Photo by Mick Jeffries
It seems there’s not much Kenn Minter can’t do.
The longtime DJ and host of radio show Percy Trout Hour (which airs Monday nights on the University of Kentucky college radio station WRFL) is also a freelance graphic designer and professional dog walker who frequently leads classes at the Living Arts & Science Center and organizes movie screenings as producer of Lexington’s Cult Film Series at the downtown Lexington Public Library Farish Theater.
Perhaps Minter’s favorite job of all, though, is creating comic books.
“I grew up with six kids in my family – five boys and one girl. I was the fifth boy, and there were comic books in the house everywhere,” said Minter, who was born in Indiana but whose family moved frequently, including stints in Louisville and Delaware. “I just really kind of got into comics at a young age and stuck with it.”
Minter’s most recent comic creation, “Country Creatures #1,” mines his love of the horror genre and sets the stage for a whole series to come.
“I’ve always had a strong interest in horror movies and horror books and thought, ‘Let’s try a horror comic,’” Minter explained. “I started cranking out this werewolf love story, and my collaborator Jon Minerich – who did the penciling and inking artwork for that story – hit it out of the park with his art.”
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Photos by Mick Jeffries
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Photos by Mick Jeffries
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Photos by Mick Jeffries
Minter foresees the new series to be an outlet for an array of horror stories all set in a rural space – the perfect jumping off point for a scary tale.
“My grandparents on both sides lived out in the country,” Minter said. “When we would visit, you couldn’t help but let your imagination go, because it really was quite boring. It was easy to make up stuff. My brother and I would go out and explore, and our imaginations would run wild.”
Minter’s longtime collaborator Clarence Pruitt – the pair have worked together on superhero and adventure works before – is also credited as a “storyteller” on the first issue of “Country Creatures,” thanks to his pencil work on a story about a farmer with a rather spooky tree.
“For me, horror is a backdrop, generally,” Minter said. “You’re really telling a story about something else entirely. The werewolf story, for instance, is really just a deep love story.”
The process of telling those tales through the vehicle of a comic book is something Minter particularly loves – and it’s a skill he shares with new comic fans frequently, thanks to his work at the Living Arts & Science Center, where his classes on autobiographical comics and character design are perennial favorites.
“Making art is kind of like problem solving. It’s good for the development of the brain. If children want to make art, they should be whole-heartedly encouraged and given the space to do so,” he said.
Minter, a UK art studio graduate who worked as a full-time graphic designer for the university for 20 years, typically works – both on his comic creations and his freelance graphic design projects – from his home studio office. When he needs a break from his desk, he grabs a leash, or more likely several.
“I walk four to six dogs a day,” Minter said. “The great thing about walking dogs is that it’s very low stress. It gives me time to think about my illustrations or work out difficulties I might be having with the stories. It gives me time to think.”