Broken Frontier

Fred Chao is a Brooklyn bound artist, writer and designer who has stolen many comics readers hearts by his creation Johnny Hiro, a quirky tale about a young adolescent who encounters business ninjas and dinosaurs taking nappy times in the streets of New York. Johny Hiro worries more about paying the rent, his relationship with his charming girlfriend and keeping his job at the Asian restaurant than about the supernatural and kung fu oddities he seems to attract. Entrenched in pop culture and a free-for-all spirit, Broken Frontier talks to this fascinating young creator about his influences and views on life and comics.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Hi Fred, first of all congratulations on your paperback edition of Johnny Hiro! Is this something that progressed naturally because you added in two whole issues that haven't appeared anywhere before yet. Will you be making the jump to graphic novels from now on?

FRED CHAO: It’s odd, the way the whole thing came out. We were going to publish 5 individual issues of Johnny Hiro. By the time I finished inking issues 4 and 5, Diamond Distribution upped their minimum orders. Knowing we would never make the numbers, Chris (AdHouse Publisher) and I decided to go straight to trade.

I have always loved the floppy format, and these Johnny Hiro stories have been very appropriate for telling in 32-page chunks. I can obviously do something more involved if I go to graphic novel format, but honestly, I haven’t even begun thinking of that.

I have a day job and making comics in my free time is exhausting. I’m gonna take a breather before talking something that involved again. But I do love the story and the characters, so I definitely want to explore the Johnny Hiro world more.

BF: The nucleus of your stories always seems to be the relationship between Johnny and Mayumi. Is this a mirror of your own view on relationships? Are you yourself a person that emphasizes relationships a lot in life? Do you actively work at maintaining a good connection with friends?

FC: I wanted to make a comic about a healthy relationship. In a large number of comics, a lot of drama is created between the heroes, deep issues fester beneath friendships and relationships. The thing is, none of my relationships are like that. I don’t create a lot of drama in my life, I’m pretty low-maintenance. My dramas mostly come from outside my friendships and relationships.

These are ideas I very much wanted to touch on in the comic. In my life, friends and family tend to be the stabilizing factors rather than the wild cards. And I would be constantly second-guessing what the f*ck I’m doing without their support and guidance.

BF: The characters basically act out their lives and stuff just seems to happens to them. It feels very organic, much like life itself. Is this your view on life? This mellowed out feeling of highs and lows?

FC: Like everyone else, I’m trying to get by financially, and enjoy what precious free time I have, as well as attempt to make my work day more fulfilling. All that is not easy to accomplish. Plus, we all have debts, family emergencies and unexpected surprises which make our lives feel even more like an uphill battle. I wanted to capture that feeling in the comic.

However, it’s easy to get caught up in that chaos, to be so involved in those day-to-day distractions that I forget how I actually am doing. In those rare moments I do step back and reflect, I find things ain’t so bad, and that I’m generally okay. Maybe the book is a bit of a reminder of that to myself.

BF: Johny Hiro the comic book does not really focus on telling a complicated story but on transferring an exuberant vibe, a life-is-worth-living type of energy that radiates from these pages. Do you want to put the fun back into comics, Fred?

FC: I definitely wanted to make a fun and humorous story, but I’m less concerned with putting the fun back into comics and more focused on telling a good solid short story, creating a small moving piece. Because comics aren’t solely based on the written word, but visuals as well, I might as well take advantage of the medium. Of course, that means I can make balls-to-the-wall ass-nutty scenarios.

It’s awesome that the comics medium is so conducive to frenetic storytelling. And as hard as that makes drawing comics, it also makes comics more fun to draw. I mean, I smile every time I’m working on a picture of Mr. Masago.

Still, by the end of each story I hope to have explored a small piece of experience common to most people living in this hectic world.

BF: You place your comic definitely on the lighter side of life so what do you think about the darkening of stories in current superhero serials? Is that a right venue for those kinds of stories and their readership?

FC: In every genre, there are a million tones for the stories being told. You’re right, we are in a time where the issues surrounding superheroes are heavy-handed, and the outlook grim and gritty. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the darkening superhero world as long as there are a few titles to offset that. I’m happy to see an increasing number of kids and young adult titles, as well as a good deal of humor titles.

But I do question whether or not the crossover-heavy superhero stories are right for a floppy comics format. I love superheroes, I grew up reading them. But the last time I picked up Batman, I had no idea what was going on. Fortunately, the core fan base for superheroes will always be there. But I think the interdependency of a 52-part serialized adventure with tie-in titles can intimidate the larger audience and may not be the best way to tell a story.

