Interview with Zach Davisson

22 MARCH 2017

Interview time! You may know Zach Davisson from his work for Dark Horse, Drawn and Quarterly, Wayward,his numerous books, and his translations of Shigeru Mizuki. He's an interesting writer for many reasons, but I wanted to talk to him in particular about his ability to pursue a specific passion - in his case, Japan and the supernatural - and turn it into a career. So we talked at Emerald City Comicon about comics, ghosts, the creative life and committing to your passions. Here's what he said.

Let's talk about creativity. You seem to have specific interests. A lot of times, people who want to get work have the attitude of, "I'm a gun for hire and I'll create what you want me to." But you seem to have followed a specific direction about what you want to do creatively.

I was just having this conversation with someone. I curate my material. Like, if I take on a project, it has to be something I'm emotionally involved with. I turn down a lot of work, not necessarily because there's something wrong with it but because it's not me, it's not in my wheelhouse. I'm not going to do a romance comic because I don't think I would do a good job at it, it's not in my skill structure.

So much of working in comics is this lonely life, sitting at a table with a computer; you have to love it. I put a lot of myself into all the work I do. I think it's important that you aren't just a gun for hire, that you're attempting to curate your bookshelf. So when I translate or write something, I think of it as a Zach Davisson Production. Which sounds a little pretentious, but that's how I think of it.

Where does your interest in Japan come from?

When I was like 7 or 8, my mother conned me into going to see the movie Seven Samurai. It was the first time I heard a foreign language spoken and I was fascinated, wondering what it was like inside their heads. This gobbledygook made sense to them and they could think in it.

From then on out, I was fascinated. In my third grade class picture in 1983, I'm wearing this t-shirt that said JAPAN on it. So it's been a fairly lifelong thing for me.

When did you go over and live there?

I was much older - 31, 32. It was one of those things when I'd been trying to study Japanese for a long time and I realized that going to school will only get you so far. If you want to make a commitment, if you want to do it, you have to jump into the deep end of the pool.

So I moved there and it made me realize that stuff I'd seen in America is carefully curated by the publishers. You're not getting a general sample of what's available, you're only getting what the publishers think will sell. So when I moved there, I discovered Shigeru Mizuki who is so omnipresent in Japan. He's a foundational part of the culture, like on a level with Walt Disney or the Brothers Grimm here. But even people who are into manga here have never heard of him. That was a shock. One night I was with a friend and I had too much to drink and I climbed on a table and said I am the one who will bring Shigeru Mizuki to the West! I made this big announcement. And then I got back and went to all these publishers and it took years - but I finally did it.

Let's talk about Wayward.

Wayward was interesting because I always loved American comics as much as I loved Japanese comics. Someone heard that Jim Zub was doing this new comic about supernatural Japan and wanted someone who could be a consultant and maybe write an essay for the first issue. I only knew Jim Zub as doing the comic Skull Kickers, so I was terse in my first response to him: Sure, I'll look at your script.

And it was really well done. It was clear he'd done a lot of research. It impressed the hell out of me. So I wrote him back that not only would I write an essay for his first issue, I would write one for every issue going forward. So I just kind of invited myself onto the team permanently. And we've gotten to be good friends and I think the comic is phenomenal.

Your interest in ghosts - did that start before your interest in Japan? Was it separate or intertwined?

Separate - I've always liked ghostly, spooky stuff. I used to watch this show called In Search Of, I always loved Bigfoot, folklore and the supernatural and Greek myths.

But when I got to Japan, it was like I'd hit the jackpot. Japan has so much folklore and it's a living part of the culture in a way it's not in the West. And the more I explored it, the more I realized a lot of it had never been made available to an English-speaking audience. And I thought again about being a gateway for that work.

Do people get personal with you about their ghost stories?

Yes, totally. I love ghost stories. I tell mine too.

Can you tell one now?

My wife and I lived in a haunted apartment in Japan. In Japan, if your apartment is haunted, it has to be listed as a haunted apartment. It's part of the law and that makes it cheap. So we lived there and it was officially spooky. We'd hear weird noises and so on. We had quite a few ghost experiences.

What do you have coming out in the future?

My next book coming out is about the supernatural cats of Japan. I amassed all this knowledge about cats from Wayward, so I said to my publisher, why don't we do that. Hopefully that's coming out this year.

That sounds incredible. For fans who are into your work, what would you recommend to deepen their knowledge of Japan and other areas?

When it comes to manga and anime, that's a gateway but it's also where a lot of people stop. You can't learn about Japanese culture through manga and anime; that's like trying to learn about American culture through Spider-Man. It's all fake. So my advice is to move beyond that. But don't read pirated stuff - that's bad.

