This January, I had the honor of interviewing Brett Sawyer, The Navigator’s comic artist since 2018. Many have seen his comics and other work, but few know him for more than that. We spoke about his beginnings, inspirations and other hobbies. Brett states that, “In addition to writing comics, I draw a tremendous amount, write fiction, design games, play and run Dungeons and Dragons campaigns and I teach game design at Lake Land. I used to write more fiction a few years back, but…I decided that game design and visual art were more important to me.” He adds, “I actually got my start designing games for Xbox Live…I had 6 or so games on the platform by the end of it. I developed the games in a programming library for C# called Xna Game Studio.”
How did you start writing comics for the Navigator?
“I actually approached them…One of my bosses, Scott Rhine…probably had some conversation with me. I have no idea how the conversation went, but I eventually went down there, showed off a few sketches, and they were interested. Scott was actually a big reason as to how I got the opportunity to work on Lisa [Shumard-Shelton]’s book: “High Fives for Laker Louie,” and the sequel. Because of him, I have little tokens all around campus, from the Laker Louie standees to the little meeples that faculty pass around, to so much more. I’m eternally grateful for him sticking his neck out for me. He probably sees more in me than I do in myself most of the time.”
What made you decide to start making art?
“I was drawing since I was a little kid…As a person with autism, I got really fixated on what I was doing at a given moment, often churning out a whole comic. I think my first comic was a Sonic the Hedgehog fanzine that I made when I was very young. However, I’d say I got really serious with art back in 2017. That was the moment I bought my first digital art tablet and went ham…My art style was always changing, but my goal at the time was to get good enough that I could draw my own book covers.”
“I don’t think I thought much about it when I was doodling teenage mutant ninja turtles and sonic, but I suppose I’ve always had a fascination with creating worlds and characters. The act of bringing a fictional character to life in my own style is cathartic.”
What was your inspiration for the other characters in the LLCU? (Laker Louie Cinematic Universe) (little term I made up just now)
“Oh fun, that’s also what I call it!”
“So, obviously, you have Laker Louie. We all know him.”
“Laker Louie Jr.: Oliver (Ollie) is also known in the comic as Laker Louie Jr. His feathers have a bit more orange to them than Louie’s red. Oliver came up originally as a one-off. He was made as a collaborative effort with the Laker Louie Jr. Academy. They were interested in having a character in the comic, so Scott and I brainstormed the idea together. Everything from the name to the likeness. Oliver has become a re–occuring character in the comic and sort of Louie’s little friend he sometimes takes care of.”
“Mallory: Seeing as Oliver was Laker Louie’s nephew, that implied Laker Louie’s sister. That duck became Mallory (her plumage is purple). She was referenced off-panel a few times and it took over a year before she made an appearance in the comic strip. I wanted Mallory to have her act together. She’s already been through Lake Land College. It’s Laker Louie who’s figuring stuff out while Mallory’s the responsible one. I built her as kind of a foil to Louie.”
“Stanley: Stanley was Louie’s brother who decided to attend big university. Stanley hasn’t made an official appearance in the comic strip (as far as I can remember). He was designed also as a foil to Louie, but in different ways. Scott and I brainstormed Stanley together while attending EffingCon. The idea was to create an evil Louie who would kidnap him as part of an event at Lake Land. “
“Lacy: Finally, Laker Lacy is Louie’s “girlfriend” who he met in Bio 100 (her feathers are magenta). She was actually a request by one of the staff here at Lake Land College to make a special comic strip where Laker Louie could have a girlfriend. In the comic strip, she’s his lab partner. I don’t like writing romance when I can help it. The folks who requested it thought it was cute, so I was happy with it. Lacy is studying in the nursing program at Lake Land and since then, she has made a few more appearances in the comic. I try to make her more than just an ambiguous love interest.”
What’s your favorite part about the classes you teach at Lake Land?
“The biggest happiness for me is that moment when a student has been struggling and makes a breakthrough in their understanding. Maybe they finally figured out how to solve a problem or they decided on an alternative that still works within their creative vision. Game development can be hard at times, but also rewarding. I also enjoy how each new class has a sort of personality. It keeps me on my toes as I look for the best way to teach every semester.”
Anything else you would like to mention?
“I love traditional art mediums. I ink the panels for the comic traditionally, then scan them into an art program (usually Clip Studio) to clean up any artifacts and fill in areas of black for the comic strip. The program I use to lay everything into a comic strip is a program called Manga Maker ComiPo. It’s very nice and lets me import panels and other images. I like the freedom of being able to move around characters and objects, so I adore the software. It’s a bit gimmicky and has a lot of features I don’t use, but it works for me and has been my software of choice since I started making comics in earnest.”
Thank you, Brett, for the interview!
