1. What drew you to work in comics?
I have loved comics almost as long as I can remember. I even learned how to read by sneaking my older brother's comics. I remember being the only kid in my class in first grade that could already read. The nun that taught my class didn't believe it at first. She thought my mom had taught me to memorize the text from my brother's books from the previous school year. Anyway, I never fell out of love with comics like a lot of kids do when they hit puberty. That led to me creating fan fic stories in my head, which lead to me eventually creating my own characters and stories. As a matter of fact, my character Pigeon was originally created for my first attempt at my own comic in fourth or fifth grade.
2. What do digital comics allow you to do as a storyteller?
Digital comics allows me to not have to worry about budget concerns as far as printing goes. Printing in color is significantly more expensive than black and white. That's not something I have to worry about with digital. I also don't have to worry about page count as much. Page count can affect printing costs, as well. I love to add extra bonus content for my digital issues of Memphis. I also love that there's the ability to reach an international audience.
3. Please tell us more about Memphis.
My comic MEMPHIS is an ongoing comic that features all of my characters in one book. The book isn't an anthology but it does focus on many different characters and their stories. It has more in common with Pulp Fiction than an anthology comic book. My characters don't necessarily know each other, but they all live in Memphis. Sometimes they may even run into each other, like Pigeon and China Monroe do in issue #2.
Funnily enough, they won't actually meet for a few more issues. Read the book and you'll understand what I mean by that. Anyway, it's a way for me to feature any characters I would like without having to launch a brand new book. This gives me a lot of creative freedom, which is very important to me because I'm constantly creating new characters.
The main focus of the book currently is China Monroe and her "supporting" characters and the Power Angels and their "supporting" characters. China is a bounty hunter/private investigator with electrical powers that loves a good street fight. The Power Angels are the first all-girl superhero team out together by the mysterious Mr. Jones. Yeah, they hate that name, too. Memphis will not always focus on these characters. My plan is to phase out characters once I've told their stories similar to how Manga comics work. I'm super excited about my next issue, #3, which I'm putting the finishing touches on this week. It will be the first appearance of a new vigilante called the Viking that I hope people will dig.
4. Where can we find more information about your work?
You can buy Memphis digitally on Comixology, and for printed copies you can buy them at the following places in the Memphis area:
901 Comics
901 Comics East
Nerd Alert
Black Lodge Video
The Tap Room
To order copies to be shipped call:
901 Comics
901-421-8819
There's also a MEMPHIS Fan Page on Facebook called Matt Bowers Memphis
I also have a website:
I will be at the upcoming:
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