Canadian Web Comic Interviews

James Robertson Author of "Melpomene"

I am a native of North Carolina, born in Burlington, NC. I attended both UNC at Greensboro, but graduated from Elon College.

What was the first online comic you read?
It was mostly likely Sluggy Freelance, but I'm not exactly sure.

What were your favorite comics growing up?
Batman, Hulk, Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night and Mad Magazine.

Tell us how you began working on your web comic.
I'll give you the short version. After reading Sluggy Freelance, I decided that if he could do that, then so could I. So, I did. After a few months on Geocities I got onto Big Panda. Carson Fire had tipped me off to them. Later, Big Panda ended and Keenspot was born out of the ashes, sort of. I've been with Keenspot ever since.

What other writing or comics have you worked on?
I did a comic strip called "ZOOM" in the Elon College paper, the Pendulum. It had some of the same characters that are in COTC . Currently, Clint Hollingsworth (of Wandering Ones) and I are doing "Melpomene", and I am also writing "Magick and Mythos" for Graphic Smash,

For readers not familiar with your work, can you tell us something about your web comic?
Clan of the Cats is about Chelsea Urania Kate Chattan, a small town girl with a big problem. A few years ago she moved to New York City to become an artist. That didn't work out, so she moved back to the small town. That's when the big problem began. Chelsea is a witch, but not just any witch. She possesses magickal skills far beyond the common Wiccan practitioner and if that weren't enough, she changes into a black panther every once in a while. Unlike Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, who has a mission to save the world every season, Chelsea's main objective is to simply live her life as best as she can. Of course, sometimes that task becomes as much of a challenge as saving the world too.
Obviously, Chelsea is not the only girl in town or person for that matter. Her on-again off-again boyfriend, Jubal stands by her side at least when she's not trying to kill him. Both Ruth, Chelsea's Grandmother and Corrine's mentor, Jacob, have taken it upon themselves to teach Chelsea the finer points of magick. Of course, run-ins with Paul, Chelsea's Christian brother-in-law, are always fun. Jubal's old roommate is a vampire and Cynthia, Chelsea's half-sister, seems to actually take it all in stride. And this is Chelsea's normal life. The more exciting party of her life is filled with wizards, werewolves, vampires ... yeah, it sounds like her normal life, but it's just more of it.

If the premise of a girl turning into a large cat seems very familiar to you, then you probably saw the same movie I did. Cat People, made in 1942 and remade in 1982, (with Nastassja Kinski), played an important role in the creation of COTC. While I liked the Nastassja Kinski, version the one that inspired me was the old one. It is film noir at its best and I highly recommend it.

Tell us how you acquired your artistic skills.
Practice. That and some words of wisdom from my first art instructor, "Draw what you see, not what's there."

What artists have inspired/influenced your artistic and writing styles?
The Impressionists such as Van Gough, Monet and Degas have greatly influenced my style of color and understanding of color. As far comic art my favorite is probably Bryan Boland. He gives a sense of weight and gravity to his characters that I admire and try to capture.

Where do you get your ideas for story archs or comedic relief in your comic?
It's all true stories. ;) A lot of the time, I get my ideas from thinking about life, the universe, and everything. What ifs, etc. Sometimes I'll have an "issue" that a story envelopes, as in the abortion/ghost story. Other times I just feel like being silly and that gets you a lot of Chelsea/Raven stuff or spoofs. Most of the time, however, whatever story I have, the characters generally write the story for me.

Your thoughts on the online comic community?
It's wonderful and chaotic at the same time. I hope it never loses either quality. Actually, It's no different from any other community and is far less volatile than most "fine art" communities. I find it, overall, very friendly, helpful and even forgiving at times.

As an American, do you feel that non-american web comics are somewhat removed from the mainstream?
Somewhat. However, since the internet is international non-american web comics can be found with relative ease. There are definitely some Canadian web comics that I would classify as mainstream. Alice, by Michael McKay-Fleming and Avalon by Josh Phillips both have been on Keenspot since nearly the beginning, and Keenspot is definitely mainstream web comics. On the outside world, Americans do tend to believe they established the mainstream. Fortunately, itÕs not quite as bad on the Internet.
Americans are still clannish, but the rest of the world is just mouse click away.

Does anything set you apart, being an American comic artist, from other web comics?
In web comics, like in anything else, being in America does afford one more opportunities.In addition, the humor of another region may be different from over here. I sometimes have to explain the local colloquialisms that pop up in my comic to the non-American reader. Comics are fairly universal, even story driven ones. A good example is the similarities between my own comic and Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan by Reinder Dijkhuis who is from the Netherlands.

