Occasional Interviews: BUCKAROO BANZAI's Amin Amat

Amin Amat is the new artist on Moonstone Books' BUCKAROO BANZAI series, based on the classic cult film. I had a chance to catch up with Amin and discuss Banzai, Kolchak The Nightstalker, and more.



Were you a big comic book fan as a child?

Yeah I was. My first comic books were the Marvel GI Joe comics. Loved those. From those I ended up getting Conan and Transformers. Years later, I transitioned to Avengers which got me to view comics as a possible career but I didn't take that seriously until much much later. I still read the occasional issue here and there, although most of the time I may just pick up a graphic novel instead.
Who are your artistic influences?

My top tier influences are Klaus Janson, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, Travis Charest, Moebius, Dan Barry, Alex Toth and Alex Raymond. Of course this list expands depending on what project I'm working on and my mood and could include Amedeo Modigliani, Tiepolo, Edward Gorey, Toulouse Latrec, John Singer Sargent, to name a few.

What was your first professional comic book work?


My first pro work was doing a graphic novel for Cyberosia Publishing called "Second Soul". It was also my first real world dealings on what one can and cannot do as an artist and my limitations at the time in terms of achieving particular goals within a set time frame. That little novel taught me a lot about myself as an artist. Yet all in all it was a lot of a fun.


Acclaimed inker Klaus Janson taught you at SVA -- what was that like?

One of the best experiences of my life. Hell I'm still learning stuff he taught me, that's how good he is. Learning form someone with the professional and artistic caliber that is Klaus Janson was and still is incredibly rewarding. Even now when I draw I can feel him looking over my shoulder and making me question my decisions on design, composition, line work, why is this here and that there, layout, everything. I also owe a lot of my persistence and motivation to his brutal honesty when it came to improving one's work.

What brought you to Moonstone Books?

Well I had been doing smaller projects and pinups for sometime with Dave Ulanski at Moonstone. I did a short story for them that ended up being unpublished and I kept in touch with them over the years. After I came back from my 2 year sabbatical, they were doing a talent search for Captain Action. I sent in some pages I recently did for a local magazine and instead of getting Captain Action they offered me to tryout for Kolchak which I did. A short time after I became the
new Kolchak artist. While I was waiting for an approved script, Joe Gentile Moonstone's Editor in
Chief emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in doing Buckaroo Banzai. And, of course, I said "yes"!

You have worked on adaptations of TV & movies like Kolchak and now Buckaroo Banzai. Do you have to draw the original likenesses of those characters? Is that hard to do? Is there an approval process involved?


For any type of project where there is an established likeness, look or style you need to be true to the source. On both Kolchak and Buckaroo I kept all my sketches and studies using the actors as my main guideline. There is some room for one's interpretation but that room is very small. I personally don't find it hard, it's just a matter of drawing and sketching until you find your own click and everything makes sense. For both projects I have to get everything submitted for approval. On the Buckaroo Banzai book I'm working on, the character designs as well as every page has to be approved by not just my editor (Joe Gentile again!!) but of both the writer and director of the Buckaroo Banzai film, J.D. Richter and Earl Mac. I actually enjoy the approval process so if they
ask for changes or not, it's ok with me and besides they really like what I'm doing.

What advice would you give an aspiring young comic book artist?

I would say draw/sketch like there's no tomorrow. Study not just anatomy and other comicbook artists but artists from other fields/mediums. And be open to criticism. I've seen and heard of artists whose ego's were so inflated that any criticism made to their work was treated as an act of aggression against said artist. I guess I'm lucky enough to be able to separate myself from my art and look at it from another point of view other than just my own. Always keep an open mind and to not cease learning or questioning every decision you make when it comes time to draw.

What is your impression of the industry at the moment, in terms of opportunities for artists?
From where I'm at, it depends. The industry is definitely not able to offer a lot of work to artists as in the 90's. Then again a lot of the talent has maintained a higher level of quality than a majority
of the published work from the 90's. It's also a cutthroat industry as is any industry related to
entertainment. Your best bet besides talent is to be persistent, consistent and have good human relations (knowing how to communicate and work with others). All in all there are opportunities it's just realizing that each one is unique and what one did may not be the best for another to utilize.

