An Interview With Mahdi Khene

Interviewee: Mahdi Khene

Interviewer: Anthony Andujar Jr

Q1. What started you on the path of making comic books? Who were your influences growing up?

MK: Before making comics I was a musician! I was living the gig life, touring and all that, right up until covid. Unfortunately, the pandemic took all the gigs away… I was left with a lot of creative energy but nowhere to put it. I still wrote songs, painted, made collages, and all, but there didn’t seem to be a return to music on the horizon. One night, while binge-watching Smallville for the thousandth time in my life I thought. “Why don’t I make up a superhero”, and with that my comics journey began. I had grown up reading comics and bands designees so it wasn’t hard to fall back into a love for comics. When I was younger I read Spider-man (JRJR & Mcfarlane), Dragon Ball Z, Lucky Luke, Tintin, you name it! 

Q2. You currently have an ongoing series titled Steel Streets. What’s it about? 

MK: Steel Streets started out as an homage to TMNT and comics of the 80s. What started out as me carrying the spoofing torch (TMNT spoofed Daredevil) has morphed into a thing of its own. It’s about a revenge-seeking amnesiac ninja who has been mutated with frog DNA and now struggles to find out who he is while dealing with a much darker force he doesn’t even know he’s connected with! I think…?

Q3. What was the development process like creating Steel Streets? Did you script it first? Or did you illustrate it first? 

MK: I tend to “Marvel Method” myself. I’ll start with a vague idea for a story I want to tell and then just go page by page. I start drawing and as i’m doing that, ideas and dialogue just sorta pop out in my head.

Q4. Given that you have four issues currently on the stands, Is Steel Streets going to be an ongoing series or a limited series? 

MK: It’s ongoing for now!

Q5. As a comics creator, what are the challenges that you find when creating comics? 

MK: Honestly, I can’t think of any! I have a lot of fun doing what I do.

Q6. You’ve made other comics prior to Steel Streets, and recently made a book of a particular web-head. What were the challenges of making a bootleg comic? And how did Bootleg Spider-Man come about?

MK: At Baltimore Comic Con I did a few spiderman commissions that sent me on a Ditko binge for a little bit. I drew a spidey pin up in black and white and posted it on a forum with a caption saying “What I wouldn’t give to do a black and white Spider-man book!”. Someone commented with the idea to just do a bootleg. I thought of a quick story, made the cover, and 5 days later had the book done and ready for the printers. It’s pure insanity.

Q7. Throughout your projects, you use a variety of different techniques. What did you learn from your latest project that you plan to apply to your main series, Steel Streets? 

MK: I realized I’m in love with the 9-panel grid.

Q8. Will there be more bootlegs down the line? 

MK: Who knows! There are so many books to make!

Q9. When can readers expect the next issue of Steel Streets? 

MK: Early 2023 for sure.

Q10. What’s next down the pipeline that readers keep an eye out for? 

MK: I got a few books that I’m working on. A 1930s-era sci-fi book called “The Country Gentleman“, a raunchy underground comic called “Full Power“, a collaborative zine called “Light Wood ”, and of course Steel Streets 5!