Jimmy - Thank you for taking the time for the interview. I didn't realize what a big shot you are in the comic book industry and how lucky I am that you said OK to this interview. From doing my research on you, I'm fascinated by your personal story. You seem to embody the myth of the American Dream. It's a story about hard work, dedication, risk taking and believing in yourself, things I admire and find rather inspirational. From past interviews you don't feel like you are king of the world, but to many people I'm pretty sure they wish they were you.
Eric - If they only knew the truth, then they'd take that back. [Laughs] It is one of those "pinch yourself” things because wow I'm actually making a living doing this.
J - 2009 marks the 10 year anniversary of “The Goon”, which Calabrese will be playing at the anniversary party in Nashville in March (Friday the 13th). Thank you very much for asking us to play. From your myspace pictures I can tell you throw a good party and know how to party as well.
E- [Laughs] It will be a good time I can almost guarantee that.
J - And also tickets are available for the show so anyone can attend and rub elbows with you and your guests. Check out the website.
For those who do not know, “The Goon” characters have been turned into busts and Mezco action figures and now it's announced an animated movie, which is amazing.
I have a bunch of fresh questions that I'm sure you've never been asked. So here's the first one... Can you describe “The Goon” for those who are not familiar with it?
E - …
J - Just kidding, I know you hate that one.
E - [Laughs]
J - From all the interviews and podcasts you've done I know that's always the first question. I like this description from the website "Back to the Ol Drawing Board" - "It's a hodge-podge of horror, sci-fi, comedy, drama, slapstick, 50s B-movies, and downright weirdness." I think that sums it up.
E- That's a pretty broad description but pretty accurate I guess.
J - Like you say (in other interviews), “The Goon” is something you must see to understand. It's hard to sum it up.
E - It's hard to wrap it up in a blurb.
J - You've stated you started drawing as a kid but how young were you?
E- I don't remember a time when I wasn’t drawing. That's really my earliest childhood memory, laying on my Grandmother’s floor drawing. I really don't remember a time when I wasn't drawing.
J - Do you still have any of those drawings?E - One actually, that my Grandmother saved. It's the only childhood drawing that I have. We've got the one.
J - I'm sure your family are kicking themselves for not saving anymore.
E - [Laughs]
J - How did that cross over into painting? Was that in high school?
E - Yeah, I am really curious about attempting new mediums and experimenting with technique, if you look at the book it's kinda all over the place, a little bit of water color, pencil drawing, ink and all this other stuff mixed together.
For Christmas one year I asked for some oil paints and my Mom was like "you have to take classes for that you can't just paint" [Laughs] and was like "No I just want some oil paints." I actually got some and they said ok we'll sign you up for classes and I didn't want classes I just wanted to play with the paint. And actually that night I painted a little painting and she was like "Oh ok" and that was it. I never really had any formal training I just picked it up. I look at art books and analyze technique and just experiment till I get something going.
J - I like to imagine that you grew up in a shack, like something we'd see in “The Goon”. That you were dirt poor, is that true?
E - Ehh No. [Laughs] I was surrounded by shacks. I had the basic, middle class family, my Dad would work construction and I'd go work with him in the summers but we weren't living in a shack but we weren't wealthy or anything. But maybe I should perpetuate the myth.[Said in a southern redneck accent] “I was sold into male prostitution because my family was too poor”.
J - [Laughs] Alright, you heard it here first. That’s an exclusive.
You say that your Uncle first introduced you to comics. When I was introduced to comics by my Grandma she bought me and my sister Uncle Scrooge and Archie comics. To me comics were not that cool. What were these amazing comics, that your Uncle introduced you to?
E - He had a lot of comics he saved when he was a kid. A bunch of Jack Kirby Marvel comics and Silver Age Marvel stuff. I got to see a lot of that.
J - That makes sense, that you thought they were pretty cool. And you've said in Junior High you were re-introduced to comics. What happened? Where did the comics go?
E - The area I lived in, in Tennessee, there wasn't any. There might have been a center rack in a grocery store but there was no real place for me to have access to any comics. As I grew older I out grew what was available to me, which was not much. When I was in Junior High, a buddy of mine started showing me stuff that I thought was cool. It was creepy and had violence; I was a teenage kid so I liked it. It was much more appealing. I started finding material that was appropriate to my age.
J - In High school you decided you wanted to work in comics. In high school everyone wants to be an artist/rock star/actor? How come no one was able to talk you out of this dream? How come your family didn't tell you go to school for accounting instead?
E - [Laughs] I was lucky. My family was very supportive of me working in comics and as an artist but not necessarily the content. My Mom was always on me because I would always draw monsters and stuff. She thought there was something wrong with me, that I was going to murder people, I don't know what she thought. She was very concerned. I have a kinda twisted sense of humor so I'd always mess with her about it. One time she sat me down and said "I want you to draw me that coffee table, draw something nice" so I did this coffee table with this demonic face and I gave it to her.
