Carly Interviews Jared Hodges!

What’s up, Readers?

I’ll tell you what’s up! (Have I used that line before? I feel like I have …) Anyway, what’s up today is an interview with Jared Hodges!

C: How does your partnership with Lindsay work? Does one of you write and the other draw? Do you both do both? What is it like working with Lindsay?

JH: Lindsay and I collaborate on all the parts of the creative process. On our graphic novel series, “Peach Fuzz,” we worked together to write the script and create the visual style. When we put the book together, we divided up the labor in a streamlined approach. Lindsay worked up the storyboards and pencils. I did the chapter opening illustrations and inked the art. We both worked on screentoning the pages.

C: Have you always know that you wanted to be an author/illustrator? If so, was it always graphic novels that you were attracted to creating?

JH: I always had two major interests. The first was creating video games. The second was drawing comics. Often I’d combine the two interests and draw comics about video games. By the time I left high school, I realized that the game industry wasn’t for me. Games had grown into a huge production process. Artists were placed in highly specialized roles, like background texture painter, or lighting designer. It seemed too confining. Meanwhile, my love of comics was still strong. After high school I made it my pursuit o do creative work in either comics, graphic novels, or manga. 

C: If you weren’t creating graphic novels, what would you be doing? (To which you can respond with your alternative dream job or your backup plan …)

JH: I can't imagine working a job where art and writing aren't a major component. I'd like to try my hand at illustration for books and magazines. I also wouldn't mind working in games, but only on small team projects.

C: What was your favorite book as a teenager?

JH: As a teen I was mostly reading comics. I read a lot of Masamune Shirow graphic novels. They were really big in the 1990s. I probably read his Appleseed series and Ghost in the Shell a hundred times over a period of 10 years. I was also big into Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel. I'd finish reading a volume, close it and start over again. Those dramatic cyberpunk epics had a big impact on me as a teen.

C: What author are you most looking forward to meeting and/or seeing at the Fifth Annual TBF?

JH: It'll be great to meet the other authors and find out more about them. In particular, I'd like to meet Barry Lyga. I recently read his book Fanboy and Goth Girl. It was a lot of fun, and I felt he really captured what life is like growing up as a comic geek.

Thanks for the great answers to the interview questions, Jared. We really appreciate you taking the time to answer them for us! We can’t wait to meet you in 2 days and 12 hours!