SKY PIRATES OF NEO TERRA
An Interview with Josh Wagner & Camilla d'Errico
by Jim Black
Welcome to my first interview for Comic Related. My name is Jim Black and I will be your host. Josh Wagner and Camilla d'Errico are the amazing creative team that produces the Sky Pirates of Neo-Terra comic being published by Image. We had a blast doing this interview and I hope it shows when you read it.
For more information on Josh's writing (including his novels) go to joshwagner.org.
Camilla's illustrations, biography, and news is available at www.camilladerrico.com.
We will now join the interview (already in progress)...
Josh Wagner: You were right, Cammy... it WAS me being stupid.
Camilla d'Errico: Lol the universal explanation never fails! Always blame Josh!
Jim Black: At least it wasn't me this time.
Camilla: Hi five, Jim!
Josh: Ah yes... everything in its proper order.
Jim: It's always a relief when it isn't your fault.
Josh: I went to yoga this morning for the first time ever. So I'm feeling pretty at one with the universe. Watch out.
Camilla: Yep, good thing this is online or else you'd both be in danger from my clumsiness!
Jim: You are talking to the guy who fell off his own sidewalk and messed up his ankle.
Josh: I remember one time when Camilla tripped over me from across the room.
Camilla: You did yoga, I've been doing a Supernatural marathon...we are both in touch with opposite ends of the universe hey...the room moved...not me I blame all the stationary objects for being in MY way
Jim: We're just saving our coordination for another time.
Camilla: Hellz yeah
Josh: Maybe your supernatural marathon will instruct you on how to keep your stationary objects in check (so glad I'M not clumsy... just stupid).
Camilla: ....perhaps...or perhaps I'm learning how to move things with my mind...or get hot actors to move them for me ;).
Jim: Does the clumsiness affect you when you are drawing?
Josh: Don't you have 3 live-in boy toys now, C?
Camilla: Whoa whoa...gotta say, the clumisness knows no bounds.
Josh: Ha ha! I've seen Camilla trip while sitting, so probably yes.
Camilla: Shut it you, Wagner...I blame the chair...
Jim: Chairs are dangerous weapons.
Camilla: When I was doing my live painting of Hello Kitty I almost took out a spectator with my paint brush.
Josh: Oh man, I wish I'd been there to witness that.
Camilla: And I tripped over an invisible carpet and almost blinded my sis with a souvlaki. I think they videoed it.
Josh: God bless YouTube.
Jim: Didn't I see that on America's Funniest Home Videos?
Camilla: Yeah but the squirrel and nut gag won...go figure.
Jim: You were ripped off.
Camilla: Totally, I mean if it was dramatic prairie dog I'd understand.
Jim: Better luck next time.
Josh: I hear that prairie dog is worshiped as a god in Belize.
Camilla: Also in casa d'Errico!
Josh: Do you have an all-white statue of him?
Camilla: I have in my possession a white squirrel lamp, I think that'll do just fine...so, gentlemen, shall we begin this lovely little ditty then?
Josh: I'd like to start this interview off by asking Jim how he got into interviewing...
Jim: Yeah, I guess we should.
Josh: ...and who his major interviewing influences are.
Camilla: Turned the tables! Boom baby.
Jim: Fair enough. I decided to write to Marv Wolfman and see if he would let me interview him for the other site I do reviews for.
Josh: What site is that?
Jim: Rokk's Comic Book Revolution.
Josh: Nice.
Camilla: Excellent.
Josh: I love the name. Is that where this interview will post?
Jim: Many years ago, I spent a weekend doing the convention scene with Ron Fortier, Jeff Butler, Jim Steranko and others. Recently I got back in touch with Ron. He recruited me for Comic Related. That is the site this will appear on. The link is http://www.comicrelated.com/. I plan on meeting Marv in Pittsburgh this spring at the Comicon.
Josh, How did you get involved with Sky Pirates?
Josh: Oh yes, that's a good site! I think I learned about you guys from Steve Saunders - um...Well I was just minding my own business one day when Camilla drove up beside me in a white van. She snatched me off the streets, tied me up, and told me I would be writing with her whether I liked it or not.
