Josh Howard Interview!

Writer and artist, Josh Howard, popularly known for his title Dead@17, and The Lost Books of Eve titles took some time to speak with Project Fanboy about his past, present and future works as well as what the hold up on production was with his work.

Steven Sykora: Thanks for joining us today Josh. As you mentioned on your official website (http://joshhoward.typepad.com/joshhowardnet/), it's been a while since you've come out with something new. I even got a request from the guys at my local comic shop to ask… what was the hold up on production?

Josh Howard:
Good question, and there are a couple different answers. First, back when I was about to begin work on the new Dead @ 17 and Lost Books of Eve, there were some unforeseen delays in the work I was doing with DC at the time that caused me to get a late start. Then there were some changes at Viper in regards to printing and production that really slowed things down. There came a point that no matter how hard I worked, I couldn't get caught up. And somewhere during this time, my baby girl was born, and as great as she is, she just wasn't very conducive to the creative process. Before all this I had been producing books pretty regularly- about 6 - 8 a year. I had a pretty good rhythm going. But at this point I felt like I had hid a brick wall and lost all my momentum. And once you lose it, it's hard to get it back. But I'm happy to say now that I am finally back and track and in full swing. All the late books are caught up, and I'm even ahead on upcoming stuff, so things are looking good.

Steven Sykora:
I'll be honest, I've yet to read the Dead @ 17 titles and the first time I saw the name Josh Howard was on some Lost Books of Eve comics that Viper sent us. After reading up on it though, it seems I've been missing out. Can you explain what the series is about to our readers?

Josh Howard:
Dead @ 17 is strange because I've never been able to encapsulate it into one of those one sentence hooks, and if I try, I usually end up overselling it or underselling it. My biggest influences in creating it were Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and The Evil Dead movies, so it has elements of all of those shows. But at its heart its about two girls who are best friends - Nara and Hazy. They end up getting caught between this "end of days" war between heaven and hell all the while trying to maintain some kind of normal lives (and not succeeding very well). If Lost Books of Eve is my Genesis, Dead @ 17 is my Revelation. And if you've read both you know there is a actually a very real connection between the two.

Steven Sykora:
You've also got the last two issues of your new Dead @ 17 series free of charge on your website in PDF format. What made you decide to do that?

Josh Howard:
When the series was falling behind, Diamond kept threatening cancellation. My number one concern through all of this were my fans. I didn't want to let them down. I had gone through all that crap as a fan with all the early Image stuff and then Cliffhanger books, and I didn't want to be one of those guys who just vanishes with unfinished books (although, I do kind of understand what those guys went through now). I came up with the plan of cancelling the series, finishing it up, and releasing it to the fans for free, but still printing it as part of the eventual TPB. I felt I owed it to the fans, and I felt like I needed to gain control of my books because I began to feel increasingly powerless to get them on track.

Steven Sykora:
My wife and I were both fans of your mini The Lost Books of Eve, and that's no small feat – my wife and comics rarely mix. After she read the first issue, she didn't stop reading until she got through the first four and wanted more. When can we expect to see more of these stories?

Josh Howard:
That's really cool, and that's something I hear a lot. I'm glad I'm able to create something that's accessible to both audiences. I think comics need more of that. But in regards to your question - I hope sooner rather than later. I already have the second one all plotted out, I just have to figure out when I'll get to it. The good news is that so far, I have yet to lock myself into anything for next year so I am definitely hoping one of the things I'll be doing is more Eve.

Steven Sykora:
How did you come up with such a unique idea; filling in what the bible left out, about what the Garden of Eden could've been like for Eve? Do you have a fairly religious background?

Josh Howard:
I do, but I don't know if that was the genesis of the idea or not (sorry for the pun). I was looking at taking an established historical or literary character (Alice in Wonderland, or Dorothy of Oz for instance) and doing something really fun with it. I'm sure my familiarity with the Bible led me in the direction of Eve, plus it was an area largely unexplored in fiction, and I guess understandably so. The original story is so devoid of real details that I really wanted to see if I could fill in the blanks in a satisfying way. The challenge was to have fun with it without being blasphemous or becoming preachy. For the most part, I think I pulled off what I was aiming for.

