Meet Erik Klaus of Ninjas and Robots

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Klaus.

Erik, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in San Francisco. I grew up an Army brat and moved all over but more or less ended up settling in North Carolina. I was always interested in Art, and specifically, art that told stories. Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Cartoons, Animation, Cut Scenes from Video Games, you name it. I was inspired by it all. As a kid in the 90’s, I grew up with a love for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The cartoon, the comics, the video games, the toys, the movies. I saw the cartoon first, and then when I found the Comics, everything changed.

I realized I wanted to draw comics for a living. I wanted to tell stories with my art and create my own worlds and my own characters. I hated High School, but I loved art class. So you can say in this way, Art saved me. It was my outlet. It was the one place where I could speak the language. Whether with a pencil or a pen or paint, I could say things in a way that was true for me. It was in harmony with my true self. When you’re young, you’re still awkward and exploring, your body isn’t finished growing and your voice isn’t done changing. So it’s hard to express your individuality naturally. But through the arts, we can all find our voice. A truer voice than the mask we often wear in day-to-day life. I sometimes only went to school so that I could go to Art Class.

Anyway, after High School, I wanted to go to an art school to continue this journey, but the arts were not seen as a viable way to earn a living in my family. So I did some freelance work, and took some community college classes and eventually got disheartened by it all and settled into 40/hr work weeks at a retail job, got married, had a kid and ten years later I wondered why all my dreams had been derailed.

It was my wife who suggested I go to art school at this point. I had somehow come to believe it was too late and my ship had sailed. So we looked into Art Schools in North Carolina, in Georgia, and in New Jersey. And the hope of adventure and art began to be rekindled in my life.

The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art seemed to be the best option to get me closest to where I wanted to be in the shortest amount of time. I had wasted so much time already, so I went that direction. We sold our Condo and rented a house here in Fayetteville, and for three years I lived in Dover, New Jersey and only saw my wife and son on Holidays and during Summer break. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, but it changed my life. During my time at school, I not only did assignments and began to really develop that technical skill, but I also did a lot of public drawing and developed some of those social skills that are needed as a freelance artist. I began to do sketch parties at local comic book shops, I drew and painted at Festivals in New York, and I started becoming a regular in Artists Alley in the Comic-Con Circuit.

Before I went to school, I had been working on my own Comic Story just on nights and weekends, and I went to school specifically with the development of that project in the back of my mind. Some of the assignments in school lent themselves to plugging in my characters and my story, and it gave me an opportunity to start to get some feedback from my instructors, who were working professionals in the industry.

When I graduated from the Kubert School in 2016, I created a 10-page sample story of some of my ideas and presented this short story into some Comic and Manga Contests. While it didn’t win any awards to speak of, it did give me what I needed to continue my journey. I applied for a local Arts Council Project Grant and was awarded what I needed to print 500 black and white copies of my first Graphic Novel. I put together and self-published a Sketchbook full of the character designs and the mini-comic I had made, and I purchased table space in Artists Alley at 9 or 10 different Comic Cons throughout the year up and down the East Coast. I did this specifically to spread the word about the upcoming Graphic Novel Project and to create awareness of my art and what I was trying to do.

During this process, I began to realize that this first Graphic Novel Project, which would be called NINJAS AND ROBOTS, really needed to be in color. And the Arts Council Grant was only enough to print it in Black and White. So I turned to Kickstarter to raise the other half of what was needed to make this book in Full Color. The Kickstarter Campaign was a complete success and so in-between Cons, and sometimes while I sat at my table, I worked on completing these pages and telling this first story.

Ninjas and Robots Vol. 1 was released in January of 2018 and since then I have done so many Comic Cons and Cartoon Festivals. There are Ninjas and Robots T-shirts and Stickers and Magnets in most of the cities I have visited. I’ve met so many other like-minded indie creators and I completed a successful Second Kickstarter Campaign for Ninjas and Robots Book 2. The first 24 pages of Book 2 drops as a single issue comic book in April 2019. And the Second Sketchbook will be released next month (March). The complete Ninjas and Robots Book 2 Graphic Novel is scheduled for release later this year.

So I guess the moral of the story is, it’s never too late. Don’t ever give up. Just do whatever it is you were made to do and things will more or less begin to work themselves out. Don’t wait, start now.

Has it been a smooth road?
Hahaha. It has not been a smooth road. It’s funny because in retrospect, art, as the answer, was there all along. But we ourselves are our biggest enemy. We thwart our efforts at every turn. We’ve got to trust those inner desires and use them as a compass to get where we need to go. A lot of times what we fear the most is the way we should go.

So to sum up. My parents would not send me to Art School after High School. Making Comic Books is not something many people understand or agree with down here in the Bible-Belt. Just reading them is often frowned upon. The Art Scene in the south isn’t huge, at least not where I live and especially since Comic Art is often viewed as an inferior Art Form compared to Fine Art. You kind of have to eat and pay bills, so I had to work Retail for 10+ years before I was ever given the chance to pursue Art full-time. And that was 100% thanks to my wife. I didn’t have the money to go to Art School so it was done 100% from Student Loans, which I am still paying off and will be paying on for a long time. It’s very challenging to create a successful business, especially when you start off right out of school in the Red, because of debt you had to create in order to go to school in the first place. School facilitated the opportunity for you to proactively pursue your dreams, but man, there was a price for that. And let’s also keep in mind that there are tons of super talented artists out there. At every single Con and all over the internet. Social Media and Comic Cons are supersaturated with talent and Artists that are hungry to make it, to make a name for themselves, if not just to eat and survive. Art is hard, in so many ways, on so many levels. The journey is full of challenges and risks and giants we must at least survive, if not fight and slay.

Is it worth it? More than you will ever know. The greatest tragedy befalls those who are too afraid to try at all. We all have a voice that is unique. Something we alone can say or do. We were made for it. We must do it, or die trying, or we will regret it and miss that piece of ourselves forever.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am an indie Comics Creator. I write, draw and publish my own Comic Book stories. I am most known for Ninjas and Robots. But I do private commissions and some killer TMNT fan art. I have a unique drawing style which sets me apart from others. It has lost me jobs or opportunities with a lot of known publishing and comic book companies, but it is also what makes my work stand out from the masses. It is something I must continue to refine and cultivate and discipline until it is completely free and completely me. It is my fingerprint in the art world.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes. Atlanta is amazing and rich and diverse. It is also home to Dragon Con, which is HUGE. I think any city that is home to a good Comic-Con is a great place to be for aspiring Artists and Creators. One of the best things about cons, as a creative, is to quickly be reminded that you are not alone. There are others like you. They like the things you do. They have the same dreams and goals as you. You are not crazy. If for no other reason, I do Cons to remind myself that I’m not crazy for walking this path and to refuel my inspiration, see cool art, and meet cool people. I think a strong Art Community is Key to finding the balance we all need in life. Balance is so necessary.

Image Credit:
©Erik Klaus 2019

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