This is "Went to Tell Everybody," where I spotlighted different cool independent comic book series based on submissions from the indie comic book creators themselves via a set Q & A with the creators themselves. Essentially, the creators speak for their own work and "Went to Tell Everybody" will give them a place to do so!

This is a ostensibly an ongoing weekly feature, so if you would like to see your work spotlighted, as well, there's no time limit or anything like that. So you can submit at any time. It's not a first come/first serve thing, ya know? However, sending your comic in isn't a guarantee that I'll run a spotlight on it. I'm not gonna just promote anything on here, ya know? So if we go a while without an edition of this feature, it is because I don't have something that I'm okay with putting my name on a spotlight of it. Click here for the current submission guidelines.

Today we look at the dark comedy, The Inheritance, from writer/artist, Owen Heitmann.

Owen is currently crowdfunding the comic here, along with another indie comic, Adam Gillespie's The Unauthorised Biography of 'Begurk' Bergutsson.

What is your comic about?

The Inheritance is a self-contained one-shot about Chloe, who wakes up to find a dead body on her doorstep. Next, her dog is abducted. Then she learns that her uncle has died.

It's a comedy.

What made you choose the comic medium for this story?

This story began life a a 24-hour comic, so in a way I had decided on the medium before I had decided on the story. That’s a pretty boring answer, but it’s true. (Plus, I all but think in comics constantly, so I think most of my ideas are born with the medium in mind.)

What aspect of your comic are you the most proud of?

I’m probably most pleased that it holds together cohesively. I’ve done around a dozen 24-hour comics, but I’ve only felt that a couple had a strong enough narrative that they were worth publishing in hard copy. That said, I did heavily revise the original version to get it ready for print, polishing the artwork and adding extra pages/panels to adjust the pacing where it was needed. But the story structure was there all along. It’s always nice to make that discovery on re-reading a 24-hour comic after recovering from the sleep deprivation!

I’m also very happy with many of the jokes – most of them were in the 24-hour draft version, and I find that I write gags under the pressure of that time restraint that wouldn’t normally occur to me or that I’d overthink too much.

What’s the one piece of philosophy and/or advice that has informed your comic book work the most?

I often think of a Carl Barks quote: “I always tried to write a story I wouldn't mind buying myself.” I think that goes beyond advice about writing for yourself (rather than second-guessing a hypothetical audience): not just writing the work you want to read, but the work that you want to pay for.

Since this is “Went to Tell Everybody,” tell everybody about another current comic book series that you would like other people to know more about.

Pat Grant has been serialising his book The Grot (with colours by Fionn McCabe) here in Australia, and it is AMAZING.

It’s a story about teenage con-men in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and it is everything I love in comics. The collected edition will come out next year through Top Shelf (in English), Ici Meme (in French) and Bao (in Italian), but he’s been previewing it in a series of floppies printed on newsprint. It’s also online for free.

Again, if you're interested in The Inheritance, check out its crowdfunding page here (I believe it's already hit its original funding goal, which is great!).

And of course, once again, if you're interested in seeing YOUR independent comic book spotlighted in this feature, click here for the current submission guidelines.