J - Was it your family’s influence for you to go the Memphis College Of Art?
E - I was going to go but my girlfriend at the time who became my wife, we became pregnant. I couldn’t transplant all three us to Memphis to go to school, this was right after High school.
J- How come you didn’t give up the dream of art when you ended up having a child?
E - I just didn’t think I could do anything else. Mentally I couldn't give up on it?
J - They didn’t pressure you into a “normal job”?
E - Luckily my family and ex-wife were supportive.
J - In “The Goon V2: My Murderous Childhood” you put your son Gaig in the "live action comic" also in a cream corn ad and used him for the little Goon model. Does he know he should have been paid for this work? Or will you wait till he gets older and he sues you?
E – [Laughs] Those child labor laws! He’ll probably come after me at some point before he turns eighteen. Hope he doesn’t read this.
J - Are your boys into “The Goon”?
E - I let them read certain issues. It’s kinda funny cause they grew up with it, they are not impressed that their Dad does comics.
J - How will they rebel? Are they going to be doctors or lawyers because you do such weird comics?
E - [Laughs] I doubt it. I don’t think their personalities will let them become doctors or lawyers. My oldest son Gaig wants to be a video game designer. He actually has a pretty good imagination so if he puts his mind to it, he’ll probably make it.
J - Do you ever think about your kids when you come up with story ideas, like say…”Satan's Sodomy Baby”?
E - [Laughs] That’s one I haven’t let them read yet.
J - That’s their Dad’s legacy right there.
E - I think about that stuff. I’ve read articles of people who have kids. Like Matt Groening talking about having kids and wondering about the content of “The Simpsons” now. I’m the opposite, you kinda have to stick to your guns. It’s like making greedo shoot first, don’t pussy out, be a man and be true to what you’re doing. You have to be a little punk rock and not sell out just because you have kids.
J - Since you learned your craft on your own, do you think school is worth anything? Is art school for suckers?
E - No, not necessarily. Basically everything I picked up on, I researched on my own and asked people what materials they used. In my point of view if you go to art school they won’t teach you how to draw but they will tell you if you use this kind of paper and this kind of paint you will get this kind of effect. They will give you the tool and knowledge and teach you how to use a technique rather than making you creative.
J - But it still comes down to your own desire to do anything with that.
E - I think school is good to make you more knowledgeable of technique but in the end it’s what you are going to make out of it.
J- Do you think artistic talent is learned or a talent you are born with?
E - I think it’s something that you are born with but it has to be exercised. I think you can train anyone to draw a little bit better but you have to have that creative spark and you need to nurture it and train it, to really make anything out of it.
J - So after high school and the birth of Gaig, did you try and find only art jobs?
E - I did some tattoo flash, not much. I tried painting motorcycle helmets. I was trying to do anything art related to make a little bit of cash.
J - Did you have a regular 9-5 jobs during this time or did you refuse?
E - I worked in an arts and crafts store and for a short time I worked for a company that did color separation for magazine ads and that was a nightmare. It didn’t last long.
J - Like Tarantino working in the video store before he was a director, you worked in an art store.
E - Yeah. I had lots of little sporadic jobs here and there but nothing steady. I was feeling pretty lost at the time. Not knowing what to do.
J - You have said that you wanted to get into comics because you don't want to be a janitor. Why don't you want to be a janitor? What do you have against the janitorial services?
E - [Laughs] I don’t have anything against them. People have a progression of jobs. If I can’t do this, then I’ll do this. For me it was comic book artist, janitor, and construction. [Laughs] That was my second choice. I’ve got nothing against those guys.
J - So while you were doing these jobs you were sending out drawing samples and were getting rejected. Where were you sending samples to? Marvel and D.C.?
E - I sent stuff out to everybody and got the same old rejection letters.
J - Did that spur you on or piss you off?
E - For the most part I’m pretty self deprecating so if someone sends me a response of what I need to work on or if it’s not up to snuff I’m just like “oh ok.” [Laughs] I never thought I deserved a job, “you need to be hiring me”. I never had that attitude or ego about it. The only time I was pissed off or upset about a rejection letter was when I sent some samples to this guy and immediately he sent me some examples of some script pages to see what I could do. I was excited because it was my first interactive response from anybody. So I did these pages up and spent a lot of time on them. I made them as nice as I could and then sent them back. I then received this really shitty letter back blasting me, saying I didn’t spend any time on these and blah, blah, blah. You were supposed to work on the suggestions I made. It was a really snotty, jerky email. That was the only I was pissed off at a rejection letter.
To Be Continued…
For more info about “The Goon” please visit:
http://www.thegoon.com
