Name: Martin Dunn
Contact Info: martin@conartistentertainment.com
Location: Tampa, Florida
Credits: IDW Publishing, Greyhaven, Big Pond Comics, Hashtag Comics, Creature Entertainment, CAE Studios, Paramount Pictures, and lots more.
Creative Title: Comic Creator
Favorite Comic: I have too many! Spider-Man, No… Batman! Wait, Watchmen… Miracleman and/or Walking Dead… Y THE LAST MAN, Dark Knight Returns. DareDevil… wait, can I change my answer again?
If you could have a 1 power: These are hard questions… Ability to multiply myself? The ability to learn anything I want by watching someone do it once? The ability to stop time? So many options. How about the ability to give me more abilities!
Any Additional Personal Info: I am a single father of 4, I work hard to provide for my family and I take a lot of pride in my kids. My youngest daughter has already had a successful Kickstarter for a project, “Fetch: An Odyssey” and I always am so happy to see her creativity at work. I am an advocate for mental illness awareness and suicide prevention. I suffer from Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, and Anxiety. My company, CAE Studios is a proud supporter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The7Deadly Questions
Would you Leave all your work, possibly unfinished leaving behind people you know and trust in the weeds if one of the Big 2 offered you a deal that no one would turn down? Mind you if you don’t take it you know that door will forever close.
Martin Dunn: Ha, This is a funny question. Anyone who has attended my panels listened to my podcast, or even knows me, already knows the answer to this question. Undoubtedly, I can always come back to any creator-owned projects in the future. The other thing is that I am a father, I have to provide for my family. If this was an opportunity to do so, my friends and collaborators would be rooting me on. The thing is, I also wouldn’t leave anyone “in the weeds”. My reputation is that of a guy who always reaches back and brings my friends forward. I have helped countless friends get paying gigs once I was established somewhere. It’s my mentality. I’m loyal to a fault. I’d totally leave my indie stuff behind… Long enough to build up a new audience, pay my bills and save. I’d eventually get my friends work, continue to grow as a creator, and then come back to creator-owned work in the future. It’s not a matter of selling out, it’s a matter of self-investing.
What Character do you need to write or draw in your lifetime?
M.D.: I think if I were given the golden choice. The cards are on the table and I just need to pick one up… I’d have to go with Batman, Miracleman or Spider-Man. My brain would be wrecked, I’d not even know what to do. I’d need to sleep on it maybe. In the end, if it was on the spot, I’d have to say Spider-Man. I know some folks would gasp at that. I mean, this question is not an easy one for me. I have so many characters I want to work on. Dream characters, bucket list characters even. TMNT, Daredevil, Spawn, Grendel, etc. The fact is this, I would want to work on Spider-Man because I know Peter Parker. I grew up with him, admired him, saw him through all his ups and downs. I could get inside his head, and I could tell you the best Spider-Man story that I can possibly tell. The other side of the coin is I am always thinking of the angle. Spider-Man doesn’t just give me a chance to play with an icon, a literal legendary character, but also I could establish myself for all-time in the industry. I could use that one credit to make an entire career last off of independent creator-owned work. So, I’d say Spidey.
What sends you into a rage that another creator or artist does while working with you?
M.D.: Excuses. I cannot stand excuses. Let me explain the difference between an excuse and a reason. A reason for being late is that you had a flat tire. An excuse for being late is you forgot to set an alarm. The reality is that I cannot stand excuses. I hate when I’m working my ass off on a project and the other person is dragging their feet. I once worked with a guy on a book who had more excuses than anyone I’ve ever known combined. Not just that, this guy was the living embodiment of “Escalating Excuses”. Each excuse was more radical than the next. His aunt was kidnapped, he had 8 grandmothers, 4 grandfathers, and 3 Uncles pass away, He was struck by lightning, his wife ran away from home, his dog was poisoned, someone broke into his home and stole all his pages, and he developed a weird nerve reaction for when he was being “pressured on deadlines” to which he claimed made it impossible to hold a pencil. This guy was super talented as a penciler, but he just had no drive. He had excuses. Don’t make excuses. Own your mistakes, and be a professional.
