The Jim Rugg Experience

by Adam White

I recently had the opportunity to converse with Jim Rugg, creator of the Street Angel series from SLG that you should have already read (the trade is out — go get it, and read the review). Over the course of the discussion, Rugg elaborated on his beginnings in comics, the origins of Street Angel, and his upcoming projects. Rugg also offered many intelligent insights on the current state of the comics industry, all of which many publishers would do well to take note of…

Adam White: What initially drew you to comics? As Warren Ellis says, did you “come in alone” or did you have friends into comics as well?

Jim Rugg: I’m not sure what initially drew me to comics. After a certain amount of reading and trying to draw comics, I realized that I know more about comics than probably anything else on Earth. While this is kind of depressing, it makes it difficult to stop exploring the medium. If I want to express myself, at this point in my life, comics are probably doomed to be the outlet for this expression.

Or maybe I’m just too lazy to dig out the oil paints and stretch canvases.

AW: What’s kept you interested in comics then?

JR: Mostly I find comics entertaining — making them, reading them, talking about them, whatever. I definitely find them more rewarding than watching TV.

AW: Did any particular writers and/or artists inspire you as a creator?

“I don’t think comics suffer the lack of public respect that industry people like to claim… I think there is a greater lack of respect from within the industry.”

JR: I feel the urge to create almost anytime I’m taking in other forms of art or entertainment. Cartoonists who have really affected me throughout my life are Frank Miller, Erik Larsen, David Lapham, Kirby, Mazzuchelli, Mignola, the Hernandez brothers, Crumb, Clowes, Ware, Doucet — probably all obvious people.

AW: So it was mainly comics creators, or were there artists from other mediums that influenced your creative aspirations?

JR: Lately some things I’ve enjoyed are The Office, Arrested Development, the films of Wes Anderson, Kobo Abe’s writing, Todd Hido’s photography, and Toba Khedoori’s drawings and paintings

AW: Did you have any formal training/school, or did you take the self-taught path?

AW: The big one: How did you break into the comics industry? Also, are you now or have you ever been involved in a non-comics profession?

JR: Before I did Street Angel I made mini-comics and would take them to small press shows like SPACE, SPX, and MoCCA. I also started to exchange mini-comics through the mail with cartoonists whose work I liked.

I also work full-time as a graphic designer. I’ve worked there for almost 6 years.

“The key to the book and what we can or can’t do is Jesse’s character. As long as the stories we write are true to her character, we feel they are fair game.”

JR: I have a BFA in Graphic Design and Painting from a small, liberal arts college.

AW: How did your working relationship with Brian Maruca come about? With Slave Labor Graphics?

JR: Brian and I work at the same company. He’s a technical writer. We became friends. I started bugging him to read scripts and comics I made, and eventually we started to collaborate. We did a few zines together, and then made the mini-comic version of Street Angel. When it was done, we sent a copy to Slave Labor, following their submission guidelines (cover letter, subsequent issue summaries, etc.). Dan Vado, SLG’s publisher, contacted us and we went from there.

JR: A few things inspired it. I was attending comic book shows for a couple of years and noticed a pattern. At every show, I saw mini-comics, ashcans of people’s homemade superhero comics. By and large they weren’t very professional, but there was an incredible enthusiasm for the material.

In addition to that, I received scripts from aspiring writers, and noticed certain themes of violence and the denigration of women. These two things influenced Street Angel more than anything else in particular.

I was also influenced by Mignola’s Screw-On Head one shot and by the pilot for Heat Vision and Jack.

AW: There are rarely accurate portrayals of children and teens in comics (or literature, film, TV, etc., for that matter) — how were you able to create a genuine twelve-year-old where so many others have failed?

“As soon as you implement an editorial mandate that the covers should feature the main character in a tough guy pose, you suddenly have 100 books a month with indistinguishable covers.”

JR: We try really hard to retain some naiveté in Jesse, and a mix of cynicism and hopefulness. And it’s one of the things we spend a lot of time debating. Besides being a teenager, she’s not very smart and that’s something we try to show as well. If you think we’ve done a decent job with her, it’s probably a lot of luck.

AW: In “Down in the Dumpster Blues” you switch gears from action/comedy to a more serious tone without losing any of the consistency to the work as a whole. How were you able to balance the humor and drama and maintain the feel of the book?

JR: That story was conceived very early on in the writing process. And it seems to fit better in the trade than the individual issue, although a number of people have told me it’s their favorite issue or it was the first one they read and they liked it. As a creator, that issue seemed really funny to me, in an Andy Kaufman kind of way. It undermined everyone’s expectations, but I don’t think it betrayed the character in any way.

The key to the book and what we can or can’t do is Jesse’s character. As long as the stories we write are true to her character, we feel they are fair game. I think the humor, drama, etc., will sort of work itself into the material if the story is interesting and we are faithful to the character.

AW: I heartily agree, and think that that faithfulness is evident because of the high quality of the series. Were you personally satisfied with the way Street Angel turned out? Were you able to say what you wanted with the book, or was there something you may feel differently about now in hindsight?