Do you do other work besides comics?

Yes I work as a full-time web designer with a small design boutique in Ocean Park, Puerto Rico. Most of the time I'm swamped but I do sketch a lot during the day which has helped me to work better at night since my brain and hand have been in sync all day. Yet as those like me and those that came before me I do plan on illustrating comicbooks full-time in the near future.

If you could draw any character, who would it be?

Batman or anything Gotham city related, if DC asked; Spider-man, Cloak & Dagger or Power Pack if Marvel asked; and anything from the Valiant universe.

What's next for Amin Amat?

Right now, I'll be finishing up A Tomb with a View, the new Buckaroo Banzai book for Moonstone. Then hopefully some Kolchak and after that whatever

You can check out more art at http://aminamat.blogspot.com/

Occasional Interviews: Kevin Colden & Miss Lasko-Gross

For this interview I decided to play off of the IFC "Dinner For Five" idea and have "Brunch and an Interview." The setting was Virage in New York's City's East Village, and the participants were Kevin Colden, creator of the acclaimed ACT-I-VATE webcomic Fishtown, Miss Lasko-Gross, the artist and writer of Escape From Special from Fantagraphics Press, and David Gallaher, High Moon guru.

I really wanted to do a casual brunch, not a formal interview; just keeping the tape recorder on and see what interesting bits we came up with along the way...


Miss shows me pages of original art for her sequel to "Escape From Special." They are delicate, meticulously drawn pieces that are slightly smaller than the 8 1/2" x 10" plastic sheets that protect them.
OS: "How was it like drawing these pages in this size? Was it harder? It's just that I'm used to artists drawing on those big sheets of bristol & then shrinking it down..."


MISS: "Well, I carry it around like this -- when I'm on a train or between clients -- and just work on it on the spot. In a way it's faster, but also it forces you to make really good use of your space. If you have a panel this big, and you have dialogue and three figures, you really have to balance it, you can't just throw it on there."

OS: "I'm trying to remember your first book...was it printed this size or bigger?"

MISS: "No, it was printed actual size."

OS: "Well, I think that's great, because it shows you're understanding the format. There are books like some Minx and psuedo-manga titles where I'm not sure the artists understand the size of the format -- and then things look crammed in. Whereas you are actually working in that size, so you're composing things just right."

MISS: "It saves time, but you have to do more thinking."


We then look at Kevin's pages for Fishtown:

OS: "So in the beginning of the story it's all monochromatic yellow tones, but once the emotion and action picks up, it gets more...red?"

KEVIN: "The only red is blood. And there's a lot of blood."

Kevin's webcomic Fishtown focuses on a brutal murder planned and carried out by a group of disaffected teenagers.

OS: "So it just overwhelms the palette...because there's just a lot of it."

KEVIN: "Well, it skips back and forth in time, but I do show the murder. And very, very graphically. So it's just trying to find a publisher...and the biggest problem I've had in finding a publisher, believe it or not, is finding one who will do it in color."


I quiz Miss on her publisher:

OS: "How has Fantagraphics been for you? Have they been supportive?"

MISS: "Emotionally?"

OS: "The whole spectrum."

MISS: "Well, I would have to put that in two different catagories. You know, when I was first starting to draw, I was a big fan of the Brothers Hernandez...so I'm really happy to be with Fantasgraphics. I love the way they printed the book, and the art design. I feel that on some level, it was just allowed to "happen." Like some books come out, and they get this big push...when my book came out, it was more like "let's see what this does," they were taking a chance on me. But I have reason to believe that with the sequel they're going to give it a much bigger push."


OS: "It seems to me that the book has been so successful, that they're really going to put more into the marketing of the second one."

MISS: "Yeah, at the time when it first came out I would have liked it to push it more, but at the time they took a chance on...well, a lot of books. And most books, they make a little money for the publisher or they just break even."

DG: "Now Miss, did you go to school for writing?"

