Dan Sehn has been a comic book company publisher since 2005, and he has published, through Indy Planet, over 100 (one hundred-!) individual comic books since that time, numerous titles, under the company name Argo Comics. He employs numerous artists and some writers to put them out, and all of his comic books are in full colour. They can all be ordered through Indy Planet. The main title is ‘Argo 5’, which is a superhero group title of his heroes which he created! The current issue is # 42; he has published various other titles as well, various issues for each title, and he writes pretty well all the scripts with some exceptions! Dan Sehn is also a bodybuilder, with a body that looks very superheroic, as you will see in the accompanying photo of himself. I took the time to talk to Dan Sehn for First Comics News; it was an enjoyable chat, as you will see, as you read along!
First Comics News: Dan Sehn, my first question for you today is, are you an artist, a writer, or both?
Dan Sehn: I once heard of a distinction between an artist who writes and a writer who draws, and I would categorize myself as the latter. My main role is probably as an editor and publisher, these days.
1st: Can you tell our readers, when and where were you born, and where did you grow up and go to school?
Dan: I was born and raised in Long Island, New York. I gained a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science, and I minored in Art.
1st: How old were you when you first discovered comic books, and how did that come about?
Dan: Comics were around for me before I can remember, so I had to be 3 or 4 years old. I recall that the first word I could write was Superman, even though I would get the “S” backward, at times.
1st: Were either one of your parents into comic books when you were a child, and is that how you became aware of their existence? About what year would this have been, your introduction to comic books? Can you remember some of the earliest titles and issue #s that you were exposed to?
Dan: It would have been around 1971. I can only imagine it was because I responded favorably to superhero toys and reruns of the Adam West Batman TV show. I can’t recall my first comics but I do recall getting Superman DC Treasury Edition #C-31 in 1974 because my brother folded it in half the day I got it. I also recall being upset that Superman was being replaced by a statue in Superman #286 in 1975.
1st: What were your favourite comics series growing up, and which are your favourite characters?
Dan Sehn: We can return to Superman to answer the first part of that question, but I did steer towards the team books to get the most bang for my buck growing up, so Justice League and Avengers were two favorites joined by the X-Men when the new team came about in X-Men Giant Size #1. In the Big 2 (Marvel and DC), I tended to favor the super-strong characters with Superman, Hercules, Colossus, Wonder Man, Doc Samson, and Luke Cage, Hero for Hire being some of my favorites. I eventually got exposed to the Indies (independent) comics, Avatar, Victory Comics, Comico, Silverline … essentially, too many to name, and there were lots of excellent characters within those pages, as well.
1st: I understand that you are a bodybuilder, and, having visited the links you provided me located at Indy Planet, and also have seen a comic book you produced on your bodybuilding, I’d like to ask, how long have you been doing bodybuilding, and how old were you, when you started that?
Dan: In 1979, an issue of Muscle Builder had Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk on the cover, and that bridged the gap for me from comics to bodybuilding. I didn’t get serious about weight training until joining a gym at the age of 17, though. From there, I competed in drug-free bodybuilding shows, from age 19 to 42, with 2 national titles and a pro card, along the way.
1st: Do you work out every day? And, how long do you work out, in a typical session?
Dan: I work out just about every day with 6 different workouts, 4 of which are weight training, and 2 sessions of cardio and abs. Most sessions tend to run about 90 minutes, these days.
1st: Do you write all the scripts and stories for your comics? And, do you do the art for them, as well?
Dan: I write most of the scripts, but Argo Comics Double Shot is a title where I incorporated guest writers to play in the Argo Comics sandbox. I drew Argo 5 #1, but at that point, I figured being a writer, editor, letterer, and publisher were enough hats to wear if I was going to publish with any regularity.
Dan Sehn: Hey Phil, I’m guessing you’ll have more questions, but here’s a summary. I started publishing in 2005. I’m closing in on 100 (one hundred) comic books published, and I don’t even have PDFs of them all, as Indyplanet.com lists them, and creates a PDF to send to those who buy a digital copy.
https://indyplanet.com/argo-comics and https://indyplanet.com/thunderzone I’m not sure you’d have the time to read that much anyway, lol. I thought I’d include a sampling of my books: ARGO 5 has been my main comic book series, and I just released issue # 42.
