From the Cellar is a digital comic you need to check out. For those of you who don’t find any comics that speak to your experience—well, this might not be exactly your experience, but probably something you might fantasize about. Y’know, being a hot bartender in the West Village of New York, meeting lots of cute guys and having an eccentric cast of funny and sexy supporting players to make your life all the more glamorous. Well, okay, my fantasy.

From the Cellar is the creation of multitalented mastermind Chuck McKinney. He's written all the episodes himself (now up to Episode 59!), and edits them along with his trusted ally, Marshall Callaway. Although he has had a stellar revolving cast of artists (including Phil Jimenez, Patrick Fillion, Justin Hall, Sean-Z, Theo Bain, and many more), he has also illustrated some of the strips, as well. However, these days he has found a steady artist in his partner, Chino. Here is Part I of a rollicking interview I conducted with both Chuck and Chino. Part II will appear next week.

Q: First off, I want to tell you how much I love From the Cellar and want to let all our readers know all about it, and where people can read it.

CHUCK: Wow, thanks David! That's nice to hear. It's all on my website, www.fromthecellarnyc.com. One of these days I'll bring the series to an end and get it out there in print, but I'm not quite done yet.

Q: For those who haven't heard of it, how would you describe what the strip's about?

CHUCK: You'd think as the creator, I could easily describe it, but I have trouble summing it up. It was once described to me by a reader as "observations". I kinda like that, but I suppose it's more than that. My friend Kevin refers to the episodes as "moments". My acting teacher used to say in regard to rehearsing a role, "the worse person to ask about a play is the playwright." That makes perfect sense to me. I don't know what the hell From the Cellar is, it just comes out.

Q: What do you like best about it?

CHUCK: Having an audience. When I was acting, I was always begging my friends to come see me in some play I was doing, so there would be more than three people in the audience. (laughs) Good times. With From the Cellar, the audience finds me. My other favorite thing about it is the art. I love storytelling art more than anything in the world, so to work with all these amazing illustrators is a huge thrill.

Q: The artists have rotated throughout the strip's history, but now Chino (your boyfriend) has settled down as the regular artist.

CHUCK: That was a nice surprise. When I met Chino three years ago, he wasn't an artist. Dating me, he was bombarded with From the Cellar; I sort of live and breath it at this point. He started sketching early in our relationship, so I put him to work. I believe we have Chino to thank for From the Cellar continuing this long. Not only did he inspire the character of Chico and many episodes, he also makes it more fun for me to work on the series. We inspire each other.

Q: How does working together artistically differ from how you relate to each other as boyfriends?

CHINO: I can answer that. There is no difference. As long as he gets his way, everything is fine.

CHUCK: (laughs) That's because I'm always right.

Q: Chuck, you've talked in other interviews about how the characters are not based on specific people, but contain elements of people you know, and this extends to the main character, who you say is not you.

CHUCK: Correct, Chip is not me. Most of the characters are fictional, inspired by the people around me—But there are a few of my friends scattered into the mix with little or no fictionalization.

Q: Can you give us some dish on what things really happened to you in the strip or incidents that really happened?

CHUCK: Dish? On me?! No way! My mom might read this. :)

CHINO: Here's some dish... Chuck really did fart at his friend Kevin's restaurant, in front of the entire staff!!! I wanted to die!

CHUCK: SHHHH!

Q: What about some of the characters such as Louis in "Casual Encounters" who gets hired as a call boy? That's probably my favorite strip of all.

CHINO: Awesome! I drew that one.

CHUCK: I love that episode! Okay, this I can confess... That was all true! You can ask Louis' lover, Jose. Everything I've written about Louis is true. He's one of the few characters I haven't added any fiction to. I use his real name and everything. I've known Louis for years. He's full of stories, most of them dirty. I could do an entire series on him. And he loves the fame. He's actually been recognized a few times on the street by people who read my comic. Seriously.

Q: Can you both tell us a little bit about your backgrounds, where you were born and raised and how you came to be in New York City, making comics?

CHUCK: I was born and raised in Spearville, Kansas. I came to New York in the early ‘90s to be an actor. I studied with the great Freddy Kareman, but didn't start getting work until I shaved my head. I did some commercials, print, tons of theatre, lots of indie films that didn't go anywhere, and plenty of bit parts on the soaps (I was the thug who put the bomb in Kim's car on As The World Turns). I created From the Cellar on a whim with no background in comics, and I started teaching myself digital coloring when Chino took over the art.

CHINO: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, the last child of my mom's 13 children. I don't have a background in art. When I was very young, I enjoyed drawing my favorite cartoon characters, but I was never encouraged to pursue it. I had a pretty rough childhood. My dad was never in the picture, but my mom and I were always very close, and I lost her when I was 18. I had to fend for myself after her death, and I ended up go-go dancing. I used to make all my own go-go outfits! Eventually, I started bartending and I did that for years. Now I do security. I started drawing when I met Chuck, and he quickly put me to work on From the Cellar. I'm starting to branch out with some classes and life drawing sessions. Chuck and I started collaborating on Super Hero Pinups. You can view them on Chuck's website.

Hey folks, that’s the end of Part I. Catch the further adventures of Chuck and Chino next week in Part II.

David Stanley is Prism's PR Chair and creator of "Summer in Mykonos" currently previewed in Prism's latest guide (2008), along with a new creation called "Fuzzy Creatures".

Prism Comics promotes the works of the LGBT community in comics. It does not implicitly endorse any other material or products associated with those works. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s).