Dragotaur of My Heart

Miktar Dracon

by Ginger Mayerson

About four years ago, following a link from Adam & Andy, I stumbled into Unnatural But True, where I found some of the purest, direst and sweetest angst I've ever seen in a web comic or anywhere. The unusual part, which didn't really strike me as unusual until much later, was that all this pathos was portrayed by demons, werewolves and dragon-fusion creatures; the only "human" among them was a young man named Ed. Four years and many changes later, Miktar Dracon (aka Ed Kock) has put some of the most tender, bawdy, and furry comics on the web.


Sequential Tart: Would you like to be called Ed or Miktar for this interview?

Miktar Dracon: Miktar's fine. ^.^

ST: When did you start drawing comics?

MD: I've always been drawing the odd comic here and there, mostly just to amuse myself. I think I only officially started drawing what you could consider a 'comic' when I was 18.

ST: What, if any, formal art training have you had?

MD: None whatsoever. I did art in school, but failed.

ST: What have been your biggest influences as a sequential artist?

MD: Probably every comic I've ever read, both comic books and web comics.

ST: Are these the same influences as for the storylines in your comics?

MD: Not really. I've never been much of a writer, so I just made stuff up as I went along.

ST: Are there any comics you read for pleasure? Links, please!

MD: Penny Arcade and PvP are about the only things I read online these days.

ST: Are there any books/magazines/films/TV shows you enjoy? I guess I mean, and excuse me if it sounds corny, what do you do for fun?

MD: I like reading all the comic books I can get my hands on ...

ST: Are there any titles you could mention?

MD: I love the new X-Men series (with the big, cuddly furry feral Beast) and I've always had a thing for the trials and tribulations of Superman. I collected the Primortals series for a while, but their quality went down badly so I stopped. I mostly just walk into a local store and if they have comics, I sit there and read them before security escorts me out.

I love movies and all that. Just the usual stuff. For fun I play games and read a lot, but mostly just hang around with my friends when I can.

ST: Does your work in gaming have any influence on your comics and/or vice versa?

MD: Not really. I never saw a need for yet another gaming related comic and such, I wouldn't have anything new to add.

ST: What is it about gaming and working in the industry that excites you?

MD: That I'm actually doing it. ^.^ After countless years in the dead end corporate industry, working for a gaming magazine is a dream come true.

ST: Who do you work for and what you do for them, if we may know?

MD: I work for a local gaming magazine called New Age Gaming. I run their web site as well as write game reviews for the magazine. I also produce their Cover CD, which contains game demos and such, as well as write a monthly column for the magazine. Occasionally I help design certain advertisements in the magazine, as well as help the other writers with their content, such as 'debatching' (cutting out) pictures of hardware and such. I help the features editor with research for his features, and other miscellaneous tasks that make the rest of the staff's lives easier.

ST: That does sound like a nice job in a field you know and like. I reckon you know and like gaming because there was a lot of gaming in the early Unnatural But True strips. What was the evolution of Unnatural But True? How did it get from your imagination to the web?

MD: I drew a picture of the characters Ed and Miktar (both me, actually) sitting in an arcade, around 1997 I think. Suddenly I had the thought, 'Hey, I should draw a web comic'. That's about it, really.

ST: I wonder if that's how most web comics get started: idea + sketch = web comic. What other comics in addition to Unnatural But True do you have on the web?

MD: I had a few others, but all of them have been taken down. Unnatural But True is the only one I have time for.

ST: What kind of paper-based drawing techniques do you use to create your web comics?

MD: I work mostly with paper, and pencil. Occasionally, I'll draw directly using a Wacom Tablet.

ST: What kind of computer-based drawing/graphics techniques to you use?

MD: Photoshop and a Tablet. ^.^

ST: Do you feel a special affinity toward and/or joy in either or any of these techniques and/or media?

MD: I like the tablet and working on the PC, because I can undo as many mistakes as I make. Working with pencils, I tend to draw 100 lines before I get the one I want.

ST: Do you feel any special frustrations with either or any of them?

MD: Up until now, I've not had a PC good enough for using a Tablet properly (it would lag), but now thanks to my new PC, I'm hoping to get more drawing done.

ST: I hope that, too. You've invented a new species in your work — the Dragotaur. Could you explain the origin and evolution of this creature and the other creatures in your strip? There seem to be big wolves and amphibians in it as well, but I might be wrong; I'm not very good at nature stuff.

MD: The Dragotaur is simply the species of my character Miktar, which is a cross between a minotaur and a dragon. No real brainstorming involved there, I simply woke up one morning and there it was in my head. I guess I wanted something a little different. The other characters were mostly werewolves and dragons.

ST: Speaking of werewolves and dragons, whatever happened to Bromis and the rest of the original Unnatural But True cast?

MD: Since I'm not much of a writer, they eventually just stopped appearing when I drew the strips. I still think about them a lot, and would like to bring them back one day as proper characters.

ST: Did any of the Unnatural But True strips survive the big Keenspace meltdown of whatever year that was? Where are they, if they did?

MD: All the strips are still on my new web space. I left Keenspace long before the 'meltdown', due to their poor service.

ST: Really? I looked around the archives a little and didn't see any of the old 'Miktar with big wings' strips or the famous 'Drask and the dead kitten strip'. Are they there and I just didn't see them?

MD: I think they should be there; I might have to go and check. As far as I know, Every Unnatural But True strip I ever did is on the current website.

ST: I'm sorry, Miktar, they are all there; I just didn't look closely enough. Excuse me for being such a ninnyhammer in your archives. Well, anyway, onward. What kind, if any, impact did the Keenspace service have on you as an artist?

MD: Negative, mostly. Seeing how many people drew web comics, and how if you had sex or bad language in your comic, you were infinitely more popular than anyone else who actually attempted substance.

ST: Yeah, well, Keenspace is a strange place; I have my own personal issues with it. Did most of your early audience find you on Keenspace (I know I did) and do you have any idea how people are finding your work now? And do you have any rough estimate of how many readers you have now?

MD: Most people find my work through the Belfry comics list, or just doing a search for 'werewolves' or something of similar ilk. I probably have about ten or so readers who visit regularly to see if I've updated.

ST: Unnatural But True has had a fairly large and very loyal following. Has there been any negative pressure in that or has it mostly been supportive?

MD: I've had a wonderfully supportive fan base for a good few years before I stopped working on Unnatural But True (Unnatural But True is mostly on permanent hiatus right now until I get a writer).

ST: Do you have anyone in mind? Otherwise, Attention Writers! This could be your big chance!

MD: A friend of mine, Eurisko, is currently helping me with the Not in Nottingham story that's running on the site right now; I'm hoping he'll help me with the future Unnatural But True stuff, but he's very busy with studies and such so I'm still open to more writers.

ST: Do you have any plans for the future of Unnatural But True and your other comics?

MD: I hope to actually continue them, and make them worth something, artistically.

ST: Well I certainly like your drawings and comics. Your characters have this wonderful liveliness and energy to them. They're always emotionally/intellectually engaged, even when they're just listening to something; you can see it in their faces. Your drawing might not have the terrifying perfection of the superhero guys, but it has a great deal of soul and heart, and it doesn't get much more artistic than that. I mean, everyone's technique can improve, but the spirit I see in your work comes from living and looking and really seeing, and still having the desire and strength to make art at the end of the day. You can't learn that in art school; you have to live it. Me, I just hope you keep drawing and draw more and keep putting them on the web and find the writer of your dreams so I can read your comics happily ever after, forever and ever, amen.

Thanks, Ed, I mean, Miktar.

MD: It was fun. ^.^.



Unnatural But True






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