Sorry I missed one question, so i added it. please forgive that mistake. enjoy.

I bring you "Impromptu Interviews"

Tonight-or early this morning- I interviewed the lovely Miss *JoJo-Seames. Let us begin.

Pat: 1. I know artists interviews start with something of the question "when did you get in to art or such?".. but I wanna know, When did you get in to Story makeing? I mean when did you really get in to createing your own stories?

JoJo: Hmmm....Very early on. I played a lot of pretend games when I was a kid. When I was eight I tried to write an opera based on the stories I was making up with my Lego's, but I was thwarted by not knowing how to write music. But I was writing stories down earlier than that.

pat: -Opera legos.. you should totally do it- 2. okay, to be sorta of a Douch, what was one of your Earlier ideas about? the sillier and more imberessing it is, the better. heh j/k

JoJo: Well, the Lego opera was about an evil baron in a vaguely-medieval fantasy world, and a daring group of bandits who were leading a secret rebellion and hid in trees. Kinda like "Robin Hood" meets "Star Wars". The main hero was a young woman who was an expert theif.

pat: whoa, that sounds like a pretty kick ass idea. 3. When you Published Dis vol 1, did you giggle like mad?

JoJo: I sure did! I was literally in hysterics! I couldn't stop giggling and dancing around for hours!

pat: I would too. 4. Well speaking of Dis, This is a book about Greek Mythology, one of your many loves, and the story revolves around Hades -god of the underworld-. What made you want to make a comic about him, out of all the gods?

JoJo: Well, the story of Hades and Persephone has always been a particular favorite; there's some great themes and imagery inherent to it. But the inspiration came about because I kept noticing that whenever there was Greek mythology showing up in any modern movie, comic, or whathaveyou, they always made Hades an evil guy. (I think we can probably blame Dante for this one.) In the original myths, Hades wasn't a NICE guy,  but he wasn't EVIL. He was just, ya know, cranky. And the more I thought about him, the more I thought that it might be kinda understandable that he's sorta antisocial. So I decided to tell a story from his point of view, and I picked the seasons myth, which is one of the most famous stories about Hades.

(Actually, there aren't a lot of myths that are all about Hades. Mostly he just shows up as a character in other guys' stories.)

pat: Yes, Hades -in media- is always shown as a villian. Which is a tad weird and sad. Also the Seasons myth is a favorite of mine as well. 5. In Dis, you take all the gods, goddess, hell everyone and throw them in to a more "Modern" look. -You wanted to get away from the robes and toga's didn't ya? heh-, But your Spin on how they all look are on how you personally view the character's personality, right?

JoJo: This book isn't meant to be historical fiction. It's actually about love and relationships and marriage and esteem in modern life. The use of the classical characters is more metaphoric, which is brought back around the full 360 degrees by their physical world of telephones and cars and stuff. In one respect, the "modernising" of the characters is to help explain who they are to the readers (at least, who they are according to me.) And in another respect, the modernising is so that no one will be distracted from the plot and meaning of the story by scrutinizing how good of a job I do with making a historically accurate ancient Greece. And in yet another respect, the modernising is to help my readers relate to what's going on. If everyone were wearing chitons and drinking wine from kylixes, then the readers might feel that the message of the story doesn't apply to them because of the time and culture difference.

pat: 6. I see. so modernising them was more thought out then just "hey this would be fun to do.". But also it seems it need'ed to be done that way or, like you said, the reader wouldn't really relate. But honestly, you enjoyed takeing the gods and goddess and spinning them in your own way, right? heh also which one of the gods was the easiest and most enjoyable to redesign their "look"?

JoJo: Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hermes were all really easy; got them all right from the get-go, where the first design was the winner. Ganymedes and Artemis took a little tweaking. Poseidon, Zeus, and Persephone took quite a bit of work to get right. Hephaestos was definitely the most difficult design. And the design that was both the easiest and most fun was Apollon; he's mostly inspired by David Bowie.

pat: Apollo was and always has been my favorite god. 7. So when will we be seeing a "Dis vol 2"? sooner or later?

JoJo: I just reached the halfway mark in the second volume; it's much longer than the first, and it might end up being the longest of the series (of five total.) There's a LOT going on in this one, especially in the latter half. Then it'll get printed.


pat: 8. GREAT! I personally can't wait. So while Dis is getting done, any other projects in the works or might be comeing on the horizon?

JoJo: I've got a new project called "The Makeshift Man" that I've started to work on simultaneously. Right now, I'm doing a thirty-page one-shot story, and if it's in the cards then the story will evolve into a series of stand-alone stories that string together into an overall narrative. It's a fantasy story with monsters and magic. Basically, it's more mythology, except this is all stuff that I've made up, and it it exists as wide-eyed fantasy flying in the face of modern cynicism, rather than modern cynicism applied to ancient myth to strip away the romance.

pat: *nods* 9. I got to read the script of "The Makeshift Man", very intresting story. the main character is quite intresting as well. We'll end this Impromtu Interview with 3 short questions.

1. ALL TIME Favorite movie?
2. Favorite time in History?
3. Birds or Fishes?


JoJo:
My all-time favorite animated movie is "Akira", written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, and released in 1988.

My all-time favorite live-action movie is "Casablanca", directed by Michael Curtiz, and released in 1942.

Favorite time in history...Um...That's tricky. Not that I think I'd want to LIVE in those time periods, but I'm especially interested in the 1st century, the 18th century, the beginning of the 20th century, the 1950s, and the 1980s.

And fishes. Birds smell funny and I don't trust them.

pat: Nice. Thank you so much, and hope we can do another interview in the future.

JoJo: Happy to oblige at any time.

If you Like to buy Dis Vol#1 or Commission her.
click here <<[link] >>