Jim: I'm surprised she was coordinated enough to do that.
Camilla: It was a grey van actually...writers...pft ooohh! Nice.
Josh: Good point! Actually I do owe the gig to Camilla... for some reason she had enough faith in me to want me as her writer--and I'm extremely grateful for that.
Camilla: Well, I can't blame it if we got along so well...or was that the sugar induced hallucination either way, I was hooked after I read your novel!
Josh: (In case you don't know, Jim... I'm fairly certain that Camilla is one of my hallucinations).
Jim: That explains a lot.
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Camilla: Fiction Clemens was just the beginning, but Periphery Stowe was what really gave me the sense that Josh could write a story that spanned a wider world and you are ALL in my hallucination my friends!
Josh: That takes a lot of pressure off.
Jim: I have not had the pleasure of reading any of Josh's novels. If I'm an hallucination, why did I have to go to work today? Can't you just imagine I am rich?
Josh: Yeah, seriously... Show a little mercy.
Camilla: He's got one hell of an imagination...unlike myself...I imagine other peoples lives to be slaves to society.
Jim: Just my luck.
Josh: Comes from the heart. Hey Camilla, speaking of novels... I just put the new one in the mail for you today.
Camilla: Ha ha, I'll whip up a nice tropical fantasy for ya soon enough I promise.
Excellent! Can't wait to read it...jumping for joy!
Josh: Yer took kind!
Jim: Camilla-how did you get involved with helping with the game?
Josh: Took? (sorry)
Camilla: Ahem...a writer that can't spell...dear me...we are all doomed.
Jim: That's why God made spellcheckers.
Camilla: How I got involved isn't quite as mission impossible as Josh, but it was definitely fate. Living in Vancouver has its advantages, and one of them being that the streets are lined with gaming companies. I was at a local comic con and was displaying and selling my prints and books when Sean came along he was scouting for artists and we had a little conversation there, he really liked my steampunk art and from there we started brainstorming ideas and in the beginning it was simply to do a character design...simple yet one heck of a work load!
Jim: This is a fun book. Did I understand that you draw with BIC pens?
Camilla: You bet! I love those pens, they simulate pencil but have the smudgeproofness (yes I made up a word!) of pens.
Jim: So do you have to white out much?
Camilla: Ahem never...why would you ask...)
Jim: I am impressed.
Camilla: I think sometimes white out magically appears on the pages...but I have NO idea how it gets there.
Josh: I sneak in in the middle of the night and do that. I didn't think you'd mind.
Camilla: Way to have my back baby!
Jim: Josh-are you plotting the story?
Josh: Yes and no...I started out with the game script, took an enticing scenario and zoomed in. So I've stuck to the original plot outlines, but I did have the latitude to alter the details of how that plot played out.
Jim: Is there a possibility of a follow up series?
Josh: Funny you should ask.
Camilla: It's something that's come up.
Josh: I was just talking to Sean and Tim yesterday and I think there may be a sneak peek to that effect on the back cover of issue 5.
Camilla: I saw it, its pretty sweet.
Jim: I am looking forward to it. So far, I have read the first 3 issues.
Josh: Yeah, I think 4 JUST came out this week
Jim: I love the steampunk feel of the book. I read somewhere that a writer said Camilla's work reminded him of Appleseed. I can see it.
Camilla: It did, I haven't had a chance to go to the store yet, but when I get back I'm definitely going. Oh yeah, Appleseed. I never watched or read the series, but I'm aware of it...what anime fan isn't. That's a huge compliment.
Jim: You've earned it. This book looks great. I will have to track down the other books you and Josh have worked on
Josh-have you done any other steampunk stories?
Josh: Fiction Clemens is steampunk in a lot of ways. But I didn't even know what steampunk was when I wrote it. It's a sci-fi western... takes place on an old west world that has been infused with advanced alien technology. When I came across "steampunk" it was very heartwarming to find that Fic had a genre it could sort of step into.
