"Shaft"ed -- Getting to Know Scott McCullar

Scott McCullar (or Shaft to some of his closest friends) has been one of my best friends for years, even years before we launched Shooting Star Comics, LLC together with some other creative types. He's not only a great artist but an A+ story teller too.  And that's why you need to meet him.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

I’ve been meticulously cleaning up all of my body of work that I produced a decade ago of my THRILL SEEKER COMICS series that was published by Shooting Star Comics. I’ve got just a few more final touches on putting together a 128-page archive edition to put out remastered in full color.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I touch on noir pulp fiction-like stories and push my characters onto the road to redemption and understanding.

What would be your dream project?

I used to say that it would be a long run writing GREEN ARROW for DC Comics. I’d still jump at that opportunity, but for now, I want to kickstart my own independent creator-own series and have it be sustainably published as an ongoing series of projects.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

I would have liked to have done a few things differently in helping operate Shooting Star Comics, LLC to have kept it sustainable as a publishing company with my pals.

What inspires you to write?

The love of telling stories and entertaining… now while making income with writing and drawing.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

The writers that most influenced me in comics are comic book writers Denny O’Neil, Chuck Dixon, Mike Grell, Kazuo Koike, and James Robinson. I’ve also really enjoyed the storytelling of Matt Fraction. As for other writers, I’m a fan of Elmore Leonard and Ian Fleming. I’ve also enjoyed the classics from Wells, Dickens, Poe, Hammett, etc. I will also that film and the screen writing of Quentin Tarantino and Akira Kurosawa have also influenced me.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

A little of both.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

I’m about to release THRILL SEEKER COMICS ARCHIVE COLLECTION – VOLUME ONE later this year. You can visit my website at www.scottmccullar.com for more info. In the meantime, I do have a SAMPLER available with three stories from the Archive available for sale on my website.