At first glance, it seems that everyone fights for a ray of sunlight in the comic world—there are millions of comics and just about the same amount of comic artists. Ricky Hawkins doesn't fit that bill, and is a modest and down-to-earth guy who makes an excellent comic strip once a week, sometimes even more frequently. There isn't any pretense to what he does, and it's a refreshing sight to see.
However, his comics are everything but ordinary and simple. The stories are illustrated nicely, the jokes are well set up, and the style is very easy to distinguish. It'd be a shame if they had to end. But they don't have to, especially if you show support by following these comics on social media, or, if you feel generous, perhaps even donate on Patreon.
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If you've taken a glimpse at what these comics are all about, you'll realize that most of them are based in fantasy scenarios, reminding us of myths and RPG adventure games. Though the reason why eludes us, it makes a fantastic background (no pun intended), one in which there are no controversial topics or allusions to something that might upset someone. It's all fun and games in fantasyland, even the horrifying things. And that's a good thing.
The artist was very nice, and gave an interview to Bored Panda. Here's what he had to say about his background and the origin of the comic:
"I'm a teacher and performer who makes comics in my spare time. I've always made comics for fun, but really buckled down on making them consistently back in 2018.
'Inky Rickshaw' is an anagram of my name (Ricky Hawkins) and is just a sort of nonsense pair of words that I thought would go well with my random and fantastical style of comic-making. I'm not sure I would keep the same name if I were to start over from the beginning, but it's sort of grown on me over the years."
Another distinct quality of these comics is that they use a "plot twist" storytelling technique, where a story seemingly follows a certain cliche, lulling your brain into believing that it's exactly that scenario it expects, and then the story pulls the rug right from under your feet, as it were. Though haters may think of many rude things to say, I doubt that "boring" and "cliche" would be the words they'd choose.
"What I need to work on the most is finding a way to monetize my work. Right now I spend many hours on each comic and don't have much of an income tied to it, so for the time being it's more of a passion project and exercise than a business.
To new artists, I'd say the most important thing is to just consistently create work, even if you aren't always proud of it. Making bad art is the first step to making good art, and it takes time!"
If you want to check out even more comics that Bored Panda has to offer, look no further, we've got you covered. Here are some comics that are in a similar vein as this one. Love plot twists? Blam! Want something similar, but a bit darker? Gotcha! Even darker, huh? Ok, ok, here. Love plot twists? Here's one for ya: take a gander at some wholesome comics. Enjoy!
"I feel like every part of the process is crucial, but my least favorite part is probably coloring. I like the way my comics look when colored, though, so I still think it's worth the effort.
Conversely, my favorite part of comic making is inking. It can be quite meditative once you get into it, and I like to listen to a podcast while doing it.I plan to keep releasing Inky Rickshaw comics every week, and I do have another project in the works which is a long-form fantasy comic. I'll be posting sketches and updates about that on my Patreon."
"These comics with unexpected twists!" , "These comics with dark twists!" - Why spoil everything in the title? Why not let me be the judge of it? Imagine going to the movies to see "Avengers Endgame - a movie with an unexpected twist, a major character dies. Buy a ticket to see who dies, buy a ticket to witness the unexpected twist!". :|
Cuz it gets clicks, they can't show movie ads, and these are way too short (individually) to gather interest otherwise.
Load More Replies..."These comics with unexpected twists!" , "These comics with dark twists!" - Why spoil everything in the title? Why not let me be the judge of it? Imagine going to the movies to see "Avengers Endgame - a movie with an unexpected twist, a major character dies. Buy a ticket to see who dies, buy a ticket to witness the unexpected twist!". :|
Cuz it gets clicks, they can't show movie ads, and these are way too short (individually) to gather interest otherwise.
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