Bobby: “Gimme War’ is all out, loud and heavy. Very bare bones, but that’s the way I like it. This is the song that
wakes you up in the morning when all you have to drink is decaf. We filmed in a junkyard during one of the hottest
days of the summer, which I think helped the intensity of the video. We even did it in a single take. How can ya beat
that? Crank your speakers to 11 and get fucking wild!”
(The Dark is Who I Am)
We wrote this one in the studio, it's one of quickest songs we've ever written and one of the coolest songs to date. We wrote it with Bog Hoag, producer madman, who laid down some really great synths and shaped it into the song it is. Heavily influenced by Goblin and Giallo soundtracks from the 70's and 80's.
(Down in Misery)
Understanding who you are is the smartest move you can make. It's freeing. It's not giving a shit. This song is kind of our "anti-hero song," it's about being a miserable person and liking it. Getting down into your own misery. Why not? No one likes you for who you are and what you do, but so what? Who cares? I think if you know, deep down, that you're a miserable person, it's almost like you aren't miserable anymore. It's accepting yourself on your own terms.
Why be something you're not?
(Teenage Crimewave)
This song was originally intended for "Born With a Scorpion's Touch," so it has more of a garage-y, punk tone to it, which fit perfectly at the time. It eventually made it's way to the new record, which I think breaks it up a bit. Influenced by madmen, weirdos and crime spree thrill seekers. It's a bloodbath in the concrete jungle.
(Flesh and Blood)
A love song, plain and simple. Down to the core it's very animalistic, violent and strange.
(Lust For Sacrilege)
I wanted a song that could capture the entire mood of the album. Heavy drums, large choruses and an emphasis on evil. This is what we're about. It's about falling in love with death and destruction. It's about knowing who you are and your burning lust for sacrilege.
(Wanted Man)
Another lone-wolf song, we wrote this really quick and easily. It came out natural and really to the point. A lot of our songs are influenced by loneliness, depravity and just not giving a shit.
(Serpentflame)
I love New Orleans. Who doesn't dig New Orleans? We wanted a song that could capture the murky, creepy atmosphere of the city. It's about evil women, voodoo and death. It's got a very Cult-like vibe to it, which I think is great. The Cult are fantastic. Crank this jam to 11.
(Gimme War)
GIMME WAR is all out, loud and heavy. Very bare bones, but that's the way I like it. This is the song that wakes you up in the morning when all you have to drink is decaf. The solo is very Greg Ginn, whom I think is the coolest punk guitarists of all time. Dissonant chords and bizarre timing, it's total genius and totally shitty at the same time. Nothing gets better than that. All hail Black Flag.
(New York Ripper)
I love the chugging riff to this one. It's heavy and melodic and sucks you in from the start of the distorted drums. The song is pretty self-explanatory. "Her dead body broken in the river." Pretty heavy stuff.
(Lords of the Wasteland)
We live in a desert, lots of dirt, dead plants and empty spaces. We're heavily influenced by the landscape in which we live, so a lot of our songs tend to reflect that. A lot of post-apocalyptic films and books definitely help. Everyone gets the feeling of living in a nowhere town, a black hole in the middle of a dead civilization. This song is for all you wastelanders.
(Drift Into Dust)
A lot of our songs tend to revolve around serial killers, I have no idea why but it always manifests it's way into our music. This song is no exception. It's Roy Orbison meets Chris Isaak meets Elvis Presley. It's about love and death and everything that leads up to it.
I met with Brian at a Borders bookstore here in Arizona, the same one where we first met to discuss theVoices of the Dead music video he directed. I brought my trusty hand held recorder, and a few pages of questions with the intent to dig deeper into the creative force that is Brian Pulido. Not only is Brian a writer, director, producer, and comic creator (Lady Death, Evil Ernie) but has a positive “can do” attitude, and entrepreneurial spirit that I admire. His current movie project, The Graves, that he wrote and directed (and features Calabrese), has been added to the After Dark Horrorfest – 8 Films to Die For. TheAfter Dark Horrorfest runs for one week in theatres across the United States from January 29 – February 5, making it the largest nationwide film festival. Be sure to check it out. Now on with the interview! Part 1 - Origins
Jimmy Calabrese: Let’s start at the beginning. Tell me about growing up in New Jersey. Brian Pulido: I grew up in Long BranchNew Jersey, on the wrong side of the tracks, until about first grade. We lived on Joline Avenue in this creepy three story house. One of my earliest recollections was of a little mouse caught in a vent grate in the second story. I was trying to get my family’s attention about this mouse and no one would listen. Later that night while we were eating at the kitchen table, which was directly above the grate, the mouse fell and landed in my mother’s tea cup. That was living on Joline Avenue.
