Austin Allen Hamblin on Big Guns Stupid Rednecks
Why yes I did interview myself..
I am going to do something a little bit out there today. For those who know me, this won’t be shocking at all. I’ve been having a lot of fun doing these interviews, and I feel like I am getting into a groove. While I hope to be known for my comic book writing, I still take pride in doing these interviews.
In July, I have a graphic novel coming out in the direct market. Big Guns Stupid Rednecks, published by Source Point Press. Written by me, art/colors by Mariana Meria, letters/logo by John Ira Thomas.
I’ve been making videos dressed as a redneck, doing podcast interviews, and screaming into the void. I’m doing anything and everything to try to promote this book because I really care about its success. I really like thinking outside the box. So today I will be interviewing myself!
After a string of unexplained disappearances in the southern parts of the United States, retired detective Clint searches for his white trash brother. While searching for him, he ends up being abducted... by aliens! He is now in the arena for Big Guns Stupid Rednecks. Intergalactic cable’s newest hit show, which puts humans in laser gun gladiatorial combat, and his brother is the reigning champion with 27 kills!
FOC 6/29/26
On Sale 7/22/26
Lunar: 0526PP1136
Universal: PRA04260007
This will be a long one covering pretty much everything from the beginning until now. So if you tap out in the middle, I understand.
Interviewer: Thanks for sitting down with me today for this interview.
Austin Allen Hamblin: Hey, no problem! Always happy to talk about comics. If I can help myself out in the process, even better!
Interviewer: I’d like to think I know you pretty well. So I might get pretty in-depth today. Let’s start with a simple question. What is the original inspiration for Big Guns Stupid Rednecks?
Austin Allen Hamblin: I get asked a lot where my ideas come from. I know my answer always disappoints people. I don’t answer with something cool enough. Demons from hell aren’t bringing me ideas in my sleep. I didn’t beat death in a game of pool to win a cool idea.
All of my ideas come from the same place. I think to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if?” or “Why doesn’t something like this exist?”
The idea for Big Guns Stupid Rednecks is a riff on the X-Men villain Mojo.
Interviewer: I love Mojo! I really enjoyed how he was used in the original Exiles run with Morph.
Austin Allen Hamblin: Same here. I really love the original Exiles run. It’s actually a dream project of mine to write an Exiles comic someday. Marvel, call me, I’m waiting!
For those who are unfamiliar, Mojo is a gross, ugly creature who steals people from different timelines and forces them to fight. It’s for his TV station. It’s such a fun idea, I wanted to do a riff on it.
Interviewer: Why rednecks?
Austin Allen Hamblin: The easy answer is write what you know. I know rednecks. I was born, raised, and to this day live in rural Iowa. I’m the son of a third-generation farmer, one uncle was a farmer, 2 other uncles drive semi, and I’ve been surrounded by rednecks my entire life. I thought the contrast between advanced aliens and stupid hillbillies is a really fun dynamic to play with.
Interviewer: I think it works really well. In Big Guns Stupid Rednecks, Clint hates rednecks and spends his entire life trying to get away from them. Did you pull from any real-life feelings for Clint?
Austin Allen Hamblin: I did. Growing up, I felt like an outsider. I mean, I definitely was (and still am). In a world of country music and jacked-up trucks, I was listening to heavy metal and reading comic books. In my Catholic school, while everyone believed everything they were being told without any questions, I was questioning everything. I had friends, some of whom were certified card-carrying rednecks, but in general, I hated rednecks and wanted to get away from them.
Interviewer: Don’t you still live where you grew up? Doesn’t seem like you got away.
Austin Allen Hamblin: You are 100% correct. My way of thinking has changed over the years. I don’t hate rednecks. What I do hate are close-minded people. People who hate others for being different from them. I think the two often get lumped together. Rednecks are real salt of the earth, hard-working people. They will fix your car for cheap and then thank you for letting them do it. I love small-town living. Being close to my parents and family is the best part. Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting the big cities, but I get my fill by going to comic conventions.
Interviewer: Big Guns Stupid Rednecks is now on its third publisher. Would you like to talk about the journey to get here?
Austin Allen Hamblin: It has been a fucking battle to get here. It has taken me over 10 years to get this comic finished and into your hands. When I first tried to do this, I hired an artist to do some concept images, and through the artist, it was going to get sent to editors. Despite paying up front for the art, it took 2 years to get it, and then they wouldn’t send it to any editors. At the time, I didn’t know who I could send it to. So for the moment, it was dead.
Interviewer: That’s a rough start.
