We were lucky to catch up with Brian Lambert recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brian , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

I think that while Corporate America provides opportunities for many artists and creators, there’s also a massive amount of gatekeeping. Not just the industry itself but also what stories can be told and how they should be. If you compare the ideology of Western comics versus manga, it’s very easy to see that manga creators are given more range for their bodies of work. I also don’t believe Corporate America took comic books and comic IPs seriously until recently. This has also led to many people developing comics with the vision of them immediately becoming movies. That shows a lack of love or passion for the actual craft and is an awful barrier to those simply trying to create.

Brian , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve loved storytelling for as long as I can remember. My brother and sister, and I would create side stories for video games or movies, or whatever we could get our hands on. In the Star Wars lore, we created our own wing of top-notch pilots, The Hand of Thrawn, and we would create special goals and missions within the games’ missions in order to create a deeper story and larger challenge. Likewise, a company, Crossgen Comics, was one of my favorite early 2000’s groups. They filed for bankruptcy before they finished their first major arc. But that didn’t stop me, and my siblings from creating it ourselves and having the story plotted out to our own satisfaction. So the thirst for knowledge and story has always been present. It wasn’t until after I published my first novel that I was able to access the necessary means to begin publishing comics. I had friends that felt the same way, and once I knew how to go our niche market directly, I decided I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. Wingless Comics and Wingless Entertainment are labors of love, born out of a desire to create, see and interpret mythologies and stories differently and ultimately take my own creative fate into my hands.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“There are no bad days.” That was a lesson I had to unlearn. It was a principle I was taught early on in sports that stuck with me. But I had to learn that it’s okay to have a bad day in this creative space. Creativity is you against your mind. If you’re not willing to give yourself a break, to say, “I’ve done as much as I can today,” then you’re never going to succeed. Your best day-to-day isn’t always 100%. Sometimes you need to understand that you’re heading towards burnout and need to apply less pressure in order to get the outcome you want. I read somewhere, “The same water that hardens the egg softens the potato,” and as I was heading into the second year of full-time comic publishing, it resonated with me. I had been going so hard that my body began to shut down. I wasn’t getting the sleep or the nutrition I needed, and my body let me know in no uncertain terms. So, I’ve learned to have my bad days, understand why they are bad, and process them instead of trying to force creativity that may or may not come.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think inclusivity on a number of levels is important. When people can see themselves in myths and stories, they can see themselves doing anything. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. I’ve always wanted to craft stories where anyone can see themselves as the hero, but I also wanted those stories to come from genuine places. So, I’ve made a conscious effort to enlist multiple diverse points of view. The world is so rich when we embrace our differences.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.winglessent.com
• Instagram: @wingless_comics
• Facebook: @winglesscomics
• Twitter: @wingless_entertainment
• Youtube: @winglesscomics