Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Allen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Like many comics artists I know, I’ve been drawing and reading comics for my whole life. I would sit and trace panels from different books in my notebooks and make up stories about different monsters that my friends and I would draw. It wasn’t until I saw the Musashi Kishimoto’s drawing of his apartment in a volume of Naruto that I realized that people drew comics for a living. That’s when I decided that I wanted to draw comics.

Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Michael Allen. I am a comics creator that has been self-publishing my comics since 2022 online and in print through my self-publishing studio Melon Studio. I strive to produce fun, humorous, and action-packed comics inspired by the comics, anime, and video games that I enjoyed growing up. I currently have two series that I bounce between, Melon Cat and Beat City Riot. The former is a battle-manga about a girl that joins an exo-suit fighting tournament in order to punch her absent father in the face, and the latter is an action-comedy about slacker ninjas that is set in a world where graffiti is magic and ninja clans rule city’s underground. There are currently two chapters of Melon Cat out (Chapter 0 and Chapter 1) and one Beat City Riot mini comic.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Similar to a lot of people I know, I’ve had teachers and other artists tell me that what I do isn’t art, but I think that just made me want to do comics even more. I think the thing that was the most difficult for me was not having resources that directly helped me while in school. Before I went to school to get my M.F.A. in Sequential Art, I never had any classes that taught me how to use the materials that I wanted to use in my work (pen and ink, markers, digital tools for illustration). Even though I went to school for art, I had to learn a lot of the techniques that I wanted to use on my own rather that in classes.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There are two books that I regularly read (listen to on audiobook while working) that I always recommend to fellow artists. The first is Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. This book has helped to remind me that art is DIFFICULT to make, and that I’m not alone in this creative process. Similarly, Daily Rituals by Mason Currey is all about how famous artists and writers created on a daily basis. This book really normalizes all of the lapses in productivity that every artist has and has helped me to be a little easier on myself when I need to take breaks. I think that every artist should read these books at least once at some point.

Contact Info:

• Website: melonstudiocomics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cash_masheen/
• Linkedin: https://www.instagram.com/cash_masheen/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cash_masheen

Image Credits
Photo- Gillian Smalley Comics- Michael Allen