You heard it here, kids. Don't pirate. Last question: what advice do you have on turning your passion into a livelihood?

... Pure willpower. For me, the career I wanted didn't exist.

You'll be rejected multiple, multiple times. I got rejected by every publisher you can think of. If you quit the first time someone says no, or the 10th time, you're in the wrong business. Use the options open to you. I made a website and networked and slowly those "Nos" began to turn into "Yeses". It really takes the first person to take a shot at you and then you have that proven success and you can slowly build on it.

It takes a lot of patience. Someone asked me about this recently, about how long it might take, and I said it took me about 7 years from deciding to be a translator to my first book. I could tell from her face that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear - she wanted to hear "next week."  But this is not a "next week" career.

It takes perseverance, patience and willpower. And talent - if you can't do the work, it doesn't really matter.

Thanks, Zach!

Interview with Dan Parent

8 MARCH 2017

Do you read Archie? If not, we have something in common; I was like you once, assuming Archie was too bland for my sophisticated reading palate. Then at SDCC 2013, I caught on to the furor over Kevin Keller, the first gay character in the Archie world, and picked up the title in a show of rainbow support.

What I discovered: Archie comics are awesome. I became an ardent fan of Kevin’s creator, Dan Parent, and then last year at SDCC I discovered his comic, Die Kitty Die, co-created with Fernando Ruiz – and that was incredible too. (Seriously, pick it up.)

Dan was at ECCC last weekend, where he let me pick his brain about Die Kitty Die, diversity in comics, Archie, running a Kickstarter and other topics. 

Let’s talk about Die Kitty Die, which I just love. I’ve been feeling detached from comics over the last few years but this is a comic I really like. I think you did something great here.

We did exactly what we wanted to do. We’re fans of Archie and Harvey Comics, and this was a way for us to pay tribute to the things we like.

You single-handedly converted me to Archie fandom with Kevin Keller. Do you hear that from other people?

Sometimes. At the time having a gay character was kind of a big deal; Archie was still considered family entertainment. Now you have gay characters in Disney movies and things like that. But at the time that was still not seen as much. But we knew the fans would like Kevin. That wasn’t a question.

Was that personally meaningful for you? When you were a kid, did you want to see more LGBTQ characters in your comics?

I always wanted to see all kinds of people - more inclusiveness in movies and TV shows. In the 70s, The Phil Donohue show used to have people from all walks of life. I remember one episode where my mom said, This is what a transgender person is.

They had that back then?

I think they said “transsexual.” 

I’ve said that if you present stuff, kids can handle it better than anyone. The kids are going to be fine.

Do you identify as LGBTQ?

Yeah, I’m bisexual.

Me too.  Back to Kevin - you did something groundbreaking. And you’re still pretty young, you have a lot of career ahead of you. Going forward, will you make it a point to represent overlooked voices or will you take more of a “if it happens, it happens” approach?

It’s always there in my head. I never want to do it for the sake of doing it. But it’s always there. I want more diversity with characters in every way. Like Archie having his relationship with Valerie. That was something pretty new too, believe it or not.

When was that?

6 or 7 years ago? We were going to have Archie and Josie in a relationship together, but they seemed very generic together. Valerie was way more interesting – not because of the color thing, but she was smart and kind of sexy and she put Archie in his place so it worked out for more than one reason. Then when [Archie CEO] Jon Goldwater came to the company in 2008, we talked about how white Archie was – and I asked, “Can we add gay people, can we add minorities?” And he said, “Please do.” So we ran with it and all it did was improve the company.

Have you ever read Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel?

No. But I like Alison Bechdel.

Well, I was obsessed with it growing up because it was the only lesbian thing I had. Would you consider doing an ensemble comic with gay and bisexual characters?

Probably. It hasn’t really presented itself to me because I’m working 24/7 doing this. But sure, definitely.

Everyone has a limited amount of time. You still work for Archie, right? In addition to doing Die Kitty Die?

Right. I do occasional covers and little stories here and there; I did a Kevin story for the Love Is Love book for Orlando [for victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting] and I’m doing a thing now for a Kickstarter book called Femme Magnifique. We took famous real women from the 20^th century and did stories about them.

Who did you pick?

I picked Marlo Thomas. I like her because she was the first woman on TV to be on her own; everyone thinks it was Mary Tyler Moore but it was really her. In the 70s she did this thing called Free To Be You and Me. If you were a sensitive kid, it was okay, if you were a boy who cried it was okay, if you were a girl who liked trucks, it was okay. It set the stage for the message – if you’re different, it’s okay.