JC: Laughs. BP: My mom turned me on to horror movies and crazy movies. I'd watch shows like Chiller Theater, and Creature Feature as a kid. My childhood really was a blast. We came from very modest means. I think we were pretty poor the first couple of years of my life, but I was a kid and wouldn't know the difference. We never went without a meal.
When I was seven or eight, we moved to the other side of town called Elberon, which was a nice middle class side of town. Growing up was great there. That was a time when people would have their doors open, and as a kid you would wander around into different people’s houses; have a snack, see what's going on. You could cut through people’s backyards, and it was no big deal back then. You felt like Huck Finn back then, great times.
JC: Your life as a child sounds great, but I heard you had a reading disability? How did that affect you?
BP: As a kid, when I moved from one side of the track to the other, so to speak, the new school did not recognize that I had it, so I got left back a grade. That was emotionally devastating. I thought that was flawed. But being a kid you can get over things pretty quickly. The turning point for me was when they put me in this special reading class in third grade. They would teach you to read with these stories that were color coded. That in particular got me excited for reading. I started with the easy stuff like Dick and Jane, ultimately getting to more complicated stories. I got seduced by reading. By third grade I learned the value of reading, and I caught up. I took off and became a voracious reader and story teller. I even ended up writing my own comics and half baked stories. As early as fifth grade I wrote my own versions of what would happen if I were in the middle of Night of the Living Dead. JC: If you didn’t go through that struggle and hardship, do you think you would still love reading and writing as much?
BP: It's hard to say if I would or wouldn't have gone to that level of reading. But I've gravitated to it. I'm still a voracious reader to this day. I'll have five or ten different things going at once, in all the different bathrooms in my house.
JC: Laughs.
BP: Right now, I'm reading The Steven King Companion, finishing up a story called Plague Year. I have five or six magazine articles that range everywhere from business to home theater. I think it might have been luck that I connected with something that I enjoy.
JC: And didn't your family own a business?
BP: My dad was a short order chef for most of my life at the Sand Piper Restaurant. My dad made the best sandwiches, burgers, and home fries. My mom was the head waitress at a Mob run restaurant until she passed away. JC: Which Mob?
BP: Everybody’s dead, I don't say nothin’. But it was on the Jersey shores.
JC: Laughs.
BP: Literally they are all dead. But my sister and her husband owned nail salons and hair salons. So I was in that environment too. As a strange aside, I used to cut hair. I was into punk and that was the punk thing to do, be a punk skateboarder who cut hair. I was the dude in the neighborhood who did that. I did that all the way into college to make extra money. JC: So growing up around those family businesses, did that inspire your entrepreneurial streak?
BP: For sure, observing my sister and brother-in-law in business, trying new businesses and trying new things, mapped my brain out. In my adult life I've worked as an employee at a business for only nine months, the first nine months of college, and since then I've been on my own. So I saw how they would do it. Not only would they own their business, but they might do a publishing venture. They also attempted a cheesecake business, which didn't work but they just kept going. Yeah, I think I learn from them.
JC: How does your family feel about the horror aspect of what you do?
BP: My sister is unconditionally supportive. What I do in particular is not to her taste but she has always been supportive. I give her a lot of credit because in many low points in my life she's been the person to be there, to prop me up.Like when I was a teen having trouble with girls, she'd give me the inside scoop on how to handle it. There were also tough times financially when I went to college. I was the first one in our family that went to college, and she helped financially and emotionally. My sister has always been unconditionally supportive of me.
