Forums · Interview with Brian John Mitchell
Interview with Brian John Mitchell
Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, President www.jazmaonline.com[/URL]
Question: It's been a while since I interviewed you. This is a chance to tell the audience about your life and who you are.
Not a lot to say I guess. I grew up on comics & abandoned them for girls & music as a teenager. I rediscovered them a few years ago & started making my own. Besides the comics I also make music, run a record label, & paint.
Question: Why small comics, why not regular sized comics?
I think the mini-comic format has a lot more physicality to it. You hold it your hand & it feels like a special object. Also of course theyre easier to afford to make.
Question: There is a lot of drama in these comics, would you say you have witnessed a lot of drama in your life?
I cant complain. A lot of people have had a lot more drama than me, but I suppose I have had my share. The whole thing is I try to create emotional accuracy in my comics & people thinks that makes them autobiographical. My murder stories are just as based in my life as the personal trauma tales.
Question: Does the drama in your own life, inspire you to write these stories?
Yeah, I suppose it does, but sometimes the drama is from a dream or something. The stories kinda start with a single scene or idea & then run through to their logical conclusion. Then with Lost Kisses I go back & add in some jokes. XO has generally been one gag of I accidentally kill people, but it will be getting a little more serious. Worms is different of course because it really is absolute fiction & just me emulating some stuff I like (Kafka, Lovecraft, Burroughs, etc.) & doing the best I can to take one scene I have in my mind & building around it.
Question: When do the next issues come out?
Melissa already has the next issue of XO & is working on it, so Im hoping it will be soon. Its part of an origin story from high school & does have a basis in my real life & that makes it even funnier to me (as much as killing people & disposing of bodies can be funny).
Lost Kisses #7 & #8 is a two parter about breaking into a girls house. & I already have the scripts & just need to draw the panels. #9 is half scripted & about how I alienate my friends girlfriends/boyfriends. #10 is about people saying I love you inappropriately. After issue ten I plan to tell stories that are seemingly less autobiographical with female lead characters for a few issues.
Worms I need to write issue #3, but first I need to figure out exactly what is happening myself.
I went through a lot of crap in the past year that kind of kept me from working on my comics, but I am trying to get more going again right now & have some ideas for other books that will get going if I can find artists for them.
Question: Do you ever plan to place these comics on the Internet or on CD?
Yes. In fact I just got a grant from North Carolina Arts Council to make a DVD of Lost Kisses cartoons. I havent got the digital versions of all the newest stuff up yet partially because of trying to get things done for the Lost Kisses DVD (I want ten issues on it). I just got turned on to the CBR/CBZ digital comic stuff & I do plan to make some versions of the comics incorporating that.
Question: Here is an off-the-wall question, have you ever witnessed anything paranormal in nature?
Ill tell you a story that probably should be in a comic one day. The family that lived in my parents house prior to them, their daughter killed herself on her wedding day. When they were checking out the house her dress was still in one of the closets. Anyway, you always got this creepy feeling walking at the landing at the top of the stairs. So this girl I was going out with had a rental car & she swears that whatever that feeling was got in the car with her & she traded the car the next day. That feeling is no longer really at the top of the stairs. I dont know that I believe in ghosts though.
Question: What hobbies, recreational activities do you enjoy and do?
I used to walk a lot. Several miles a day. But lately I dont have time. My situation right now is I help to take care of my 92-year-old grandmother with dementia & that takes basically 90 hours a week. I try to keep things balanced so she can stay in the house without driving my mom & dad crazy & them throwing her back into a home because those places are horrible, even the ones that cost $60,000 a year are still not good places to live. So right now I try to make enough money to scrimp along doing odd jobs for other musicians (doing promotions & mastering) & running Silber Records & in my spare time Im working on my own music & the comics. I dont even know what Id do with spare time if I had it. I just barely have time to think & barely get to read books at all. But if anyone reading this has a telecommute job I could to do while sitting next to my grandmother, I could use the money.
Question: What cartoons, TV shows and movies do you enjoy?
