Indie Edge Creator Spotlight: Fred Perry
Feb 17, 2020
Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, Fred began his professional publishing career in 1989 by sending submissions to the Ninja High School Yearbook anthology, published by Antarctic Press. His very first published work appears in the very first NHS Yearbook.
After serving in the Marine Corps in Operation Desert Storm, Fred began working on his new series idea, Gold Digger. The first Gold Digger story was published in Mangazine in 1991, and after a four-issue miniseries, the regular monthly series began in 1993. In 2013, Comic Con International presented Fred with an Inkpot Award for reaching the milestone of 200 issues for a solo-created series. Including all black-and-white and color issues, Gold Digger is now fast approaching the 275-issue landmark and is still going strong.
This makes it one of perhaps three solo-creator comic book series to reach or exceed that point, and the second-longest-running female-lead comic book series (after Wonder Woman). For Gold Digger alone, Fred has produced over 6,000 pages of story — written, penciled, inked, and (since the series went to color) colored — and 30,000 frames of animation!
While described Hollywood-pitch style as "Indiana Jones meets Final Fantasy," Gold Digger is more like the vastest most entertaining omni-genre RPG in the universe. (Any series that includes a team of pirate-ninja leprechauns with their own transforming mini-giant robot, defies classification, really!) Fred's eclectic, always-entertaining blend of story elements includes fantasy, science fiction, slice of life, pro wrestling, quantum physics, pop culture references, and a healthy helping of heartwarming.
His other projects have included the New York Times best-seller Zombie Kid Diaries, Steam Wars, Legacy, Time Lincoln, Sherlock Ninja, Sky Sharks, Robotech, and key issues of Ninja High School, plus several web comics, one-man animation shorts, video games, and much more!
PREVIEWSworld: What are your favorite projects you’ve contributed to over the past decade?
Fred Perry: Ten years ago, I put the finishing touches on my very own animated Gold Digger Movie. I would dearly love to do another, and another. But I can't dedicate that much time to such a project these days. If I had one wish, it would be to be able to animate my stories as a full-time gig.
PREVIEWSworld: What are you currently working on?
Fred Perry: There are lots of back-burner projects I could talk about, but the most exciting is a new video game I am coding. It's an action role-playing game for Ninja High School. It's pretty simple to play, but I don't see enough offensive/defensive tower-defense role-playing games these days.
On the front-burner is the last of the Gold Digger story arcs. I intend to end Gina's journey with a galaxy-spanning expedition that calls back to the events from her very first adventure, all wrapped up with a nice bow on top!
PREVIEWSworld: What fun titles are you reading?
Fred Perry: Isekai manga speaks to my imagination today, but it merely feeds my love of the original fantasy settings put forth by Edgar Rice Burroughs of John Carter... which I found only after I snuck into my Dad's collection of Heavy Metal and found Den of Earth. I wondered what inspired Richard Corben, and I found ERB. Isekai and my own fantasy stories owe a lot to ERB. And Tolkien. And Joe Bacal for Transformers and G.I. Joe... I've gotten off track.
Isekai manga is my current cup of tea. American-comic Isekai should be coming around the corner any day now.
EDGE ESSENTIALS
Pick up these books to learn more about Fred Perry's Indie Edge style!
