EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Joh James

Joh James Interview 05.05.2009

First off I just want to thank you for doing this. Now on to the questions!

POW! Comics (PC):How long have you been doing comic art and who has been your favorite character to draw thus far?

Joh James (JJ):I’ve been drawing comics in one form or another since as far back as I can remember. My introduction to the medium came at a very early age, and my imagination has remained captivated ever since. Art figured prominently in my upbringing, and though the few classes I took I excelled in, my attention was also divided among my other passions, namely sports and movies.

An avid comic collector, I took every opportunity to recreate my fave artists works, and accumulated an enormous amount of portfolio pieces that have remained unseen to this very day. Motivated to develop my artwork and storytelling skills further I traveled often to the U.S. and benefited from hardcore crits by industry heavyweights like Neal Adams and Gil Kane that helped shape my instruction. I drew feverishly, I drew often, and I drew everyone.

Lately I’ve found my sketches have leaned towards the iconic figures of comics. Captain America and Superman to name a few.

PC: How did you get into the comic book business?

JJ: Wow. After a focused barrage of attempts in my youth I made peace with the illo gods and followed a career in architecture, which led to graphical design, a long stint as an art teacher and entrepreneur of my own school, some tv hosting, toy design, stage and set work, and videogames. I made a bid for television soon after, creating storyboards for hundreds of commercials, films and music videos. Much of which I continue doing to this very day (Screamers2, TheMummy3…).

I never completely severed my relationship to the comic book industry and sporadically attended conventions to stay on my game. Seeking reviews simply for the purpose of advancing as an illustrator. A few years ago I entered a WildStorm contest and made finalist, which meant being reviewed by X-legend Jim Lee who gave me a favorable crit. As a consequence I received work shortly thereafter and sharpened my claws on The Sire: Revelations, an indy title from AfterShock Comics. Those pages were entered into other contests of the online variety.

CBI3(ComicBookResourses.com) was an annual event engineered to test the mettle of illustrators from around the world in a weekly draw-off, where fans voted their favorites into future rounds. ChesterQuest, Marvel’s search for the biggest and brightest artists in the world put me in the top 25 of 1800 global entrants. The contacts generated from those two venues landed me in a position to pick up my first Image work and my recent 9-pager in Marvel Assistant Sized Spectacular #2, an Elsa Bloodstone story. All within a 2.5 year period.

PC: I see that you’ve done some story boarding for videogames. Which games did you work on and did you see a lot of your work translate well over to the game?

JJ: Videogame work came about soon after college where I designed levels and play for a MYST, first person style game. Later on, after a long hiatus from the industry I was again sought out to create conceptual and character designs for game productions in their preliminary stages. I produced properties for all the major platforms at the time(PSP, X-Box, PS2, Cube) but my most memorable work was on BOXING FEVER, where my art was directly incorporated into the final product as fast as I could manufacture it. No sketching, no variations, no erasing. I put together a team of students from my school to fill out my art department and we had a blast! Working well beyond my illo boundaries I broadened my job description to include MOCAP direction, animatics, narration and timing, outsource coordination, and story work. The usual environments, facial expressions, character designs, and storyboards rounded out my duties. There’s more of my artwork in that game than in anything I’ve ever worked on. It was a joy to see come into fruition.

PC: What more can you tell us about TORN, your werewolf comic for Desperado? How much creative control are you taking on the project?

JJ: TORN, my werewolf epic is now with Frozen Beach Studios. An OGN written by the enigmatic Bram Court, an Aussie buddy of mine with a penchant for mayhem and the macabre, who also just happens to be married to DC artist extraordinaire Nicola Scott(Secret Six). Bram and I have been working on this series for over a year now, trying to keep our composure on this powder keg we’re about to unleash onto the public. TORN is a fairytale gone awry. A dark, visceral confrontation between two brothers who once lived as wolves, separated by tragedy, transformed by evil, and destined to redefine themselves through pain and torment in their new urban jungle, a dystopian sprawl. And god help anyone that gets between them!

Court is a fantastic writer with a knack for micro-dialogue and emotion. He’s unbelievably generous in his openness to new visual cues and gave me the creative freedom to totally flesh out his universe. Having a background in film I wanted visually explore areas of the characters personalities and backdrops that led me off the written page, and Bram supported my efforts tremendously. I generally hold to the script and story essence, but rarely follow visual cues in light of discovering events as they impact me artistically. The TORN epic is due out this summer!

