: “They’ve been living in my brain and in my heart for so long at this point. I joke that they’re my children. But it really does feel like each of them sort of come from a facet of my own brain,” says Kendra.
The comic follows a party of four characters on a mission to save a village from an unknown evil. “I realised as I was writing these characters, their conflicts and their flaws felt very real to me, and I realised almost belatedly how much I was relating to a lot of their struggles and a lot of their journeys,” adds the artist, who’s based in Brooklyn, US. The comic‘s fantastic art and its pacing sells every joke with ease. “It’s about the timing,” says Kendra, comparing it to a theatre production.
“I’ll find myself at my desk and I’ll be like, ‘why am I getting a headache,’ and I’m realising that I’m doing the facial expressions as I’m drawing what the face is supposed to look like. I know a lot of cartoonists that actually keep a mirror at their desk so they can look at their own face. It’s a very physical job.”
Follow the Real Hero Shit Kickstarter at bit.ly/real-hero-shit.