From: [j r m] at [elm.circa.ufl.edu] (Jeff Mason) Subject: Interview with James Owen -- Creator of Starchild To: [c--m--x] at [world.std.com] (comix) Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1993 18:50:20 -0500 (EST) Interview with Starchild creator James Owen =========================================== November 27, 1993 by Jeff Mason ([j r m] at [elm.circa.ufl.edu]) with thanks to the many people internet folks involved (This may be copied and distributed freely as long as it isn't for profit, and as long it remains completely intact with credits) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- About two months ago, following a suggestion from a friend, I read a copy of Starchild #0. I was impressed. I spent the next month trying to hunt down elusive issues #1 and #2. After reading those and issue #3, I decided to try to get more people interested in Starchild. I felt that there was no better way for me to do this than to interview James Owen, the creator, writer, and artist of Starchild. After asking people to send me questions to ask Mr. Owen, I tailored a list of 20 questions and sent them off to him, and just a few days ago I received his responses to my 20 questions. 1. Imagine you can speak directly to someone who has never heard anything about Starchild; what is it about? Why should they read it? What makes Starchild different from any other comic in the comic book shop? Starchild is what Mary Shelly, G.K. Chesterton, and Charles Dickens would have done if they worked in the comics' medium. It's a book that, like few others (Cerebus, Sandman, etc.) promote _thought_. Do you want to waste 20 minutes on throwaway entertainment, or spend that time being entertained _and_ being exposed to a new perspective? 2. I really enjoy Starchild, and your storytelling skills are improving more quickly than any book I've read. However, though it's much clearer now than it was, I'm still a bit confused as to the familial relationships of all the Higgins family characters, and wondered if you might lay that out for us. Ah ah ah. That would be cheating. The way for an author to explain things is out there -- it's in the comic. Any attempt by me to _re_-explain will ultimately lessen the experience. 3. While I write this question, there are issues 0-3 of Starchild with issue #4 on the way. I've heard some grumblings about the length of time for us to have gotten to issue #4. Could you tell us about why they've taken so long to come out and what kind of schedule we may see after #4? See inside cover of #4 (shipping 27 Nov.) for full details. #5 ships in January, #6 in March, monthly thereafter. 4. What did you do prior to starting Starchild? Is this now a full time job for you? I no longer discuss details of my background unless it pertains to a particular interview question. Starchild and Taliesin Press is _all_ I work on. Definitely full-time. 5. Do any of the characters come from real life sources? I imagine that many would recognize "Little Neil" from issue #3 as Neil Gaiman, but how about the other characters? All of them do, to one degree or another. It's just more obvious with the satire. 6. What kind of training do you have? Training-by-necessity. I figured out how to do things as they came up. That's it. 7. Did you do any previous comics work prior to Starchild? No. I did other illustration work, and was always working on _something_ or another in the comics medium, but Starchild is it. 8. What motivated you to jump into the world of self-publishing? Why not? Taliesin Press is as legitimate as Dark Horse or DC. I have as much managerial experience as Mike Richardson, and as much Supervisory experience as Karen Berger. Why pay 80% of my profits to someone for doing what would only take 20% of my time to do myself? Or for that matter, risk subjecting my work to someone whose job is to tell me what I'm doing wrong? 9. What are the major self-publishing pitfalls that you would advise new self-publishers to avoid? Hah. Wish I could help. Everyone has their own; Sim's aren't mine, and mine aren't Jeff Smith's. Just try to get as much general information and experience as you can _before_ it's life-or-death. 10. Any thoughts on expanding, and bringing other creators into the Starchild Other than collaborations, no. Example: covers to Starchild #'s 13-16 pencilled by James Owen, inked by Colleen Doran (#13) Dave Sim (#14) Craig Hamilton (#15) etc. 11. What do yo think is the key to Starchild's rise in popularity? What caused the book to get "over the hump?" Has it gone "over the hump" yet? Gads. I wish I knew. On _both_ counts. (Of course having Eisner, Sim, Russell, Doran, and Chadwick on your third book can't hurt.) 12. Describe a typical working day for you. How much time goes into writing? Into penciling? Into inking? Into handling the "business" side of self- publishing? Cindy now handles most of the business. A typical work day consists of 18-20 odd hours of frenzied, tasmanian-devil-style working on whatever is behind. Since I do everything, I don't divide chores. (Writing/pencilling/inking) I just _go_ with whatever I'm comfortable with -- as long as I'm _working_. 13. Any offers from other companies interested in liscensing Starchild? Are you receptive to such offers? Yes. We'll see. 14. What other artists/writers do you like? Do you have any influences that you try to reflect in your work? The studio/Wrightson, Windsor-Smith, Kaluta, Jones, Vess, Sim and Gerhard, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Chesterton, John Totleben, Rackham, Steve Rude, Gustaf Tenggren. 15. What comics do YOU read? What is in your collection? What would you advise your readers to add to their reading list? Swamp Thing, Cerebus, Sandman, Bone, A Distant Soil, Watchmen, Sin City, Barks' Duck Books, Anything by Moore or Gaiman, Taboo, Miracleman, _old_ Justice League. 16. Do you have any planned appearances at shows or stores in the near future? Central City Comics w/Dave Sim, 27 Nov. Star Clipper Books, St. Louis, Dec. 19. _No_ store appearances in 1994 -- look to Starchild #5 for details. 17. Can we look forward to seeing your work anywhere else other than in Starchild? Jeff Smith (Bone) has a comic book being bundled with an issue of Hero Illustrated, anything like that for you? Little Neil vignette in Negative Burn #8, collaboration w/Alan Moore on a song (part of a collection) in a future issue of Negative Burn, and _next_ Christmas' comic story for Hero Illustrated. 18. What were the first print runs of issues 0-3 (and 4)? Do you plan to keep each issue in print by making 2nd, 3rd, etc... prints as each print sells out? #0 - 45,000 (no reprints _ever_) #1 - 3,000 }-scarce, as you probably know #2 - 3,000 }/ #3 - 10,000 #4 - 10,000 We'll reprint _until_ we release a compilation volume. 19. What kind of future do you see for Starchild? Will this be your sole work, or would you like to work on other comics? What would you consider a success for Starchild? Future? About 9 years, at this point. Sole work for now, but outside of collaborations w/other self-publishers or interested creators, nothing for other companies. It exists, and enough people like it that I make a comfortable living. That's a success to me. 20. How can people go about getting back issues of Starchild? Any advice on how people can convinve their store to carry Starchild? The article on Starchild in Wizard #26 has made us legitimate to an amazing number of stores; pointing it out seems to help. That I was compared to Sim, Moore, and Gaiman _really_ seems to help. Pointing out the Nov. Comics Values Monthly _Back Issue Bits_ listing Starchild as more in demand than Spawn (for back issues) should spark a few retailers' interest --