Webcomic Spotlight: Android Jones

Happy Monday everyone! Today we are joined once again by Jesse Young from Write Jesse Write  to talk about his comics that are available for free every day of the year! Were off to adventure in space with Android Jones!!!

All-Comic: First off, how was it to work with Ryan Cody?

Jesse Young: Ryan is an artist I’ve wanted to work with for a couple of years now. I don’t remember when I first came across his work but always dug what I’ve seen and my appreciate for his work has grown as I’ve seen all the work he’s done with the Doc Unknown franchise. When I was looking for a new artist for this series he was the first one I thought of. I just thought his style would be perfect to bring Jones to life. Working with Ryan has been amazing. His art speaks for itself. He’s taken Jones, PIP, that entire world and brought them to life in a way I never thought possible.

AC: Ryan is a great artist and I am really glad to see him getting more work. Let’s tell our nice audience at home about Android Jones. How do you describe it to those not familiar with it?

JY: Android Jones is a sci/fi, action adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

AC: There is a good mix of adventure, buddy cops and reckless endangerment. We never see Jones assigned a mission or take orders, he’s already there in the thick of it, shooting off his mouth and gun making a break for freedom. It is a lot of fun to see him make it by the skin of his teeth.

JY: Jones started because I was working on shorts for my writers portfolio. I’ve always loved Sci/Fi movies and have always wanted to do a space adventure story. The original idea with Jones was actually pretty simple. I thought it would be fun to have every short start with Jones and PIP in some sort of jam and then the fun would be to see how they got out of it. That was the genesis of the idea and originally that was my only intention with it.

AC: Were both issues designed by Aleksi Rokka? There are great alien designs in both but I really like the five eyed guys in Issue 2.

JY: Aleksi was the original artist. He did the original character designs for Jones and PIP and had roughed out all the pages for the first short. He then had to back out of the project so when Ryan came on board we decided to keep the look of Jones and PIP that Aleksi designed because we both really liked it and felt there was not much to tweak. But everything else has been all Ryan Cody. I gave somewhat of a description to Ryan about what the Karsa should look like, but he made those things even  more nasty than I originally described.

AC: There are a lot of really fun and fantastic designs of creatures and monsters, did you help the artist come up with these or did they just go wild on design?

JY: It’s pretty much all Ryan, which is what I love about working with him. He is able to take just a little bit of direction from me and come up with these amazing designs and basically gives me exactly what I was looking for, even though I didn’t know what that was. The Berathians from the first short I thought were perfect, but I didn’t give me much direction, if any for them.

AC: What is it that draws you (and subsequently Jones) to Adventure?

JY: I’ve always been a big fan of those kinds of stories and the great thing about comics, is you can do these big stories because the only limits are your imagination. No budgets or sets or anything like that to worry about. I’m a pretty laid back guy and I don’t take myself too seriously, so while I enjoy writing some more serious content like HERE WE GO, it’s fun to let loose and have a little fun. Jones is the perfect character to do this with.

AC: Can we expect more Android Jones down the line?

JY: That’s the plan. As I said, originally the idea was just to do these shorts with him in a jam and work his way out. Once I did the first two shorts with Ryan and saw how amazing they turned out, seeing how well people responded to them, I knew that I needed to do more. I’m working right now on putting together a pitch for a larger series and flushing out that universe a bit more. If I can get lucky, there will be more Jones in my future.

AC: In the introduction to Android Jones you mentioned the original artist had to step away. How do you handle those type of set backs?

JY: It can be frustrating, especially the more you have finished on a project. However, it is a part of the business and something everyone will go through at some point. You just need to push through and move on. Don’t let it discourage you. If you still believe in the project, find another way to make it happen. I think Aleksi would have done a great job on Jones and I was bummed when he had to leave, but ultimately it lead me to working with Ryan and that was such a positive experience, I’m glad it all worked out as it did.

AC: How much of a story do you ideally like to have before approaching an artist?

JY: In a perfect world maybe just an idea so the artist and I can build the story together. Collaboration is the fun part of comics for me, so I like finding a partner and building the story together but it all depends on the situation. For Jones, both shorts were written before Ryan came on, so he just drew the scripts. I did a pitch called THE AMULET OF ISANOVE and that artist was very involved in helping shape the story, so it all depends.

AC: How do you handle communication between the team?

JY: Mostly just through email, although I do Skype calls with one of my creative teams. Whatever the other people are comfortable with works for me.

AC: Do you set a time table or play by ear with the team?

JY: Usually I’ll give them an idea of when I am hoping to have projects finished but am always flexible. .

AC: Any advice for those writers out there looking for an artist?

JY: Have a blog, website, something that can showcase what you and your writing is all about. Make it as professional as possible. They are way more writers looking for artists than the other way around. So that means they can be selective with who they work with. When you reach out to them, give them a space they can check out your work. Since I started my site and posted other comics I’d done with people, I found the responses from other artists I was interested in were much more favorable than when I was just cold emailing with nothing for them to see I had done any previous work.

AC: As always, what’s next for you?

JY: My latest short FORBIDDEN LOVE was just released in March and the final short in my collection THE DEVIL YOU KNOW with art by Jason Copland came out on April 22nd. After that I am working on pitched for EX OCCULTUS, ANDROID JONES and also DASH, BRADBURY which is a bit of a spin-off from HERE WE GO. I’ve also been toying with the idea of launching a Kickstarter to collect all my shorts into one book, with the possibility of adding a few more shorts into the mix.

AC: How can readers best support you and your work?

JY: For the time being, just check out my work on my site: writejessewrite,com/comics and share with your friends. The people I can get my work in front of the better. Also follow me on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest news.

AC: Thanks for your time Jesse!

All right gang! Jesse has been working hard to build his portfolio of comics. Give it a look over and help spread the word!