That’s radical even for today.

She’s also the spokesperson for St. Jude’s which she took over from her father. So it was that combination – she was a feminist ahead of her time, the Free To Be You and Me, the St. Jude’s thing. I think I picked Eleanor Roosevelt as well. But Marlo Thomas is more fun to draw.

Let me ask you this. Creative people usually instinctively know their medium – they’re a novelist, a comic book writer, a poet. But in terms of exploring mediums, do you think comics present an opportunity for LGBTQ because the creative parameters aren’t so rigid?

Absolutely. There’s a lot of freedom in comics. It’s a gateway drug, I call it, for kids. A kid will pick up a comic before a novel. So they may be inspired by something on the page that they wouldn’t otherwise be.

Let’s go back to Die Kitty Die. Have you seen anybody do cosplay for this?

A girl from the Joe Kubert School - Shannon is her name, she was at New York Comic Con. She’s one of our Facebook friends.

Is Die Kitty Die a limited run or are you going to keep doing it and doing it until you get sick of it?

We’ll keep doing it until we get sick of it.

What did doing the Die Kitty Die Kickstarter teach you? What would you tell other people doing Kickstarters?

I would say, have it planned out before you do it. And make sure you can meet your requirements, your deadlines and goals. Because a lot of people fall behind and don’t even finish them, and that’s really bad if you’re taking people’s money. We were really good about meeting our deadlines. Make sure you meet those requirements and deliver your product. I’ve seen people get in over their heads.

If you missed Dan at Emerald City, you can see him at a bunch of other Cons, including San Diego, Boston, Denver and some others. Check out his site to keep tabs on his appearances and see what he's doing next.

Cons & immigration: interview with Yasmin Liang

6 MARCH 2017




Depending on whether or not you live in a border state, the current immigration debate may mean different things to you. My friends in New York and Boston, where I grew up, tend to focus on refugees; my current associates in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Silicon Valley tend to have more practical and immediate concerns, from friends, coworkers and employees getting deported (or just vanishing) to dealing with business and family upheavals.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned much is the impact on creatives, who frequently travel to promote their work, make appearances and collaborate. Writers and artists can get a lot done online but most eventually have to get on a plane to work with publishers and agents, do readings and tours or - for comic book professionals - appear at Comic Cons.

I talked to Yasmin Liang at Emerald City Comicon about her work - which you know from Steed and Mrs. Peel and Star Trek, among others - and the subject of immigration came up, as well as getting started as a young artist.

What’s your advice for young artists?

Draw what you want to be hired for.  And make sure there’s a 90 day limit for when you get paid in your contract. Make sure you have a contract.

What about education? Can people be self-taught or do they have to go to art school?

I think you can be self-taught. A lot of great artists were self-taught. And if you do go to art school, it’s what you get out of it – not the other way around.

What’s your dream project? Say, if time and money were not a constraint.

I’d like to go back and draw Star Trek again. I really enjoyed working on Star Trek but I didn’t have a lot of time. I think if I could go back, I’d be a better artist. And I’d really love to work with Mike Johnson and the rest of the team again .

What future projects are you working on?

Future projects? I can’t talk about them right now. But the Elements anthology is coming out, which Taneka Stotts put together. I have a story in there, with writing by JY Yang – we make a great team.

What Cons will you be at in the future?

Undecided. Maybe New York Comic Con. It depends on what happens with immigration.

How is immigration impacting artists?

It’s definitely impacting them. I know several who are unsure if we want to travel to the States anymore. We’re not just worried for ourselves but people we’re traveling with; I don’t want to get separated from my loved ones in any way.

That's kind of chilling. Thanks for sharing.



With so much politically in flux right now, it's hard to say how anything is going to play out in the future in terms of travel for comic and pop culture professionals. If you dismiss this as an issue that can't possibly impact successful people with big-name organizations behind them, it already has. Hopefully when the dust settles, pros will still be able to travel wherever they need to - with convenience and dignity - and Comic Cons will have more diversity and variety than ever.

A look back: San Diego Comic-Con in 1973

28 NOVEMBER 2015

Get ready to enter the fourth dimension, because this holiday weekend we're traveling all the way back to San Diego Comic-Con 1973 - a time when Vietnam was going strong, Watergate was still in the news and Led Zeppelin was setting records for concert attendance.

That was when cosplayer Gary Ochs (his cosplayer group is KingCon Costumes) attended his first Comic-Con. He returned in 1991 and has been going ever since. Now he's going to give us his vivid account of what it was like to go to San Diego Comic-Con back before the convention center was even built.

