He’s a fantastic artist and is featured in the upcoming Scratch9 anthology! Mike collaborated with creator Rob M. Worley on a tale taking us back to Scratch’s first incarnation as the ice-age-dwelling Smilodon Garogga!

Here’s Mike scratching through nine deeply insightful questions from team Scratch…

Garogga illustration by Mike Roll

Scratch9: What made you want to draw comics?

Mike Roll: I’ve always loved art since day one, seeing and creating it, I guess I’m just wired that way.

Scratch9: Your story involves Garogga’s cave. What is your most interesting moment in a cave?

Mike Roll: I don’t remember because I was very young when we went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, my parents still have a pennant souvenir from there.

Garogga Illustration by Mike Roll

Scratch9: Which of your behaviors is most catlike?

Mike Roll: I like to take naps by sunlight windows.

Scratch9: What is the first thing kids should do if they want to become an artist?

Mike Roll: Draw! But do it on paper, not on the walls or you’ll get yelled at like I used to.

Scratch9: Laser Tag?

Mike Roll: My friend Mark had one when we were kids. It wasn’t any fun because he only had one.

Cover art to "Apooka: The Worlds Most Adorable Zombie"

Scratch9: You sometimes collaborate with your father who is actually named Rick Roll. How has the Rick Astley meme changed his life?

Mike (Son of Rick) Roll: Only to the people around him when we go to shows. He doesn’t really get it, I don’t think he was ever “Rick Rolled.”

Scratch9: What are you working on now?

Mike Roll: Working on a graphic novel of my own with hopes of a mid-April release date.

Scratch9: What is your dream project?

Mike Roll: Not sure yet, I’m still waiting for the right dream.

Cover art to "Apooka Goes to the Park"

Scratch9: Where can our readers find you if they must know more about Mike Roll?

Mike Roll: I’m usually hanging out around Detroit and the suburbs but a much easier way to know more about me is to visit my blog http://mikeroll.blogspot.com/

Check out Apooka: The World’s Most Adorable Zombiewherever fine comics are sold. And stay tuned for 9 more questions from our fantastic anthology artists.

This month we check in with Shane Houghton, comedic writer extraordinaire. He’s the writer on Boom! Studios’ new Peanuts comic, as well as the Casper Scare School books. And he is best known as the writer and co-creator of Reed Gunther.

As we mentioned in our previous interview, Shane and Chris have graced the Scratch-a-verse with our first crossover, with a theatrical disaster detailing the first meeting between Reed Gunther and Scratch’s sixth aspect, Beeslebohm!

Here’s Shane Houghton fending off nine probing questions from team Scratch…

Beeslebohm and Reed Gunther

Scratch9: What made you want to draw comics?

Shane Houghton: I come from a film background where it takes lots and lots of people to make something. Even a tiny little indie crew is still 5-15 people, plus actors. With comics, it’s just me and the artist. And we can tell stories that would cost MILLIONS to film, without even breaking a sweat.

Scratch9: Your story involves a catastrophic moment in Beeslebohm’s theatrical career. What is your most catastrophic moment in a theater?

Shane Houghton: I actually did a lot of theater in high school and in my first year of college. During my freshman year of college I did a play where I was forced to get a spray-tan because I was too pale and sickly-looking. I swear I looked much, MUCH worse with that fake tan. That was the play acted in before giving up theater.

Beeslebohm Meets Sterling

Scratch9: Which of your behaviors is most catlike?

Shane Houghton: Coughing up hairballs.

Scratch9: What is the first thing kids should do if they want to become an writer?

Shane Houghton: Write! Write as much as you can and don’t stop. Remember, stories are about conflict, so make sure there’s a problem in every scene you write. You should also write for the fun of it, not because of any other reason. If you only write because it’s fun– money, recognition, and any other dreams attached to writing that you have will come out of that fun. Then it’s double fun!

Scratch9: Napping?

Shane Houghton: Love it. Wish I could do way more of it.

Peanuts #3 From Boom! Studios

Scratch9: Chris Houghton: Insufferable or Impossible?

