Hooked on comics: M. Cody Wiley, illustrator
During his days at HFC, several art professors opened up cartoonist M. Cody Wiley’s eyes to the possibilities of working as a professional illustrator.
“That was the first real time that I realized I could get away with drawing for a living, and I was excited!” said Wiley, of Redford, the writer and artist of the comic book series The Whimsical Adventures of Ella & Virgil, which he publishes under his own brand, KaChow! Comics.
A native of Wayne, Wiley is a 2010 alumnus of Lee M. Thurston High School in Redford. He earned his associate degree in liberal arts and his certificate in illustration from HFC in 2014. He then transferred to the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where he majored in illustration and minored in animation, earning his BFA in 2018.
“I had a very positive experience taking art classes at HFC. Nearing graduation, I was faced with two options: I could either start looking for work, or I could transfer and continue my education elsewhere. (HFC lead instructor, digital and graphic arts) Vicki Shepherd was a big help when it came to deciding to transfer to CCS. After a tour of their campus, I knew it was going to be a great fit,” recalled Wiley.
During his time at CCS, Wiley was active in student government, served as a student ambassador, and founded the CCS Sketch Club.
“CCS was a different level than what I had previously experienced in illustration classes,” said Wiley. “Studio classes are typically six hours each, with new projects due every two weeks. This meant a lot of late nights at the drawing board – I was hooked!”
Ella & Virgil
Ever since he can remember, Wiley always loved drawing. He has fond memories of spending many holiday seasons during his youth on the floor in the living room, drawing or coloring with his father as one of the Claymation Christmas specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer played in the background.
“It’s the power that cartoons have to bring people together that excites me the most,” said Wiley. “No matter how busy everyone is or no matter where you live in the world, people can still connect and relate to one another through a shared love of this experience that people lovingly created.”
His love of cartoons – especially Scooby-Doo – horror films, and “anything to do with magic” inspired Ella & Virgil.
“There’s just something exciting about taking scary subjects and putting a comical twist on them,” said Wiley. “I remember wanting to tell a story like this for a long time, but never thought I was ‘ready’ to do it – whatever that means. Once I started writing and world-building, I didn’t want to stop!”
In Ella & Virgil, Ella is a 10-year-old girl who gets an overinflated sense of confidence when her stuffed moose, Virgil, comes to life. As long as they’re together, Ella in can get into all kinds of trouble, but she knows Virgil will always to be there to bail her out.
When strange occurrences start happening around the town of Dreadford Hills, Ella suspects the witch who lives in the old, haunted house down the street is behind it. She’s determined to stop her. However, she must learn to rely on herself and not just Virgil.
“It’s always a risk, putting so much of yourself into a project without knowing how people will react to it," said Wiley. "So much time and energy goes into creating each panel on each page, and for most of the time it feels like you’re just making it for yourself. It’s hard not to have the ‘I hope they like this!’ or ‘Will this joke land how I hoped?’ thoughts."
First two issues are available; more on the way
The first two issues of Ella & Virgil have been published and are available for purchase through his website. Wiley is currently on hard at work, writing and drawing the third issue. By the end of 2018, he plans to have the series available at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn and the Vault of Midnight Comics, which has stores in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids.
“The first issue took me about a year, since it was my first time taking on a project so big. This included all of the character designs, script-writing, drawing, inking, coloring, lettering, assembling files, and printing,” said Wiley. “The second issue took about four months, because I = found the process that had worked best while still going to school full-time.”
Besides Ella & Virgil, Wiley has completed character designs on two other creator-owned projects called Captain Davey and the Backyard Battle and The Unfamiliar. Additionally, Wiley has freelanced for Marvel Comics, Activision, Oni Press, and Z2 Comics, doing underpainting, which is applying an initial layer of paint to a drawing, serving as a base for subsequent layers to paint. It is a monochrome version of the final illustration that fixes the composition, gives volume and substance to the forms, and helps define color values for later painting.
“This helps speed up production times and makes sure books hit their intended deadlines for print,” said Wiley.
“Illustration is not just a vocation – it’s a life force!”
So far, the feedback he’s received on Ella & Virgil has been positive.
“I always get excited anytime someone picks up one of my books and has a positive response to it!” said Wiley. “It’s such a great feeling seeing people laugh at the jokes I wrote that at the time, I thought I’d be the only one laughing at them.”
Wiley also has some words of wisdom for aspiring cartoonists.
“If you have ever had an interest in making comics but had the thoughts ‘I’m not ready!’ or ‘I’m not good enough,’ the best advice I can give is: Just go for it and start making comics!” he said. “Study your favorite comic artists, pay attention to their page layouts, and why they chose to illustrate the shot the way they did. Analyze everything, and apply what you learn to your own comic book.”
Back at HFC, Shepherd speaks fondly of her former student. In fact, she even uses his artwork in her classroom.
“Cody came to the illustration class with a personal style,” said Shepherd. “As his instructor, I got to watch his style and artistic vision evolve as he moved into the digital platform. It was exciting to see how he would illustrate a craft beer label or create a vintage travel poster. It’s been inspiring to watch Cody hone his skills as he continued at CCS. I often show Cody’s work to current students as an example of not only having a personal style, but also pushing past that style to make yourself more viable in the illustration market. He jumped right into being active on campus at CCS and putting himself out into the public forum. For Cody, illustration is not just a vocation – it’s a life force!”
To see more of Cody's work, visit mcodywiley.com.
