Justin Zimmerman, whom I met at crypticon in 2011 is one of my favorite independent artists, and we have reviewed both the Killing Jar and Other Worlds, as well as a supporter of the Other Worlds Kickstarter project you might just think that we like what Brickerdown Studios is doing, and you would be right. It is always awesome to meet up with someone as creative and as personable as Justin is. He has agreed to do a quick e-mail interview with Comics Forge which we are very happy to have on the site. Justin is one of those very cool intense people who you are glad you got to meet up, and whose work continues to impress regardless of the age you happen to be at when you get your hands on it. he is well worth following, and getting to know, as well as reading his stuff and supporting his projects.
Q: You are seeking funding for the Other Worlds Trade Paperback: Maps and Legends on Kickstarter. What made you decide to go to Kickstarter and how did you choose this method to fund your project?
A: First, let me say thanks for your interest…and thanks for helping me spread the word! The project is here – and we’ve almost raised $1000 to date! Kickstarter is exciting in that it allows you to directly distribute personalized projects to old fans and new friends alike. I’ve been putting out independent comics for years now, and once it came time to finally collect my first series – Other Worlds – I wanted to do something special. Printing local, distributing original art, lead artist Mike Lawrence sketching in every copy, having a numbered print run, making exclusive buttons…all this qualified as special to me! Come get a copy! Come get TWO!
Q: What influence do you think Kickstarter will have on the comic book industry as a whole for artists?
A: With the Xeric grant soon to be defunct and the preponderance of digital and web comics making online distribution infinitely easier, I see crowd funding sites like Kickstarter as an essential way to keep PRINT comics alive. It costs a hell of a lot of money to print your work at a high standard…and it’s CHEAP compared to even 10 years ago. So we’ve got it better, but that doesn’t make it EASIER. Having folks support the creation of your book means they get a print copy. And print copies are how comics are best read, in my opinion.
Q: What can we expect with the Other Worlds Trade Paperback: Maps and Legends?
A: I wanted to print locally…which is 50% more than printing with an online press. The trade-off, of course, is quality. Other Worlds is filled with diverse stories from diverse artists. Mike Lawrence, the lead illustrator, pulled out ALL the stops. Charcoal, pen and ink, watercolor…it’s all there. Terry Blas toned each of his perfectly rendered pages. Grace Allison penciled and digitally inked her expansive story. Tym Godek has a cut and paste technique I STILL don’t understand. The proof of the TPB I received from Brown Printing here in Portland, Oregon was breathtaking. The reproduction of the art was spot on. Besides art quality, binding quality and paper quality are key as well. In terms of what the audience can expect in terms of storytelling, I’ll let Ashley Cook’s kind review on GFBROBOT.com take it: “Ingenious…Justin Zimmerman’s OTHER WORLDS is a collection of concise and thoughtful short stories packed with a surprising amount of character and setting…”
Q: One of the things about Other Worlds that I found so fascinating is that you use minimal text and tell the story mostly with the pictures allowing the reader to develop dialog on their own. Why did you choose to go this route with this comic book?
A: Thank you for noticing! My second series – The Killing Jar, drawn by the amazing Russ Brown – is much more dialogue heavy. With Other Worlds – because the stories are so diverse – I wanted to concentrate on setting the mood and tone and let the reader do the heavy lifting. I wanted folks to truly pay attention to the setting, pacing and rhythm of each story. In almost every case, I CUT dialogue and narration from the final product. Clean was the most dramatic…I cut EVERYTHING I’d written as accompaniment. Now, that goes to show you what an amazing artist Mike is, but there’s more to it than that. It’s determining what makes something stronger on the page. I’m excited to hear what stories folks like best, and why. The varied interpretations I’ve heard about many of them has already knocked my socks off!
Q: You have a lot of projects on your site. How do you keep track of them?
A: Well, my production company’s site is www.brickerdown.com, and I’m happy to report that many of the projects are wrapped and out in the world. I make my living as a filmmaker – I have my MFA in Film – and I write professionally as well. I’m repped by AKA Literary, which helps keep me focused. Comics are a kind of super-hobby for me. I love them, I want to keep making them, but like everyone else, I must pay the bills. The short answer is I keep track of all my projects because I HAVE to. I need to work on some for money, I need to work on some to give back to the community – like Women of Wonder Day – and I need to work on some to keep me creative…and sane. It’s a balance!
Q: What does your convention schedule look like this year? We know you will be at Emerald City Comic Con. Will you be anywhere else?
A: Mike and I will be at Emerald City, so you can catch us both there. I also have a table at Stumptown in April, and I’m hoping to wrangle Mike into that as well. I plan on being in as many regional fests as possible in 2012…but no more specific plans yet. The easiest way to keep track of Other Worlds showings is at the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/otherworldscomic. The other big news is that I’m the editor of a new line coming out of Portland this year, Grind House Comics, and that The Killing Jar should be wrapped this year. So I’ll be at some fests representing that work as well.
Q: What advice would you give to new comic book artists just starting out in the industry?
A: Get a day job. Learn the value of balancing the creative with the industrial. Carve out the space, time and freedom to concentrate on your craft. Give it your all. Do not defend. Listen. Having an audience engage with your work is their gift to YOU, so act accordingly.
Q: How did your comic book career start? Is there one person or a group of people you look to for day-to-day inspiration?
A: I’m not sure we can call it a career yet, but I love your enthusiasm! I started writing, then I started hiring artists, then I started publishing, then I started going to comic conventions! BAM…here we are! Editing, writing, hiring, the works. Inspiration? I love going to the comic store every week. It’s Excalibur Comics for me. Great people, great community spirit, great reads. Oh, and everything Warren Ellis writes. Man, that guy is the best.
Q: What would you say are the challenges to being an independent comic book person?
A: No more than in any other kind of creative endeavor, I’ve found.
Q: What would you like to see different about the comic book industry?
A: I’d say diversity of material, but there are tons of diverse and even published stories to be found here in Portland. So perhaps I’ll say distribution of the diversity to the masses. The trick is that comics are expensive and that readers are getting more and more impatient as readers. It’s just harder for the average person to slow down and read a comic as a comic…especially on a screen. That’s why I like holding a comic or graphic novel in my hand. But then it’s back to physical distribution and the cost therein…my head hurts.
Q: Where do you think the comic book industry can improve on getting new readers?
A: Now, THIS is the question of the decade for comics as a whole. In the film world, Twilight and the Hurt Locker and Bridesmaids turned a lot of heads. Why? Because they proved unequivocally that women could make sellable products…and that women would go to the theater in droves to support them. SHOCKER. Now, we can debate the individual merits of the films above, but they reminded the industry that their ideas regarding target markets for making money on the products were much too narrow. Sound familiar? The larger question is…what do readers want that they aren’t getting?
Q: Digital comics, the best thing ever for independents or a disaster waiting in the wings?
A: Not sure it’s mutually exclusive. Immediate distribution, no barrier between your talent and the wider world, free. A glut of material, difficult to make your voice heard, potentially a dumbing down of the storytelling medium to suit a new interface. We’ll see. Let’s start talking about 3-D in the theaters next. We’ll be here all day!
Q: How could comics appeal to women better?
A: I believe recent stats show that female comic readership is about 25% of the total market. Not too shabby, but could obviously be better. Cross-apply that with the number of females actually in the larger industry and the stats are very revealing. I believe www.comicbookresources.com does this on a regular basis.
Q: Do you use Tumblr or other sites to promote your comic work? What are the links and what can people expect to find there?
A: I’m all about the Facebook. Come say hi: http://www.facebook.com/justinczimmerman
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