Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Mellon.
Hi Kevin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew in Kansas City, loving music and comic books, and started making my own as soon as I realized that humans made them. The music came a little later, due to hesitance from my parents, After putting out a few albums in High School, and drawing hundreds of comic pages, I ended up going to the Kubert school in NJ, which is solely devoted to comic book illustration and instruction. Upon graduation, I moved back to KC, played music, and worked in bars, liquor stores, and pizza places while trying to get a comic book career started. Eventually, a publisher took a chance on me and my first graphic novel came out in 2007. From there I started the slow climb to making comics full-time. Around 2011 the Art Director on Archer at the time put out a call on Twitter wanting to hire storyboard artists. They wanted people in Georgia already, which I was not, but I replied anyway. They took a chance on me, hiring me part-time for season 3, then offered me a full-time spot in Atlanta for season 4. I decided to take the leap and move, and have been here for 10 years now.
I have worked on 9 seasons of Archer, 1 season of Dicktown, America the Motion Picture, and Art Directed season 1 of Marvel’s Hit Monkey for Hulu while at Floyd County Productions. (Not counting the numerous pitches and pilots we develop that don’t go forward for various reasons).
In the meantime, I’ve gotten the chance, via right place right time, to storyboard on various live-action productions that are made in Atlanta, including 3 seasons of The Vampire Diaries, which lead to storyboarding on season 1 of Black Lightning, as well as working on Legacies, Dynasty, and Bigger.
As far as music goes, I just released a 5 song EP called “songs from the giant’s chair” that is out on all streaming services right now. It’s something I’m very proud of.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has had its ups and downs. My initial post-college career was a struggle as I wasn’t good enough to get steady work, but was constantly being told “you’re almost there.”, which can be frustrating when you’re trying to carve out time to better yourself but also having to work 10-18 hour days to pay rent.
Getting freelance clients to pay on time was a huge factor in things being challenging for a while. People undervalue art and try to devalue artists all the time. It’s a constant source of strain no matter what level you’re at. I spent a lot of years doing work for publishers and then having to chase checks for months (and in some cases years) after having done the job in a matter of days/weeks.
It’s also a struggle to get family to take your career path seriously because all they often see are the struggles. Most people do not understand the time and patience it can take to build a freelance business.
Work in Atlanta has been steady for me, but I also realize that I am an outlier in that case. So often in TV one is working for a few months or a season then laid off and having to stump for work over and over again. I’ve been very fortunate that FCP has been a steady home and allowed for me to grow as an artist and human being.
It can be heartbreaking to spend a year or so on a pilot episode of a TV show just to have it get canceled or not picked up (which has happened numerous times). It makes you really appreciate that anything gets made at all sometimes.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a comic book author, I’m not known for a lot to the general public, but I appreciate that I’ve built up a good network of peers and friends in that industry. I started out co-creating and drawing comics with writer collaborators, but over the last few years have really focused on just drawing things that I am writing. I am big on doing as much of the process as I can myself, as that allows me to blame no one but myself when something isn’t right, and I don’t feel as though I”m putting anyone out when I want to scrap something whole cloth and do it over/better.
In storyboarding, I would say that I am known for my action sequences, but really I think it would pair down to being known for my love of story and really focusing on the characters/sequence of events and how to make those things as clear as possible in all ways.
In comics, I’m most proud of my book “Suicide Sisters”. It was the first graphic novel I made that was completely by me.
In storyboarding, I’m most proud of being a part of the team that makes Archer. I’ve been through a lot of variations of the team and how it works over the last decade and am proud of what we have built over that time.
In directing, I’m most proud of just having gotten to the finish line on Hit-Monkey. Developing a brand new series from the ground up is very rewarding, but also exhausting. We had a great crew and had to deal with making the show during a pandemic, but we did it and I think it’s one of the best shows Floyd County has ever made.
I would say that what can set me apart from others is that I am largely a self-starter and internally motivated, which allows me to be given a task and I will figure out how to get it done or to generate ideas and tasks on my own and bring them to completion. That said, I value collaboration and working with a team to get to the best version of whatever it is we’re working on. A decade in a studio has taught me so much about working with others and listening to ideas.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
In comics, I’ve had a few kind-of mentors. More just people who knowingly/unknowingly shifted me down the right path. Phil Hester was an early one and continues to be a friend to this day. He gave me advice when I was a young boy about making comics, and then many years later I had the fortune to collaborate with him on a graphic novel.
There are a core group of my classmates from the Kubert school that I still keep in touch with and bounce ideas off to this day. They were invaluable then, even more so now as we’ve all changed and grown over the years.
Dennis Hopeless, my collaborator on Gearhead and LoveSTRUCK (my first two graphic novels) has been the best teammate and supporter of me and my work/growth as an artist and human. We’ve both been through some rough times the last few years and we’ve grown even closer than we were when we started out.
Neal Holman is the person who hired me to work on Archer, and we’ve worked together almost non-stop for the last decade. He’s been an invaluable teacher and friend who is always willing to talk something out, whether it’s work or personal.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kevinmellon.com
- Instagram: @kmellon
- Facebook: facebook.com/kevinmellonart
- Twitter: @kmellon
- Youtube: youtube.com/kevinmellon
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kmellon/sets/songs-from-the-giants-chair
Image Credits:
Portrait photo – Kevin Mellon Live music photo – Holly Draper Black Lightning storyboard – Kevin Mellon Suicide Sisters cover – Kevin Mellon