MISS: "I went to Pratt, with a BFA in communication and design. But I've always done well in English class and Creative Writing. When I was in school I ran the school comic book, Static Fish, and I actually got a paycheck for that."

OS: "Do you trade up when you collect floppies for a certain series, and buy the books?"

MISS: "I prefer to wait for the trades. I don't buy the floppies anymore. In the last year I bought one or two floppies at the most. It's just a better format to read it. And also pricewise it's a better deal -- it's like buying wholesale instead of retail. "

OS: "What is the stuff you're reading now that you really enjoy?"

MISS: "I like La Perdida. Which is interesting because the first time I picked it up I didn't like it, and I put it down. I thought to have the English, and the Spanish -- it was so wordy. And then recently I reread it, and I was embarassed that I didn't read it. And so I'm glad I went through it. Like the character is not very sympathetic; she's whiny, self absorbed, and naive. So you see the story from a more self-absorbed point of view than her and I love that kind of shift in writing."


...and back to Kevin, the topic being webcomic collective ACT-I-VATE.

OS "Now, you're one of the founders of ACT-I-VATE..."

KEVIN: "No, I'm one of the founders of The Chemistry Set, who moved more or less to ACT-I-VATE."

OS: "The stuff at ACT-I-VATE is so good that I imagine getting someone to sponsor it would not be the hardest thing in the world. It's also an excellent showcase for your work. It's so simple and yet so effective, because your work speaks for itself. ACT-I-VATE has become synonymous with quality in webcomics."


KEVIN: "It's interesting how that worked. Chemistry Set did this a little bit, but when I joined ACT-I-VATE, suddenly I had a career. All of the sudden it's like: hey world, how do you do? I get emails from people I've never met before. Some people who hate me..."

MISS: "...death threats"

The waitress finally arrives for our drink orders, the clock striking noon.

OS: "I'll have a mimosa, please."

DG: "I'd love a screwdriver."

MISS: "Nothing for me, thanks."

KEVIN: "A screwdriver sounds great."

Occasional Interviews: Dan Slott On Spider-Man's "Brand New Day"

I had a chance recently to chat with new Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott about "Brand New Day," his first comic book memory...and wheatcakes.

OS: Dan, were you a fan of Spider-Man? Did you read the comic as a kid?

SLOTT: Oh God, I love Spider-Man! My cousin had this comic book collection when I was a kid...back then I didn't know you could even buy comic books, I just thought of his stash as this magic comic collection. And he lent me comics, and that's how I started to read them.

And then I found out that Spider-Man was "appearing" at the 7-Eleven in my home town. It was like I could hear "Ave Maria," I was so excited. And even though I didn't have any money on me, I must have spent like the entire day at the 7-Eleven, choosing the best comic that I would bring up to Spider-Man to sign. Then I rushed home and asked my dad if he could give me any money to buy the comic book, and right then and there he gave me my first allowance, 25 cents.

I camped out early the day of the Spider-Man appearance, even though it turned out like only three people showed up. I wanted to make sure I got there early so I could see him swing down from the skies. I was actually looking to the skies. And then this pick-up truck drives down the freeway, and they've got Spider-Man standing in the back with his arms akimbo. The truck stops and he jumps off and lands in a perfect Spider-Man squat. I was awed and scared to talk to him, but he was really nice.

Ever since then, comics became a weekly habit for me. The comic books I read back then are long gone now -- I read them so much their covers disintegrated. They totally fell apart.



OS: So how does it feel now that you're actually writing the character?

SLOTT: It's still unreal to me. I know the book exists, I've held the pre-production copies in my hands...but there's still that disconnect. I'm just so close to the Dream, you know?

OS: Okay Dan, speak to my blog readers directly and tell them why they should pick up "Brand New Day." Talk to them fan-to-fan, like you were in a comic book store with them.

SLOTT: I would ask them to shake their inner Etch-A-Sketch and just give the book a chance. Imagine the art team that brought you Civil War -- Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, and Morry Hollowell -- finally reunited. And the happy idiot who brought you Spiderman & Human Torch, She-Hulk, and Avengers Initiative on board on writing chores as well.

