Creator Spotlight: Dark Pond Creations Patrick Scattergood

This week we were lucky enough to grab the multi-talented Patrick Scattergood, of Dark Pond Creations, and we got the lowdown on their latest publication Morbid Detection.

CFGJohn: “You’ve recently released a new Dark Pond Creations title: Morbid Detection – can you tell us a little about this brand new book?”

Patrick: “I’ve always been a fan of detective stories, both in movie and book form, so it was only natural for me to finally pluck up the courage to do one myself.

15438661411_a0383f7c54_bWith Morbid Detection, as well as being a detective series, I wanted it to be a look at mental illness and the way a crime would affect someone. That said, it was a deliberate choice to also make the two main characters a same-sex married couple so that I could show the discrimination and prejudice that they face while trying to solve the crime too.

The city itself is full of corruption to such a point that when the murders start getting more and more brutal, Fredericks finds during the investigation that the corruption has led to people being so full of selfishness and apathy that they largely go unseen by the public.”

CFGJohn: “I first became aware of Dark Pond Creations thanks to your gritty zombie book: The Meek. Along with Flesh Tones, and Morbid Detection, your material seems firmly rooted in the darker side of comic book stories. Is there something that draws you to the dark side?”

Patrick: “I’ve always loved darker stories, especially those that deal with the darker side of mental health, because it acts like a catharsis of sorts for me as I suffer quite majorly from mental health issues. I’m hoping in a way that that comes through in my work, especially in the case of The Black Dog in the Night that appeared in Flesh Tones 2, and it helps someone to see that just because something is in the darker side of things that it isn’t the end or even a totally bad thing due to the idea that you can turn it in to something else.”

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CFGJohn: “What was your journey into the world of Indie comics like?”

Patrick: “Largely accidental if I’m completely honest. I saw that Victor Wright from Geeky Kid Comics was putting together an anthology one year and he knew me from my review work. I was just starting to get the confidence up to ‘pick up the pen’ again so I chanced my luck and asked if I could join up and do a story and he said yes. Sadly, the book didn’t get funded on Kickstarter but it created a bug in me that made me want to do more and more. I even met Carlos Moreno through that project and while it fell through, not for want of trying though, it created a friendship between us and we decided to take the world on. One comic book at a time.”

CFGJohn: “With the advances in technology acting as a great enabler to comic creatives what impact has this had on your own comic book work?”

Patrick: “It has certainly made it easier in all ways. I can contact my artists and writers in a heartbeat despite some of them being halfway across the world, if I don’t like something on the page then I can change it in a few seconds. It’s wonderful.”

CFGJohn: “You’ve recently launched a ‘pay what you want’ promotion via Sellfy.com where lucky comic book fans can (potentially) pick up your books for free – given how much work goes into creating comics is that a risk or if readers snag a bunch of your books for free would you put that down to altruism?”

Patrick: “The way I look at it is quite simple and probably a tad naive. Yes, with a business head on, I would love for people to pay for the comics but if they decide to take the digital copies for free then I am still fine with that because it still means that people are reading the work that I put out with the Dark Pond Creations team.”

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CFGJohn: “Have you been tempted to dabble in the wonderful world of crowdfunding to support your productions?”

Patrick: “I have but I’ve heard so many horror stories that before I even remotely consider doing so, I’d be researching the living hell out of it.”

CFGJohn: “Since the latest title has been released now, what’s next up for you?”

Patrick: “Well, I’m working on The Meek 3, putting together Flesh Tones 3, writing the script for Morbid Detection 2 and working alongside the wonderfully talented writer, Golda Evans, on a science fiction story called Time to Burn, as well as help her with the mini series The Coyote of Antelope Peak too, which will be illustrated by Paul Kemble.”