front page  ·  comicbook reviews  ·  interviews  ·  comics  ·  merchandise  ·  contact us  ·  newsfeed: rss xml

At last year’s SPX I was strolling along when I spotted a table full of nick-knacks, buttons, stickers, doodads and comics. Sitting at the table hawkin’ these delectables was illustrator J Chris Campbell. Impressed by what I saw, I picked up his comic Zigzag #1 and was greeted with a flair similar to that of Chris Ware; a simplistic, design-oriented comic that was above all else wonderfully entertaining. Some months later I contacted Campbell about being featured right here in good ‘ol Voices from the Other Side, and wouldn’t ya know he agreed to it! Hot dog! Well, below you’ll get insight into this great creator’s work, what he’s currently reading, and even a free (yes, children, FREE!) comic for anyone out there with enough time to drop him a line.

Campbell’s work has appeared in such places as Students of The Unusual, SPX Anthology, Superior Showcase, Tastes Like Chicken Magazine, as well as various newspapers. He is the founder of Wide Awake Press and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina. If anyone out there wants to visit him, make sure to grab a cheeseburger at Pedro’s South of the Border. Believe me, you can’t miss it!

I asked Campbell how he got his comic Zigzag into motion. “I fell in love with Project: Telstar from AdHouse Books. So I sent all my mini-comics to Chris Pitzer, the publisher.” says Campbell. “He felt that my Attic Bugs characters would make a great comicbook series and asked if I’d like to give it a shot.”

Wondering what Zigzag is about? I’ll let Campbell dish out the dirt in his own words:

Well, Zig Zag is a comic series with the majority of each issue devoted to The Attic Bugs. The rest of the comic is a playground for ideas using new and old characters I’ve created. It’s packed full of robots, mystery, businessmen, adventure, crazy old men, death, and more robots. We call it a ‘one-man anthology’ because of the various styles and types of stories. Zig Zag 2 will be a 64 page super-smorgasbord of funnybook goodness. Make sure to save room for the main course of two heaping helpings of The Attic Bugs. Yummy! The Attic Bugs story is a buddy adventure starring Snuffy and Crandle. On their journey they deal with all sorts of problems from the mundane to the extraordinary. (Cue sappy sweeping orchestrated music) But the real story is about the friendship between these two bugs and what they learn about each other and themselves (and fade to black).

Being an independent creator (otherwise you wouldn’t see him here), J Chris Campbell has his own take on the state of the comicbook industry. “I will say that the comic industry is in an upswing thanks to bookstores and the growing popularity of graphic novels.” He continues saying that “the future is bright, man. So bright my eyes are burning just looking at it. Ahhh, the horrible burning brightness of the future!!” Indeed.

This is fairly good news for all of you hooligans out there thinking about peddling your own picture yarns. Campbell even has some advice to lubricate your journey. “The independent publisher really has to focus on their relationships with individual comic shops and fans to encourage them to try their books,” he says. “Just being in Previews isn’t enough to ensure that your comic will get the order numbers you need to make it all worthwhile.” He continues, advising that “you have to do extra promotion to get the word out. Conventions are a key part in promotion; you get to meet with fans and retailers and pitch your book one-on-one to them. But the ultra cool part about it is hanging with all the creative types all weekend long. It is the pinnacle of achievement for any true fanboy.”

Attempting to reveal the level of Campbell’s fanboyhood, I asked him what titles he currently reads. He offered up quite a list. “Graham Annable’s Grickle and Further Grickle; Josh Cotter’s Skyscrapers of the Midwest; Paul Hornschemeier’s Forlorn Funnies; Jason’s Meow Baby!, Sshhhh!, and Hey, Wait!; Jim Mahfood’s One Page Filler Man, Grrl Scouts, Stupid Comics, Bad Ideas, and Classic 40 ounce TPB; Chris Pitzer’s (of AdHouse Books) Project: Telstar, Project: Superior, and the upcoming Project: Romantic; Eric Powell’s The Goon; Aaron Renier’s Spiral-bound; Andy Runton’s Owly; Rob Venditti’s The Surrogates; Steve Purcell’s The Collected Sam & Max: Surfin' The Highway; and Ben Edlund’s The Tick.”

Zigzag #2

Quite a list, and possibly some ideas for future Voices articles! But now we move on to Campbell’s creative process, what makes him tick, what drives his buggy, and what he likes to do after a movie date. He answered most of these questions, offering, “It’s strange, I’ve noticed that I’m all over the map when it comes to creating.” Campbell says that “the biggest influence has to be the computer. Almost everyday I draw a robot in Adobe Illustrator. Then I e-mail it out to my mailing list. It’s a great way to get my mind moving creatively.” As for his comics, “I always try to reference something in my life. Funny things that happen, unusual words or phrases and uncomfortable situations are some of my favorite things to work around.” Whenever stuck creatively, “I usually draw in my sketchbook or look back at previous sketchbooks. Usually ideas come out when I start drawing!”

J Chris Campbell will be appearing at some upcoming conventions, and I urge you to drop by his table and gander at his wares. He’ll be showing up at the Charlotte Heroes Convention on June 30th - July 2nd. He says “with all the publicity this show got it should be an amazing event.” Campbell also says that he looks forward to the road trip up to SPX in Bethesda, MD, this October.

So, enough with this independent rigamorole, the big question is whether or not Campbell would take a gig from the Big Two if he had the opportunity. “I’d jump at the chance with my giant toy-Thing-feet on.” He continues, “I’d give anything to work on a project, especially if Dan Slott or Zeb Wells wrote it. I wanna do it!”

Click to view full-sized strip

Thought I forgot about the free comic I mentioned way up top, didn’t you? Well, just e-mail Campbell at chris@wideawakepress.com for a copy of Bleep the Peeper that was drawn at last year’s Heroes Convention. All you have to do is make sure to include your name and mailing address.

We now reach the end of another Voices from the Other Side experience. I hope this has piqued your interest in checking out the work of J Chris Campbell! More of his work can be seen at JChrisCampbell.Com and WideAwakePress.Com. Plus, Campbell’s work with 3 Boys Productions was recently collected into a book that is only available at conventions. You can find more info on that at Studentsoftheunusual.Com.

Next month I will be featuring the work of Will Dinski (Habitual Entertainment). Now move along, and don’t forget your hat.

 

[Read the previous review]

[Read the next review]