Comic title: Messenger
Comic URL: http://www.messenger-comic.com
Creator: M. Koss “Bugbyte”
Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
1) What is your comic about?
Messenger is a story that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future on Earth, where everything has changed following a catastrophe that people only remember as “The Incident.” Society has broken down into a collection of tribes which are constantly at war with one another over supplies and resources. The comic follows the stories of Akiara Kenakobe – and her dead best friend, Luke – as well as two young creatures called Chios in their effort to save their people.
2) How did you get started making webcomics?
I’ve always been interested in comics in general, and I drew all kinds of them (mostly silly ones) while I was in school. Around the time I started college, I also started regularly keeping up with a few comics and made friends with a few people who did their own comics. Eventually, I decided that it would be a fun experiment to try doing my own comic. That was six years ago, and I’ve been doing it ever since!
3) Five years from now, what do you see your comic becoming? Will it be over? Will it have grown larger?
Messenger is written in three major arcs, and it’s taken me about six years to get through most of the first one, so in five years the comic should be about two-thirds complete. The first arc will likely be about 250 pages when it’s done, so it should also be about 500 pages long in five years! Just thinking about it makes me feel like I’ve got to go draw more right now just to keep up. 
I’ve also been working on printed versions of Messenger, because I enjoy reading comics in print format and other people do, too, so it made sense to me. I have a degree in graphic design, so it’s also a lot fun for me to have a project in print that’s 100% my own, from concept to final execution. Right now I’m doing single issues for each chapter, but in five years I hope to be able to do a larger collection of the comic to-date in one book.
4) Tell us about your main character. What are his/her motivations? How did he/she join up with your other characters and why?
Well, I really have two “main” characters, so I’ll describe them both. Akiara is a teenage girl who was part of the Kenakobe tribe – a group of fierce warriors with a well-defended fortress out on the wasteland. When her best friend (and a member of an opposing tribe) was killed before her in battle, her world changed, and she’s since decided to strike out on her own and see what else the world has to offer. In her journeys, she meets up with a strange young man named Nekos while they’re both prisoners in a hidden cell. Things take an odd turn from there.
Eldora is a young human/animal hybrid creature known as a Chio – vaguely kangaroo-like in appearance with characteristic ears. She and her younger brother Finnegan are part of a group of Chios living in the desert. When the entire village falls gravely ill, Eldora sets off on a quest to find a cure. Knowing only to look for “a city in the north,” she leaves everything behind to save her people.
5) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?
She may be completely inanimate, but Eldora’s stuffed doll, Icy. Icy leaves a lot of opportunity for bits of silly humor in an otherwise serious scene as well as being a fan favorite. It’s really fun to write parts of the story where Icy will be part of the action, because it’s equally fun to see the fan reaction when the pages are finally released online.
That, and she’s cute. 
6) What is your favorite comic page?
So far, my favorite pages are the “I’m a brave Chio!” scene in Chapter Five. I was experimenting with some new things at the time, and I really like the way that section turned out. This part also gets a lot of fanart and has become its own mini in-joke, which is fun to see as a creator.
7) Is there a storyline you’re really looking forward to? What is it about? Give us a spoiler warning if necessary!
Since we’re nearly there, it’s not terribly spoilery, but if you want absolutely everything to remain a surprise skip this part!
I’m especially looking forward to the last few chapters of the first arc of the comic, because it begins to tie up all the odd threads that have been developing since the beginning. Our heroes finally reach the mysterious city, and that’s where things really start to happen.
8 ) Can you give us a short explanation on how you make your pages? If you have a tutorial or anything, please link it.
Right now, I lay out the pages in pencil on regular 9 x 12″ sketch paper. Then I ink the outlines with a brush and erase the pencil. I color in characters and some objects with Prismacolor or other types of markers, and wash in the backgrounds with watercolor. Then I scan the pages in and adjust them as necessary in Photoshop. Sometimes this means fixing places where the watercolors bled in a strange way, or just adjusting the contrast on the page. The last step is adding in text and effects. I made a font based on my own handwriting just for the comic, which is used for all the speech. Lastly, I save and upload for the world to see!
My methods tend to change pretty frequently, because my goal in starting the comic was to experiment. I usually try something new in each chapter, whether that’s a new tool or a new method of coloring or inking. It keeps things interesting.
Sometimes I also do videos while I’m working to show the process.
9) Be your own critic! When it comes to your comic, what are you looking to improve upon?
In general, everything. I can always do better at something. I might be totally satisfied with the chapter I’m working on right at the moment, but a year or two later I look back and I’m always amazed at the things I’ve gotten better at, whether that’s art or writing or storytelling. Messenger is a learning experience for me.
10) How many more chapters does Messenger have left?
Assuming I don’t change anything, about 20 chapters!
