I’ve worked with Josh Howard for more than a year or two and we’ve barely swapped an e-mail. Which is weird, but work trundled along on Clubbing, deadlines came and went, and the book was finished. Now it’s out so it’s a good time to say, “Hello” to Josh and get acquainted.

ANDI: Josh, hi, how are you?

JOSH: I’m good. Very tired, but good.

ANDI: I know that feeling. I understand you’re from Texas? Which part? Is it really all cowboy boots and pick-up trucks, like England is cream teas and double decker buses?

JOSH: Haha…no not really. Of course there is all that, but it’s just as diverse as any other city or country. I grew up in a really small farming community in the Panhandle, and now I live in the Dallas area, so I’ve experienced the gamut of Texas life.

ANDI: How’d you start in comics? Why’d you start? What’s so great about comics for you?

JOSH: Since the age of 12 it’s just something I’ve known I always wanted to do. I think it’s the unique blending of word and picture, the idea that there’s really no limit to what you can create. There’s nothing else like it.

ANDI: You seem to have several projects on the go at any one time, a feeling I’m familiar with, how do you organise your time?

JOSH: Not very well! I do my best, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day. I do most of my work at night, when everyone’s in bed.

ANDI: You have two children, are they in school yet? Do you do a fair amount of childcare? Do you find it difficult to balance the demands of young children with the deadline demands of comics? I find it requires a pretty severe change of gear, to switch from Dad-me, to comic-me. Both jobs seem to require conflicting skills. Is it as easy as it was to sit for long periods and concentrate?

JOSH: I have a son who’s nine and going into the fourth grade, and I have a baby girl who’s just about to turn six months. I handle pretty much all of the childcare during the day until my wife gets home from work. It definitely presents a huge challenge for me to get anything done, even something as simple as answering email. There’s always a million things demanding your attention and it’s hard to get into a real groove. There’s a lot of starting and stopping.

ANDI: As someone who’s never pulled an “all-nighter” in his life, I think it’s an achievement that you get anything done at all. After a full day of being Dad, I’m amazed you can do anything but sleep, never mind sit down at the drawing board and start work. We should start a support group.

ANDI: Naps, what are your views on the joys of forty winks?

JOSH: I love (and need) my evening power nap after the kids have gone to bed and just before I start work.

ANDI: What are you working on at the moment…that isn’t tippity-top secret in a way that will bring the DC secret police breaking down your door in the dead of night?

JOSH: I’m in the process of wrapping up the final issues of Dead @ 17 and Lost Books of Eve for the year. Beyond that, I’m working on figuring out my schedule for next year and deciding what I want to pursue.

ANDI: I hope you get time for a proper night’s sleep somewhere in there.
You’re a cartoonist who usually writes and draws your own material, what’s it been like working on a book with a lousy Limey providing the words? Would you ever do it again?

JOSH: I have to tell you, it’s been the greatest challenge of my career so far. I had been a fan of yours for a while, so the pressure of faithfully translating what you wrote, in addition to pleasing an editor, were challenges I was not used to facing, but I really learned a lot during the process. I think I’m better for it.

ANDI: I couldn’t possibly comment on the pleasing editors bit but now I feel
even worse for having Lottie’s caption boxes cluttering up the pages. Golf. Good or Evil?

JOSH: Evil. Most definitely evil.

ANDI: I knew I could rely on you. Do your children like comics, if so which ones?

JOSH: My son really loves Owly and Sonic the Hedgehog.

ANDI: That Transformers movie, eh?

JOSH: Yeah. I think I’ve said enough on that subject

Thanks to Josh for answering my questions, if I was him I’d ‘ve given one word answers and then had a nap. He’s the better man. You can get all the info about Josh (including the review of the Transformers movie) at:

http://joshhoward.typepad.com/

He has a Dead@17 panel at San Diego, room 10, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday 28th July

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Creators, DC Comics, Interviews, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.