How, if at all, does the region you live in or nationality factor into the creative process?
In my particular case, the region is a large factor. Not only do I live in North Carolina, I set the comic in that state as well.North Carolina is a southern state and so I try to introduce as many southern colloquialisms and even dialects that I can. The Southeastern United States has often been called "The Bible Belt". I factor that into the comic also which is no accident since much of the comic is about religion.

Have you ever attended any Canadian or American Comic Conventions?
I used to go to the Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, but only as an attendee.

Do you believe that popular cultures preoccupation with the Anime-style of art has diluted the overall quality of web comics, or improved it?
As far as actual skill in drawing, I do believe the anime-style has hurt ALL comics in some respects. Example: If an artist does an anime-style comic just because it's popular that doesn't qualify it as a good anime-style comic. Any artist worth his or her salt should stick to what they love, be it anime or not. If it's good, popularity will come in time. That rule could be applied to any popular trend in art, not just anime-style. On the other hand, the explosive popularity of the anime-style comic has increased the overall popularity of webcomics and possibly comics in general. It's a double-edged sword the way I see it.

How do you feel about the vast increase in web comics sporting the 'Sprite Comic' (or 'Cookie-Cutter') style?
There's an old saying, "Good writing will save crappy art" or something like that. If the comic is funny then I see no fault with them.

What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites?
Cartoons: Scooby Doo (original), Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop
TV: Buffy, Angel, Kolchack: The Night Stalker, The Munsters, Columbo, The X-Files (first three seasons), MASH (first three seasons), The Twilight Zone (original series)
Movies: Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein (1931), The Wolfman (Lon Chaney), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, A Hard Day's Night, Inherit the Wind, On the Beach, Ed Wood, Streetcar Named Desire, The Thing (1951), Cat People (1942)

What books do you read?
I usually read anthologies because I read very slowly. Several authors I like are Richard Matheson, Robert Block, Isaac Asimov, Chelsea Quinn Yarborough, Poppy Z. Brite

How can somebody contact you?
jamiecotc@hotmail.com

That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom?
There's only one reason to do comics, because you love it.

-James Robertson
http://clanofthecats.com

Authors Favorite strips:

"A spoof of old monster movies"
"On the Beach, playing w/ Color"
"Chelsea does a semi-transformation"
"The Dracula Story line begins"
"Spider Web"

