1. Hello there! And welcome to Mind to Mind here at Comics & Chill! For those who may not be aware of you and what it is you do, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Its Siji!
Hello! And thank you for having me here. My name is Gbolahan Oluwaniyi but I mostly go by my middle name Siji. I am a visual artist, and have been ever since I was a young child. From sketches to full on splash art pages, I’ve dabbled in as many art forms and styles as you can think! As a child I filled entire notebooks with stick figure action comics, and through my entire creative journey, it led me right back to comics. I’ve written and drawn some comics for fun, but CMYK is what I’d call my passion project.
2. Its thanks to TikTok that I learned of you and the first issue of your book, CMYK. What is CMYK and did Power Rangers have an influence on it given the color scheme of the characters on the cover?
CMYK is an action/adventure/fantasy story following 10 characters with powers coded by colors. It was originally going to just be a novel, but being a skilled artist I decided to make it a comic instead. The first issue introduces an integral character named Eugene Smitt; Embodying the theme of suffering, and why it happens at all. Every character in this fantasy world embodies a theme that their individual and cohesive story-arcs will reflect.
Power Rangers didn’t have a direct influence on the color coded characters, it’s as they say, it’s almost impossible to create an entirely new concept. CMYK was influenced by every single piece of good media I have ever consumed, that’s how I’d put it.
The CMYK Crew!
3. As CMYK is of the Super Hero genre variety, what, in your view, sets it apart from other Indie titles in the genre?
What makes a great superhero story isn’t just cool story concepts, exciting plots, or even cool looking characters, but well written characters. The internal and external struggles that characters go through, the themes their story-arcs tackle, their misbeliefs about the world they live in, the questions they ask in their most vulnerable moment, that is what makes characters great. Although CMYK is a superhero story, it is firstly a character-driven story.
Because a story driven by great characters is a great story. CMYK also has an ensemble cast, meaning the story follows not one single main protagonist, but multiple characters with converging storylines. An example being Game of Thrones or the Lost series.
4. What inspired you to create CMYK? And is it a shortened version of a longer name?
Two things inspired me to create CMYK, one was my curiosity for the world we live in. Seeking the truth in all things, looking through deception to find truth. Asking the hard questions that people would rather turn a blind eye to, Why not share the answers I found in the most exciting way to tell a story, with superheroes! The other thing that inspired me was simply my love for character design, I could spend days designing characters.
The Qiyana Splash!
CMYK is an abbreviation for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key(Black) the colors of the 4 characters to lead the next generation of Rays.
5. You’re both writer and artist, how difficult would you say its been when it comes to doing both?
The difficult thing about being both the writer and artist is the time. I cannot draw while I write, neither can I write while I’m drawing. On average it takes me twice the time to complete a single issue compared to other indie comic creators with separate pencilers, inkers and letterers. One great upside is the ability to create the exact vision I’m going for, nobody can envision what I want better than I can.
6. Judging by some of the content on your TikTok, support/success for the book has been pretty positive to the point it appears you are sold out on the TT Shop again, how would you describe the feeling you get from this?
The first word I’d use to describe it is unreal, It’s still hard to believe even to this day. After working on something for 5 whole years without sharing a single thing about it online, then suddenly you roll it out and it’s so well received? It makes me so very glad! But most importantly, I am happy to share this story with the world, I think it’s one that will touch hearts.
7. Given you are essentially a one man army in the creation department, how long of a series do you intend for CMYK to be?
Ewa and Drag! Damn, that’s beautiful work.
Although I am currently a one man army, I intend to expand the team down the line. As of right now, I have planned for CMYK to have roughly 70 Issues, which might slightly increase or decrease depending on how I choose to pace things.
8. Given I ended up learning of you and your book thru TikTok, what led you to using that platform to promote your book?
I used TikTok to promote CMYK because of the success I have seen other creators have with it! TikTok really encourages consistent creators, especially sellers on their platform, so that helped with growth.
@cmykcomic 2000 followers and 100 sold is CRAZY! thank you all so much!! #art #comicart #comicbook #cmykcomic #comic
9. Other than TikTok, where else can folks find you and your work?
Currently I have the CMYK website in the making, which I hope to release around the same time as Issue 2. For now, folks may also find me on instagram @Siji_03
10. When it comes to Print vs. Digital, what’s your preference?
I would like to say I’m more of a print person, there is nothing like holding the physical copy in your hands! The colors, the shine, the smell of a new book, all of these are things digital can never replace. Digital has its perks too like availability, but I will always go print.
11. Thoughts on AI use?
For the Green!
AI as we know it will only keep getting “better” or worse, as I’d like to put it. As someone who has been accused of using AI for CMYK, it is rough. Dumbing down thousands of hours of skill into a prompt is something that should never have existed. But even then, I know that in a world full of AI, there will always be real artists and people who consume real art.
12. And for my final question, what advice would you give to those looking to get into Comics Creation?
My number one advice is to just do it! Don’t stress about sales or pitching or all those things, at least at first. Be motivated to create a compelling story, all other things will be added onto it!
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Siji for taking part in this interview! Be sure to follow him on Instagram and TikTok!
Interview by: Rob Wrecks