OS: Let's move on to the mysterious new superheroine on the block, Jackpot. Now, she first debuted in 2007's Free Comic Book Day issue "Spider-Man: Swing Shift"...

SLOTT: Well, that original FCBD comic actually gave away a little too much of the original "One More Day"/"Brand New Day" storyline -- and had to be edited. But on January 30th, the Director's Cut of "Swing Shift" will come out -- fully restored with the original script.

Now, if you're really interested in Jackpot, you should read Mark Guggenheim's three-part arc in February. A lot is revealed...and questions are answered and raised.

OS: How do these arcs work exactly, in terms of who gets to work on what?

SLOTT: Each creative team gets a turn each month -- one arc per month. So we all get to shine.

OS: Where did "Wheatcakes" come from? I'm referring to the line Peter gives in the first issue of "Brand New Day" to Aunt May: "What, no wheatcakes?"


SLOTT: That's actually a reference to Spidey's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. Aunt May tells Peter, "I cooked your favorite breakfast, Peter -- wheatcakes!"

Now what I think is interesting about that issue is that Uncle Ben has only like two lines -- and yet he's probably one of the most important characters in the Spider-Man mythos. Ben's like the Obi Wan Kenobi of the Spider-Man universe. We -- and Peter --only know him for a short time, but he's really important.



OS: What's the coolest thing about working on Amazing Spider-Man for you?

SLOTT: Seeing all of the art as it comes in. Never in my life have I seen such a Murderer's Row of artists stroll right in from the Wizard Top Ten. It's very exciting.

OS: Now, you have a couple of appearances coming up in New York, right?

SLOTT: Yes, I'll be signing copies of Amazing Spider-Man #546 at Jim Hanley's Universe at 4 West 33rd Street this Wednesday January 9th from 5:30-8:00.

Then on Tuesday January 15th at the Comic Book Club live weekly talk show is going to have a Amazing Spider-Man "Brand New Day" event with all four writers: Bob Gale, Marc Guggenheim, Dan Slott and Zeb Wells. Plus ASM Editor Steve Wacker! This will be held at The People's Improv Theater on 154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor, and admission is $5:00.

OS: Well Dan, I've been following your comic career just about from from its beginning -- Marvel, Acclaim, DC, and now full-circle with Spider-Man. I'm proud of you & I wish you the best of success.

Occasional Interviews: HAZED's Mark Sable

Comic book scribe Mark Sable might be familiar to regular readers of this blog for his connection to the controversial Supergirl #16. Well, as I discovered when I sat down to interview him, he has a heck of a lot more cool comic stuff on his resume. His critically-acclaimed Grounded, with Potter's Field's Paul Azaceta, is currently available as a trade-paperback, and the first issue of his mini-series Fearless has just hit the stands (both books published by Image Comics).

Now Sable might be set to court a touch more controversy with his dark comedy about sorority life, Hazed, a graphic novel by Image currently being solicited by Previews and set for a February shelf date.

OS: Were you always a comic book fan?

MS: Definitely. The theme of my bar mitzvah was Marvel Comics. They had shirts with a caricature of me in Iron Man's Silver Centurion armor which said “I had a marvelous time at Mark's Bar Mitzvah.

OS: Did you always want to write comics and create your own characters, or did that come later?

MS: I think I went through that arc that everybody does, where I read comics up until high school and then I discovered the opposite sex. I got back into comics in college, but in between that period is when I discovered I really wanted to be a writer. And actually my formal training is in screenwriting & plays.

OS: Is comic writing still something you want to do, or do you want to make the leap to film?

MS: It's one of those things where I'm almost ashamed of my screenwriting thing, because I'm afraid people will think I'm trying to break into screenwriting through comics. Really, they are both things I want to pursue.

OS: In terms of comic work, what was your first book?