I guess the question becomes: Is the floppy the best format for a story? A multi-parter may be a good story. But I think, in publishing the story in 22-page chunks, there is a responsibility to create a beginning, middle, and some kind of resolution (even if it’s not a final one) within each chunk. I don’t buy random chapters from a novel, nor have I seen a book where each chapter is written by a different person, so it seems like an odd way to approach comics.

BF: Your drawing style seems to me to be a weird crossbred of European and Japanese styles. What or who are some of your major influences?

FC: I grew up on a large amount of strip comics. I’ve always loved E.C. Segar’s Popeye, Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes, and Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County. When I got into comic books, I was largely a fan of Sergio Aragones’ Groo the Wanderer, Don Rosa’s Scrooge McDuck, and just about every Spider-Man title, and Peter David’s Hulk.

BF: What is your background as an artist, are you self-taught or did you attend art school?

FC: I’ve drawn my whole life. It was always a meditative thing, drawing what was in front of me—to essentially take in the world through the eye and let it out through my hand. Attacking comics was really different because I had to be creative, because it’s about storytelling, which was a completely separate mindset.

I went to school for writing, mostly for plays and screenplays. I tackled comics way after graduating. I had taken an anatomy class and a painting class, and that was about it. Most of what I’ve learned about drawing was through the persistence of observing. And as best I could, communicating the feeling of the life going on around me, most obviously, the frenetic energy of New York City.

Sometimes I feel regretful not having an art school education. But I do feel that I got a very solid writing education at an age when I was most open to what that type of education can offer. And ultimately, that’s a very hard thing to feel regretful about.

BF: I always loved the covers for the individual issues of Johnny Hiro, displaying a keen sense of design and eye movement and also being immediately recognizable. So naturally I was a bit disappointed that they weren't included in the trade paperback. But it seems to me that comics could use more good design on their covers and interiors. What are your feelings about this subject?

FC: My day job is as a graphic designer, so the design aspect has always been important to me. Chris (AdHouse Publisher) is also a designer, so he has a lot invested in the design of AdHouse products. The good thing is that we generally have a similar aesthetic.

I always thought it was important to work with a good crew who are pretty much on the same page. I feel like, in most comics, it’s this assembly-line process, which is fine and works well when putting out a monthly. But for my first title, I wanted to feel like I did the best I could on all aspects of the book. My editor Jesse Post and I worked incredibly closely, and when we got to production, Chris and I worked really closely. I think the ultimate package, from the writing to drawing to design and printing, feels cohesive. I think we were all after the same look and feel. I dunno, all I can say is that I’m very happy with the way the book came out.

BF: I have to ask because, although Johnny Hiro is labeled a sci-fi book, he definitely crosses over into the real world quite often, meeting famous pop culture stars and a lot of current hip hop artists. What's your fascination with contemporary pop culture?

FC: It’s odd, I’ve been asked about pop-culture a bit. But it never feels like pop culture as much as simply contemporary American culture. I include a good amount of historical Japanese culture as well as the contemporary. I guess, living in New York, things tend to happen. I have run into hip-hop artists and comic book artists. And the thing is, growing up, these are the people who, through their art, have influenced our philosophies.

I feel like media has become such an important part of our everyday lives. Newspapers, books, music and TV heavily make their way into our conversations. And all these things have moved us in one way or another, all these cultural figures have influenced our outlook. It only seems natural to use those elements when dealing with characters who need to change.

BF: So now that Hiro seems to have found contentment in life, what's next for you in comic terms?

FC: I just finished a piece for the anthology Found: Requiem For a Paper Bag. And I am working on a children’s comic book right now, and hoping to find a home for that before the end of the year. And I’m trying to find time to paint more. I’m also hoping to do more illustration. And of course, I hope to return to JohnnyHiro. I love writing the characters and there are plenty more stories to explore. I really want the chance to do that.

If you wanna know what I’m up to, I semi-regularly blog at robotchao.wordpress.com. I also sell prints through www.charmingwall.com.

BF: And finally, what has life in comics taught you?

FC: Man, that’s a hard one. Rather, that’s a hard one to answer without sounding cheesy or cliche. F*ck it, I’ll sound cheesy and cliche. Mostly I’ve been amazed by how supportive the comics community is. I’ve made a lot of good friends and had some crazy-ass adventures. If comics doesn’t work out at all for me, and I end up working an uncreative job, my life will still be richer having put for the effort to venture down this path.


BF: Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us, Fred and we wish you the best of luck with your future projects!

Johnny Hiro vol. 1 is published by Adhouse Books and is a black and white trade paperback, counting 192 pages. It retails for $14.95 and is available at bookshops and comics stores internationally. And don't forget to keep up with Fred Chao's daily and artistic life at robotchao.wordpress.com.