Flipside FedEx: Interview with William Byrne

G’Day Crusaders,

This is Dodgy in the mix, in Flipside Focus Episode 17 my Kickstarter pick was the North Shield by William Byrne. William was very kind enough to join me for an interview.

CC: What got you interested in comics?

I started reading comics when I was really young, but what got me interested creating my own comics was a comic book in 1975-76 called Captain Canuck, the story and art by Richard Comely and brilliantly inked by the talented Gorge Freeman and the paper was far better than the newsprint paper the American comics were using at the time and the colouring was much better as well and because this was the first truly Canadian comic I every saw, that inspired me to create my own comics.

What do you like reading?

I like to read mystery novels, been reading the Richard Castle’s Nikki Heat series for some time, I like reading science fiction and graphic novels whatever catches my eye.

Can you tell us about Max Burger P.I?

Max Burger P.I. I created him in the early 80’s as a villain and he was called The Mad Burger, but I liked the concept and made him a hero. his origin was an ordinary hamburger placed into microwave over to be cooked and one of the employees tripped and spilled soda pop on the microwave and it mutated Max into a walking talking hamburger who likes to solve crimes with his human dad. See William Byrne’s interview here: https://youtu.be/Pbhx6va5ZE0

Tell us about your Kickstarter project, The North Shield.

The North Shield was created back in 1976 when Captain Canuck #3 came out, The North Shield was called Captain Spider at the time and his origin was different. The North Shield is Philip Mackenzie he’s from Canada’s easterly province called Newfoundland, he was born and raised in small fishing village called Twillingate born with a high IQ and wanted to create a new clean energy for the world he came up with a genetic altered algae. Moving to Toronto, Ontario and starts working for a large genetic company to refine his experiment and 5 years later his experiment was just about ready to be used commercially till two crooks are hired to destroy his lab and one of them releases a mutagen into the algae , but he tries to stop them they defeat him and leave him for dead as his lab blows up. He is found by a bunch of homeless people and lead by a battle-scarred WW2 French Canadian superhero/spy they found out that Phil has super healing and super strength and he discovers other powers he has as the series continues so the government offers him a job fighting crime and is giving an alien battle-suit to wear while protecting the country and the world.

Was it hard to find an artist to help you with your vision?

Yes it was hard to find someone find someone to work on the comic I had two people leave and one who tried to steal my story, Marvin is the best so far I’ve worked with.

What has been the challenges with creating a Kickstarter project?

The challenges creating a Kickstarter project is the rewards and figuring your costs and hoping you put together something people want to pledge.

Are there going to be other North Shield adventures in the future?

Yes I have many stories for The North Shield lots of questions from the first graphic novel to last for many years.

What do like to do in your spare time?

In my spare time I read books, draw play video games and write.

Support North ShieldÂ HERE

Author Profile

Shane Tydeman

The Wonder from Down Under,
Dodgy is a senior contributor to Comic Crusaders. Co-Host of The Yeah-Nah Wepa Show! An advocate of indie comics and is creator of Indie Comics podcasts Flipside Focus, Sunderkatz and Think Indie Podcast!

An unapologetic movie fan, NBA fan, action figure, trading card fan! Also an advocate for Depression awareness!