MS: Grounded from Image Comics was my first. Grounded actually started out as a screenplay that I was shopping around, and one day it occurred to me that it might work well as a comic. I was friends with Mark Powers, an X-Men editor at Marvel Comics. I asked him if he knew any up and coming artists that might be up for Grounded, and I lucked out with Paul Azaceta. Then we put together the pitch and went to Image with it. They just really said yes on the spot, which I credit to Paul's art.

OS: I think your writing and Paul's art really meshes together well. Was it very collaborative experience for you two?

MS: We were separated by coasts and by time zones, but we talked on the phone & e-mailed a lot. I tend to script very tightly, but as time went on I got to trust him to do his own thing.

The other member of the team is Nick Filardi, who does the colors. Nick's amazing in terms of just picking up the subtext of scenes and getting the mood just right without my having to spell it out for him.

OS: It sounds your experience with Image was overall a happy one.

MS: Completely.

OS: And you really lucked out with all the critical acclaim for Grounded as well.

MS: I really did, and honestly it made me a bit more nervous coming into the comic work after that. Because now I have to live up to those cover quotes.

OS: What was your next work after Grounded?

MS: Grounded did relatively well for Image; the first issue sold out and we went to a second printing. In Spring of 2006 I was approached by Jeanine Schaefer, an assistant editor at DC Comics. She was a fan of Grounded and asked me to pitch. I did two issues of Teen Titans with Sean Murphy that have yet to be published but which are completely pencilled and inked, and then I did some Supergirl stuff.

OS: Any reason why the Titans issues didn't come out? Were there continuity issues?

MS: My Titans arc was supposed to be the first meeting of the Titans and Flash's Rogues Gallery, and I think it didn't work with their overal continuity plans (The Rogues killing Bart, Countdown, etc.)

OS: Tell me about working with Jeanine Schaefer.

MS: Jeanine has really been wonderful. I got to work with her very closely with Teen Titans and she gave really great notes. I was a little nervous coming into it, because at Image you're pretty much your own editor. You hear horror stories about getting stupid notes from editors, but everything she suggested really did make the story better. And I'm really happy for her getting the Associate editorship. She's really a person who I can see, if she really wants it, going pretty far.

OS: Would you say she's a rising star?

MS: I really feel that she is. She's smart and has a good instinct for editing. She's on Robin right now, and she loves Tim Drake and has a real feel for the character.

OS: You currently have the first issue of Fearless on the stands...


MS: That's out from Image and my co-writer is David Roth, who is a television writer from California. Our artist is PJ Holden who is a 2000 AD artist from the UK. Fearless is about a superhero who is addicted to an anti-fear drug. He can't fight crime or function in his personal life without the drug because he has a crippling anxiety disorder. Later issues get into the origin of that disorder.

OS: How does Fearless differ from Grounded?

MS: Grounded was an irreverent take on superheroes whereas Fearless is more a straight superhero book -- although the concept itself is a twist.

OS: I found that in Fearless the art really gives you a sense of the main character's anxiety. There was also one scene with a half-mask that seemed like an homage to that old Ditko Spider-Man...

MS: That's definitely what we were going for.

OS: Fearless is a four-issue mini-series...do you have any plans for the title past that?

MS: Depends on how the sales do, but we definitely have more ideas.

OS: And now you have this new graphic novel Hazed.

MS: Yes, it's also from Image, is currently being solicited in December's Previews -- and hits stands in February. It's also being printed in a manga-sized format.

OS: What is Hazed about?

MS: Hazed is a dark comedy about sororities and eating disorders – Heathers or Mean Girls with a college setting. The story is about the brutal journey of three girls through sorority life.

OS: From reading the preview I see that the main character, Illeana, goes through some sort of transformation...

MS: Well, there's essentially two protagonists. Illeana is, for lack of a better term, an "alternative" girl who is not overly concerned about how she dresses and is passionate about women's issues. Her roommate is named James -- after model James King. James King has a quote I actually use in the book: "I just want everybody to want to be me." Hazed's James is a legacy student whose family always wanted her to be a sorority girl.

James & Illeana end up as unlikely roommates...and one gets into the sorority and one doesn't. The how and why of this is the twist.