JC: You’ve said in past interviews that your mom was a horror fan, and that she brought you to see Night of the Living Dead when you were seven years old. Why would your mother do such a thing! BP: I don't know, but it was amazing. I think it was the first weekend that the movie came out. My mother brought me and my sister, and our two friends. I'm guessing she took us because we were used to movies like the Amazing Colossal Man, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Although, they were totally scary to me as a kid, they were not of the level of Night of the Living Dead. When we went to that movie it was a whole different reckoning.
I think some people can look at that movie today and not feel the fear that we did. When we saw that movie, within fifteen minutes we were totally and utterly terrified. The fear was palpable. We actually left early cause it was too much for us. We went to visit our Aunt Loretta, who happened to live in a house off the main road, which just happened to look like the one from the movie, a little deserted farm house which terrified us even more. It took a couple of years later to finally face the fear and watch the movie all the way through. I probably sweat like ten pounds because of the nightmares it gave me. To me, that movie was a whole other level. JC: So was that your defining horror movies moment? Is that how you got hooked on horror?
BP: It is. To this day, I like all sorts of horror to some degree, but that total nihilistic apocalyptic situation, where there's an evil outside force that's super dominant, but the true evil is among the people, who fight amongst each other…when that is done well, it's the tastiest stuff to me. It's ruined me in a way because those are the movies I'm always looking for. Recently the movie The Mist was satisfying. So was 28 Days Later from a couple of years ago. Those heavy nihilistic siege movies are remarkable, and few and far between. Studio horror movies like the Orphan are just not for me. I couldn't care less. The Exorcist is another great movie. The multiple layers of taboo that is violated, the amount of horror that is inflicted on that family is outrageous to this day. It just ruins you for other horror films, they are just so damn good, and the other ones just don't give you the buzz. JC: What kind of comics did you read as a child? What was the fist comic that got you hooked? BP: I've read comics consistently since 1970, but I distinctly remember Captain America starting in August of 1976, I think. Issue 176, which is very interesting - Captain America quits. Captain America sees something go down and he quits. Being a guy cognizant of the politics during the Nixon era, it was very interesting to pick up Captain America at the moment in time when Captain America was also disillusioned by his government. I also like comics you’d imagine I'd like such as Werewolf by Night, and Man Thing. I actually enjoyed a lot of superhero kinda stuff, and I still do. I was more of a Marvell guy, than a DC guy. I also have a collect of Where Monsters Dwell, and Monsters on the Prowl.
When I was a kid, about 12 years old, I was really smart about comics. When the new comics would come out on a Wednesday, I would grab all the #1 issue of something. I would get every single #1 from everywhere in town before everyone else. I then told kids I had a collector’s items and sold them for 20 times the value. I was really intelligent on the comics until I grew up just enough to where girls took over my brain.
Let’s jump right back into the interview, we last left Eric as he recalled all the rejection letters from when he first started…
Jimmy - So ignoring the rejection letters, you brought your portfolio to show Bernie Wrightson. Bernie was doing a signing at a local comic shop. What did you think would happen? He'd take you under his wing?
Eric – I really didn’t have an expectation. I was like wow, Bernie Wrightson was going to be in Nashville. I was just excited to meet him. I was hoping I would get some advice or some word of encouragement. Tom Sniegoski who I met there, who really jump started my career, remembers exactly what I said to Bernie, I guess I plopped down my portfolio on the table and said “do you think I have a chance?”
J – [Laughs]
E – Bernie was really encouraging and it was nice to meet him. It was a fateful day because up until then I was not getting any positive feedback.
J – By believing in yourself and taking a change to meet Bernie Wrightson it actually put you in contact with Tom Sniegoski. Do you think writers are always looking for artists and that’s why he was able to spot your talent?
E – Writers can’t draw so they are always looking for someone to work with.
J – And Tom helped you get your first real comic industry job “Razor: Uncut” series. Did Tom write the issues that you drew?
E – He wrote them and I drew them.
J – What did you learn from that first real job in the industry?
E – I learned to work from a script a little better. Up until then I’d never really done anything, I was really learning on the fly, like how to make layouts from a script and about story telling.
