Josh Alves is a husband and father, a graphic designer and cartoonist. See more at his site, www.joshalves.com.

Stephen McCranie: Your story for Parable, Volume 1, entitled: “Thistles” was done in collaboration with John Gunningham. What was it like working with John, and how did you guys meet up?

Josh Alves: John’s a great guy and just as cool to work with (even though he’s Canadian….. I’m kidding!). We actually met up through my sister. She was familiar with his writing and forwarded me one of his pieces. It was called “Flintlock Mages.” I dug the story a lot, ended up doing a couple sketches of one of the characters, sent it to him and we started talking. I really enjoy his writing and we talked more about “Flintlock” and his plans for it, and it started to develop into something that I thought sounded like it’d make a great comic book series so we started brainstorming and fleshing out ideas. It’s the project we’re working toward’s doing… (I guess that’s the short answer?!?)

S: So did “Flintlock” preceed “Thistles?”

J: Oh yeah. I’m still not completely comfortable/satisfied with my art to do the Flintlock series (now called “Pariah Dispersia”) justice. So rather than jump right into that story we’ve decided to collaborate on little projectsas I become more experienced with sequential storytelling and continue to develop my art.

S: You do a very funny single panel comic called Tastes Like Chicken, which, for any readers out there, I’d definitely recommend. Have you ever thought about syndicating it?

J: Thanks for that— Yes I have! Actually I just sent out a bunch of packets a few weeks ago.

S: That’s great! I sent out a bunch of Mal and Chad’s to a bunch of Syndicates… but there seems to be very little room in the newspaper comics section these days. Only rejection letters so far.

J: Those make great wall paper.

S: What other projects are you working on besides Parable?

J: I’m working on the first full-size Araknid Kid story for Sugary Serials and sketch cards for the Marvel Masterpieces 2 set from Upper Deck…

S: Cool!

S: Wait, aren’t you syndicating Araknid Kid through Zuda comics?

J: Nope, Araknid Kid was a competitor in the December contest over at Zuda. It finished 6th in that month’s competition, which means it won’t be continuing on that site and I get all my rights to the character/story back.

S: Ah, I see.

S: Alright, onto some more serious questions. How did you become a Christian?

J: I was fortunate to be raised in a Christian household. My parents brought us (I’m the oldest of 4 children) up teaching that Christianity was about a relationship with Christ and not about religion.So I guess you could say that I’ve always been a Christian, but it was in my later teen years when I began to really walk my personal faith journey. Really taking what I was taught, questioning it, seeking answers… and finding some of them… and being ok not having them all (yet).

S: My testimony is like that too. Even if you’re raised in a Christian home though, there comes a point when you realize that if the things you believe in are really true, then they’ll stand up to any amount of questioning.

J: It’s true, I guess sometimes growing up in a Christian home could be a crutch because you might tend to rely on the belief of your parents, but eventually there comes a time when you’ll have to answer why you believe what you believe… and saying “because my parents believe it…” isn’t the best answer.

S: Very true. So, I read on you blog that you tried out for Last Comic Standing. Can you tell me what that was like?

J: It was a blast.

S: What was your routine like?

J: I auditioned with friends of mine. Chris Quimby, Hoopachoo (a comedian from New York that I had only met online) and my brother Jake. We set it up like an adventure that we tried to document (some clips remain on YouTube). We froze out in line, I was able to perform in front of the judges (who didn’t RIP me apart. I was expecting them too) Kathleen Madigan (one of the comedians) called me “adorable.” Alonzo and Ant (the other judges) gave great feedback and critique- so overall I was pretty happy with how it went.

My routine, well… it was like one that wasn’t good enough to be shown on the show and wasn’t bad enough to be shown on the show.

S: If you don’t get in, then that’s the best way to go. Thanks for the interview Josh.

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Tor Harold Blom!

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