“A comic book cover isn’t a painting or a drawing or a photograph — it is a comic book cover.”

JR: This is always the hardest question because I never know for sure what we ended up with. When we started the book, I didn’t think we had anything to say. But in hindsight, I think it may have been a celebration of superhero comics and if so, I’m not sure we were successful. The further I am removed from the series, the more flaws I see — I guess I know it could have been better and that’s all I know for sure.

On a strictly personal level, I’m thrilled with the book. For two years, I poured ALL of my free time into Street Angel. And in the end, I had a comic book about a character that Brian and I created, and a character that I like. That’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was twelve. It’s a great feeling.

AW: I think you were extremely successful, as far as telling a great story about interesting characters. Jesse Sanchez is a rarity in comics today: an absorbing, exceptional character that maintains integrity while entertaining readers. Which leads me to ask: Will we ever see Jesse Sanchez again?

JR: Brian and I just finished the script for issue six. We have notes on another four or five issues after that. We’re toying with the idea of a Street Angel, alt-weekly comic strip. Who knows what the future holds? I would be surprised if we don’t make more Street Angel comics at some point.

AW: I’m seriously glad to hear that. I look forward to seeing more Street Angel and will definitely spread the word for others to watch for it. Which somewhat leads into why I picked Street Angel up in the first place: the covers.

“I was also influenced by Mignola’s Screw-On Head one shot and by the pilot for Heat Vision and Jack.”

AW: Did anything in particular inspire Street Angel? Or was it simply an idea that took on a life of its own?

Whether a veteran reader or uninformed newbie, the first thing a person sees when confronted by a comics stand each week are the covers. I thought Street Angel’s covers were particularly striking and appropriate with their mixture of solid pink and stark imagery. What thoughts led you to do the covers that way?

JR: When we were putting the book together, Brian and I went to the local comic book store to talk about cover design. The local store racks all the new comics on a long wall. So we stood against the opposite wall and tried to spot colors that stood out and designs that stood out. From that process, we eventually arrived at the flat pink element that each cover has. In lieu of a consistent logo, we use pink.

AW: Do you feel that covers are integral to attracting readers?

JR: I don’t know if covers are too important to selling a book in a comic store. But I love good covers (especially the older silver age covers that actually told stories), so it’s something I spent some time with for Street Angel.

AW: Do you feel that companies currently overlook covers’ importance? Are there any covers you can think of recently that jumped out at you?

JR: I don’t think that companies overlook covers. I think the decision makers involved may lack design sense, or their marketing ideas aren’t the same as mine or something. Like Marvel’s apparent decision to use pinup style figures and iconic compositions just doesn’t work for me. I remember when Byrne or Jim Lee would draw a cover of Wolverine’s face all double-lit and dramatic and it would be eye-catching. But the strength of that type of cover wasn’t the cover itself, it was that most of the other covers were different (usually very noisy and cluttered) so it stood out. As soon as you implement an editorial mandate that the covers should feature the main character in a tough guy pose, you suddenly have 100 books a month with indistinguishable covers.

Another problem is that each month’s issue looks the same as the previous month and the one before that and the one before that (for example, the Punisher,). I think DC, Wildstorm and Vertigo have had some cool cover runs in the last decade: Wildcats 3.0, Preacher, Sandman (although at times they suffered to a lesser extent from the same thing that Punisher suffers from), Bolland’s Animal Man covers, 100 Bullets. Sometimes I’m not sure it’s a good strategy to have different cover and interior artists, but then again if that’s all Bolland has time to produce, he does a wonderful job, so…

I think a lot of companies go for a cool image on the cover. This seems obvious and on the surface it seems like a good idea. But a cool image at 20x30 inches on a canvas or a bright, sharp LCD monitor without title logo, cover copy, company logo, pricing information, etc., is not the same as a printed comic book cover and people seem to not understand that. A comic book cover isn’t a painting or a drawing or a photograph — it is a comic book cover.

And when an art director is putting a cover together, he or she spends a lot of time staring at that cover in isolation. Once it’s racked with 100 other books, it may not have the same effect.

AW: I think a lot of publishers would do well to heed your words on covers. There is a rut of sameness in covers today, and it leads to a general apathy sometimes even among the devoted. Which in turn reinforces ignorant public opinion about comic books, which is that they’re juvenile wastes of time.

As an art form, comics have suffered a lack of respect among the general public for years and even among many within the industry recently. Why do you think that is, and what can we do to overcome it?

JR: I don’t think comics suffer the lack of public respect that industry people like to claim. I think there was a time when they were regarded as trashy, illiterate drivel but I think that’s a generation or two past.

I think there is a greater lack of respect from within the industry. That comes from a few sources. First, because the industry has been so small for so long, everyone tightly interacts from fans to cartoonists to editors and publishers. As a result, it’s human nature for us to second-guess one another and often that dirty laundry becomes public and it can make the industry look unprofessional. Another factor that I personally find troublesome is that the big moneymakers (and that’s intended in a relative way) rely on a certain demographic (superhero collectors). That reliance dictates that a certain type of comic book must be produced. The result is a comic book that doesn’t appeal to my taste at this time. As a reader and a creator it is frustrating to see something I don’t care for doing better than something I like.