The villain of the piece is the slightly older Val, who in the world of the sorority is the "falling star." And part of the book is exploring this weird relationship between the sisters and their sorority mentors which is both nurturing and competititve. Because every new girl might be a potential threat.

OS: So there's an ambivalence at play.

MS: it's a passive-aggressive sabotage going on. From my own observation, it's rather an awful world.

OS: How did you get interested in writing about sororities?


MS: I went to Duke for undergrad -- whch has a very big Greek system. I think the sororities outnumber that fraternities, and that something like 60% of women on campus are in one. So you've got some of the smartest women in the country, who have so much more going for them than just their appearance, get completely obsessed with looks and how to appeal to guys.

And the sororities become institutionalized versions of this attitude, encouraging these women to look like wafer-thin models and to get involved in that hookup culture. I think it damages these young women's self-esteem a lot.

So my research was just observing that culture on campus, and in the beginning I wrote it as a play, "Purge." My girlfriend at the time, who was in a sorority, read the play and said "oh, you're exaggerating this." That some of the things I wrote about, like "circling the fat," were more like urban legends.

OS: What is "circling the fat?"

MS: In "circling the fat" the idea is that the sisters will strip girls down to their underwear and circle the areas of their bodies where they "need" to lose fat.

And my point to my ex was, even if it was an urban legend, it's one that has stuck around, and is symbolic of what was being pushed on college women. Later on, as I dated more sorority girls, they would say that they indeed went through things like that during hazing. So on one hand I felt vindicated that I didn't do a hatchet job on sororities, but on the other hand I felt worse because this stuff was actually happening to women.

OS: Do you think this would a book women would enjoy reading?

MS: Well, “women” is a very big, general catagory. Obviously if you're in a sorority, you bring your own experiences into it. Beyond that, this big sister/little sister relationship dynamic is intriguing. It seems distinctly different from male relationships of that type. Guys can just get their fights out and hit each other -- whereas with the women it can often be far more passive-aggressive and subtle.

I certainly don't want the book to represent my view of women or sororities in general. It's a slice of life, purposely exaggerated.

OS: What would you compare Hazed to?

MS: "Even meaner and harsher than Heathers." Like Heathers, but smarter, meaner, and funnier. I was weirdly influenced by, of all things, the film Full Metal Jacket; the first half of that movie with the Marine training reminded me of sorority hazing. In fact, they call it hazing in Marine Corps as well.

OS: Tell me something about the artist.

MS: Robbie Rodriguez has drawn Hero Camp and Maintenance from Oni, as well as Stephen Colbert's upcoming Tek Jansen.

Why I think Robbie's work fits so well for Hazed is that it's a very harsh book in a lot of ways -- and he's got an expressive, almost cartoon-like style that softens it. His work also reminiscent of stuff like the animation on Adult Swim, and is very dynamic & plastic.


OS: What's next for Mark Sable?

MS: Well, I have a new project from DC coming up. I can't tell you much about it yet, but it stars a solo character who has never had a solo series before -- and also was in a cartoon that is no longer on the air.

I've also sold an animated series to the Cartoon Network which is - surprise, surprise -- superhero themed.

OS: Just to wrap up, I read in your online bio that you're the only person who has worked with both Charlie Rose and Howard Stern...

MS: I was a intern for Charlie when I was in college. And then in grad school I became first an intern, then a production assistant, and finally am assistant director for Howard Stern. They were great people to work for, and, in my opinion, two of the best broadcasters in the world. And they have more in common than you think.

Occasional Interviews: Tales From The Farm's Jeff Lemire

I met Jeff Lemire during the MoCCA festival last summer at the Top Shelf booth, and bought a copy of his "Essex County Volume 1: Tales From The Farm" graphic novel on the spot.

This week the sequel, "Tales From The Farm Volume 2: Ghost Stories," is coming out & to mark the occasion I thought an interview with the Canadian artist might be in order. And don't forget to check out the six-page preview of "Ghost Stories" at the end of the article!



OS: What was your first professional comic book gig?