J – Did Tom help you with this?
E- He pretty much gave me free reign. I got spoiled by Tom because he knows how to write a script for an artist. A lot of guys will write a comic book script with a whole string of action and I only have one panel to work with. I try to describe it as writing a film script but instead of filming it with a movie camera you are filming it with a still camera. You have to take single snap shots. A lot of guys don’t understand that. Tom is really good about just giving the information that you need and not overdoing it.
J – So you were really lucky to work with him at the beginning. If it was anyone else…
E – I’d probably put a gun to my head.
J –[Laughs] Are you still friends with him? Have you gotten him any jobs?
E – Yeah I’m still friends with Tom we actually worked on a young readers series called “Billy Hooten” I did the covers and some illustrations for that. I actually did get him a job once. Marvel contacted me about doing a “Devil Dinosaur” book which is this crazy 1970’s Jake Kirby comic about a giant red dinosaur. Ironically Tom and I were talking about “Devil Dinosaur” a couple of weeks before so I called Tom and said “guess what Marvel just offered me?” So we worked on that together.
J – After the “Razor: Uncut” work you did some Freelance work, then you ended up releasing the Goon with Avatar Press but you were not happy with it.
E – The production value was not good; the ink would come off on your hands when you read the book. The covers looked like someone took a can of black spray paint to them. I talked to them about the production value asking if they could at least get it on a better grade of paper and they said the sales didn’t justify putting it on better paper. So we had a little bit of conflict with that. So we parted ways.
J - You state your turning point was the 2001 Wizard World convention in Chicago?
E – Yeah [Laughs] it was pretty pathetic. I bought a table for about one hundred bucks, I had been drawing some Buffy comics for Dark Horse but that stuff dried up. I was doing some inking work for Marvel and all that work dried up. So I didn’t have any work coming in. I had this Artist Alley table at the convention and I only did one sketch for twenty bucks so it didn’t even pay for the table. I drove out there by myself and I drove back all pissed off. It was a point where I thought “Is this going to work or should I quit?” It was a six or seven hour drive and I had the whole time to think about it. It was pretty sad but I realized I was never able to do what I wanted to do. So I decided to self publish my book to see what happens.
J - I can really relate to you going DIY and self-publishing. That’s what Calabrese has done with all our recordings and merchandise.
E – It’s really gratifying. I like being at Dark Horse but it was really gratifying when I put it out on my own.
J – You had to take out a loan to self-publish, was it a business loan? I know printing comics can be expensive. Didn’t you have credit cards?
E – I think I had an auto loan at the time and my ex and I went there to take out a small personal loan. Luckily we were able to pay it back with the first two books. That was nice.
J – That was my next question did you ever pay it off.
E - That’s when I actually got excited. Wow, this was going to work. I honestly didn’t believe it was going to work. It was one of those things that I had to try or I’d wonder “if” my whole life. I thought I’d take out a huge loan, I’d put out a couple of books so I could say “did you see my comic I put out a few years back… No?” Then I’d have to get a regular job to pay back the loan.
J – Could you have kept self-publishing when Dark Horse approached you or was it becoming too much work to handle by yourself?
E – I spent too much time doing the busy stuff, the advertising, dealing with the printer. It took away too much from actually drawing the book and because Dark Horse has much bigger distribution, I just jumped at it when they offered.
J - What's your comedy influences? It seems somewhat slapstick- any 3 Stooges influence?
E – There’s a lot of Python, to me anyway. I also think its part of where I grew up, the violent humor.
J – Seriously “Monty Python”? Have you actually laughed at a Monty Python sketch?
E – [Laughs] I do I think it’s funny. It’s absurd, the kinda funny that makes no sense.
J – You’ve also mentioned “The Andy Griffith Show”?
E – Yeah, it’s a weird thing. That’s what I grew up watching, I think that actually influenced my work. Also the “Twilight Zone”, “The Little Rascals” all those old stupid black and white T.V. shows.
J – I can see that.
E – I think it also has a lot to do with where I grew up. I don’t know how to put it, there seems to be this level of cruelty here.
