Jason, thank you for coming to Gotham Central and allowing me to interview you.
My pleasure, Paul.
My curiosity always get the best of me. Let’s start with the following: name, rank, serial number!! I mean: age, sex, location. No, seriously…what is your ethnic background and place of birth?
I’m Indonesian with Chinese ancestry and I was born in Brampton, Ontario. I moved to Mississauga when I was seven. I’ve been living in Toronto for the past six, seven years.
Lucas Barrett: an intentional autobiographical depiction of yourself? Or is he loosely based on you with exaggerated elaboration?
It’s the latter. Definitely the latter. Most of his experience dressing up in costume has come from my experiences cosplaying when I was part of a charity group called the X-Men of Toronto. When you’re walking around the streets of Toronto in a super-hero costume, sometimes that idea of playing a super-hero is not that welcome. So, some of those experiences I’ve shared in the comic. The times you see him fight super-villains or monsters – that’s all exaggerated, for sure. [laughs]
I’m impressed by the labour of love for the very first issue. Writing, pencilling, and inking 52 pages is nothing to sneeze at!! Plus, no ads to cut the story. Kudos!!
Thank you. Well, you know, if I want to make sure to get the job done, I got to do it myself. I’ve worked on a number of collaborations and sometimes I find it’s hard to rely on other people to do their fair share of work so I took it upon myself to do all the roles in the comic. It’s extremely fulfilling to not be able to share the credit just because it’s all done by me. Except for Allison, who helps edit the comic and makes it very readable for the audience.
You went to Kickstarter to fund this personal project. The endeavour exceeded expectations. To say you were thrilled and overjoyed is an understatement. Exactly when did this all originate?
When did the Kickstarter originate or when did –?
Your idea for Pitiful Human-Lizard and then getting into Kickstarter, etcetera.
Well, the idea of Human-Lizard actually came from high school. He was one of my first super-hero characters that I created. I guess the character was usually a go-to whenever I felt like doing a super-hero story. Even back in college when I wanted to do another one, I revisited the Human-Lizard and each time I did that, I would revamp him and retool him a little bit to make him more relevant for the times. For the latest version, it was heavily inspired by the old Marvel comics from the 60’s ,70’s,. I wanted to bring that kind of fun and excitement from yesteryear and try to make him relevant for today’s audience.
I thought so! I was just about to say that!! You’re obviously on my psychic wavelength!!! My next point is this: I see a lot of Marvel influence in your work. From the blatant to the more subtle — (1) The LOC,
LOC? Oh, wait! No, I don’t know what you’re referring to. But then again I’m not fully awake and haven’t had my coffee [laughs].
Well, you better have some of that! It’s the Letters of Opinion Column that you write. (2) the deliberate allusion to an amazing arachnid in issue one, (3) the Hot Tasty Cake ads which are a throwback to Hostess’ products,
Definitely.
(4) the editor’s notes, and (5) the trade dress for issue four which is an homage to Power Man and Iron Fist.
Correct.
Anything else escape my attentive eyes?
They still do this now (editor’s notes). Back in the day whether it was issue #250 or something, they try to make the issue accessible for new readers. They want to fill in the blanks. For example, issue #510 could be someone’s first comic book. That’s how I treat all my issues. I’ve written up to #5. I want it to be just as enjoyable as issue #1 as well as a stand-alone. People can just pick up one or the other. That little tidbit will entice the reader to pick up another book 😉
Very true!! You’re not laying on the continuity too thick for the readers. It’s not garbled or anything like that.
Each issue feels like a full episode of the series.
Like any other skilled writer, you do lay sub-plots or plant little seeds so that eventually they do connect. That way, one can see the overall picture.
Definitely! I want my fans and followers to invest in the series. I want to inform them of big events coming their way.
Lucas Barrett. What is his ethnicity? His parents do not look completely Caucasian despite the first and last names. Are they based off your progenitors?
