Shaun Paulet loves comic books. So much so that he decided to branch out and create his own series. The Tarneit resident spoke to Adem Saban about his passion for comics and his plans for the future.
Tell me about your connection with the west.
I have lived in Tarneit for only three years but have a strong connection here with both my parents born and raised in the western suburbs and other family still living here. My wife and her family are also from the area. I work at Wyndham City Council on top of following my passion as a comic book creator and small business owner.
When was your interest in comic books sparked? Have you always been a fan?
I’ve been interested in comics ever since my mum bought me my first one. I wasn’t a great reader as a child and my mum used comic books as a way to get me to read. Since then I’ve been hooked. The X-Men comic book series is what I’ve been collecting since a kid, although I’ve leaned more towards Australian independent titles recently.
You’ve created your own comic book series. What’s Xtreme Champion Tournament series about?
XCT revolves around the heroes, villains, monsters and creatures that have been unearthed, in 50 years of excavations around the world, in the year 2069. The characters unearthed were long believed to be mere myths and legends and now these remains are used to create clones of their former selves. These clones are caged, retrained and forced to fight in the most brutal sport in the world, the Xtreme Champion Tournament.
What was it like to see your work printed in a comic book for the very first time?
It was really exciting but it was even better to have it so well received. The response proved all the hard work that went into the creation of the comic was worth it. We now have three issues in the series in just over 18 months with the fourth issue up on [crowdfunding website] Kickstarter at the moment and out by the end of the year. In that time we have sold over 1600 copies of the series, increasing its profile and fan base.
Where do you hope to end up with the comic books?
With the comic book series I hope to pitch it to one of the bigger American companies next year to have it distributed worldwide and turned into a monthly series. If people enjoy the series enough I’d hope this would give the series an opportunity to be optioned for either a TV series or movie. I firmly believe my product can work in other commercial areas as well, such as toys, collectables, clothing and more.
