Interview: Jesse Lichtenstein "Killweather" - Comics on Kickstarter
As often as I can, I will try to bring you short interviews with people who are creating comics and doing everything they can to show their work to the world.
Today, I spoke with Jesse Lichtenstein. His project Killweather is currently funding on Kickstarter.
Interview after the jump.
What is your project?
Killweather 1 is the first in a trilogy of graphic novels. The story is a mordent, political satire that follows a particularly nasty, fictional neo-con pundit, Cooper Killweather. In the course of his political ascent, he angers a small but capable, rogue faction of sex-reassignment surgeons who then give him all he has coming to him and more, setting him on a new path of self-discovery and revenge.
The book is visually unconventional. The artistic style is something different from most of what's out there in the indie comic world, I think in a cool sort of way.
What inspired this?
The inspiration came while commuting to an old newspaper job I had when I wrote sports in Portland. I listened to right-wing talk radio in the car, and fell in love with Michael Savage, amongst a slew of others. It blew me away how angry and venomous he was in particular, and how toxic almost everything he said could be. But the guy was obviously smart and capable as all get out, and I had to learn more about him.
So the Cooper Killweather character evolved from that kind of person, and the Darth Vader question of Is there still good in him? And then how do you draw out that good? So the story flowed from that.
Why do you love comics?
I love visual storytelling. I love collaborative art. You start with something, a story idea, that becomes a script, then you hand it off, and it’s in this artist's hands and becomes theirs. And they add all kinds of things you maybe didn’t even imagine, so it takes on a whole life beyond you and your vision. You relinquish that control and the story becomes something better than you could have created on your own. That’s fun.
I love reading comics too, but that’s a whole other long answer.
What do you think is the future of comics?
I think comics already are overtaking independent film in a way, in terms of the pure creative achievements people are making in storytelling. I think the medium is going to continue to attract cutting-edge, creative people. More great writers and artists are going emerge and continue driving things forward, telling great, challenging stories, thought-provoking stories, compelling stories, and taking narrative artwork to a new level.
If you could create anything, what would it be?
I would create more free parking in San Francisco. The meters here are everywhere and only give you like a minute for a quarter.
Jesse E. Lichtenstein is a writer, filmmaker, and journalist working in documentary, television, and outdoor media development. He lives with his wife and son in San Francisco.
Make sure to check out the campaign to fund Killweather on Kickstarter!