Steven Sykora:
Now The Lost Books of Eve has been out for a while, so I think I can say this without spoiling it too much, but… Adam's brother? Care to explain that one for us? Where did he come from?

Josh Howard:
That's something I'll go more into in the next one, but try not to think of it in a strict literal sense. In the Bible, brother often has a spiritual connotation. Before I started writing, I spent a whole year just researching and brainstorming. The whole Melchizedek thing has been well thought out. I was reading some review that said I was just sloppily taking random biblical concepts and ideas and just throwing them together without regard to where they fit or how. It may appear that way at first, but I can assure you that's definitely not the case.

Steven Sykora:
You've got quite the knack for drawing attractive women in your titles, but still have the ability to keep the characters tasteful. Are these women modeled after anyone?

Josh Howard:
Haha, I don't know. A lot of people think some of my girls look like my wife, but it's never really a conscious thing, it just happens. I think in general, I just model them after regular girls. Girls you see at the mall or the bookstore or at a show. The idealized women you usually see in comics you don't see walking around anywhere. I have nothing personally against that kind of portrayal - I think fantasy is a good thing. But I like drawing real girls.

Steven Sykora:
Between you, Jason Burns, Kevin Abrams and Adam Moore, Viper has been seriously impressing me with the quality of books they've been putting out. How did you end up in Viper's corner?

Josh Howard:
I was actually the first. Back when Viper was first starting up, they put out an ad looking for local talent, and I luckily happened to live in the same area. Up until that point I had been trying like crazy to break into the business. I had produced my own black and white mini-comic, which was an early version of Dead @ 17, and once they saw it they signed me up. It's one of those instances of being in the right place at the right time.

Steven Sykora:
Black Harvest was put out through Devil's Due Publishing, what made you choose to go through them for that title?

Josh Howard:
I had already formed a relationship with them through an earlier crossover with Dead @ 17 and Josh Blaylock's Misplaced. I had already done three Dead @ 17 mini-series with Viper and just wanted to try something new and stretch my wings a little. I knew I would be reaching a whole new audience, and I was right. I picked up a lot of new fans who had never heard of Dead @ 17.

Steven Sykora:
Will you be attending the SDCC or any other cons we can look for you at?

Josh Howard:
I will definitely be at SDCC, as well as FallCon in Minnesota in October. And I'll probably be at Wizard World Texas, since it takes place literally down the street from me.

Steven Sykora:
In an interview with IGN Comics, you mentioned that you might someday like to write a Supergirl/Superman story. Without giving away your story too much, can you tell us what you had in mind?

Josh Howard:
Yeah, that's something I still would love to do. My idea is more of an Elseworlds style book. It's hard to talk about without giving too much away, because there are some twists in it, but the basic idea is that the Kents end up raising Kara instead of Clark. You can see my version of her in the gallery on my website J

Steven Sykora:
You actually had a title come out through Minx, DC's young adult graphic novel imprint. Do you have any future plans with DC?

Josh Howard:
I've already finished inking vol. 2 of Clubbing for Minx. Other than that, nothing definite, but I'd love to continue to do more with them.

Steven Sykora:
What other future projects do you have planned for us?

Josh Howard:
My new series T-Bird & Throttle debuts this August from Viper. It's a concept I came up with about 10 years ago, about the same time as Dead @ 17, so I've been waiting to do it for a while. It's three issues plus an introductory #0 "origin" issue. It's a little different than what you're used to seeing from me, but still has the same sensibilities and interesting female characters (and for the first time, a male lead!), so I hope Dead, Eve, and Black Harvest fans will give it a shot.

Steven Sykora:
Want to plug anything else, say hi to your mom or anything?

Josh Howard:
Yeah, I just want to let people know, like yourself, who haven't read Dead @ 17, about the Dead @ 17 Compendium released a couple months ago that contains all three original series. If you pick up that plus the upcoming Dead @ 17: 13th Brother TPB, you'll have the entire story so far.

Steven Sykora:
Thanks again for taking the time to answer some questions for us Josh.

Josh Howard:
Thanks, I enjoyed it!