Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, kickstarter

10 Years At The Center Of A Perfect Storm

Published Sat, 15 Aug 2015 10:00:16 -0500

Last updated Sat, 15 Aug 2015 20:08:03 -0500

By Megan McDonald

Artist Rob Jones knows comics.

And well he should, after more than a dozen years working on them. Prior to striking out on his own and starting his own small-press comic-publishing imprint, Perfect Storm Publishing, Rob was the last assistant of industry legend Dick Giordano, with whom he worked on projects for DC, Marvel, Image and many more.

In this Q&A, he tells us more about his art background and gives us the scoop on the Kickstarter campaign he just launched for his comic book, Perfect Storm: A New Ride—a project that's been 10 years in the making, which can be found here:

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I've been working in the comic book industry since 2003, when I met Dick Giordano at a convention in Florida and became his art assistant. Through working with Dick, I was able to do work for DC, Marvel and Image, as well as some smaller press companies, and for Dick's own How to Draw book.

Who are some of your art heroes?

For me, everything goes back to the first comic I bought, which was the 1989 Batman movie book by Jerry Ordway. His work is what inspired me to become a comic artist, and reading interviews with him is where I first learned about other artists like Al Williamson, Alex Raymond and Wally Wood. Then, once I started working with Dick, I got to meet artists like Brian Stelfreeze, Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner and Terry Dodson, guys whose work had not only an economy of line to it, but also this playful/fun aspect to it which totally changed the way I thought about drawing. With this Perfect Storm story, we've tried to combine those two schools of thought.

How did Erin Storm and the Perfect Storm comic book come to be?

Erin Storm started many, many years ago when I was in college. I went to see the movie Grosse Pointe Blank and just loved it, so I wanted to do a comic book like that. Many, many years of evolution later, and with a lot of help from my co-creator Gary Carbon, Erin is now an ex-special agent from a family of spies and assassins who's looking to take on more fun/adventurous assignments.

What's the most fun thing about your character?

The fact that we can do any type of story we want with her! In this one, we get to do a humorous/action/road trip kind of story. The follow up will be an adventure story, like Indiana Jones. After that, maybe a hardcore spy story.

What was your favorite part of the book to draw/concept?

That's normally a tough question to answer, but for this project it's a no-brainer: The car! I've always wanted a 1970 Dodge Charger, so I made that part of Erin's motivation in this story, too.

What makes Perfect Storm: A New Ride different from other comic book projects?

It's fun, doesn't take itself too seriously, and again, we love having the flexibility to tell pretty much any story we want to with Erin as our lead character.

Why did you decide to use Kickstarter to fund your book?

We wanted to have direct contact with the fans. We get notifications with each pledge and have the ability to write and connect with the backers, so I've been able to meet and chat with some really great people.

What are some of the rewards for your Kickstarter campaign?

Well, the book, of course! Plus, there are limited edition printings of the book (one printing will be of only 10 copies, for the 10th anniversary of the first time the character appeared in print), art prints by creators like Jerry Ordway, José Luis García-López and Joe Rubenstein, Patrick Olliffe, Jeremy Dale and Gary Carbon; one penciled by me and inked by Dick Giordano; and we have another couple still in the works that we will add as they are finished. We've also got sketch covers, full 11×17 commissions, etc.—a pretty good selection of stuff.

What's your goal for the book if the project is funded?

If we reach our funding goal it will not only help finish up this book but it will actually allow us to start on a follow-up story, too. If a larger publisher is interested in helping us distribute to comic shops that would be great, of course, but if not, we would be very happy to be able to just sell a few copies directly to our fans through Kickstarter.