Why comics?
Why not!
Why comics….the moment this question is posed to me, an answer is presented almost immediately. But that answer may only make sense if you know and love the medium as much as Frank and I do. Sure, I have veered and meandered on my journey - painter, actor, writer, film editor, graphic designer, waiter, and dishwasher! Even when I was pursuing my acting bug in Los Angeles, I was drawing comics almost every day and a frequent flyer of the graphic novel section at Borders near UCLA.
Comics grabbed a hold of me when I was only 5 years old. I had an uncle who drew cartoons and his room was covered with characters I knew and loved. I was inspired by that form of art. My first drawing was at 7 years old, a Donald Duck with fangs dripping blood and the pride swelled inside of me - though my family started to give me the side eye of curiosity and worry.
I can never forget drawing comics in my room as a teenager and the esteemed Terry Austin walked through that bedroom door. The Terry Austin, in my home, in the middle of nowhere in upstate NY. What?! And what a talk. I knew his work well and had many a stack of books he slung his inks for. This was a moment of validation for me. His positive support fed me needed motivation and inspired me to keep dreaming of doing this for a living one day.
No matter how far off the path I have traveled I have always come back home. Comics are my home, my happy place. Sequential storytelling just sucks me in and is comforting, engaging, it’s part escape and parts inspiration. I feel that the other forms of creative endeavors I experimented with have only helped me as a comics storyteller. I dream and think visually and that part of my character has helped my collaboration with Frank work so well. We come at our creations from different ends of the spectrum but meet in the middle - taking good stories and trying to make them great. In the end it’s what it is all about. Stories. Dreams. Journeys. Characters.
Sure, I could go do something else but it just wouldn’t be the same. We all have a calling to do something, where it becomes more than a “job”. It is a necessity like air and food. Not to give into it would be an internal death of sorts. Like something missing in our lives - at least in my experience.
Comics are truly something special and maybe not for everyone but for those of us who truly know how wonderful this medium is, is there really any other journey that would be as beautiful as stressful, as engrossing and infuriating at the same time? But when I hold a copy of a comic that Frank and I have produced, I am filled with a sense of contentment that nothing else (besides my beautiful kids) could give?
“What drives you to write?” It’s a question I hate answering, probably because the answer is quite boring. There are so many generic responses to this question that it almost becomes cliche. “I write to inspire.” “I because I have a story to tell.” “I write for fame and the babes.”
It’s so subjective, which is probably why it gets asked a lot. But for me, it’s something I never consider because I’ve always been writing for as long as I can remember. It’s like asking me “what drives you to keep breathing?” I don’t know. My parasympathetic nervous system?
For me, writing is the same way. I tell stories because my brain is just wired to do so. Doesn’t matter if it’s a comic book, a novel, a bedtime story to my kids, or some daydream I come up with on my own because I’m bored during my nephew’s bar mitzvah. I just do it.
Which is why, I believe, my partnership with Gerald works so well. He’s built in much the same way that his art is like a pipe with no valve. He’s constantly creating characters and images with no project in mind, simply because he needs to get them out of his head. And my subconscious urge to find meaning in the abstract takes those concepts and gives them form and life.
Our collaboration works as two sides of the same coin. And when we’re jiving to create something unique and special, it’s easy to step back and see what drives me to do it. Because I feel the comics we’re making couldn’t be made by anyone else. And that’s something to be proud of.
That’s all for now! If you want to leave a comment and share your love and calling of comics please do so. Until next time!
Gerald & Frank