P.E.I. comic artist's biggest project yet ready to hit newsstands

Rick and Morty vs Dungeons and Dragons will be released Wednesday, and its P.E.I.-based illustrator Troy Little is excited.

"It's nice to see it on paper, in print, as opposed to just on my screen," Little told CBC's Matt Rainnie.

"I love getting comics in the mail, and if they're my own comics even better. That's awesome. It's rewarding to see your hard work in its finalized form."

Little made an international name for himself with his illustrations for the comic book adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He was selected earlier this year for the four-issue comic book series that brings together a popular TV show and a 1970s-era game that has seen a resurgence in recent years.

Insane mashup

Rick and Morty is about a mad scientist and his dysfunctional family. They travel to different times and universes, and in this series they travel to the Dungeons and Dragons universe.

"It makes sense that this would happen, and we just play with that big sandbox," said Little.

The writers on the series are Jim Zub, who writes the Dungeons and Dragons comics for IDW, and fantasy novelist Patrick Rothfuss.

"You take those two insane, creative people and they mash together one of the greatest, funniest and most spot-on interpretations of what a Rick and Morty/D&D mashup would be like," said Little.

'Some big projects'

Sneak preview issues were recently released. Little will be at Comic Hunter in Charlottetown signing copies of the full first issue on Wednesday.

It's been Little's biggest project work, and one that came with some anxiety. Most of his previous work has been entirely his own, so he was uncertain what it would be like getting involved with such a large organization.

"It's worked so smoothly it's surprised me, which is a big relief," he said.

"It's some big projects and a lot of people have their fingers all over that and they want to make sure it's done right. And it's being done right."

There are three more issues to come, and the series is bound to attract a lot of attention for Little. What will come of it, he said, is anybody's guess.

"I have no idea," he said.

"Anything that happens to me just seems to come out of nowhere. Whatever you're doing is building on whatever you've done before. More people have their eyes on your artwork or your storytelling. Opportunities just never seem to not be there if you want them. Something will show up. At this point in my freelance career I trust that."

Little will be part of a livestreamed chat with the authors on Friday, and on Saturday he will be signing copies at Comic Hunter in Moncton.

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With files from Island Morning