PC: Will you be continuing work with Marvel or will you only be back if the Elsa Bloodstone feature wins the contest?

JJ: I guess that’s up to the fans! I’d love to revisit Elsa Bloodstone and her monster mashing universe if the numbers come in, so please VOTE ELSA! So far there aren’t any definitive plans to work on other Marvel properties but you never know! Dude, what I’d do with The Avengers or X-Men!! OMG! The story “Daddy’s Little Girl” was written by Marvel scribe Christopher Yost, inked superbly by Victor Olazaba, and coloured beautifully by Ulises Arreola. Editor Daniel Ketchum put together this talented dream team.

PC: I’ve noticed your sketch work exaggerates the characters proportions a bit, which in my opinion, is a really unique and fresh style. Any reason we don’t see this more in your actual comic work?

JJ: It’s coming! Believe me. Having worked as a freelancer for so many years I’m used to changing my style to suit the job I’m on. My comic book portfolio samples show a diversity of styles and linework that reflect this mindset, featuring everything from manga to photo realism, hatchy to hard edged art and tons in between. I’m sure that in the future you’ll definitely see work from me that defines a unique approach to each project I sign onto. But the extreme proportion distortions are certainly a muscle I’d like to flex in the pro arena.

PC: Who are your influences, if any, and how do you prep yourself for sketching out a panel or a whole comic even?

My muses stem from the artists of old. And with good reason. The level of penmanship and storytelling is unmatched, even by today’s standards. Guys like Gil Kane, Arthur Adams, Walter Simonson, Al Williamson, Lee Weeks, Neal Adams, Mark Schultz, Mike Kaluta, Will Eisner, Barry Windsor Smith, Denys Cowan, John Buscema, Kerry Gamill, Bill Sienckewicz, Michael Golden, Jack Kirby and others….

My process is always the same: HEAVY research! Locations, props, character rotations, literature; dvds, photos, and lighting studies( if needed). I print and bind all scripts with spirals and attached a metal ring(for hanging later). Reference info is quickly sketched on loose paper and posted on my board(for pencil interpretation). Once the script has been reread I break down dialogue into shots directly on the page, irregardless of size. Once they’re complete I rework them into panel shapes and page layouts quickly. I lightly place figures with grid lines on an 11 X 17 sheet of regular bond paper, lift off the excess lead with a kneaded eraser and finish the page. I generally take 3-4 hours per page. My tools are regular 0.5H or mechanical 2H leads, a pen eraser, mech ruler, drafting table and templates, ergonomic chair, and ultra powered magnets to suspend my work across my board and wall.

PC: I saw a lot of DC characters on your page. Have you done any work with DC or want to? Do you have a favorite character?

JJ: I’d love to! I like all the god-like powerhouses in the DCU, but my fave all around, in any universe is Green Lantern. The concept behind that character appeals to me on every level, as an artist and a man. And green’s my favorite colour so…

PC: Speaking of favorites, do you have any comics that you just plain love?

I’m not really into any series in particular these days. I mostly read novels, science mags, and tons of poetry. Crazy to say but the last story that really gave me goose bumps was Kingdom Come, and Marvels before that. Constantine’s writing used to be a contender for me way back when, now Hellblazer with Sean Gordon Murphy at the helm is amazing(pound for pound the industry’s best artist). Daredevil trades really blow my mind and as does anything with Ashley Wood’s name on it. Indy anthologies like Popgun and Flight offer up the spontaneity of vastly differing styles of storytelling that’s sometimes jarring and that really appeals to me, too.

PC: Thank you so much for your time! If you have anything else you’d like to add or have us say just let us know. I truly hope we get to keep in contact with you and get to spotlight more artists and writers in the future. Thank you again.

JJ: My absolute pleasure, guys. Thanks for a rave review and a chance to share my story. You guys are awesome!! And if anyone would like to see more of my work just check my blog: http://jjcomicstripart.blogspot.com/ …

my DeviantArt gallery at: http://johjames.deviantart.com/

…or if you like poetry and prose: http://scriptholder.blogspot.com/

And don’t forget to VOTE for Elsa Bloodstone in my story “Daddy’s Little Girl” over at Marvel!

Thanks! Here’s the link:

www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.7811.Unlimited_Highlights~colon~_Asst_Editor~apos~s_Month

Cheers,Jose Holder (a.k.a. JohJames)

Vlaz and I want to thank Joh James for his time and we encourage all of you to go vote for his comic so we can see more of his work!