"Beasts of Burden" Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson Interview

The spotlight on the comics industry seems to be growing rapidly, especially in light of intense media coverage around events such as Comic-Con. What do you like best about working in this medium, and do you think there are still any misconceptions about the industry, both in terms of what the stories offer and whom it appeals to?

Evan: What I like best about comics is the complete control of the material, and how relatively it is to make comics. All you need is a pen and some paper, or a computer, and some sort of idea, and you can make comics. You get to be a writer, a director, a set designer, an art director, an actor, you create worlds and situations and you can do whatever you want to put across your ideas, stories, and gags. That doesn't mean you get much of an audience doing that, most of us don't, but it's still a great medium. Anything you can imagine, you can get down on paper to the best of your abilities, and show to others to read and look at. I like using words and pictures to tell a story or put across a joke, there's a rhythm to laying out a page, and a lot of decisions to make within all those pages and panels. I'm not an academic or a capital-A artist, I can't describe the formal aspects of comics or even my own process in great, grand detail, but the possibilities are endless in how you can approach the page or project and organize your thoughts and images to make your comics, which is why I think it's a shame most people only think of comics as superheroes smashing one another, or Archie. That's changing, to a degree, the last decade has seen an explosion of high-profile artistic and "literary" comics, classic strip reprints, translations of foreign comics including a wealth of manga of all stripes, and some well-received so-called mainstream superhero and genre work. We're in a sort of Golden Age of comics right now. I just wish sales reflected that along with the publicity. Comics are for everyone, unless they're illiterate. And even then there's wordless, pantomime comics, so, comics are pretty much for everyone, like film, music, books. People just don't know it. I hope they find out, because the comics industry has traditionally done a lousy job of letting folks know this. There's a comic out there for practically everyone. All the genres and sub-genres are represented, for all age groups and interests. People just assume comics are juvenile crap. A lot of them are, but the same can be said of Hollywood films and pop songs.

Jill: I love this storytelling medium. I've always wanted to create comics (ever since) I was a little girl. I sent samples to companies starting in junior high. Each time I got an 'encouraging' rejection letter, I would not get disheartened; I assumed when I got proficient enough, I'd get hired. And I kept learning and studying and went to art school, so I love the fact that the work is so personal (and) sometimes an extension of the creator. Also the only limitations on these stories are our imaginations. For the price of pen, paper, ink and paint, you have an unlimited budget. That's something TV and movies do not have. Plus the act of reading comics is not a passive form of entertainment. There are instances in the storytelling where the reader has to fill in the actions between panels, engage their brain to read, follow the flow of action and light and shadow across the page. The reader becomes part of the process. (In terms of) misconceptions about the industry? Well, I suppose just that our fans are stereotypical cannot geeks. The comics readership is as wide and diverse as any other fandom.

Do you think there are any similarities between comics readers and animal lovers, particularly from the fan perspective?

Jill: They both seem to be passionate about the things they love!

Evan: Obviously some folks from both groups can be a bit obsessive, but that's true of a lot of folks and their interests. Comics has crazy fans with stacks of books and collectibles cluttering their house, maybe they're the equivalent of crazy cat ladies. Fans can get nutty, and take their hobby too seriously, to the point of living for their hobby. At least animals are living things you can relate to. I like both.

Can you talk a little bit about your other upcoming projects?

Jill: Other than more Beasts of Burden, I'm writing and illustrating The Little Endless Storybook 2, and I'm hoping to get my Scary Godmother books and comics back in print. I have some other projects pitched but nothing else has been green-lit.

Evan: I'm currently doing work for Bongo Comics, who publish comics based on "The Simpsons" show and characters. My wife, Sarah Dyer, and I are finishing up work on the third season of the Nick children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba!" We've been writing scripts for the series, and are also art-directing an animated segment for an episode. Beyond that I'm working on a script for a one-shot Dark Horse comic, and slowly working on a new issue of a comic called Milk and Cheese that I do every once in a plaid moon.