Hotshot Showcase: Josh Tierney

by Mel Stringer

Today we're going to interview our first writer ever, Josh Tierney. I found Josh's work when he first contacted me about being involved in an ultra-collaborative comic called SPERA. I checked out the rest of his site, breezing through his collection of short stories (also accompanied by lovely illustrations by various artists) and soon figured out how amazing a writer he is. I was blown away by his characters, stories and his writing style which is incredibly easy to identify with in a way I can't really put into words. He has definitely influenced the mindset I approach stories with. 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background and how you got into this field? When did you know you were a writer?

I was 11 when I decided to focus on writing. I felt like my drawings just weren't cutting it for the worlds I was trying to create, so I turned to words instead. From then until last year I focused on prose -- and the script for Spera happens to be prose -- but it was with Spera that I decided to take up comics as a career.

Oliver Hull was actually the one who suggested I try writing a comic. I've always been a comic fan, and always wanted to write one, but for whatever reason I never managed to get around to it until last year. I have Oli and everyone else involved with Spera to thank for helping me choose this path.

Can you tell us about some of your projects you're working on (or planning to work on)? What are your favorite genres to work in?

I've been writing and editing the second volume of Spera -- both the print issues and the online portion. At the same time I'm balancing a large, secret-ish project with Paul Maybury (and a bunch of other awesome people). Next month I'll begin scripting a sci-fi graphic novel drawn, plotted and created by Julia Scott.

My favourite genre to work in is probably the one Spera is: epic fairy tale. An epic fairy tale is basically a fantasy that focuses on smaller-scale, episodic adventures; it can also be seen as an ambitious fairy tale. Two examples of this would be Bone and The Hobbit, at least until they devolve into war stories.

byAfu-Chan

What are some of your inspirations that influenced your work?

Bone would probably be the biggest. I began reading it when I was a child, and the continuous stream of inventiveness of the early issues -- along with their carefree feel -- is something I'll always aspire to. Ghibli films are another source of inspiration for me, particularly their use of strong and realistic female protagonists. My more experimental side can probably be traced back to Cerebus, the films of Jean-Luc Godard and the novels of James Joyce.

I also use videogames as inspiration, particularly 8-bit and 16-bit Japanese RPGs -- the use of four-letter names in my stories (Pira, Lono, Heph, etc) is a reference to the four-letter name restriction in older RPGs such as Final Fantasy I.

Is there an underlying message or theme that you have in your work? What is it you want the audience to get out of your stories?

Escapism might be the most recurring theme. When things go dark, people tend to look for ways to escape the darkness -- but you can't run away from something forever. Spera is an allegory for the act of escapism while serving as a work of escapism itself.

Can you tell us a bit about your creative process? What are some challenges you face when you're creating?

First I decide on a general theme, genre or setting. From there my mind fills up with the more abstract elements: colours, shapes and feelings. After that I come up with a protagonist. Once I have these elements I usually start the process of writing, letting the plot form and evolve as I write. When I'm working with an artist, or would like to work with an artist, I look over their art for inspiration: the kinds of figures they draw, which colours they use and the feelings they tend to evoke. When I'm working with Afu Chan, his character designs tend to affect the way I write the characters, and I'll often go back to adjust them in the script accordingly.

I tend to focus on large-scale collaborative projects, such as The Untitled Saga of Hana, Radar Doesn't Believe In The Supernatural and Spera. With these projects I act as editor as well as author, which is where the real challenge comes in: finding, managing and scheduling the artists (and, for Radar, musicians as well), making sure things don't fall apart and seeing things through to the end are huge sources of both stress and satisfaction for me. I have to say that the stress drives me to complete a project as much as the resulting satisfaction does.

by Beryl Chung

What are some dreams that you have for your work?

I'm always daydreaming about one of my projects becoming a movie or tv show or cartoon or video game. These are the dreams I tend to have while trying to turn published work into a reality.

What do you think about the comic scene currently?

My current favourite trend has to be the ambitious, high-quality comics that have been appearing online in recent years, for free and fairly regularly: Old City Blues by Giannis Milonogiannis and Starfighter by HamletMachine immediately spring to mind.

RAPID FIRE ROUND:

When you have writers block you: Write anyway.
Your greatest fear: Death. Dying. Followed (perhaps a bit too closely) by flying.
Something you've always wanted to do but haven't: Travel to Japan.
Favorite book/movie/comic: Moby Dick/Whisper of the Heart/Bone
Your darkest secret: I secretly have a very crude and (abstractly) offensive sense of humour.

You can find more of Josh's work at his site, the Spera site and his blog.