parable

Hey everybody. I’m Stephen, the creator of Windblown Wanderer, a story that will be coming out in the first volume of Parable. Mike Maihack has given me the opportunity to get to know the other Parablers by interviewing them, so, starting today, I’ll be posting the first interview with James Mar. New interviews will be posted on the first and third weeks of each month along with a sneak peek at some of the stories in Parable. That means, with the combined efforts of John Gunningham, this blog will update each week! So be sure to check this site regularly for updates and previews.

James Mar, a contributor for Parable: Volume 1, is a freelance illustrator and a cartoonist who has drawn over ten different comic strip series. He works so hard that he makes the rest of the staff feel like slackers.

Stephen McCranie: Out of all the stories done for Parable, Volume 1, your story, “A Dreamin’ Jenny Holiday Special,” was not only the longest, but if I recall correctly, you were the first one to finish! How did you accomplish this?

James Mar: I had a lot of free time and so I focused all my energy on this piece. I’m the sort of person who prefers to work on something uninterrupted from start to finish. Get the pain over with, you know what I mean?

S: Yeah. You work very hard toward becoming a cartoonist. It’s very inspiring. You’ve done over 500 comic strips for your two books, Golden Dreams and Five Star Banquet, and on top of that, there are still a couple hundred or so strips up on your website. My favorite is the Furious Dork! series. What inspired you to become a cartoonist?

J: I’ve always been interested in art, taking art classes all through school. In college, I sort of figured I wanted to do something in the entertainment arena. Filmmaking interested me but I wasn’t able to declare at the school I was attending. Animation was related and a natural fit. I studied some of that in college, minoring in it as well as some self taught cartooning for the student newspaper. Upon graduating, I couldn’t really secure a regular job in the industry so in the mean time I freelanced and worked on cartooning. And I’ve been doing that ever since.

S: The cartooning industry is harsh and unforgiving isn’t it?

J: I wouldn’t know; I feel like I’ve never even entered it!

S: Ha ha, you can do it! Especially since Parable should be on the shelves of bookstores all around America by the first half of this year.

J: My situation is partially my own choice. I wanted to get into storyboarding but I often got frustrated by portfolio rejections. At the moment, I’d rather make a finished comic out of something and actually show it to an audience.

S: Is there any projects that you’re currently working on that you’d like to talk about?

J: Hate to reveal this to you, but I already finished my story for Parable 2. I do have more Dreamin’ Jennie ideas but after each story, I’m not making any promises. I’m also working on a short story for Secret Identities. Mike Maihack actually referred me to that one! Other than freelance, I’m working on a comic book about comedy. That’s a big project to pitch to publishers.

S: Ack! Slow down! You’re leaving the rest of us Parablers in the dust! I knew you had it inked, but do you already have the story colored too?

J: Yeah. I was going to post it [in the contributor's section of the Parables Forums] on Easter though. Don’t worry; I’ll take my break now.

S: Holy snap. Well, good look with your comedy book.

So, I noticed that you work a lot of your Chinese heritage into your comics. What was is like growing up in a Chinese home and how has it affected your work?

J: My experience of growing up in a Chinese home, I’d say is probably like growing up in any American home, only the food is different. I grew up with all the 80’s American pop culture stuff like anyone else born here. My education was important to my parents, but the pressure became more self-imposed than through them. I worked hard but I wasn’t one of those extraordinary kids that got straight A’s or had multiple talents. I’m sure every household is different but my family speaks mostly English to each other. I wish I were fluent in Cantonese Chinese but learning another language takes a lot of time, practice, and effort. While my neighborhood demographics were like half White, half Asian, I never experienced major racism there. It wasn’t until high school, college, and beyond did I really make an effort to “reclaim” a heritage and culture. I still feel like I’ll always be too Americanized but I’ve picked up a lot of stuff since. My work is more Chinese focused because it’s just who I am. It’s an effort to be more freely personal to me and give more variety to the landscape. But I’ll always feel some inadequacies in trying to create fictional characters who aren’t me regardless of race, heritage, gender, age, etc…

S: I see. Have you read American Born Chinese, by Gene Yang? He’s definitely my favorite Christian cartoonist. I tried to get him to join the Parable staff, but he was too busy at the time.

J: No, I haven’t. I actually don’t read a lot of comics probably compared to most comic people. I watch a lot of Chinese and Japanese films though.

S: I’d definitely recommend it. It’s a retelling of the Journey to the West with a Christian twist and a modern interpretation. Okay, two more questions and then we’re done.
How did you become a Christian? How has this influenced your work?

J: I grew up with my parents taking me to church but that was off and on. I really didn’t accept Christ until college at a retreat. During this time I was in seeking mode and didn’t completely “get” or understand everything but I conversed with one of the leaders and just let go of any hindrances and accepted Christ on faith. I’ve learned a lot since then and while there are still mysteries that may never be answered, I’d still rather put my faith in God than anything else. I think my work is affected content wise at least in keeping it “clean” but I occasionally feel more inspired to serve Christ through my abilities.

S: It is a good thing to be able to serve God with your talents isn’t it? Okay, last question… do you do kung fu?

J: After graduating college, I did take lessons in kung fu, wing chun style. I guess I did it cause it is cool, cultural even if stereotypical. I did that for 2-3 years but currently, I’m not taking it anymore. Too much testosterone.

S: Ha ha, that’s awesome! Well thanks for the interview, James. I appreciate it.

If you’d like to see an 8 page preview of James’ story for Parable: Volume 1, “A Dreamin’ Jenny Holiday Special,” click here.

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Michelle Gorski!