So come with me now to a Comic-Con whose 4-day badge cost $7.50, when you could find yourself eating lunch next to the Star Wars cast in the Sails Pavilion, and you could play an LP record of SDCC panels on your turntable. We even have actual scans of the 1973 SDCC program for your viewing pleasure.

Gary, what inspired you to attend SDCC in 1973? 

We were living in Minnesota at the time and came out that August for a vacation to visit my parents. I discovered in the Escondido daily newspaper, the Times Advocate, that there was a comic convention in San Diego while we were there. 

Borrowing my folks' yellow Ford station wagon, I barreled down there for one day.  I was able to walk right up to to the door, and purchase my badge for that day WITHOUT waiting in line. Although I had been collecting comics on and off ever since I was a kid in the 1950's, I never even knew that a comic convention of any type ever existed. It just sounded like a cool thing to do. The cost to get in for one day was $2.50. The four day badge was $7.50.

Where was it held? 

At the Sheraton Hotel on Harbor Island, across from the airport.   This was the only time it was ever held at the Sheraton.

   

How many people were there? Rough estimate.

I am going to guess that the attendence was under 500 people, but don't hold me exactly to that number. (Ed. note - Close. Wikipedia says 1K.) It was not crowded at all, and you could freely walk around the floor, and the panel attendance (to the ones I went to) was sparse.  

What did the "Dealers Floor" look like? What kind of things were sold? 

The dealers room was in one of the hotel ballrooms. It consisted of a formation of 3 x 6 tables arranged in a large rectangle.  The dealers and/or artists were on the inside, sitting down and facing out. The attendees just roamed around the outside of the rectangle, gazing at the tables, visiting with the dealers or the artists.

I know that older comics were there, because I purchased several. Couldn't tell you what they were, now. There were some artists there, and I did purchase a copy of a Savage Sword of Conan from Alfredo Alcala, who was one of the interior artists for that series.  I couldn't believe that I actually met an artist, and got his autograph.  There may have been other collectibles, but I am not sure. Mostly comics.

Inside the guide

What was your first panel and what was it like?

I am pretty sure there were two panels that I attended. One was moderated by Roy Thomas, who was a prolific writer for Marvel Comics. He talked about upcoming projects. 

The other was a Hollywood panel promoting a movie that sadly, to my knowledge, was never released.  It was to star Sybil Danning (a famous Hollywood B action star in the 70's) as a character known as Black Diamond. I believe she was a spy or cat burglar.  Ms. Danning was actually there, and the audience was so amazed to see a famous person there. The room probably could have held 50 - 75 people, but it was only about half full. 

Several years ago, I met her at the Autograph area under the Sails at the Convention Center at Comic-Con, and actually got her autograph.  She remembered her earlier appearance!

On a day other than when I attended, I do know that Ray Bradbury was there for a panel. 

  

When you went back in 1991, what were the biggest differences? The type of attendees? The Exhibit Hall? The panels?

There was such a night and day difference, going in 1991. Of course, I could say the same thing about what SDCCI has currently evolved into.  

1991 was the first year the show was held, I believe, in the San Diego Convention Center. You just showed up in a line, waited about 20 minutes, and bought your badge for the day.

The convention floor DID NOT take up the entire convention center. That didn't happen until later probably after 2000. The attendees in 1973 were mostly male, can't remember much of a family presence. And I do not remember any costumes. By 1991, there were both attendees of all ages and genders.  Some families. But it still wasn't very crowded, and you could easily walk down the aisles of the convention floor space.  

There was much more variety in the dealers. Collectibles. Black market copies of video discs. Sword and knife dealers, air soft guns. Much larger variety of program panels. 

During the early 1990's, I would attend usually just on Saturdays, and I would try to sit in on at least one Marvel and one DC panel. It was not uncommon for them to distribute copies of comics and/or posters for the attendees of their panels. It wasn't until after the year 2000 that I started going multiple days. And it was cool that you could walk up to a kiosk (waiting time 1 -2 minutes) and purchase your badge for the following year. 

Back in the 1990's, it never dawned on me that there were photo opportunities everywhere. Artists, writers, Hollywood stars and/or directors, cosplayers (although that term didn't evolve for years to come) were all there.  One year, I was having lunch under the Sails area, and at the table next to me were a number of the Star Wars actors, including THE Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Chewy.  Mostly, they were just regular folks, clowning around and there was no pile up of attendees around them. Of course, no camera!!!!  Back then we didn't have our cell phones to snap selfies every two seconds.  Even digital cameras didn't exist in the 90's. There were some costumes out on the floor, but not like today.