Shane Houghton: Insufferably impossible? Chris is incredible. He’s the best artist in comics and I’m double lucky to be able to work with him and be his brother.

Scratch9: What are you working on now?

Shane Houghton: Reed Gunther, the bear-riding cowboy, is galloping along in his adventures at Image Comics, I’m putting words in the mouths of Charlie Brown and the gang for the monthly Peanuts comic for Kaboom, and I should have a Casper’s Scare School story coming out sometime soon.

Scratch9: What is your dream project?

Shane Houghton: My dream project is Reed Gunther. It really doesn’t get better than writing goofy adventures with your brother. I’ve got a ton of other ideas for comics, movies, and tv shows, but nothing tops Reed Gunther. Maybe it’s because I’ve already spent so much time with that comic and telling those stories. Everything else I’d start back at the ground floor, but Reed is this tiny empire built on stupid gags and dangerous monsters.

Reed Gunther #9

Scratch9: Where can our readers find you if they must know more about Shane Houghton?

Shane Houghton: You can check out my video work and comics at ShaneHoughton.com, follow me on Twitter @shanehoughton, and see all things Reed Gunther at www.reedgunther.com!

Check out Reed Gunther wherever fine comics are sold. And stay tuned for 9 more questions from our fantastic anthology artists. Next up: Mike Roll!

So when team Scratch was looking for creators to contribute to our upcoming Scratch9 anthology, the Houghton Brothers are the first guys we went to.

Good thing too, because Shane and Chris whipped up our first crossover, with a barn-burner tale of the first meeting between Reed Gunther and Scratch’s sixth aspect, Beeslebohm!

Want to know more? Here’s Chris Houghton fielding nine cat-tastic questions from team Scratch…

Beeslebohm and Reed Gunther

Scratch9: What made you want to draw comics?

Chris Houghton: I’ve always loved comics and I’ve always loved to draw but it wasn’t until college that I started drawing comics. I always wanted to do animation. The problem with animation is it takes so dang long to complete a short film. In the time it takes me animate a 1 or 2 minute film, I could’ve drawn 2, 3, or more comic books!

Scratch9: Your story involves a catastrophic moment in Beeslebohm’s theatrical career. What is your most catastrophic moment in a theater?

Chris Houghton: Both Shane and I were in theater productions together in high school, which was a lot of fun. One play involved me playing the lead role, which made me very nervous before each performance. One night, I was so nervous at the beginning of the play, all I could focus on was not throwing up on stage! I’ve stuck to the safety of a lone art desk from then on.

Beeslebohm Meets Sterling

Scratch9: Which of your behaviors is most catlike?

Chris Houghton: I work a lot like a cat would (if cats ever stop being so lazy and learn to get jobs). I work best in short spurts followed by relaxing in the sun or napping. I also have a nasty habit of pooping in the sand.

Scratch9:  What is the first thing kids should do if they want to become an artist?

Chris Houghton: Everyone’s already an artist, most just aren’t good yet. If you want to get “good,” then just keep drawing. The more you do it, the better you’ll get. That’s the Chris Houghton Guarantee™!

Scratch9:   Nachos?

Chris Houghton: I’m sorry… What’s not mine?

Adventure Time #1

Scratch9:   Shane Houghton: Prima donna or Diva?

Chris Houghton: All of the above! Oh wait, you forgot “hack.”

Scratch9:   What are you working on now?

Chris Houghton: Besides the monthly comic book Reed Gunther from Image Comics (go buy it! …please) I’m drawing the comic book covers for the Adventure Time comic book series from Boom Studios. I work on storyboards during the day at Disney as well which is a lot of fun and helps me make money so I can buy food for my mouth hole.

Scratch9:   What is your dream project?

Chris Houghton: I’m working on it right now! Reed Gunther has been the best thing I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on. Working with my brother Shane is a real treat too. I like working at big animation studios but nothing in the world beats working on your own stuff.

Reed Gunther #9

Scratch9:   Where can our readers find you if they must know more about Chris Houghton?