Hugh Barrett, the father of Lucas Barrett is Caucasian, Canadian. His wife is Chinese, rather Canadian-Chinese. It’s funny because I’m writing issue #6 and I dive more into the history of his parents. They were Toronto celebrities back in their heyday. The likeness of Lucas’ mom was definitely inspired by mine. There are some moments that I’ve shared through these characters.
Tons of Canadiana, specifically the T-Dot, T.O., the 6. I will list some of the “obvious” to non-Torontonians: the CN Tower, Honest Ed’s, the TTC, the Ex grounds, and too many more to mention. I will say it’s a love letter to the city.
I haven’t prominently featured the CN Tower in my comics.
You are absolutely right!
I want to show the audience that there’s more to Toronto than that. There are a lot of great sites. It can work as a travel brochure in a very fun super-hero way.
Since you are a mono-manual machine, how long does it take to patch a full comic? The frequency between the five issues fluctuates from four months to three to two.
The time it takes to make one entire issue: one week to script it, two weeks to pencil, two weeks to ink, a week and a half to colour and letter. It’s close to two months for completion. I have to lay it out to make sure it’s ready for the printers. They in turn take their time with it. Usually, I’ll say three months in total for a 24-page issue.
Especially that first one which was double-sized!! It came out in May 2014. How long were you working on that?
Issue #1 is where I spent a lot more time. I laid out all the groundwork. I had to figure out the background for each individual character and how they relate to Toronto. Major writing process and character design. Once I figured out all that, it became so much easier for me.
You give lots of love to homegrown talent. There is the real ad for Black Hole Hunters Club by Ricky Lima and Shane Heron in issue one; Brian McLachlan’s Losing Streak in issue two; Paved Shoulder by Steve Manale in issue three as well as fan art from Gotham Central’s own Andrew Thomas; Evan Munday’s The Great Drakes in issue four. That one made me laugh a lot!! The current issue, number five, has The Mississauga Marauder by Adam Gorham with Greg Harms.
I wanted to give a lot to the readers. I wanted to show that there’s a bigger world in my comic universe filled with all these Canadian super-heroes. I wanted to create a mini-anthology within Pitiful Human-Lizard. It’s a two-in-one.
Yes! I think that’s very admirable and noble. You’re not all about the ego. You’re wanting others, like myself, to realize that there are so many unfamiliar creators (lesser-named wouldn’t be the right term) who are out there toiling away to achieve some form of success.
Oh yeah, I think that the local talents that I got on board are much more famed than me. We got Brian McLachlan who’s worked for Owl Magazine – and same with Steve Manale. Evan Munday – he’s also a Silver Birch-nominated children’s author. He’s done some comics in the Toronto scene. Adam Gorham who’s hitting it big with Valiant Comics in the series Dead Drop. Their names have a lot of weight. That’s why I brought them in: to come up with their own spin on a Canadian super-hero.
I think you’re getting up there too. You’re joining the big leagues.
We’ll see! [laughs]
Issue three has two exclusive variants: EH! Variant from Gotham Central Comics & Collectibles done by Mike Rooth as well as the Silver Snail Comics cover. Who illustrated that one?
I illustrated the Silver Snail cover. It was actually intended to be just a promo ad for the launch of my issue two that was going to be hosted at the Silver Snail. George Zotti, who’s the owner of the shop, approached me and he mentioned: “You know, I would definitely like to have this as the variant cover for your next issue.” I agreed to that: “Done! Yeah, let’s get that made.” Carlos [Camara], from Gotham Central, also wanted a variant of his own. I got one of the heavy hitters, Mike Rooth, who knocked it out of the ballpark with this amazing cover of Mother Wonder. The great thing about Mike Rooth is he’s awesome in drawing these epic-looking Vikings/Asgardian figures. Every figure is like some Greek God, in a way. And that’s what I wanted him to do with Mother Wonder and have her tower over the very meek-looking Human-Lizard.
For your own variant here, these are just customers or are these employees?