JL: Five pages of Beowulf, from the now defunct Speakeasy Comics (for which I was never paid!)

OS: There is a very memoir-like feel to "Tales From The Farm." Is the book at all autobiographical?


JL: I grew up in the "real" Essex County, on a farm much like the characters in my books. The settings are very much real, but the characters, plots and themes are mostly fictional.

OS: There seems to be a Jack Kirby-like influence in the design of the character "Jimmy" -- he seems almost reminiscent of "Rocky" from "Challengers of the Unknown." Were you a fan of Kirby's work?

JL: Wow, I never thought about the Kirby-look of Jimmy before. It's funny, at the time I wrote and drew Tales I wasn't really into Kirby. I was always more of a DC Silver age fan, Kubert, Infantino and Kane. But recently I have started to look at more Kirby. So, no at the time Jimmy wasn't directly influenced by the King, but I can totally see it in the big blocky fingers etc...I guess Kirby's shadow is so big that as a comic artist you're standing in it even when you don't realize you are.

OS: Was the comic book that Lester drew in "Tales From The Farm" a real book you drew as a child?


JL: Yeah, I drew that when I was 8 or nine years old, I found it around the time I was working on Tales and wrote it into the book. I have a couple of other comics I did around that time, a lot of them are my own version of DC's original Who's Who series, which I was obsessed with as a kid. If Top Shelf ever does a collected version of the Essex County books, maybe I can include more of "Lester's" work in the bonus features.

OS: "Tales From The Farm" seems to be a book about defining the real "heroes" in one's life. What is your definition or example of a hero?

JL: Anyone who does what they love, and does it for their own sake, and not by anyone else's agenda. Weather it be a musician, comic artist, athlete, doctor, plumber, farmer ...whatever.

OS: Would you ever try your hand at drawing a mainstream superhero comic, given the opportunity? If so, which character would you like to draw?

JL: I would absolutely love to draw and write a mainstream comic for Marvel or DC. I would love to take a crack at Hellblazer, The Unknown Soldier, Green Lantern, Captain America. As I said, I love all the old silver and bronze age DC stuff.


OS: How has been your experience working for Top Shelf? Do you feel they have supported your vision on this project?

JL: Chris Staros and Brett Warnok at Top Shelf have been incredible. They are the most generous guys I could ever want to work with. They create a real family like feel at shows and whenever we get together. I've made a lot of new friends among other Top Shelfers like Jeffrey Brown, Matt Kindt, David Yurkivich. They have been nothing but supportive of by work, and letting me do what I want.

OS: Your new book, out this month, is called "Ghost Stories." It is titled as Volume 2 of the "Essex County" series, of which "Tales From The Farm" is Volume 1. Are both stories related -- do the characters exist in the same general space? And can you tells us something about "Ghost Stories?"

JL: Ghost Stories is the 2nd in a trilogy of books all set in Essex County, this fictionalized version of my own hometown. The characters all interconnect and the books all tie together thematically. Ghost Stories follows the lives of Jimmy's Grandfather and Great Uncle as they go to play hockey in Toronto in the 1950's right up until there last days as old men on the farm.

OS: What's next for you after "Ghost Stories?"

JL: I am currently working on the third volume of the Trilogy "The Country Nurse". I should be done drawing it before Christmas, for a 2008 release. I am writing my next graphic novel as well, which I will start drawing in 2008 for an eventual release with Top Shelf. I'm also pitching another sci-fi project with Noel Tuazon (Elk's Run) around, we'll see what happens.

OS: Thanks for the interview, Jeff!

You can purchase "Tales From The Farm: Ghost Stories" at your book store or comic speciality shop or order it direct from Top Shelf Comix here.

Preview Starts Here! (click for larger image)

Occasional Interviews Presents: Scott O. Brown, "Man Of Comics"

Scott O. Brown is a man of many hats -- a great comic book letterer, an award-winning publisher through his imprint Cyberosia, and the writer of Platinum Comics' "Atlantis Rising."

Scott currently has the graphic novel "Nightfall" out from Platinum, about a tough Texas prison which is secretly run by vampires using the inmates to feed on.

