Headlocked Comic Creator Michael Kingston Interview: Wrestling Comics, Creative Wrestlers & More

You've certainly been making the rounds recently with all the comic cons and independent wrestling shows you've appeared at across the country. How crazy have these past few months been for you, especially while you put together this latest comic?

Kingston: It's just how things have to be, you know? I'm a double independent. I write a comic book about wrestling that's not affiliated with WWE or AEW and it's a non-superhero comic. It's not Marvel or DC. I'm just kind of a guy playing in a field with giants and trying to avoid getting stepped on.

And you've been at this since 2008, is that right?

Kingston: It's been a journey for sure. It's a little bit of a different world now, but when I started, comics were very resistant to the idea of wrestling comics. Every publisher that I spoke to turned me down, some really brutally. Some dude from a good-sized publisher literally laughed in my face. I've heard it all. We've really had to drag this through sheer force of will, spite, whatever. It's been a great journey. Some of the stuff that we faced in the beginning actually ended up helping us in the long run because it helped us build a more sustainable brand and now we've been at it for a while. Some of the people that told me no in the beginning aren't even in comics anymore.

What did you notice was the turning point for wrestling comics in terms of when you started to see them take off?

Kingston: In terms of comics, it's been the advent of creator-owned books and the ability to make your own stuff. Back in the day, you'd have to print thousands of copies, but this day and age, it's never been easier to make your own comics. Now it's a hundred times harder to get people to stop and look at your stuff because there's so much more competition. Not just wrestling, you're competing with everything. You have to make a compelling enough product to make people want to consider it and consume it. You have to give them enough to keep them coming back.

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