Chris Houghton: I’m on most neighborhood watch lists and government “no-fly” lists so people can look me up there. They can also see more of my work on my website at ChrisHoughtonArt.com. Thanks Rob!

Check out Reed Gunther wherever fine comics are sold. And stay tuned for 9 more questions from our fantastic anthology artists. Next up: Shane Houghton!

It’s about a cat named Scratch who runs farther away from home than anticipated and winds up in the clutches of mad scientist Dr. Schrodinger. The scientist accidentally gives Scratch the power to call upon his other eight lives, past and future. But Scratch just wants to get back to his human, Penelope. It’s a delightful story, now available in a single book.

Click through for the complete list and if you’re looking for Scratch9 for the kids, visit our shopping hub!

And if you’re in the Detroit area and worried about receiving a copy of the book before the holidays, drop us a line and we’ll figure out how to get the book in your hands as quickly as possible!

Scratch9 Collected Edition Cover - w/ Eisner Seal

Koj from TELLOS by Mike Wieringo

“One of my favorites… Scratch9 is simply a lot of fun!”

- Todd DeZago, writer and creator of
The Perhapanauts and Tellos

Anyhow, Todd is a nice guy and totally king, so we gave him a copy of the Scratch9 TPB and he posted a bit about it on his blog when he got back from the show. He writes:

one of my favorites at the show and one of the books nominated for an award i was presenting at the shel dorf awards.

rob worley and jason kruse’s scratch 9 is simply a lot of fun! scratch is a cat who can access any one of his 9 lives when he’s in danger–you should check it out!

Wow! Consider us floored! Thanks, Todd!

PERHAPANAUTS: Second Chances by Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau

Rob Worley will be appearing at the Detroit Fanfare Comic Book Convention 2011, held this year at the Cobo Conference and Exhibition Center (aka Cobo Hall) in Downtown Detroit!

We’ll have the SCRATCH9 Trade Paperbacks as well as a second printing of SCRATCH9 #1.

The Second printing is even more rare than the first one and it contains an all-new, never-before seen two-page bonus story by Shane and Chris Houghton featuring SCRATCH9′s first crossover!

That’s right! One of Scratch’s aspects meets up with Shane and Chris’ breakout comics character REED GUNTHER (and his trusty bear Sterling)!

And, we’ve got freebie for ya: a poster debuting Rob’s newest kids book ALL ROBOTS MUST DIE!

Based on a concept by Rob and Shannon Eric Denton, Chad Derdowski writes the adventures of Jake and Elroy, two rambunctious pre-teens with trust issues and an unhealthy fixation on nachos, who find themselves in a strange, strange world populated by spider monkeys (the eight-legged kind), cyborg dolphins and Sasquatch warriors.

They gotta team up with Robbo, the robot to rescue the princess, find Elroy’s backpack and get Jake some freakin’ nachos before he loses his mind!

The poster features artwork by Benjamin Roman (I LOVE HALLOWEEN)!

Chad will be right next to Rob at his table, signing the free poster for anyone who doesn’t mind a little defacement to their free works of art.

Stop by and say “litterbricks!” You’ll be glad you did!

For more details about Detroit Fanfare click over to http://www.detroitfanfare.com/ or visit the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/detroit.fanfare

Scratch9 at Detroit Fanfare 2011

The Shel Dorf Awards

Nominated for ” Kids’ Comic of the Year”, “Writer of the Year” and “Letterer of the Year”

- The Shel Dorf Awards

We’re nominated for “Kids’ Comic of the Year“! Writer Rob M. Worley also has a nomination in the “Writer of the Year” category and letterer Bill Tortolini has a nomination in the “Letterer of the Year” category. Our pal Shannon Eric Denton is nominated for “Editor of the Year“.

The Shel Dorf Awards will be hosted at the Detroit Fanfare Comic Book Convention running September 24 & 2th! Click over to ShelDorfAwards.com for details.

Scratch9 with Shel Dorf Awards

Thanks, SLJ!

Scratch9 Collected Edition Cover - w/ Eisner Seal