A lot of comics fans want to cross over and make a career as a writer or artists. Some are content to write fan fiction for websites, but Bart A. Thompson is working hard to turn his dreams into a reality!

Why "Approbation"? It means approval, doesn't it? Whose?

I needed a company name and using my trusty thesaurus I kept looking for a word that would jump out at me as looking and sounding "cool," but also had a strong meaning behind it. "Approbation" was that word. Yup, it means "An expression of warm approval; praise" which what all of us creative types are seeking for our work.

When was it started?

From 1995 to 2000 I wrote and drew a lot of mini comics (Two Vampires Unlimited and about 10 New York Creatures) and then in 2002 I self published my first full color comic, Vampires Unlimited: Shades of Things to Come #1. I learned a lot of the business side of comics (I had the knowledge, the creativity, focus, and drive... I just didn't have the cash to support it all) and took some time off to restructure. I re-entered publishing with other creative talents with the Myriad anthology in 2005 and I've been trying to go full speed ahead ever since.

How is it financed?

Financing comes from my day job. Any cash that doesn't go to bills and food goes to making comics (Well, there is that pesky DVD addiction, but I've curbed that. Then a concert every few months.).

For a small publisher you certainly seem to have a lot in the pipeline.

Thank you. Comics take a looong time between conception to final print form. I have to constantly keep moving or else I get bored and frustrated, so when new opportunities arise I go for them and next thing I know I have about 50 projects on my To-Do list. But I love it all and I stay on top of my projects very well.

Do you really write everything? Apart from the Myriad anthology, you seem to.

Yup, roughly everything Approbation related is written by me. I straddle the line between publisher and studio for now and mostly Approbation is the showcase for my main three projects of Chaos Campus, ChiSai, and Vampires Unlimited. Those are the projects closest to my heart- my babies so to speak. So to make sure every detail is done correctly I plan to publish those myself without worry or fear of some small detail coming back to bite me in the ass later.

Myriad was a lessoned learned on being a publisher and working with multiple teams of creative people, doing creative works myself, and handling the business side of all of it. I learned a lot from the experience and that led me to open up to putting things out through other publishers.

Whats the status on the Chisai title? Lethal Instinct? The latter isn't an Approbation title, do you write much for other companies?

ChiSai: Duality is the two issue mini series that follows the ChiSai: Karma mini (the story told within the Myriad anthology) and that is roughly 80% finished. Hopefully that will see print mid to late in the year. ChiSai: Conception is the origin story of Shy and the scheduled artist has disappeared, so that one shot is back to square one. Hopefully a new artist will be attached soon and that one shot will be published around the time of Duality.

Lethal Instinct is owned by Rômulo Soares and I've become like an adoptive co-parent and pretty much treat the project, market, and publicize it like it was one of my own. Lethal Instinct (volume 1): Full Moon Over Blackstone was a six issue mini series published under Alias Enterprises, but with the publisher content change Lethal is looking for a new home. We are in discussions now with publishers and hope to have official news around March. Lethal Instinct is an ongoing series, but split into mini series (like Vampires Unlimited) and the next arch will be called The Starchild. Volume two is about 85% complete. Believe me, if you loved or hated volume 1 you will be blown away with volume 2. Don't get me started on volume 2 (New Whitechapel)!

I'll also mention that I'm also working on two projects with Samal McNealy (aka the Elfman)- One called Burlesque and the other called Polar. Both are still in negotiations with publishers.

Yes, I gladly do work for other companies!!! I am freelance and always seeking new paying and/or published projects. I dunno how much would be considered "much," heh. Personally I'd like to write a lot more for other publishers. I'm planning to hit a lot of conventions this year... hopefully I can drum up even more work.

You seem to blur the line between self-published and small press. How do you feel about that?

I can dig it. I hope my stories do the same thing!

You seem to love short stories. Most are seven to nine page. Why write them instead of the usual twenty two?

Hahaha, it does seem that way. I have no real preference really (contrary to what I currently have in print would imply). I really love storytelling and I really love the different genres and ways to tell stories. As a writer we have a tendency to be long winded with our creations. With comics readers won't give a new writer's 50 issue opus a try, but they'd give something shorter a shot. So with that in mind and the challenge to tell a full story in the shortest amount of pages possible, that's why I have so many short stories in print. I have a lot of traditional 22 page stories in the works (Chaos Campus, Lethal Instinct, and Blood, Shells, & Roses come to mind) and even some 30 and 40 page issues (ChiSai: Duality are about 40 pages each), too. It just all depends on the story and the publisher's limitations.

How did you go about putting together the talent for Myriad? And why are there fewer stories in issue five?

Actually Myriad was Chris O'Bryant's brainchild. He came to Richard Nelson and myself with the idea and I had planned on doing a few anthologies before that didn't come to fruition (the one closest to what Myriad eventually ended up being was the Approbation Cornucopia... kinda glad we didn't use that) that helped make up the template of what eventually became Myriad. I then brought Chris Tsuda and John Ward to the book.

