Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Romney.
Hi Travis, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have always loved drawing cartoons. Born from a love of The Sunday Funnies, I have been reading and drawing cartoons and comics since I could pick up a pencil. In elementary and secondary school I would submit my cartoons and comics to local news papers and competitions having them published and awarded. But my parents did everything they could to dissuade me from a career in the arts. They pushed for a more stable and traditional career. So I took the traditional route, but never stopped drawing. In 2014 at the age of 28, I decided to take a chance and I posted an online comic to facebook. Within the first week I had 1,000 followers, first year 10,000 and as of today I have almost 34,000 followers over three social media accounts. I’m a regularly invited guest at comic conventions and arts festivals, I was invited and proudly accepted membership to the National Cartoonist Society, and my favorite thing is having fans returning each year to pick up the latest editions of my comic and update me as to how things are going for them.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The hardest part about becoming a professional cartoonist or artist even to this day, is understanding the business. My parents pushed me to a more traditional job, with a steady paycheck. I’m glad they did, it allowed me to learn that with art careers, you need to have multiple income revenues. It’s not a traditional 9-5, paycheck every other week. Some months you make $4,000 and other months you made $900. Learning how to budget accordingly can be a challenge. But the biggest challenge is building an engaged audience takes time and effort. You can’t become an artist full time without an active and engaged audience.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a professional cartoonist, and proud member of the National Cartoonist Society. I have a degree in fine arts. I have an online comic called Salt City Comics in which I make fun of events and cultural oddities specific to Utah and major national events. From the hyperlocal comics spun out our most well known and popular character ‘The Mighty Utahn’. He is Utah’s Superman but gets his powers from radioactive green jello (green jello being a well known trope of Utah). The Mighty Itahn teams up with a female heroine ‘She-Gull’ an intelligent and dangerous stealth hero in the same vain as black widow. The name ‘She-Gull’ is a play on the Utah state bird the Seagull. The Mighty Utahn has 6 published comic books available on every comic book store in the state of Utah, with two more issues due out June of 2025 and September 2025. I also am a cover artist on other comic book creators works. I do commissions for clients ranging from caricatures, to fan art of their favorite mainstream superhero. I also teach art class part-time for a local elementary school, grades K-6th, showing them that there is magic in art.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Not giving up. It’s a long road to becoming a professional artist. You take a lot of hits, and have to have a lot of patience. Learning to just post the next comic strip, or finish the next page of a comic book, and not getting distracted about where you feel you should be or where others are, I feel has played the biggest part in my success.
Pricing:
- All floppy comics are $5
- Trades or collected issues are $19.99 – $24.99
- Commissions are dependent on requests
Contact Info:
- Website: www.saltcitycomics.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/saltcitycomic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/saltcitycomics
- Other: www.threads.com/saltcitycomic