Does that answer your question?

AW: Indeed it does. Superheroes do dominate the market, and I think quite a few readers may only follow many of these titles simply because they always have (again, the apathy factor). And superhero comics are often heavy on warped continuity and rely on short-lived hype and crossover events to keep them afloat.

Do you feel that the current revival of mega-company crossovers focusing on superheroes is a hindrance to earning some mainstream respect and/or attracting new readers?

JR: My first notion was this: Content and quality are the hindrance to breaking into the mainstream and developing new readers.

Then I realized that’s wrong. If a mainstream audience is the desire, then comics need to be cheap, accessible, repetitive junk that dwells on pop culture and appeals to the consumer in each of us. We are addicted to looking at ourselves in distorted funhouse mirrors designed to showcase and emphasize our flaws. If comics want to gain mainstream success, that is the answer. Superheroes are just as flawed as fine art for reaching a mainstream audience.

Also, distribution must change significantly before mainstream success can happen.

AW: That’s actually a good point you make — that mainstream success would actually mean an even lower quality of content in books. Given what people watch on TV and pay to see at the movies, perhaps it’s better to avoid the mainstream altogether. The trends people flock to in other mediums are horrendous, and sometimes even find purchase within comicdom.

That said, what trend(s) in comics do you really detest?

JR: It bothers me that so many companies (new and old) cater to the direct market. I realize it’s the only game in town right now, but I’d like to see someone trying to sell comics somewhere besides the direct market. I think the direct market requires a certain approach to material that can be described as immature. And that’s not intended to be a slam. It’s a description.

I think the consumers available to the direct market are a small, specific slice of the public. And from a business point of view, if you want to succeed in the direct market, that’s the group you must reach. Likewise, most cartoonists are fans of the comics they have bought that were targeted to this group. As a result they create work that looks and reads like the work they enjoyed. It’s a vicious circle that results in a certain type of work that has a limited appeal and does not appeal to me (for the most part). So that trend or cycle or business practice bothers me.

AW: And me as well. It’s a practice employed by the major publishers, and the ‘Big Two’ pretty much control and shape the market. Which leaves only so much room for great work from smaller publishers and independent creators (such as Street Angel) to squeeze through and get the audience they deserve.

Do you have any thoughts on whole “creator-owned characters vs. corporate characters” debate?

JR: No thoughts. I think good work could be and has been produced with creator-owned or corporate characters. If a creator enters a work-for-hire situation with a clear understanding of what he/she is doing, I think it’s fine. I don’t think it was always that way, but if a creator doesn’t know what he/she is getting into in this day and age, he/she is partially to blame. Forty years ago, creator-owned characters had little to no outlet. Now they do, so if one chooses to do work-for-hire it’s a choice.

AW: What creator-owned books do you enjoy, and are there any corporate characters you’d want to write/draw and why?

JR: I like Paul Grist’s work a lot. I prefer Kane to Jack Staff, but mostly I just enjoy his cartooning. Mignola’s work, Savage Dragon, Stray Bullets.

There are tons of corporate characters I’d like to write/draw. The short reason why is for a paycheck, but there are nostalgic, lazy, and creative reasons as well.

AW: Are there any characters you’d never want to work on?

JR: I can’t think of any characters that I’d never want to write or draw, but Spider-Man is weird for me. I hate Peter Parker, the character, but I love Spider-Man’s costume. So I’m not sure what to make of that.

AW: Clone Saga: The Return, perhaps?

On a completely different note from the Clone Saga, what, if anything, do you think is currently great work in comics?

JR: I don’t think I’d call all of this work “great” but it’s work that I currently enjoy (and some of it is great): Paul Grist’s Kane, Mignola’s work, Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon, Lapham’s Stray Bullets, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo, the work of Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, Anders Nilsen. I think Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly are probably at the top for me, as far as publishers go. I think they consistently produce the highest percentage of the work I enjoy.

AW: Finally, is there a story you’re dying to tell? Any creators you simply must work with? Or do you prefer to go where the currents take you?

JR: There is a Punisher/Galactus story I’d like to tell. There are a lot of creators I think I’d like to work with. But for now, hopefully, I can just continue to follow my whims. Creating comics is a cross between a curse and what I do for fun, so I have to maintain a high-level of enthusiasm or I think I’d just watch television and drink beer in the evenings.

AW: And that might make you mainstream, which we’d hope to avoid. I’m much more enlightened by your comments on comics than I would have been on who you thought got shafted on Dancing with the Stars last week.

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us — your words are informative and I think everyone can take some new ideas away from them and examine the books they buy a little more closely.

I highly anticipate all future issues of Street Angel, and imagine we’ll see your name pop up elsewhere as well. I hope you achieve fulfillment and prosperity at least proportionate to the enjoyment I’ve received from your work thus far (and that’s a lot).

In the mean time, I’m stuck perpetually anticipating Punisher/Galactus…