Meet Allen Carter | Independent Comic Book Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allen Carter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Since the age of six, I had a love of both art and storytelling. That love morphed into creating home-made comics two years later, and took me all the way to forming Carter Comics in 2010, a time where I also started exhibiting at comic book conventions to promote and sell my work. Like a lot of things worth doing in life, success did not come easy or fast. My first few conventions would usually result in less that ten sales (which I was initially excited about, having just started doing shows). I had much to learn about the best ways to engage people, how to set up an eye-catching booth, and how to arrange my merchandise. All that knowledge came with time and effort put into each new show that I did. Now thirteen years after my first show, I settled on a signature banner, tablecloth, business cards, and a book series to help my brand stand out. Not to mention my signature color on my banner, plastic cards, company t-shirts, and even my face mask: orange. To engage customers, I have both my art portfolio with original comic book pages, along with my current six-issue series “Damn Tourists” to help people at least do a double-take as they’re strolling the convention aisles. The rest is up to me with a simple greeting and short story pitch.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As I currently live in Los Angeles, a week-long trip with a visiting friend would involve a mix of known tourists spots and known local spots: Universal Studios Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach, Pier, bike path, and Promenade Mall, Runyon Canyon Park, Malibu Creek State Park, Lake Balboa Park, and the Long Beach Waterfront taxi called “The Aqualink.” Two-must visit dining spots are “Italia Deli and Bakery” in Agoura Hills, and Thousand Oaks Meat Locker BBQ in, well, Thousand Oaks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my family, who have always been very supportive of my talents, my college art instructor, good friend, and legendary comic book artist Sam Campos of Pineapple Man, for helping me improve my art skills with his teachings. My buddy and former co-worker Mark Rivers of Freaks, Mutants, and Monsters, who invited me to split an Artist Alley table with him back at Anime Expo 2010 which started a string of conventions across parts of California and the country for me, and I would also like to thank the Comic Arts Professional Society for both making me a member, and providing me the opportunity to promote both my work and their organization in convention exhibitor booths at no cost.

Website: cartercomics.squarespace.com

Instagram: cartercomics1

Facebook: facebook.com/cartercomics