A year ago I interviewed Tyler Chin-Tanner, creator of the indie graphic novel  American Terrorist, recently released at the New York Comic Con, and now available through a choice of outlets.

There has of course been excitement of other sorts, also breaking through in The Big Apple. Some of the scenes of the “Occupy” protests bear a striking resemblance to the fictional events of American Terrorist.  I recently re-connected with Tyler to get his thoughts on the matter, and he shared some fascinating illustrations of the connection between his fiction and live current events.

Tyler Chin-Tanner: When I first began writing the American Terrorist graphic novel over four years ago I felt as if it was a fairly topical story in terms of its take on current American politics and where we were headed. But now, at the time of its release, even I find myself amazed at just how relevant it is in terms of its similarities to the mass protests of the Occupy movement.

I first encountered Wendy Chin-Tanner when she submitted a choice little poem for TNB.  In corresponding with her I came across A Wave Blue World, the Indie Comics company she founded with her husband, Tyler.  I was immediately intrigued by their approach to the practicalities—the difficult process of producing a high-quality graphic novel.  I was especially intrigued by the approach the company is taking to fund their latest project, American Terrorist.  Yet another area where it seems to me that independent media must be the future. Recently, of course, TNB has announced its own foray into the indie publishing business.  I know that the world of comics has always been a parallel universe to that of book publishing, so I was curious about the parallel evolution of the independent branch in graphic narrative.  Tyler was kind enough to offer a peek behind the scenes of a venture at the vanguard of small publishing of indie comics.