1st: Having taken a look at all your various Argo company titles at Indyplanet, Yes, that is a lot of different titles, and a heck of a lot of issues, published to date! Holy smokes. And, they all look so very interesting! So, I take it that, other than ARGO 5 # 1, which you drew yourself, other artists drew all the numerous other issues of Argo 5, and they drew all other titles under the Argo (company name) umbrella?
Dan: Yes, I have been fortunate to work with several highly talented artists, and even had a smattering of mainstream pros do covers and pin-ups. I guess my taste in comics art can be revealed in my comics, as I of course only pursued artists whose work I admired.
1st: But you write everything, every issue, every single title, is that right?
Dan: Aside from the Argo Comics Double Shot title, I did have a guest writer for Impact International #2 and Team North America #1. Aside from those, I did all the writing for the rest.
1st: I’ve, thus far, read Argo 5 # 0, followed by # 1. When did Argo 5 # 1 and # 0 (zero issue) come out? Were your first two issues completed?
Dan: The first two books I published were the Argo Comics Pin-Up Special in 2005 and the Argo Comics Pin-Up Spectacular, in 2006. Those were followed by the Argo Comics Anthology series, during which time I also began the Argo 5 title. Issue # 0 came many years later, as I thought readers needed an easier jumping-on point, as the number of issues grew.
1st: Can you show us the cover and some interior pages of Argo Comics # 1 and Argo Comics Anthology # 1? I’d really love to see some pages of your art, if possible.
Dan: Okay, I included the Argo Comics Anthology Cover by Luis Xlll, along with interior pages from him, Greg Woronchak, and Jean Sinclair, with colors by Miguel Marques. The Argo 5 #1 cover was by Brad Green, and colored by Carlos Montanez, with two interior pages by myself, and colored by Giuseppe Pica.
1st: How old were you when you started drawing? How many years have you been at it, and, are you (still) at it?
Dan: Again, I can’t even recall a time that I was not drawing. I did make my comics in grade school. I was doing a bit more art at conventions to help cover costs, but these days, the rest of the parts of comic book creation seem to fill my available hours.
1st: Did you create all of the characters in your titles, and come up with all of their abilities?
Dan: Yes, I have done so, except in cases where I had guest stars or the rare guest writer who wanted to insert a new villain here and there.
1st: Do you ever have cross-over tales with characters of two titles, or more? And, if so, when and where did you do that? Some links to some of that stuff would be cool!
Dan: Quite early on in Argo 5 #3, I had a number of my comic publisher friends lend their characters to a dimension-spanning crossover: https://www.indyplanet.com/argo-5-03 Argo 5 #8 included guest stars from a contest held years ago on Deviant Art: https://www.indyplanet.com/argo-5-08 Argo 5 #41 was a chance for Kickstarter backers of my second Argo 5 trade collection to have their character guest star in an issue, and also featured some previously published characters owned by a few industry pros: https://www.indyplanet.com/argo-5-41 Sorority of Power #14 had Andre Leal’s Camillo Walace aka The Ventriloquist guest star: https://www.indyplanet.com/sorority-of-power-14 As far as within my titles, Argo Comics Double Shot has seen characters from different teams meet. Both Argo 5 and Sorority of Power have had guest stars from my other books and there was a Gladiatra Vs. Leopard Lass one-shot pitting those members of Argo 5 and Sorority of Power against each other.
1st: How often does a new issue come out of any one of your titles?
Dan Sehn: That’s a bit tough to predict. We publish pretty regularly as you can imagine from our amount of published books, but we tend not to keep to a rigid release schedule for any particular title.
1st: For some reason, I’m rather intrigued by this guy with green in his costume. Maybe it’s simply because you just don’t see green on many superhero’s union suits, but whatever the case, who is this guy on the cover of Argo Comics Anthology #1, and what can you tell me about him? See the link, below. Argo Comics Anthology #1 – IndyPlanet
Dan Sehn: That’s Night Ranger who is part of Impact International. Sometimes they divide into two teams of five with Night Ranger leading Impact Gold and the magical Rama from India leading Impact Silver. Night Ranger is a master tactician, a skilled fighter, and has a vehicle that can adapt to land, sea, and air (for any readers old enough to remember Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, lol.)