Name a bad habit you need to change:
M.D.: Over Encumbrance… I have a problem with doing too many things. I love making comics so much that I sometimes forget to let myself enjoy it. I instead jump on a new project, a new paid gig, a new publisher opportunity. I have about 10 projects I’m juggling right now. I am writing, drawing, inking, lettering, producing, building, plotting, marketing, or involved in more projects than I should be. I just always feel inclined to help awesome creators when they come knocking. It’s a gift and a curse. I am always looking for new paying work, and that is also a hindrance to personal projects as I always put those on the backburner. It is the curse of a professional comic creator… I need to get a better hold on it all.
If you could charge people for your autograph and you know they would pay would you?
M.D.: The situation is subjection, and I would say to you that I actually already do. Jimmy Palmiotti is something of a mentor to me. I take his advice on lots of stuff, and I always try to get his insight on these things. One thing he told me was that I should always make something back. So, how does this work? Well, if you come to my table and you buy books from me, I’ll sign them, all of them, for free. No problem. If you come to me with a book I did for IDW, Hashtag, etc. I’ll sign them for you absolutely for free. Still, no problem. If you come to me with issue 2 of Carpe Noctem (That’s a rare one), and you have 12 of them and some guy from CGC with you… I’m charging you $5 for every signature after the first initial one. I know that guy is about to turn those signatures over on eBay, and I just find that to be sleazy. I have awesome readers who want that particular issue more than anything and it’s so hard to find. So, to answer your question. Subjectively, Yes.
What is your Idea of success?
M.D.: I am always perplexed by the amount of people I encounter who believe that success is defined by the amount of money that is in someone’s bank account. George Patton once said that “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” and I personally cannot agree more. It’s insane to me how many people I know who think of success as being wealthy, or famous. These people are always so stressed and miserable too. They are bitter, they post angry messages on social media about others who are having success. I think it’s important to educate these people that first and foremost, “Fame” does not equal “Wealth”, and “Wealth” does not equal “Success”. I think that success is a misconception, it’s not a finite goal that you can truly obtain. You can’t hold onto it forever, it’s impossible. The brightest stars will someday fall. So, I like to think of the idea of success in the same way as Winston Churchill described it. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”.
What current book do you think you could write better and make it no longer suck!
M.D.: Heh, This question is totally a shit stirrer. I think I’d kill it on a Hellblazer book. I have no idea who currently works on that, but with my background of work in supernatural stuff, I think I could totally make that book amazing. I don’t really read anything that “sucks” cause that wouldn’t make much sense to spend money on bad comics, but I think I’d have a blast with Constantine. I’d also love to have Marvel let me revive Hannibal King as a Paranormal Investigator in the Bayou. That would be a blast. No Capes, No Blade, just him hitting the streets, solving supernatural mysteries, and eating gumbo.
So you Survived now it’s time to shamelessly plug what you’re up into one paragraph.
M.D.: (This is impossible to do in “one” paragraph, but I’ll try my best.)
My new book for Hashtag Comics “A Time To Die” is in Diamond Previews in July, make sure to preorder that. I’m inking a ton of books for publishers, some who I am not allowed to name. (sorry, NDA’s). However, I’m always working on my creator-owned stuff. Check out Joshua Black on ComiXology (www.imjoshuablack.com), Lots of books I’ve worked on are up on Comixology, at your LCS, and on eBay (which I get no money for. lol). The second season of #IFightGhosts is up for free at www.IFIGHTGHOSTS.COM, I’m working on several new titles including “Old World 50” with Jeramy Hobz, “Wrong Way” with Cori Walters, “Noir by Nightlight” with Dustin Holifer, Project: APEX with Javier Lugo, “Breakdown” (WIP title) with Ruben Romero and a lot more. You can find out about most of my creator-owned work at www.CAEStudios.com.
If you’d like to find me online, my website is located at www.Dunntown.com. You can find me on twitter @MDUNN82, Instagram @MartinDunn, and Facebook @TheRealMartinDunn. 
My podcast “The Martin Dunn Show” which airs Monday through Friday, can be found on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, SpReaker, The Internet Radio Network, and more.
