Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Ande Parks, Brandon Jerwa, Dynamite Entertainment, eric trautmann, Li'l Bionics, rob guillory, steve austin

Brandon Jerwa Talks Li'l Bionic Kids And Writing All-Ages Comics

Brandon Jerwa has written all kinds of work, but he's not known for doing all-ages, kid-friendly titles… so how did he end up on Li'l Bionic Kids? Ande Parks asks him…

Ande Parks: I thought your Li'l Bionic Kids comic was really fantastic. Charming and completely entertaining throughout. I'm curious how it came to be. Did you pitch this idea to Dynamite, or did they come to you?

Brandon Jerwa: Thanks very much, pal. This was definitely an out-of-the-blue thing; the editor, Molly Mahan, approached me about doing one of these books. Bionic was definitely on the table, but Vampi were mentioned as well. In the case of Vampi, there was no way I would even consider it, because Eric Trautmann has been ringing the bell for that idea for a couple of years now. Naturally, he nailed it.

I was a big Steve Austin fan from childhood, so there was no hesitation on my part.

AP: Forgive me if I've missed it, but I don't recall seeing you work on this kind of book in the past. Have you done all-ages stuff like this before?

BJ: I have taken swipes at it before – there is a finished "pilot" for a supernatural all-ages book, with art by Rob Guillory, pre-Chew – but Rob doesn't feel the art represents his skill level now, so it's locked away in cold storage. It's a shame, because I think his work on that book is stellar.

This is definitely something I've wanted to do since Day One of writing comics. Now that I've finally accomplished it, I'm hoping the reception will open some doors for more of this kind of stuff.

AP: What's your goal when you write something like this? Are you aiming at kids as your primary audience, and hoping that older readers will dig it, too, or do you keep the scope broad? Personally, I think it works on both levels, which is ideal.

BJ: I'm glad it worked for you as an adult. If you look at the various LI'L books in this line, I think mine is written the "youngest", which was intentional to some degree. It's a real balancing act, because kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, especially if they're voracious readers to begin with. You don't want to write down to them, but you can't necessarily just write the same way you would for an adult, minus the language and more mature themes. That's an entirely separate argument, though.

I learned how to read from comics. I wanted this book to offer something that is truly all-ages, within a reasonable radius. We didn't get all the jokes when we were kids, and I've tried to throw in some nods for the grown-ups along the way.

AP: I was not aware of Ian McGinty's work. He's great. I like that he did the lettering, too. There are a lot of fonts and sound effects here, and they all work well together. Do your scripts go into great detail on those kind of production elements?

BJ: I am a "super-full-script" kind of guy, no doubt. I try to let the artist do their thing, too, so for every massively-detailed panel description, I always do my best to have a couple of pages that say "Here's the basic idea, go nuts with it." Ian did a great job of taking my script further, and making his mark on the book. I love it.

AP: You're widely recognized as one of the sexiest men in comics. Is it the baldness?

BJ: I hear this a lot, and the best I can offer is this: Can you capture the first light of a new dawn in a pickle jar? Could you whistle the song of the wind? Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? No? So it is with the mystery of me, Ande.

AP: Your story deals a lot with being the "new kid": confronting established cliques in a new environment, finding your own way, etc. I thought it was a really interesting way to go with these super-characters. Is it a theme that speaks to you due to your own experience, or just something you find to be universal?

BJ: I was the new kid more times than I can count. We moved a lot, and I was a weirdo to boot. This book was definitely written from firsthand experience. Plus, I have a younger brother who is autistic, and that definitely influenced my story angle for this book. You don't learn this until you're much older, usually, but here's a big life lesson:

Everybody feels like the new kid sometimes. You don't just wake up being cool one day, and the cool kids are just as insecure and uncertain as you are. I would advise against walking around, thinking you're cooler than everyone else…but it couldn't hurt to remind yourself that no one is really cooler than anyone else. That goes for kids AND insecure comic creators.

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