1st: LOL. I actually DO remember that 1960s movie. I also rather like this cover your artist did, reminiscent of an old George Perez Marvel Avengers cover, wherein, in the original Marvel Avengers cover and story inside, agent Peter Gyrich had decided that there were too many team members in The Avengers at that time. Who is this intriguing-looking character in blue and white, with a sort of jester’s baubles on his costume? I’m referring to the cover of Argo Comics # 41. Argo 5 #41 – IndyPlanet
Dan Sehn: That is an homage to the cover of Avengers #181 by Perez. I actually met Artist Alex Garcia through the George Perez fan publication Pacesetter, and he did a fantastic job with that homage. Honestly, I try not to overdo the homage covers, as indies should create some innovations and fond memories from our books, but that one was too obvious not to do. Indie superheroes already get a bad rap for being imitations of mainstream characters, so I don’t think we need to help that along too much. The character you mentioned is Mike Spagnola’s Jester. The issue centered around Argo 5 holding tryouts to replace two members that were off the team. Those consisted of characters from creators who backed that on the Argo 5 TPB Volume 2 campaign, as Mike had. A great concept, and I worked hard to make sure that all the characters had their chance to shine in that issue. It just so happened that the backer characters balanced themselves out extremely well.
1st: That cover is a great image and a great homage piece of the late George Perez’s cover of Avengers # 181! Dan, is the Thunderzone line of comics another line of your comics, or is that another, separate company, and by completely different creators? I see your surname on at least some of those Thunderzone covers. What can you tell us about the Thunderzone imprint?
Dan: Our other imprint named THUNDERZONE has a few books from me, as well as titles from other creators. It is a shared universe like early Image Comics, where creators all own their properties, and interact as they see fit; a few of my Thunderzone titles have also been serialized in Antarctic Press’s EXCITING COMICS.
1st: I have bought, in the past, a handful of issues of Exciting Comics, but not more than that, because they have been hard to find, in specialty comics stores. This said I did enjoy buying and reading them! Did you do any work on any Exciting Comics issues?
Dan: My Nature Man, Big House Blues, Sumo Boy, and Weirdo stories have run in Exciting Comics since issue # 9. As an anthology, they rotate stories, so I have more on the way, but they will be collected as full issues, as originally intended, under the Thunderzone imprint, as well.
1st: That is good to hear, Dan! How and where do you recruit your artists and writers? Do some of those artists and writers dream up some of those characters, as well?
Dan Sehn: Most of the time I meet artists at conventions or through social media. Some come through referrals of artists I work with. I created most of my Argo Comics heroes quite a while back, even before publishing. Many appeared first in S-TAPA which stood for Super Team Amateur Press Association when APAs were popular. Occasionally, I have had an artist design a villain’s visual, but more often than not, I provide a concept sketch. A couple of times I had guest writers who created a guest character for their story, and that’s always a fun twist.
1st: Can you provide any graphics pages for the First Comics News interview, or provide any links to these S-Tapas Comics, that you worked on? I tried to find some online, but instead, my search only brought up Tapas comics, instead of your S-Tapas Comics.
Dan Sehn: APAs usually had very low print runs with just enough being printed for the members. You would create your “zine” which was several pages with prose, editorials, and/or your comic pages. You would photocopy those pages and send them all to the ‘Central Mailer’ who would collate everyone’s contributions into an issue (usually with the aid of a giant heavy-duty stapler.) Zines could also include reviews of everyone else’s zines, so it was a great place to hone your craft pre-internet, where you can now just post things, and gain feedback. Several very well known comic book professionals got their start in APAs, as well. There were ones dedicated to specific comics or genres, as well as ones that were a bit broader in topics covered. It was a lot of fun.
1st: Do you have regular collaborators on all of these comics and series?
Dan: I lettered the first twenty-five issues of Argo 5, and letterer Francisco Zamora came in at issue # 26. I rotated various artists on the first thirty-six issues to keep publishing regularly. With many artists working day jobs, this enables me to have a different artist start on the next issue before the previous being completed. With Argo 5 #37, Leo Gondim came in as the regular series artist, with Teo Pinheiro and Periya Pillai doing colors. I think we have a very solid team doing amazing work. Argo Comics and Thunderzone will have some awesome releases in the coming year, and folks can follow along on social media at
https://www.facebook.com/ArgoComics and https://www.instagram.com/argocomics
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