Yeah, those are all the employees of the [Silver] Snail. I made sure to capture almost everyone. By the time issue #3 came out, there were three new employees that hadn’t been seen by me. Gradually, I would fit them in as a cameo in the next issue.
I only gladly picked it up but didn’t realize it until you launched #5 almost two weeks ago. It was caught in my radar. “Hey, there’s the Snail variant!” I know they do that for certain titles, just like our store here at Gotham Central does that. Excellent!
The mini-comics are a pure delight and a super-sweet treat. I don’t have the Mother Wonder issue 🙁 When did you decide to produce these?
The idea of having a mini-comic actually came to me when I was hanging out with my friend, Eric Kim. He has this huge collection of all these mini comics and ashcans. He was showing me some of these concepts. There was this one of these two-page mini comics done by this one artist. The story behind it was that every show that he would go to, he would make a hundred copies of this one comic exclusively for that show. I thought “That’s a great idea. I want to do the same thing whenever I’m at shows, that way it gives readers something new whenever they come to my table because it’s going to take me three months to complete an issue. While they’re waiting for the next issue, at least they have a little something extra and they can actually keep tabs of what’s going on with the Human-Lizard between each issue.
I’m thrilled to even see these ^_^ It was a pleasant surprise when I went to your signing for number five. These comics are compact enough to act as brochures or pocket material. If we were to go back a few decades, people didn’t care about conditions and just shoved them in their back pockets and whatnot.
The funny thing is, I call these comics the “Made in Chinatown” minis. This is a brand that was invented by Guerilla Printing, which is one of the printing houses in Chinatown off Spadina. My friend, Darwin, runs it and this was one of those ideas that came out of our business partnership. When you look at these little books, they also remind you of Chinese restaurant menus, in a way. That’s how I think of them.
There’s usually a ritual whenever I print two hundred copies from their print shop, then I would go to a nearby Chinese restaurant and Instagram the new mini comic to let people know that it’s all ready. It would be in a Chinese restaurant setting to give that “made in Chinatown” vibe.
Well, you’re two for two because you’re in my headspace here, I was going to say, was this a play-on-words for the phrase “made in China” and, as you’ve mentioned already, Guerilla Printing put them out for you and I already realized that their office, as you said, is on Spadina. Correct? Fantastic! If I’m not mistaken, I also saw links to PHL Digital Comics and the back cover for this one, number four of your mini, shows the one I’m missing which is the Mother Wonder. Some covers are unfamiliar to me.
I don’t have any digital comics available yet. I do have a Facebook page to shop online for the next issues. Most of the earlier “Chinatown” comics are sold out since there are limited quantities. I number each one of them, between 200 and 250. I made 250 for the Captain Canuck crossover. I wanted some extras to give out at the upcoming FANeXpo. I’ll be having a panel there with the Chapter House crew. We’ll be discussing new material from the publishing house. I’ll be signing at their booth and handing out the free Captain Canuck crossover.
At least your editor told me there was one for Free Comic Book Day. That’s okay. I’m hoping that…
There’s a new one that will be ready for FANeXpo. It’s going to be like a Marvel horror theme featuring the Grizzly Biker and Majestic Rat’s two mutant rats Carter and Mullinick.
You’ve created a rich, compelling, endearing cast within PHL. Each character represents a different facet of the human condition – Lucas is desperately in need of breaking away from the 9-to-5, Kenneth is a gentle soul who needs a solid companion, Bev is a working mom, Barb is a dedicated teacher (like me) who has some anger management issues (sometimes me ;-), Hugh’s parents are extremely loving and thoughtful, Claire is a firm but friendly and understanding boss.
You got that mostly right. Definitely.
Care to correct me?
I don’t know if Barb is a dedicated teacher. Initially, maybe she was. She’s in the same scenario as Lucas: she’s trying to find some excitement from her mundane life by dressing up as a vigilante.
***Special thanks to Austin Chuck-Yin for his invaluable assistance in the transcribing of this first part***
[Tune in tomorrow for part two, multi-fans of Jason Loo!!]