Austin Allen Hamblin: It was discouraging, but I kept going. The jury is still out on whether I’m talented or not, but one thing no one can disagree with is that I don’t give up. A few years later, I got a pitch ready with a different artist, and we sent it all over to different publishers. I got one rejection, but no response from the rest. Again, I had to put it back on the shelf for a little while. I knew I had something, so after some time away from it, I decided to keep going.
Interviewer: So then it ended up at Source Point Press?
Austin Allen Hamblin: My friend, we still have several steps before getting to them. I ended up getting to do a short story for Top Cow’s Stairway Anthology (which is a very odd deal all in itself). I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do a lead-in story for Big Guns Stupid Rednecks and show it to the world. Try to make the most out of my opportunity getting to do a story at Image (my favorite publisher of all time). So I wrote the 7-page lead-in story.
Interviewer: What was the process for that like?
Austin Allen Hamblin: At the time, this was my first comic with a publisher of this size. It was such a different process from self-publishing. I don’t know, I handled myself the best, but I try not to dwell on that. It was pretty terrifying sending the script to Matt Hawkins for notes. He was an early Image guy working at Extreme Studios before moving to Top Cow. He is a fantastic writer. I love his comic Think Tank. So I was scared shitless to send the script to him. I think the pressure made it turn out even better. I got notes from him as well as Ryan Cady (another fantastic writer); they had very positive things to say, but also places where I could dial things in a bit and make it even better. I was paired with artist Donny Tran and colorist Chris Northrup. The anthology hit shelves in October of 2020.
Interviewer: It came out during COVID?
Austin Allen Hamblin: Which was a big let-down. I had gotten a story published by my all-time favorite publisher, and I couldn’t do any signings to promote it. The world was shut down at this point. I used this 7-page story to pitch a full mini-series to publishers. I was unable to find anyone who was interested. So yet again it went back on the shelf for a few years. Until a few years later at C2E2 in Chicago, I met someone who would get the ball rolling again. I had given said person (who I won’t name because it turns out he was a bad dude) a copy of the Stairway Anthology. He loved the short and asked if I had plans to do more. I told him I had an entire pitch for a mini-series, but hadn’t been able to find a publisher. He asked if he could link me up with a publisher.
Interviewer: So that is how you ended up with Band of Bards?
Austin Allen Hamblin: Nope! This is even before that! He sent my stuff to this publisher, and they were interested. We exchanged some emails, and I was asked if I could do a video call. We scheduled one, and the day of, I was blown off. Not even a cancellation. I waited around for an hour before getting on with my day. I emailed asking what the deal was and got an excuse I thought was bullshit, and we rescheduled. I wanted this to happen, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Then it came time for the video call, and they didn’t show again. I was pissed. They tried to reach out, and I ignored all emails. I put it back on the shelf again, until a few months later, the person who had lined me with them told me to send my stuff to Band of Bards.
Interviewer: So, how did you end up working with Mariana Meria and John Ira Thomas?
Austin Allen Hamblin: Well, Band of Bards wanted to publish the mini-series, but Donny Tran, who had drawn the short at Top Cow, was not available. I had a publishing deal without an artist. This was the first time I had ever been in this situation. So I put out an open call for artists, and Mariana was one of the many who responded.
Interviewer: What made you end up working with her?
Austin Allen Hamblin: It was actually a lot of things. She had a lot of finished comic pages. So many of the artists who applied had only 2-3 pages to show; some didn’t have any! I really liked her color work. I think it’s especially great in the first issue. Starting dark in the south before going colorful and wild when the aliens appear. She was very responsive to messages, and we just clicked.
As for John, I have known him for years. He is actually a way more prolific (and even award-winning) writer than I am. He is localish to me, and we met at a con years ago. He writes all the comics he writes and others for his publisher, Candle Light Press. I often refer to him as my future self because we are so much alike.
The team was assembled, and then Big Guns Stupid Rednecks had a direct market comic book store release, which went amazingly! We were working on getting everything ready for a collected edition release until Diamond went under. This changed the plans a lot.
Interviewer: You are, of course, referring to Diamond distribution going bankrupt. I think this messed up plans for a lot of indie publishers.
Austin Allen Hamblin: They didn’t have another way to distribute it. So even though things had been great with them, I negotiated getting the rights back early so I could shop it around. Once again, I knew I had something, but this time, I wasn’t putting it back on the shelf. I sent it to all the places I could think of and asked for suggestions. Everyone told me, “No one is going to publish that, it just had a direct market single issue release with a different publisher!” I stuck to my guns; I knew they were wrong. Then I got the email from Source Point Press, and now we are here in the promised land, haha.
