Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Take 5 for Kids Comics Joey Weiser - Blog Tour



Celebrate kids comics with Q&As with fantastic children’s cartoonists for Children’s Book Week! Join us as great authors talk about their own creative work and the graphic novel industry throughout April and May. Comics for kids are reaching a time of unprecedented acceptance in the American literary scene, and it’s now true that there are comics for everyone. All interviews are conducted by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado (Dragons Beware!).




RAFAEL/JORGE:  Hi, Joey, thanks for
answering our questions. We're both fans of Mermin the Merman from Mer, which incidentally, is a fun thing to say. Mermin the Merman from Mer.  Mermin the Merman from Mer.  Okay, and now for the questions...

QUESTION: We like this quote of yours from an FCBD Interview, "Each book I do is a reaction to the one before it. They use things I’ve learned from the previous experience, building on positives and negatives that I see when analyzing the book I just completed." What did you learn from "The Ride Home" that informed the Mermin series? And what are you learning from Mermin, that's informing your next work?

Joey Weiser: The Ride Home was pretty straight-forward, following a single character from point A to B to C.  With my next book, Cavemen in Space, I played around with having a big cast of characters and watching their storylines intersect.  Mermin is a little of both:  There is one central character, but the supporting characters have large roles, especially as the series progresses. 

The biggest difference in Mermin might be that it’s a series.  I’m enjoying being able to spend a lot of time developing the characters over multiple volumes, and learning a lot from that experience, but I’m also looking forward to returning to a single-volume graphic novel after I come to a stopping point with Mermin.  I think I’ll try to put as much character development, action, and fun into my next book as I can!

QUESTION (FROM JORGE):  You went to Savannah College of Art & Design.  My nephew is going to start going there this Fall.  What advice do you have for young artists going to art school?  What should they be focus on while at school so they can make a living working in the arts once they graduate?

Joey Weiser: I think that a lot of people know that both your professors and your fellow students are great resources to learn from and grow while in college.  However, I think it should be stressed that it’s up to YOU to push yourself as hard as you can, make the decisions to take the hard classes that may seem like a pain but will ultimately help you the most, and do the absolute best on your work that you can.

QUESTION: What comic would you recommend to a kid starting to read graphic novels today?

Joey Weiser: The first book that comes to mind is Jeff Smith’s Bone.  It’s absolutely one of my favorite comics of all time, great for kids, and made me the cartoonist I am today.

QUESTION: What are you working on now?

Joey Weiser: I am finishing up my next Mermin graphic novel, Mermin Book 4: Into Atlantis.  After the events of the last book, we get to explore Atlantis, the other undersea kingdom besides Mer!  Look for it this Fall!

Besides that I do fairly regular work for SpongeBob Comics, and other things here and there.  I’m also in the middle of a giant sketch project, Daily Dragon Ball, where I am drawing just about every character from Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball in order of appearance.  You can follow that at http://dailydragonball.tumblr.com/

QUESTION:  What's on your nightstand?


Joey Weiser: I’ve just begun reading Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, a biography/photo book of the man behind the special effects for classic Japanese monster movies and television like Godzilla and Ultraman.  I love that stuff!

Wait - there's more! Check out this schedule!



































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Thanks for chatting! I love comments and look forward to reading yours! I may not reply right away, but I am listening! Keep reading and don't forget to be awesome!

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