I really dig Venture Brothers lately. The classic cartoons I dig most are probably Thundar & Pepe LePew & Id like to give a special shout out to the Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles cartoon. For modern live action shows I have been watching Sarah Connor Chronicles & fairly recently discovered Grounded for Life (Im behind the times a bit). For movies Im mainly into a lot of really old stuff, I really like the Mickey Rooney teenage comedy stuff & anything with Lon Cheney, Sr. I think Cronenberg is probably the best director alive. I believe however that some of the 1980s shows I watched repeatedly like Growing Pains, Cheers, Magnum P.I., & Miami Vice might be the biggest influence to my writing style.
Question: What comic books and books do you read?
I dont really buy any monthly comic books except Glamourpuss (actually bi-monthly). I just have too much on my mind to be able to read things in that way. Plus there is a lot of old stuff to catch up on. Im pretty into Cerebus & Will Eisner & Grendel & I grew up on Marvel comics & have a special fondness for Killraven, Daredevil, The Hulk, The Thing, & Captain America. For books Im currently reading Robert E. Howards People of the Black Circle, Studs Turkels Working, Proverbs (The Bible), & Super Folks by Robert Mayer. I often name Wet Work by Philip Nutman as my favorite novel.
Question: If you could have 6 dinner guests, 3 fictional and 3 non-fictional, who would they be and why?
Hmmm. Id like to give the stipulation that the assumption is wed all speak the same language fluently. I think Id like David Cronenberg because he just seems like a good guy & smart & not an ego-maniac. Robert E. Howard because I have always been amazed by his work & the certain mystery of him as a human being. Justin Broadrick the guitarist for Godflesh & Jesu because he gives great interviews & seems really interesting to me. For fictional I think Killraven (from Marvel Comics) because hes been important to me for unknown reasons & I also think it would be interesting to see Howards reaction to him. Raskolnikov from Crime & Punishment because I always liked him & felt like I could relate to him a lot more than I wanted to. Martin Blank (John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank) would be good because he could give me ideas for XO. Of course if I could delve into my own fiction & get my own characters so they could write their own stories instead of me that would be nice.
Question: If you could get into a time machine, what year would you stop at and why?
Id probably go to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Seems like one of the more important events of the past 2000 years since our whole date keeping system is based on it. But Id rather have the ability to send my mind now back into my body when I was in high school & maybe do things a little differently in my life.
Question: This ends the interview, any last words of wisdom?
If you want to do a comic or write a novel or make a movie or write a song or whatever, you should just do it & not worry about if its good or if anyone wants to read it. The only way to do something is by doing it.
Below is my overview of Brian's latest mini-comic books..enjoy!
Lost Kisses #6
Worms #2
XO #4
By: Silber Media, PO Box 18062
Raleigh, NC 27619
www.silbermedia.com[/URL]
Written by: Brian John Mitchell
Email: silberspy@silbermedia.com
Overviewed: Paul Dale Roberts, President - Jazma Online! www.jazmaonline.com[/URL]
Comments: Lost Kisses, Brian talks about women in general. It appears the information is brought on from the experiences found in his life. The woman in focus in this story has a history of mental abuse and other type of abuses. She is a pathological liar. She has been in terrible relationships. The boy in this story is somewhat shallow and remarks on the aberrations he finds on her body. She appears to be a gold digger, her intimacy seems faked. You get two sides of this picture. In a second story, it seems like a dream come true and the other story is horror around every corner. Some of these stories remind me of my Starbucks coffee dates. There are personality conflicts, they don't look like their picture, they live beyond their means, they are shallow and egotistical. To find the perfect woman is as hard as capturing a Bigfoot. In Worms, you have a woman that has a gun battle with a policeman, she finds herself tied up on a gurney and taken to a hospital where they are intravenously giving their patients a solution that has tiny worms in it...yep, we have a big mystery and it will continue.... In XO, a guy is a good Samaritan and saves a girl from a brutal attack by some ruffian guy. The good Samaritan breaks the ruffian's finger, punches him in the face and accidentally kills him. He now has to clean up this accidental murder. He should have minded his own business. SilberMedia has extreme entertainment in small packages. I am headed for Aruba and Argentina, I can carry these comics in my shirt pocket and read them on my layovers, it can't get any better than that!
Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, President www.jazmaonline.com[/URL]
Question: It's been a while since I interviewed you. This is a chance to tell the audience about your life and who you are.
Not a lot to say I guess. I grew up on comics & abandoned them for girls & music as a teenager. I rediscovered them a few years ago & started making my own. Besides the comics I also make music, run a record label, & paint.
Question: Why small comics, why not regular sized comics?
I think the mini-comic format has a lot more physicality to it. You hold it your hand & it feels like a special object. Also of course theyre easier to afford to make.
Question: There is a lot of drama in these comics, would you say you have witnessed a lot of drama in your life?
I cant complain. A lot of people have had a lot more drama than me, but I suppose I have had my share. The whole thing is I try to create emotional accuracy in my comics & people thinks that makes them autobiographical. My murder stories are just as based in my life as the personal trauma tales.
Question: Does the drama in your own life, inspire you to write these stories?
Yeah, I suppose it does, but sometimes the drama is from a dream or something. The stories kinda start with a single scene or idea & then run through to their logical conclusion. Then with Lost Kisses I go back & add in some jokes. XO has generally been one gag of I accidentally kill people, but it will be getting a little more serious. Worms is different of course because it really is absolute fiction & just me emulating some stuff I like (Kafka, Lovecraft, Burroughs, etc.) & doing the best I can to take one scene I have in my mind & building around it.
Question: When do the next issues come out?
Melissa already has the next issue of XO & is working on it, so Im hoping it will be soon. Its part of an origin story from high school & does have a basis in my real life & that makes it even funnier to me (as much as killing people & disposing of bodies can be funny).
Lost Kisses #7 & #8 is a two parter about breaking into a girls house. & I already have the scripts & just need to draw the panels. #9 is half scripted & about how I alienate my friends girlfriends/boyfriends. #10 is about people saying I love you inappropriately. After issue ten I plan to tell stories that are seemingly less autobiographical with female lead characters for a few issues.
Worms I need to write issue #3, but first I need to figure out exactly what is happening myself.
I went through a lot of crap in the past year that kind of kept me from working on my comics, but I am trying to get more going again right now & have some ideas for other books that will get going if I can find artists for them.
Question: Do you ever plan to place these comics on the Internet or on CD?
Yes. In fact I just got a grant from North Carolina Arts Council to make a DVD of Lost Kisses cartoons. I havent got the digital versions of all the newest stuff up yet partially because of trying to get things done for the Lost Kisses DVD (I want ten issues on it). I just got turned on to the CBR/CBZ digital comic stuff & I do plan to make some versions of the comics incorporating that.
Question: Here is an off-the-wall question, have you ever witnessed anything paranormal in nature?
Ill tell you a story that probably should be in a comic one day. The family that lived in my parents house prior to them, their daughter killed herself on her wedding day. When they were checking out the house her dress was still in one of the closets. Anyway, you always got this creepy feeling walking at the landing at the top of the stairs. So this girl I was going out with had a rental car & she swears that whatever that feeling was got in the car with her & she traded the car the next day. That feeling is no longer really at the top of the stairs. I dont know that I believe in ghosts though.
Question: What hobbies, recreational activities do you enjoy and do?
I used to walk a lot. Several miles a day. But lately I dont have time. My situation right now is I help to take care of my 92-year-old grandmother with dementia & that takes basically 90 hours a week. I try to keep things balanced so she can stay in the house without driving my mom & dad crazy & them throwing her back into a home because those places are horrible, even the ones that cost $60,000 a year are still not good places to live. So right now I try to make enough money to scrimp along doing odd jobs for other musicians (doing promotions & mastering) & running Silber Records & in my spare time Im working on my own music & the comics. I dont even know what Id do with spare time if I had it. I just barely have time to think & barely get to read books at all. But if anyone reading this has a telecommute job I could to do while sitting next to my grandmother, I could use the money.
Question: What cartoons, TV shows and movies do you enjoy?
