13 QUESTIONS FROM HELL! Stephen Harper interviews comic artist Paul PJ Johnson
- By Stephen Harper
Artist, Illustrator, Writer and Owner of Beat The Demon Comix - Paul PJ Johnson has been ripping up the indie comics scene for the past few years. His unique blend of grindhouse, horror and 80’s throwback humor is a style that has garnered him a huge fan base. I met Paul when he was on the convention circuit in 2013 promoting his Razor Bastard comic, just one of many of his insane characters. I fell in love with his graphic tone and darkly wicked humour and followed his career ever since. Once Monster being a personal favourite of mine.
For the past couple of years not only has Paul been collaborating with other writers, but he’s been working on his mighty graphic novel Death Truck. Two years in the making, Death Truck is finally here and it’s worth the wait. It’s everything you’d want from a Paul PJ Johnson book and more.
I recently chatted with Paul about the book and what inspires him to create.
***
Paul it’s so great to chat with you, man. You know I’m one of your biggest fans, so thanks for taking time out.
- Thanks, man, that means a lot, and thank you for the fantastic review and this opportunity to talk about my stuff and get it out there.
My pleasure. Having the privilege to read Death Truck before anyone else was an honour and what can I say? Fuck me, it’s phenomenal. I once said in a review of Once Monster that I didn’t think you’d top that, but you’ve just gone and proved me wrong yet again, its truly epic, it’s amazing.
- Yeah it’s pretty damn awesome, haha! Once Monster is fantastic, I think I really upped my bar with that one and with Razor Bastard 2. Every book I do has to be better than the last, and that’s with everything from pencils to inks and colors and especially with the writing. You can be the greatest artist in the world and your book can have the best art, the best colours and it can dazzle a reader’s eyes, but if you’re writing is bad then all that doesn’t matter because your book will be bad, just like Michael Bay movies! They look good, but they suck ass because the writing and story telling is bad.
Haha! True Dat! Although I do have a slight affection for The Rock!
Death Truck has been a long time in the making. Has it been a slog? And what were the hardest aspects creating the book?
- It’s been hard work, man. I’ve had a hell of a lot of life changing things happen whilst doing Death Truck. It’s been none stop on a personal level, but no matter what’s going on around me I always manage to focus on my books, I need the books otherwise I’d just crack up. Creating to me comes easy, I’ve got a head full of ideas and characters and when they are ready to come out, they tell me. They explode out of my head and they don’t stop.
What made you want to change format and go for a graphic novel this time?
- I can’t keep things to 25 to 30 pages, I’ve tried. The stories just run with themselve