Man’s best friend inspires creativity and a comic

Walking through the Phoenix Comic Con artist alley, one can sometimes feel overwhelmed. It oozes with talent, vibrance, and fans crowding up the small walkways. One artist’s booth in particular stood out when I saw the cutest banner of a pug. Surely, this was not a comic about a saggy faced furry treat, but indeed it was and more.

Creator Jim Hanna had a welcoming presence as I walked up to his booth and was more than happy to talk about his stories that he has created.

Jim lives locally in Arizona and provides artwork and writing for the independent comic publisher Arcana Studio. His most recent work is “Pugly,” the story of  a spoiled little pug that has just recently inherited a huge fortune from his recently deceased owner. Trouble comes amiss when the children of said deceased owner are quite upset about not receiving any of this inheritance. This cute little pug soon finds himself on the streets where life teaches him what it means to be a “real dog.”When asked why Pugly?, Jim simply stated, “I have a cute pug named Franklin Delano Puggsavelt.”

Like many other artists, Jim started drawing at a young age. He said he was inspired by watching G. I. Joe and reading X-Men comics. It wasn’t until becoming an adult that he learned, “Oh shit! I can actually do comics for a living!” His main influences for doing art and comics today are from Arthur Adams, Joe Mad, and Jim Lee.

Jim’s creative process always starts by listening to 90’s hip hop quickly followed by sketching out his ideas. He then digitally renders these drawings, comics, panels, what have you, into the computer for line work and colouring. His creative sessions must always then end with Taco Bell.

Currently Jim is only working on “Pugly,” trying to get it to the big distributors like Diamond so that it can be sold at comic books shops across America. The dream, he says, would to get to see “Pugly” made into Pixar movie.

Jim was a delight to talk to and had an easiness about him that reflects in his works. I, for one, was sold on first look this adorable pug.