I really dig Venture Brothers lately. The classic cartoons I dig most are probably Thundar & Pepe LePew & Id like to give a special shout out to the Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles cartoon. For modern live action shows I have been watching Sarah Connor Chronicles & fairly recently discovered Grounded for Life (Im behind the times a bit). For movies Im mainly into a lot of really old stuff, I really like the Mickey Rooney teenage comedy stuff & anything with Lon Cheney, Sr. I think Cronenberg is probably the best director alive. I believe however that some of the 1980s shows I watched repeatedly like Growing Pains, Cheers, Magnum P.I., & Miami Vice might be the biggest influence to my writing style.
Question: What comic books and books do you read?
I dont really buy any monthly comic books except Glamourpuss (actually bi-monthly). I just have too much on my mind to be able to read things in that way. Plus there is a lot of old stuff to catch up on. Im pretty into Cerebus & Will Eisner & Grendel & I grew up on Marvel comics & have a special fondness for Killraven, Daredevil, The Hulk, The Thing, & Captain America. For books Im currently reading Robert E. Howards People of the Black Circle, Studs Turkels Working, Proverbs (The Bible), & Super Folks by Robert Mayer. I often name Wet Work by Philip Nutman as my favorite novel.
Question: If you could have 6 dinner guests, 3 fictional and 3 non-fictional, who would they be and why?
Hmmm. Id like to give the stipulation that the assumption is wed all speak the same language fluently. I think Id like David Cronenberg because he just seems like a good guy & smart & not an ego-maniac. Robert E. Howard because I have always been amazed by his work & the certain mystery of him as a human being. Justin Broadrick the guitarist for Godflesh & Jesu because he gives great interviews & seems really interesting to me. For fictional I think Killraven (from Marvel Comics) because hes been important to me for unknown reasons & I also think it would be interesting to see Howards reaction to him. Raskolnikov from Crime & Punishment because I always liked him & felt like I could relate to him a lot more than I wanted to. Martin Blank (John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank) would be good because he could give me ideas for XO. Of course if I could delve into my own fiction & get my own characters so they could write their own stories instead of me that would be nice.
Question: If you could get into a time machine, what year would you stop at and why?
Id probably go to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Seems like one of the more important events of the past 2000 years since our whole date keeping system is based on it. But Id rather have the ability to send my mind now back into my body when I was in high school & maybe do things a little differently in my life.
Question: This ends the interview, any last words of wisdom?
If you want to do a comic or write a novel or make a movie or write a song or whatever, you should just do it & not worry about if its good or if anyone wants to read it. The only way to do something is by doing it.
Below is my overview of Brian's latest mini-comic books..enjoy!
Lost Kisses #6
Worms #2
XO #4
By: Silber Media, PO Box 18062
Raleigh, NC 27619
www.silbermedia.com[/URL]
Written by: Brian John Mitchell
Email: silberspy@silbermedia.com
Overviewed: Paul Dale Roberts, President - Jazma Online! www.jazmaonline.com[/URL]
Comments: Lost Kisses, Brian talks about women in general. It appears the information is brought on from the experiences found in his life. The woman in focus in this story has a history of mental abuse and other type of abuses. She is a pathological liar. She has been in terrible relationships. The boy in this story is somewhat shallow and remarks on the aberrations he finds on her body. She appears to be a gold digger, her intimacy seems faked. You get two sides of this picture. In a second story, it seems like a dream come true and the other story is horror around every corner. Some of these stories remind me of my Starbucks coffee dates. There are personality conflicts, they don't look like their picture, they live beyond their means, they are shallow and egotistical. To find the perfect woman is as hard as capturing a Bigfoot. In Worms, you have a woman that has a gun battle with a policeman, she finds herself tied up on a gurney and taken to a hospital where they are intravenously giving their patients a solution that has tiny worms in it...yep, we have a big mystery and it will continue.... In XO, a guy is a good Samaritan and saves a girl from a brutal attack by some ruffian guy. The good Samaritan breaks the ruffian's finger, punches him in the face and accidentally kills him. He now has to clean up this accidental murder. He should have minded his own business. SilberMedia has extreme entertainment in small packages. I am headed for Aruba and Argentina, I can carry these comics in my shirt pocket and read them on my layovers, it can't get any better than that!