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Carmi native shares world comic book award Date: 5/5/2005 |
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Josh Elder may not be Superman, though he once "played" the Man of Steel. But the 1998 Carmi-White County High School graduate has entered the world of comic books in a big way--as a "rising star of manga." Elder was accorded that title recently by Tokyopop, one of the leading international comic book publishers. The 24-year-old Chicago resident and Erich Owen, 32, Nashville, Tenn., recently won the publisher's fifth annual Rising Stars of Manga competition. Elder wrote, and Owen illustrated, grand prize winner "Mail Order Ninja," a tale about a boy and his pet ninja. They split the top prize of $2,500. "This is about the coolest thing that has ever happened to me--especially considering that I totaled my car this morning!" Elder told a Tokyopop publicist. In addition to the money and publication in Tokyopop's upcoming Rising Stars of Manga Volume 5 graphic novel anthology, the winners will have the opportunity to pitch and score their own future book deals with Tokyopop. Fourteen book contracts have been signed by winners in past competitions, said a spokesman for the publisher. "What promise of publication does the future hold for this year's winners and runners-up? Now that they have their foot in our door, the future is theirs!" One may visit www.TOKYOPOP.com to learn more about these talented artists. Elder (who recently suffered burns in a cooking accident and is recovering at home) "sat down" with a Times reporter (via e-mail) to discuss his success: Q: Is "graphic novel" the current name for a fictional comic book? A: It's sort of the "grown-up" name, for lack of a better term. It's been around for a long time, but was popularized when Art Spiegelman's book "Maus" about his father's experience in the Holocaust won a special Pulitzer Prize. People just weren't comfortable calling a piece of truly literary (and decidedly not very funny) work like that a "comic book". So they used graphic novel instead and the term stuck. Q: What is "manga?" A: Manga is essentially the Japanese word for comics. The literal translation escapes me right now, but it's pretty much just pictures in a sequence. And for the last three or four years, graphic novel publishing--driven primarily by manga imports from Japan--has been the largest growth segment of the publishing industry. Go to any major chain bookstore and you'll see literally hundreds of titles of graphic novels on the shelves. Q: What age group does this target? A: My entry, "Mail Order Ninja," is aimed at middle schoolers and 3rd-5th graders. It can be enjoyed by anybody, but it's primarily geared towards a kid's sensibilities. Most of Tokyopop's stuff is aimed at the same age group, though they do put out quite a bit of material that's PG-13. None of that found its way into the Rising Stars Anthology where "Mail Order Ninja" will see print, however. It's all safe for kids. Q: Did you really total your car? A: Alas, yes. Went off the road while driving home from a friend's house. And I actually just got back from the hospital yet again after receiving treatment for burn trauma. My shirt caught on fire while I was cooking dinner and I received 2nd and 3rd degree burns over five percent of my body. The Lord giveth and he taketh away.... Q: What's this about Superman? A: I graduated from CWCHS in 1998, and I was actually on the front page of The Times because I was wearing a Superman shirt underneath my gown and I pulled it open to reveal it as I walked out. Q: What year did you graduate from Northwestern? A: 2002. Q: Your degree is in what? A: Film. Mostly I concentrated in screenwriting, which has been invaluable in helping me write comics which are essentially a more visually rich version of film storyboards. Q: Have you done post-graduate work? A: Nope. I'm done with school. It's the working world for me from now on. Q: What have you done either educationally or professionally since leaving college? A: Had a job as an associate editor of "Wizard: The Comics Magazine," which is the premiere comic fan publication in the country. It wasn't the right fit for me, so I left that position after just a few months. Since then I've been working various retail jobs and writing on the side. I've been published in a lot of on-line political opinion sites including www.techcentralstation.com and www.nationalreview.com, which gets nearly two million hits a month (or that might be a week, I'm not sure--regardless, several hundred thousand people have read my work). And, of course, I've been writing comics as well. Q: Where are you living now, and where are you working? A: I'm living in Chicago and working in the music department at a Barnes & Noble, where I sort of serve as the movie and graphic novel expert. Q: What turned you toward writing comic books? A: I've been reading the things since before I learned to read. I got my first job mowing lawns in order to pay for my burgeoning comic habit, and pretty much as long as I can remember I've wanted to create comics of my own. I just never thought I would actually do it, but after my cancer diagnosis in 2002, I realized that I might not be long for this world and so I stopped deferring my dreams and just went for it. And it took a few years, but I did it. Q: Was this your first to get published? A: Yes, but most definitely not the last. I'm pitching my own series to Tokyopop and have every confidence that it will get picked up. I'm also going to be pitching a series to Marvel Comics (home of Spider-Man) and DC Comics (home of Superman, Batman). Q: How did you hook up with Owen? A: We met on-line. He's part of an on-line comic artist collective and they saw a posting for "artist wanted" on one of the bigger Internet message boards for up-and-coming comic creators. He really liked the story and I really liked his art. The rest is comic book history. Q: Where do you come up with ideas for a comic? Is the illustrator part of the process of writing it or does he step in when you're done? A: That all depends. I wrote "Mail Order Ninja" about three years ago while I was undergoing chemotherapy. I just wanted to write a story and the comic medium was the one I knew best. So I shopped around for an artist to fulfill my vision. Erich did that. Not that he didn't have plenty of ideas of his own which contributed to the final product, but I was the "author" of "MON." I see my role as generally akin to a film director. There are literally hundreds of other creative voices making themselves heard, but the director provides the guiding vision. Now with the series that Erich and I will be pitching to Tokyopop, we'll both own it. However, I'm still the primary author since I'm making everything up. It's a visual medium so he's the one who makes all that happen and therefore is rightly considered an equal partner. So it all depends on the context. Q: How many words in a typical "graphic novel," and how would it compare in length with a traditional novel? A: There really isn't a typical graphic novel. The page counts are all over the place, though I guess the most typical is about 144 pages. That will probably be the page count of my series. The Rising Stars of Manga anthology book in which "MON" will see print is a collection of eight short stories of about 20 pages each, plus supplemental material like forewords and afterwords and middlewords.... Q: Is this something you want to do for a long time, or just a diversion, or what? What are your long-term goals? A: I've wanted to do this my whole life. I'm hopefully going to be able to use comics as a way into movies, television and print, where the pay is much better, but I intend to always be a comic writer first and foremost. It's my passion and to be able to earn a living from it would be a dream come true. Just a word of thanks to everyone in Carmi for being there for me in so many ways over the years. I couldn't have accomplished a tenth of what I have without your constant prayers and support. Thank you all. Oh, and speaking of support, buy my book ("Rising Stars of Manga Volume 5") when it comes out in August. You'll like it, trust me. |
| Source: Carmi Times |