OS: You refer to yourself as Scott O. Brown: "Man of Comics." What does that mean?

SB: I got a papercut from a radioactive copy of Watchmen purchased at a flea market for $3.00, transforming me into a Man of Comics, with the ability to write, edit, letter, pencil, ink, color, publish, and design comics and graphic novels.

OS: Your new graphic novel "Nightfall" is about vampires in a prison setting. What inspired you to write such a unique story about bloodsuckers?

SB: I was actually inspired by Joss Whedon's Buffy and Angel TV shows. I always thought the idea was so obvious it would inevitably show up on either show. When it didn't, I took the matter into my own hands and wrote a spec script for Buffy. Despite interest from agents, my complete lack of desire to move to LA at the time stopped me from pursuing a TV writing career, so in the end, to get the story out there, I retooled it into what became the graphic novel.

OS: Did you do any research about prison life for this book? Watch a few seasons of "Oz," perhaps?

SB: Just enough to hit the story beats. At 62 pages, there is a cost/benefit ratio to the realism. Trick with research is to do just enough to make sure a story like this has enough credibility to suspend disbelief. To make the story work, I actually had to do more research on UV lighting than prison life.

And I've never seen "Oz."

OS: Have you always had an interest in writing horror comics?

SB: I love horror comics. My latest, They Do Not Die!, with my long time collaborator Horacio Lalia is being serialized at Ambrosia Publishing: http://theydonotdie.ambrosiapublishing.com/

But the truth is, I just love writing comics. Doesn't matter if I'm playing in the horror genre or not. My first book, Second Soul, is a cyberpunk thriller. My second, Death Valley, is a western with slasher overtones. I have both a superhero and a high school comedy in development, as well as a political thriller. Horror is nothing more than a tool to explore whatever theme I feel the need to sink my teeth into.

OS: "Nightfall" has been previously available as a webcomic at Drunk Duck. What has been your experience with the webcomic format? Do you see it as in competition with print media or something that might compliment it?

SB: The thing with Nightfall is that it is written for the Euro-sized graphic album format. When I first wrote it, there was no immediate intent to publish it online. As Platinum's business model grew, then so did the opportunity to present Nightfall on the web.

I think using the Internet to compliment print comics is a great idea, though I don't believe it's really being used to its full potential. Zuda might be a step in the right direction, but I think something even bigger needs to be done to really make webcomics a cultural, creative, and financial force to be reckoned with.

OS: You were the founder of the acclaimed Cyberosia publishing imprint and are now working with Platinum Studios. Exactly how long have you been in the publishing side of the comic book industry? And how long have you been writing comics professionally?

SB: I actively published through Cyberosia for five years, but I've been writing professionally ever since 2000. My involvement with both overlapped a bit. With Cyberosia laying dormant for the most part, I've focused my energies on writing and lettering. In one form or another, I've been working professionally in comics for almost eight years.

OS: "Nightfall" seems like the perfect story and property for a Hollywood treatment. Have you considered that at all?

SB: That was the whole point of pitching it to Platinum. Just getting my foot out the gate at the time as a writer, they seemed like the perfect publisher to take advantage of it. It moves forward in fits and starts, and I suspect it'll get made eventually.

OS: You also have another series coming out from Platinum called "Atlantis Rising" -- can you tell us something about that?

SB: It's a sci-fi war epic about a Clash of Civilizations. A separate species of humans and their entire society have developed in parallel to ours beneath the ocean, and they launch a terror campaign against perceived injustices committed against them by surface nations. Reporter Angelica Danielson gets caught up in the middle, and learns firsthand more than she ever wanted to know about crimes on both sides of the surface.

The art is by talented newcomer Tim Irwin, with colors by Andy Elder. It's a gorgeous book, but don't take my word for it, it's being serialized online at

http://www.drunkduck.com/Atlantis_Rising/index.php, so you can see for yourself!

Or you can order the first issue for twenty-five cents from Diamond: AUG073922

OS: Thanks for the interview, Scott!