At the end of 2005 we all had various degrees of bad fortune which affected the book. Being publisher and being one of the people with the most extreme turn of events I accepted most of the brunt and responsibility. Two of the stories decided to cut their losses and leave the title and go their own ways.

You've said that Evil Inside and Amour began as writing exercises. Having done them, would you consider them successes? What did you learn from them? I see you followed them up with a crossover.

Hahaha, they're not done yet. At this moment I still have about five more Amour stories and one more Evil Inside story left to write. Then there's the whole waiting on the art and lettering part. But yes, with three of the 10 issues in print (and two more to come within the month) I would consider them huge successes! As creative types we judge our own work harshly and until this point I haven't had much in print I could really be proud of. Amour and the Evil Inside is something I can really stand behind and show as examples of what I can do with storytelling, genres, publishing, and more.

What have I learned from them? That writing in one genre is TOUGH, especially romance. Most of my work cross genres, so it's taking a lot of discipline to stay in theme, but slip in a little of the other genres to keep things interesting. I've learned a lot more on how to make an effective story in a short amount of space and hopefully that will help with my longer stories.

Yup, going back to how I enjoy crossing genres, there will be two Amour/the Evil Inside crossovers- the first being issue #3 and the last being the final issue of both mini series with #6. I really enjoyed doing the stories for both of those issues and I think readers will dig them.

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls v. Zombies! Are we going to see more?

Oh, yes! All six issues of volume 1 of the regular series have been written. I just have to find the perfect artist. Unless a publisher presents me an amazing deal this will probably be one of the few Diamond distributed series Approbation will be publishing (I plan to move a lot of my projects to other publishers).

Issue one and two are the two part origin story, three and four are stand alone issues, and five and six make the final two part story of the first volume. Still writing on the scripts for volume two and have the outlines for volumes three through five.

About Amour, what drew you to creating a romance comic? In it there's a story about meeting a girl at the San Diego Comicon. What inspired that?

Lots of factors. I'm a hopeless romantic and I enjoy the joy of meeting, dating, communicating, playing, etc. that comes with starting, building, and holding a relationship. Not just with myself, but I like watching it with other people, too. Another factor was a desire to put something in print that I could really show my strengths (to have a work or works in print I could FINALLY be completely proud of). The last factor was to have works to show editors and what could I do to stand out from the tons of other crap they see. I always have to at least do two things at once, so after looking at all the genres for me a horror book and a romance book would be my perfect choices.

Pulp Romance was just another random idea when I was bored. Can't remember what sparked it... I probably just wondered what it'd be like to date someone just as ambitious who was also a writer that could relate to the sacrifices it takes to do this stuff. I love strong willed women and talkers, so all that was the springboard. Everything else just fell into place like Tetris - Two comic writers? They should meet at the San Diego Comic Con. Too busy on the floor for a connection? Meet at a cafe beforehand. After those details I just let the female lead of the story set the tone and pace and went from there.

Is it my imagination or do you love horror?

Haha, not your imagination at all. I dig the sick, twisted, and macabre as my life is pretty well adjusted and "normal." I love the slasher stuff, the cerebral horrors, the thrillers, chillers, blood spillers. It's all good. How did you get into comics?

Being a bored kid with an active imagination and a burning drive to stay productive. I've always been a storyteller... when I'm bored I start thinking of things and eventually a story forms around it and I can pass the time that way. I'd entertain my friends with my stories and most of the time they came out through playtime with action figures or acting out our own adventures. I figured I'd get into movies or television with my stories so I started working in that direction. To make sure I'd remember later and to help the costume and special effects departments I'd draw particular scenes to my episodes as a way of taking notes (of sorts).

Around high school I kept writing and drawing and for extra cash I'd sell things... candy, cards, whatever. Someone was selling some comics cheap and I bought the bulk to mark up and sell individually, but I actually started reading them. I liked them and looked for more and soon I realized that I've been making comics the whole time and never realized it! So I switched gears and jumped into comics.

Tell us about yourself now? What’s your day job? How old are you?

My bill paying job is a check processor at a bank. Dull work, but it gives my brain time to wander and that's where I come up with my stories. Also about to start working at a new comic store in the area as I miss working customer service and I get a hands on perspective on the retailer side of comics.

Oh, and I'm 28 (birthday on Sept 20th, so everyone feel free to send gifts to this Virgo/Libra, hehehe).

Earlier you say you're going to do a lot of conventions this year. Which ones?

The main two are the New York Comic Con the last weekend of February (just me, no table, just meeting people and helping out at other tables) and our usual Wizard Chicago Con (we've been going since like 2001). San Diego Comic Con is a possibility and the Toronto Con is a stronger possibility. Considering the Charlotte Heroes Con, Philadelphia's ECBAC, and Wizard Texas. But yeah, the main three targets are New York, Chicago, and Toronto.