J – Why to you think that is?
E – That cruelty in humor? I don’t know, I think it’s a redneck thing. In a more sophisticated area they treat their dogs like children and here they tie their dog up to a tree and leave him out in a rain storm.
J – [Laughs] Here's a quote from you: "Back in the yester-years when VCRs were a new technology, me and my sister used to rent videos from the back of the Dairy Queen, one horror move and one comedy." Can you tell me more about this “Dairy Queen”, it sounds amazing.
E – [Laughs] When VCR technology really started to click, out here the first place you could rent movies was the back of the Dairy Queen. There was this little addition they built on to the back of it. It was a little ten by ten room with shelves filled with videos. Every weekend we’d go out there and rent videos. We had to get something funny and something scary. We’d sprinkle in the action movie now and then to see shit blow up.
J – What horror movies influenced your psyche?
E – The most obvious influence on “The Goon” was “The Evil Dead.” The Universal Monster stuff was pretty influential early in my childhood like Frankenstein. We used to rent slasher movies, “Friday The 13th” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
J – The cover art of those video boxes back then were amazing. How could you not resist renting a horror movie?
E – It’s kinda a shame they don’t paint posters anymore or the movie box covers. Remember the poster for the first “Nightmare On Elm Street”? That’s a great painting. The one with the claw.
J – Or “Halloween” where the knife morphs into the pumpkin. Based on past interviews, why do you think you cannot draw pretty people very well or modern buildings with details?
E – It takes a subtly to draw a pretty face. A person with character you put lines in there face and you give them a weird nose. That stuff I can scribble out just fine. Drawing something attractive you have to be really subtle with your lines. If your drawing a twenty year old woman and you put a line by her nose all of the sudden she’s forty.
J – So it’s not a product of low self-esteem or a bad childhood, it’s just a style preference.
E – If I was going to read any of that into my art it would be more in the writing than in the drawing. I just like drawing creepy ugly guys. It’s more of an aesthetic thing. I’m attracted to monster movies and Frankenstein. It’s boring to draw the pretty happy person. I want to draw the big ugly guy who’s rejected.
J – What was your influence on story telling? That’s a different talent than drawing.
E – It’s something that just came naturally. I never really studied other than looking at movies. After I started working in comics I started thinking about telling stories more. I was kinda going on instinct before. I thought I should develop the storytelling a little bit better. The best training I think I got was from Spielberg movies like “Jaws” and “Close Encounters”. There is a deliberate pace and visual quality that would work perfect in comics. There are not a lot of quick crazy cuts in those movies and composition was really nice. It’s not the same medium but his movies are a great tool to study storytelling.
J - You have said to break into the comic industry you need to dedicate practically all your time. Are you at a point in your career you can take a breather? Do you work every day, do you take weekends off?
E – It seems like I work every day. Unless I’m at a convention, I do a little something everyday. Last year we took “The Goon” and did it monthly for a year because we had this big story and that burnt me out. I couldn’t wait for that to be over, it was a non-stop workload. After each issue they were on me for the next one, it was a constant rush.
J – Do you have any hobbies? How do you make time for your family?
E – You just have to make time. When my boys come over and I have a deadline they sit on the floor and draw with me or they come in and out. As far as hobbies go, I watch movies and listen to music. I’m pretty much doing a hobby for a living. The only thing I’d really like to do, and I keep thinking about it but I don’t even bother cause I know I don’t have the time- I want to have an old muscle car.
J – [Laughs] No you’re never going to have any time for that. You have to wait till you retire- if you ever retire.E – [Laughs] Screw comics I’m going to work on this old car.
J – The movie coming up looks pretty exciting. I looked up the Director David Fincher and I see he’s directed “Alien”, “Fight Club” and “Se7en”. Your animated movie looks like it’s going to be the real deal.
E – I hope so. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we actually get this thing going. Blur, the animation studio, has been doing some test stuff and it looks amazing. I’ve been having story meetings with Fincher and the Blur guys and I think we got it going in a really good direction.
J – What kind of rating are you going for?