 Thursday's program in 1973. Memberships were up to 414 by 9 am!

What are the biggest changes you've noticed since 1991?  

Since 1991, the largest change is the difficulty in obtaining badges.  I have been very fortunate to have gone continuously since 1991, but it hasn't always been easy. And of course the crowds. Going from maybe 10,000 people to over 130,000 is pretty intense.  You used to be able to walk easily on the hall floor.  Or in the lobby.  Even on the sidewalk out in front of the convention center. And the Gaslamp District or spillage into the nearby hotels or even into Horton Plaza?? Nonexistent.  

And of course, the steady evolution of panels being dominated by Hollywood.  It was so easy to get into the panel rooms. For many years, I would show up on Friday or Saturday morning at 6 AM, and I was one of the first 25 people in line. For many years, it was easy to be in the first 5 - 10 rows in either Ballroom 20 or later, Hall H.  Now you practically have to camp out days in advance.  

And the steady grow of Cosplay is pretty cool.  My wife and I, along with several friends, have been doing Cosplay since 2005.  We custom build our costumes, but the state of the art in the beginning was pretty primitive.  Now, we see some very, very professional costumes that have taken people months and large sums of money.  We have probably ourselves crafted over 35 costumes and have been lucky to have been in the San Diego Union Tribune three times over the years.  

What do you miss most about the old days? And what do you love most about the new days?

I miss the ability to walk freely through the convention halls, going from one end to the other. Now it is very difficult to even make it through every aisle, from one end to the other.  I also miss the ability to get into the Hall H panels so easily.  And I miss the ease of purchasing badges.  

But I do love the diversity of the new days. The spillage into the Gaslamp District, the neighboring hotels, and and along the Harbor Drive.  And the diversity of the Hollywood panels. There truly is something for everyone. Artist Alley has really grown. And I have made many friends with dealers in the Silver and Gold Age aisles that I have seen over the years.  

And I also enjoy the greater access to information, whether it is the evolving Facebook and Toucan blog sites of SDCCI, or the independent blogs like www.comicconguide.com.  Also the phone apps are great.

  

Joan Crawford at Comic-Con!

Any other thoughts or things that surprise today's attendees?

Several thoughts. One, I wish the City of San Diego would increase its focus on enlarging the San Diego Convention Center.  Instead of trying to build a football stadium that only gets used a handful of times a year, look at the amount of growth the city would enjoy with an enlarged convention center that can be used all year long.  SDCCI has been trying out both Anaheim and now LA for WonderCon.  Do we really think that is so innocent a use?  They could have gone back to the San Francisco Moscone Center years ago.  And it was a great location. 

If San Diego can't find room for the Comic-Con, I am afraid that it could leave San Diego. And I feel that to be a shame, because part of the growth and success of this show has been the great synergy with the city.  IF San Diego can't fit an expansion into their near term picture, it would be great if the SDCCI organizers might focus on perhaps hosting the show over multiple weekends.  Or bring WonderCon as a four day event in the spring to San Diego.  Why travel to Anaheim or LA?

Although the show has evolved over the course of time, it still rings true to the evolving nature of the cultural arts. The show might never have achieved such growth and success, if it had only stayed true to the comic roots.  And now people all over San Diego County know about Comic-Con. People that I would never have guessed are big fans of the show.

Some are just thrilled to come down to San Diego just to people watch. And there are many activities that do not require a badge. Think of several years ago, when Warner Bros. brought in all the Batmobiles.  And Kevin Bacon and the Fabulous Bacon Brothers gave a dynamite concert for free (to literally anyone who walked by, just outside the Convention Center and the Bayfront Hilton.)

Over the years, I have changed my tactics in enjoying the show. Since 2002, I have taken thousands of digital photos of the show. And hundreds of hours of video footage, many of the Hollywood panels. I have started working on a history of sorts of the SDCCI, including hundreds of articles and print media mentions of the convention.  I have convention programs from the years I attended, but I have started working on filling the gaps.  I just recently picked up a copy of the 1979 program.  Now I only have 1970 and 1972 to complete my program collection. 

Oh, and did you know that in one of the very early years, there was a published (and no, I don't have it) LP recording of some of the panels at the Comic-Con? There actually is a link somewhere on the internet, that has a audio playback of the record. Amazing!!

 Amazing, indeed. Thanks for sharing your memories, Gary! It's fascinating to hear about how SDCC has changed over the years - and inspiring to know it's kept the same essential magic for more than 40 years.