Our Smythistory

Smyths creator Dug got an itch. And luckily it wan't the kind you get from whipping your bottom with the wrong leaf. It had been over 16 years since he last created a comic way back in high school. And with today's accessible technology and his wife's encouraging words to "get a fucking hobby!" , he begin to sketch out the rough character drafts that would ultimately become The Smyths. 

However, with a family and full time career he had to work at part of the time, it quickly became clear that he would need a team. After a quick search he discovered Upwork and began searching for a few talented teammates to help pursue his dream.

After a few failed attempts, he left the stupid site and did what any normal person would do. He went and vented on social media. With the frustration removed from his system and sent out into the world to aggravate others, he began a new search. This time he would end up meeting someone and changing history.... Smyth history....

During his search, Smyths writer Dug came across many talented artists. He tried to take a moment to compliment as many kick ass pieces of their art as he could. One of these artists just so happened to be legendary Smyths artist Dennis Tirona, who's reply to the compliment was 

"Hey, I think I can help you out with that book if you're still looking."  

And just like the first time someone mixed delicious melted cheese with macaroni noodles, history was made. The original team Smyths was complete.

Or did it merely resemble  a garage sale puzzle? Appearing whole, but still missing a few core pieces...

As the team neared completion of issue one, Dennis hit Dug with a question that stopped him dead in his tracks:

"So who's going to be colouring this?"

"I thought we would just do a black and white book..."

"Oh..."

The tone in Dennis's text said it all. We needed a colourist. Having only ever worked with one colourist his whole life, Dug reached out to him. 

And... Well... to say Edgar knocked it out of the park would be an understatement. He brought life to these characters. With his ability to colour within the lines, and Dennis's abilities to draw those lines, the team was unstoppable.

But like a mouth watering burger and fries, our trio was still a cold frothy beverage away from perfection...

Apparently comic books need letterists, too. And with only a northern Alberta education, Dug really required an editor.  Luck struck one last time... Twice. All the way over in Africa, Alf Collins responded to the letterist gig. 

"I'm looking to learn how to be a letterist, I've been practicing and would like to make a go at it."

Lastly, Dug's wife Shelby signed on to do the editing. She had years of experience catching Dug's mistakes.

With the team now assembled and work divided, a complete book was released January 3, 2019. To read it, go here! It was originally distributed and sold by Chronicles Cafe in Red Deer. With positive feedback from readers, a second issue was rushed into production by the same team that made the first one. This second issue dropped April 2019 and was even more well received. With two successful issues under their belts, nothing could stop this indy super team. That is, until Dennis had to depart in order work on previous commitments. Once again for the first time, the Smyths found themselves without an artist. This time however, they had a secret weapon. Turns out Edgar has more artist friends than anyone on the planet. Within days of Dennis's departure, Edgar was able to complete a test page with up and coming artist Gilberto Ferrel. The young artist's style resembles comic book veterans like Humberto Ramos and Joe Mad. The whole team fell in love with the new art style instantly, and it was back to work to complete issue three. But a new team meant the book needed more. In honour of Stan Lee, who had recently passed, "Nefarious" was added to the book's title. This helped to define the family as the villains they were slowly becoming in order to survive in their savage world.

The Family First storyline was the first major Smyths story ever told and took place over issues 1-4. It was roughly 100 pages in length. To celebrate its completion, AB3 went with its boldest move yet. In September 2019, they launched a Kickstarter. The Nefarious Smyths Book One collected issue 1-4, as well as 6 brand new pages by original series artist Dennis Tirona, and over 20 pages of pin ups and cover art. The campaign reached fully funded with only 2 hours left. It was beyond stressful, but it was also the biggest win yet for this new book. Around the same time The Nefarious Smyths 2019 Annual was released. Featuring a new story by Dug and art by newcomer Valery Ike Bayu Aji. This book was the first appearance of Smyth family arch nemesis Kat Ryan, A.K.A. The Feline. 

With a successful kickstarter and their first annual now complete, nothing could stop this Indy comic book super team from completing their epic fifth issue. That is until Gilberto had to depart halfway through the issue to work on other commitments. Like when a child loses grip on their balloon and watches it slowly escape to the heavens with their tear filled eyes, the Smyths dream was slowly escaping.... The series was over... But then Edgar was like, "I know many artists, what style are you looking for?"

After a few quick chats, sample page requests were sent out to two promising up and coming artists. Edgar once again single handedly saved the day!

One of the artists was the mega talented Victor Izquierdo. His animated style was full of saturday morning cartoon goodness. After completing  the remaining pages for issue 5, a new project was planned. A special one-shot to showcase Victor's art style, starring the youngest member of the Smyth family: Gracelyn. An all-new adventure taking place in Tijuana as the family attempts to take a vacation. The book was released via a kickstarter in April 2021 and fully funded within 4 days. It was over 60 pages, featured two covers and was absolutely beautiful.

Click here to see a "Trouble in Tijuana" preview

With a second trade now under their belt, it was time for the team to attend their first ever Comic con. They decided to launch at one of the two biggest shows in Alberta, either Edmonton or Calgary Expo. However, COVID would have a thing or to say about that. After several cancellations from both shows, the team set their sights on Parkland Mall's biggest entertainment cultural expo, MallCon. It featured dozens of booths, and even had a guy who does Dragonball Z voiceovers signing shit. 

At the AB3 booth, it was series writer Dug and cover artist Mike Villasana signing autographs. Also, Brad tried to sell Dug his 9.0 first Silk for like $80 more than Doomed Surfer's 9.6 signature series. Let's never forget that!

With a second trade now complete, a comic con appearance, and hot off a mega successful kickstarter, nothing could stop this smoking hot indy comic book team... That is until Victor had to leave for other projects. 

Sigh... With three artists in 7 issues, Smyths creator Dug was forced to ask some serious questions, like... 

 "Do I smell like shit or something?"  

And just like the San Jose sharks anytime their lead by Joe Thorton in the playoffs, Dug was ready to toss in his towel and admit defeat. That is until....

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Gilberto Ferrel returned to light the team's darkest hour, igniting and turning any doubt to ash with 5 new brilliant connecting covers and 24 action-packed pages of Nefarious goodness! United once again, the five team members charged at the upcoming challenge with newfound confidence. Issue 6 is out now, and art is nearly complete on number 7. The Smyths third story ark features a new adventure in Jasper, a small town in the Rocky mountains, and lots of exciting new characters as well as the return of some favourites. Upon its completion, the team plans to released it once again as a collected edition via Kickstarter.

The entire AB3 staff and Smyth creative team both post and pre production are proud to announce that after 3 years of trying we will be attending Calgary Comic Expo this April. Hope to see you all there! The team has also begun development on a new youtube series "Nefarious: Between the Panels" which will follow them as they continue to produce their indy comic.