E – I think PG or PG-13. It’s definitely going to be a little edgy, we are not going to tone anything down. We want it to be what it is. Fincher and Blur realize if we start stripping it down and taking the “balls” off it’s going to be this watered down thing, not “The Goon.”
J – Yeah, then what’s the point?
E – It’s not the reason people got into it.
J – The Mezco toys of “The Goon” turned out really cool.
E – Yeah I was really happy with them. I wish they sold better so they would do a second series. [Laughs]
J – When the movie comes out I hope they produce more action figures.
E – Yeah, once we have a release date for the movie I’m sure there be all kinds of merchandise happening.
J - Do your boys play with “The Goon” action figures?
E – Yeah, I gave them some of the action figures and they played with it for a little and then they moved on to their robots and stuff.
J – [Laughs]
E - Again, they are just not impressed. They are a like “yeah it’s just this thing my dad does, whatever.”
J - Do you do any exercises to keep from getting carpal tunnel? Is that even an issue?
E – I haven’t had any problems with it yet. I’ve had a few times where I’ve had to pull some crazy weeks and my hand and wrists start giving me trouble so I put on a workout bandage. [Laughs] I don’t know if that’s good or bad for it but it makes my wrists stop hurting.
J – I assume you are open to a Goon video game especially if the movie explodes.
E – I already talked to Blur about that. Blur does a lot of animatics for video games so we are definatly talking about it.
J – Have you thought about the Wii? You can make it so when you punch your the Goon.
E – That would be awesome. I’m going to suggest that – “Wii Goon.” So you can punch zombies and stuff.
J – So when you listen to music while you’re working have you ever listened to Calabrese?
E – Hell yeah. That CD I picked up at DragonCon, I listen to it all the time. J – That warms the cockles of my heart. E – [Laughs] I wouldn’t have asked you guys to take part in the party if I didn’t listen to your music.
J – They say art imitates life. After viewing your drunken debauchery on myspace I'm starting to think Nortons Pub is a real place in your world somewhere.
E – [Laughs] I wish there was, I need a Nortons Pub. I need some place I can roll out of bed and go hang out in but unfortunately I don’t live anywhere close to a Nortons Pub.
J – I have few last questions about some projects you worked on. I see you were one of the inkers on Brian Pulido’s 1st issue of "Evil Ernie: Returns" on Chaos Comics.
E – Did I?
J – That’s what the internet says…if you want to believe that.
E – I don’t think so? Or maybe I did? I think I might have done a fill in page. If I did, it was like only a few pages.
J – Brian Pulido directed our music video so I was hoping you had some Brian Pulido stories.
E – Actually I didn’t have any contact with Pulido. When I did that I think the editor called asking if I could ink a few pages. Brian Pulido stories…I don’t think I have any. I can make something up if you want?
J – [Laughs] No no, that’s ok we make up enough stories already. We don’t need any more out there.
J - In 2005 you did a spread for “Mad Magazine” where you did a parody video game… is that true?
E – Yeah it was a parody of a pro-wresting video game where the wrestlers are all corporate mascots so you had the Hawaiian Punch guy, the Pep Boys and The Jolly Green Giant. It was a lot of fun.
J – How did you get that? Did they contact you?
E – Yeah one of the guys contacted me to see if I was interested in doing the illustration for them. I jumped at it cause its “Mad Magazine”, if nothing else you can put on your resume you’ve worked for “Mad Magazine.”
J – Your cool points rose in my book when I saw you did that work. So now that you’re living the dream what’s next?
E – Right now making the movie happen is my next goal.
J – I can just imagine how “The Goon” will explode when that movie comes out.
E – Then I can be really obnoxious.
If you want to learn more about Eric Powell and “The Goon” check out http://www.thegoon.com/
I sat down with my cell phone on speaker and RCA handheld recorder and made a call to Tennessee to speak with the demented pencil pusher himself, Eric Powell, the creator of “The Goon”. I walked away with a $30 long distance bill and a crap load of tape to transcribe. I bring you the first installment of what I like to call The Eric Powell Interview. The Goon - 10 Years Of Zombie Punching.
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.