Camilla: It's a funny thing to draw or write a genre without knowing it. Similarly I didn't intend to draw "steampunk" but it naturally fit into that pop culture.
Jim: It is a very popular genre. I think this story will sell better in a trade at bookstores. It looks like one that should be popular.
Josh: I feel that's probably the case about most of what Camilla and I do. (the bookstores part, I mean).
Jim: Camilla-has your project with Grant Morrison been scheduled yet?
Josh-any future projects you can talk about yet?
Camilla: Unfortunately not yet. We've been trying to sort out a time for over a year now and its looking like this spring might be a strong possibility. I'm crossing my fingers! The story Grant talked about doing was a whole lot of steampunk that I'm just dying to get my grubby little artist hands at.
Josh: Everything I'm working on is hush-hush right now, sadly. The only thing I can mention is my new novel release. Deadwind Sea just launched this week at www.deadwindsea.com
Camilla: Congrats btw.
Josh: Thanks!
Jim: Josh-do you prefer writing novels or comics?
Josh: It's apples and oranges. Comics are great because I can sit down and work on them anytime. I just fall right into the script. Usually I require a day or two to settle into a novel's reality before I can start writing... and then I can't be disturbed or it pulls me out of the world. So it's kind of an obnoxious process but ultimately I consider myself a novelist at heart.
Jim: Camilla-it sounds like a busy year for you. Are you ready for the show at the Olympics? How did you get involved with that?
Camilla: I'm getting ready for the 2010 storm. My Olympics show is going to be really fun. I've never had the chance to focus specifically on Canada or any one nation in my art, so this is a great chance to express what I feel about Canadian nature in my work.
It was an easy process to become involved, since it was the Ayden Gallery that was my first taste at the gallery scene. I've developed a close friendship with the owner and the local artists, so we're all quite excited for it.
Jim: Will the art be available to look at on the internet?
Camilla: Oh yes indeed. I'm going to start posting sneak peeks and the Ayden has a website as well. I'm sure it'll be set up for online viewing in Feb.
Josh: I hadn't heard about this... sounds fantastic, kiddo!
Camilla: Thanks, we're going to do an awesome display of art and also live t-shirt screening with a graphic from each artist. And I might even have an army of giant Kuro plushies there.
Jim: Josh-will there be any more stories in the Fiction Clemens universe?
Josh: Likely so. It's a place I'm quite fond of. Probably not for a couple years, though... my project dance card is just about full at the moment.
Jim: That is a good problem to have.
Do either of you have anything you want to tell our readers?
Josh: Yes! One second... let me consult the oracle.
Camilla: My crystal ball is telling me to say thanks to everyone who has read Sky Pirates and keep reading; it's getting really good now!
Josh: I would like them to know that despite the rumors that the west coast can't do pizza, there's some excellent New York style pizza on Alberta Street in Portland.
also Camilla's apartment is blindingly white
Camilla: The white tower!
Josh: And she throws like a girl.
Camilla: Mwhahaha.
Camilla: ...I throw like a girl because I am one...what's your excuse?
Josh: So watch your back.
Camilla: Hee hee.
Josh: Oooooh!
Camilla: Ha!
Jim: If I ever see her at a convention, I'll make sure I don't make her mad.
Josh: That would be a wise decision.
Camilla: I will give people advance warning that Josh is sweet and doughy like a marshmallow.
Josh: Also everyone is invited over to my house for a game of Chinese chess but you have to bring your own tongs.
Camilla: Nice. Can I bring my plush army?
Josh: You can... do they out-marshmallow my doughiness? Or out-dough my marshmallow-i-ness?
Camilla: They've got a Buddha belly and a Beyonce booty!
Josh: Oh sweet delight!
Jim Black/Reviewer and Interviewer
Jim has been a comic fan since he was a little boy. Comics, science fiction and music became his passions. After writing for some fanzines, Jim finally broke in writing an independent comic. Unfortunately, it did not last. In recent years, Jim has been reviewing comics (http://comicbookrevolution.net/) and science fiction (http://sciencefictiontimes.blogspot.com/). In addition to reviewing, Jim is working on his own writing projects.
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