Over the years promoting his self-published comic, Ace Nuckolls has traditionally used buttons with popular characters on them as a way to draw people to his booth at comic cons and Free Comic Book Day events.
“It is shockingly hard to sell comics at a comic con,” he said. “It is so much more difficult than you'd think it would be.”
But now his free buttons are exclusively themed after comics published by himself and his friends. That’s a step he felt confident taking after the time he’s spent promoting them locally.
“Off of a six-cent button, I make 20- 30- 40 bucks selling my comic books,” he said. “Plus, people come and they ask us, and I get to tell them the story, and it's a great way to get people in.”
For the past several years, Nuckolls and Kansas City-based artist Chris Rau have been creating a comic called Magnus the Brave. It follows the title hero as he tries to learn the origins of his powers. Nuckolls and Rau produce the comic entirely on their own.
Now, the two are joining forces with other local creators to launch a new publishing company.
It’s called Free Candy Publishing, a bit of a joke about Nuckolls’ soliciting of free buttons at comic conventions.
“Bam always made fun of me that I was just the creepy man yelling at kids, trying to get them to come over and get in the van,” Nuckolls said.
“He was like, ‘We should just call it Free Candy Publishing.’”
The “Bam” he’s referring to is Brian “Bam” Hunter, owner of Wizards Alley in downtown Wichita. He’s a co-founder of Free Candy.
“The comic industry is weird. It's either you know somebody and break in, or you go and just do your own thing and have fun with it,” Hunter said. “And I'm at the age and point to where I'm just gonna go have fun with it and do my own thing.”
Nuckolls, Hunter and others in the group envision a cooperative venture — where creators retain the rights to their ideas, while Free Candy assists with printing, publishing and marketing.
They picture artists, writers and other creatives using Free Candy as a sort of talent portfolio to find collaborators, with clear rates for services. If it works out, Hunter said, it could be a win for all involved.
“I'm not really worried about slaving over a table to work for Marvel or DC,” he said, “And to be able to tell my own stories and own my own characters, is where it's at for me.”
Local creators Kim Cotterell and John Osborne are also part of the venture.
Other titles under the brand include the Trials of Percy, a spin-off from Magnus the Brave; Mr. Right, originally started by Cotterell in the 2010s; and Plus Interest, a short-story about an alien coming to Earth to collect galactic taxes.
Free Candy is in its early stages but already has branding, merchandise and a social media presence.
Nuckolls said the group hopes to move toward an LLC and eventually incorporate more artists into the fold — or “get them in the van,” as he likes to joke.
“Our main goal is just helping people put cool stuff out there, so that it's not just dominated by Marvel and DC.”