Interviewer: Were you excited to end up at Source Point Press?
Austin Allen Hamblin: I can honestly say I was pumped. It was a victory to find a home for the collection. I was happy it was Source Point Press. I have been aware of them almost since the beginning. I had friends who did comics with them early on, and I read books they put out. Over the years, I had pitched them many times and even came close a few times. So this felt like fate.
I’m really big about full circle moments and taking time to smell the flowers. This was fill circle for two reasons.
First is because of Joshua Werner. I remember at con going up to the Source Point Press booth and chatting up a worker about the books the publisher put out. Was having a great conversation with this worker to find out I was actually talking to Josh!
The second is because of Dirk Manning. I have a much longer history with Dirk. I read Dirk’s Write or Wrong Article when it was on Newsarama and read his comic at Image Nightmare World. Then, in 2011, when I was in high school, I met him at a small con in Illinois, which doesn’t exist anymore. Then, in 2016, when I was interning with Devil’s Due, he was doing a comic with them. Now he is the publisher at Source Point Press, who is publishing a comic I wrote. Very full circle.
Interviewer: Wow, what a battle to get here. Did it ever feel like the project was cursed?
Austin Allen Hamblin: You know, I never thought of it that way. Thinking about it now, it does kind of look like it. I guess when I’m in the grind of things, I obsess about how I’m going to make things work. No bullshit, I lie in bed every night thinking about where I can send pitches. How to get projects going, and I’m always scanning my brain to see if I’m not doing something I should be.
Interviewer: That sounds exhausting!
Austin Allen Hamblin: It is. Comics have fucked my mental health more times then I can count, but it’s also helped me get through hard times just as much. I make comics because I have to. I can’t not. I would make comics even if no one was reading them. For a long time no one was.
Interviewer: What is all included in this collected edition?
Austin Allen Hamblin: It includes all 3 issues, a foreword by Phil Hester, an afterword by me, a new short comic, past incarnations, and loads of awesome pin-ups!
Interviewer: Do you want to explain the redneck promo videos at all?
Austin Allen Hamblin: It all boils down to shame not existing in my body. When the single issue we’re releasing I was coming back from a con in Omaha with fellow cartoonists Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur. I floated the idea to them of dressing up like a redneck and filming promo videos. They never doubted I would do it, but I don’t think any of us thought it would work as well as they did. Phil later said “I was punching above my weight class with promotion.” I filmed videos in overalls, with guns, demo derby cars, holding a chicken, and in tractors. I’ve brought this back for the collected edition, but haven’t posted very many of them yet. Soon I’ll be filming with a tank! No joke!
Interview: Didn’t you do a signing dressed as a redneck?
Austin Allen Hamblin: I sure did! I wanted to do something to make me stick out. For a lot time I was a butcher and Phil suggested to me I organically bring it up in conversations when meeting pros. He said “They are going to meet a lot of people at cons, but only one butcher.” Again master yoga was right. If you can do one thing different people will remember you. Getting a comic signed by a 6’4 Sasquatch looking mother fucker in overalls is something people will remember. I took a lot of pictures at that signing with people I don’t think would’ve wanted them otherwise.
Interview: You also got to draw on the door at that signing. Do you want to talk about that?
Austin Allen Hamblin: You want to talk about another full circle moment. This might be one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do. When I was 15 years old, I went to Daydreams Comics and Collectables in Iowa City. Behind the counter, they had this door that blew young me’s mind. Every cartoonist who passed through had signed and sketched on the door. It was a murders row of awesomeness. Featuring Phil Hester, Jaime Hernandez, Josh Blaylock, K Lynn Smith, and tons of others. I told myself that someday I would get to sign the door. 15 years later, I did.
Interviewer: How can people buy the collected edition?
Austin Allen Hamblin: If you have a local comic book store, give them these order codes: Lunar: 0526PP1136 and Universal: PRA04260007 before 6/29/26. It’s published by Source Point Press, but you’ll find it in the catalogue under Prana. Or you can order a copy signed by me, mailed to you from Starfighter Comics here: https://www.starfightercomics.com/product/big-guns-stupid-rednecks-tp-signed-copy-/UYLJID5I3ONWCRT567VLZVJ3?cs=true&cst=custom
Interviewer: Is there anything else you want people to know?
Austin Allen Hamblin: The big thing is if you believe in something, like truly believe in it, don’t let it die.
Lastly this comic won’t make you any smarter, but it will make you laugh.