Posted by B.Scott
Return to The Main Page - Canadian Web Comic Ezine



	Canadian Web Comic Interviews James Robertson Author of "Melpomene" I am a native of North Carolina, born in Burlington, NC. I attended both UNC at Greensboro, but graduated from Elon College. What was the first online comic you read? It was mostly likely Sluggy Freelance, but I'm not exactly sure. What were your favorite comics growing up? Batman, Hulk, Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night and Mad Magazine. Tell us how you began working on your web comic. I'll give you the short version. After reading Sluggy Freelance, I decided that if he could do that, then so could I. So, I did. After a few months on Geocities I got onto Big Panda. Carson Fire had tipped me off to them. Later, Big Panda ended and Keenspot was born out of the ashes, sort of. I've been with Keenspot ever since. What other writing or comics have you worked on? I did a comic strip called "ZOOM" in the Elon College paper, the Pendulum. It had some of the same characters that are in COTC . Currently, Clint Hollingsworth (of Wandering Ones) and I are doing "Melpomene", and I am also writing "Magick and Mythos" for Graphic Smash, For readers not familiar with your work, can you tell us something about your web comic? Clan of the Cats is about Chelsea Urania Kate Chattan, a small town girl with a big problem. A few years ago she moved to New York City to become an artist. That didn't work out, so she moved back to the small town. That's when the big problem began. Chelsea is a witch, but not just any witch. She possesses magickal skills far beyond the common Wiccan practitioner and if that weren't enough, she changes into a black panther every once in a while. Unlike Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, who has a mission to save the world every season, Chelsea's main objective is to simply live her life as best as she can. Of course, sometimes that task becomes as much of a challenge as saving the world too. Obviously, Chelsea is not the only girl in town or person for that matter. Her on-again off-again boyfriend, Jubal stands by her side at least when she's not trying to kill him. Both Ruth, Chelsea's Grandmother and Corrine's mentor, Jacob, have taken it upon themselves to teach Chelsea the finer points of magick. Of course, run-ins with Paul, Chelsea's Christian brother-in-law, are always fun. Jubal's old roommate is a vampire and Cynthia, Chelsea's half-sister, seems to actually take it all in stride. And this is Chelsea's normal life. The more exciting party of her life is filled with wizards, werewolves, vampires ... yeah, it sounds like her normal life, but it's just more of it. If the premise of a girl turning into a large cat seems very familiar to you, then you probably saw the same movie I did. Cat People, made in 1942 and remade in 1982, (with Nastassja Kinski), played an important role in the creation of COTC. While I liked the Nastassja Kinski, version the one that inspired me was the old one. It is film noir at its best and I highly recommend it. Tell us how you acquired your artistic skills. Practice. That and some words of wisdom from my first art instructor, "Draw what you see, not what's there." What artists have inspired/influenced your artistic and writing styles? The Impressionists such as Van Gough, Monet and Degas have greatly influenced my style of color and understanding of color. As far comic art my favorite is probably Bryan Boland. He gives a sense of weight and gravity to his characters that I admire and try to capture. Where do you get your ideas for story archs or comedic relief in your comic? It's all true stories. ;) A lot of the time, I get my ideas from thinking about life, the universe, and everything. What ifs, etc. Sometimes I'll have an "issue" that a story envelopes, as in the abortion/ghost story. Other times I just feel like being silly and that gets you a lot of Chelsea/Raven stuff or spoofs. Most of the time, however, whatever story I have, the characters generally write the story for me. Your thoughts on the online comic community? It's wonderful and chaotic at the same time. I hope it never loses either quality. Actually, It's no different from any other community and is far less volatile than most "fine art" communities. I find it, overall, very friendly, helpful and even forgiving at times. As an American, do you feel that non-american web comics are somewhat removed from the mainstream? Somewhat. However, since the internet is international non-american web comics can be found with relative ease. There are definitely some Canadian web comics that I would classify as mainstream. Alice, by Michael McKay-Fleming and Avalon by Josh Phillips both have been on Keenspot since nearly the beginning, and Keenspot is definitely mainstream web comics. On the outside world, Americans do tend to believe they established the mainstream. Fortunately, itÕs not quite as bad on the Internet. Americans are still clannish, but the rest of the world is just mouse click away. Does anything set you apart, being an American comic artist, from other web comics? In web comics, like in anything else, being in America does afford one more opportunities.In addition, the humor of another region may be different from over here. I sometimes have to explain the local colloquialisms that pop up in my comic to the non-American reader. Comics are fairly universal, even story driven ones. A good example is the similarities between my own comic and Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan by Reinder Dijkhuis who is from the Netherlands. How, if at all, does the region you live in or nationality factor into the creative process? In my particular case, the region is a large factor. Not only do I live in North Carolina, I set the comic in that state as well.North Carolina is a southern state and so I try to introduce as many southern colloquialisms and even dialects that I can. The Southeastern United States has often been called "The Bible Belt". I factor that into the comic also which is no accident since much of the comic is about religion. Have you ever attended any Canadian or American Comic Conventions? I used to go to the Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, but only as an attendee. Do you believe that popular cultures preoccupation with the Anime-style of art has diluted the overall quality of web comics, or improved it? As far as actual skill in drawing, I do believe the anime-style has hurt ALL comics in some respects. Example: If an artist does an anime-style comic just because it's popular that doesn't qualify it as a good anime-style comic. Any artist worth his or her salt should stick to what they love, be it anime or not. If it's good, popularity will come in time. That rule could be applied to any popular trend in art, not just anime-style. On the other hand, the explosive popularity of the anime-style comic has increased the overall popularity of webcomics and possibly comics in general. It's a double-edged sword the way I see it. How do you feel about the vast increase in web comics sporting the 'Sprite Comic' (or 'Cookie-Cutter') style? There's an old saying, "Good writing will save crappy art" or something like that. If the comic is funny then I see no fault with them. What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites? Cartoons: Scooby Doo (original), Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop TV: Buffy, Angel, Kolchack: The Night Stalker, The Munsters, Columbo, The X-Files (first three seasons), MASH (first three seasons), The Twilight Zone (original series) Movies: Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein (1931), The Wolfman (Lon Chaney), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, A Hard Day's Night, Inherit the Wind, On the Beach, Ed Wood, Streetcar Named Desire, The Thing (1951), Cat People (1942) What books do you read? I usually read anthologies because I read very slowly. Several authors I like are Richard Matheson, Robert Block, Isaac Asimov, Chelsea Quinn Yarborough, Poppy Z. Brite How can somebody contact you? jamiecotc@hotmail.com That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? There's only one reason to do comics, because you love it. -James Robertson http://clanofthecats.com Authors Favorite strips: "A spoof of old monster movies" "On the Beach, playing w/ Color" "Chelsea does a semi-transformation" "The Dracula Story line begins" "Spider Web" Posted by B.Scott Return to The Main Page - Canadian Web Comic Ezine