Broken Frontier

Yesterday, Kris interviewed Super Human Resources writer Ken Marcus. Today, artist Justin Bleep provides some comments on the December-debuting comic from Ape Entertainment.

Human Resources, Super Style - Part 1

BROKEN FRONTIER: Justin, what 'drove' you away from comics into music, and how did you come back to them?

JUSTIN BLEEP: You know, I think it’s hard to say exactly why inspiration leads us down any path.  It’s a lot like what people say about love.  You can’t help who you fall in love with—you just know when it happens.  When looking back to the time when I left comics for music, I realize was undergoing a ‘social revolution’ and I was finding my place in DJ music culture.

However, interestingly, I remember vividly what brought me back to comics.  It’s really the printing, the production of them, and what that means to their viewers.  I have definitely defined a love for mass culture within myself.   Looking back on my life, even before my first comics venture, I remember a time when I dabbled in the fine art gallery world.  However, the high brow culture drove me away.  And though performance music is designed to be enjoyed by the masses, it lacks part of the equation—it isn’t ‘produced’ for the masses in the form of a lasting physical manifestation.  When I was DJing I really missed this production.

I suppose, for me, satisfaction does not come solely from the immediate enjoyment of art.  There is something to be said for owning the art we enjoy.  For example, when someone pays for something it means more to them than if it is given to them.  The viewer then has an invested ownership to the art—money and personal space.  It becomes part of what they own—their property defines them.

I mean, yes, the DJ recording can be owned, but the experience of the performance—which is the essence of the art of DJing— is a momentary event never to be owned by the viewer again.  When I came back to comics, it was because I felt my personal creative satisfaction wasn’t being fully acknowledged.

BF: Your name is probably most familiar to fans of Brick City Bunch. How would you explain it to the uninitiated?

JB: Brick City Bunch is about creative people using their creative talents to overcome the obstacles of life.  I never formulated a good pitch for the project.  I’m no business man, but I do know about creativity.  That is what ‘Bunch was about—the four elements of urban culture, DJing, MCing, break dancing, and graffiti writing. 

All of the emotions that embody the human experience can be found in the life of a creator—courage, pride, fear, dreams.  Remember the movie Fame?  ‘Bunch was about like that.  We did recognize this story was being told in the comic’s medium though, so a few inherit bad guys made an appearance to accent the internal turmoil of the characters.

BF: Your style stands out from the typical capes and cowls efforts. Were you always more inspired by artists outside of the world of comics?

JB: Wow, that question is really tailored for me!  And YES is the answer.  Modern artist, Piet Mondrian definitely stands out in history, and is easily one of my personal faves.  Over the years I have been influenced by a large variety of artists, in contrast we have Hieronymus Bosch and H.R. Giger.  Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and iconography inspired and guided me for a long time—probably the longest of any inspiration I have had. 

In comics, I have found myself appreciating 1970s art from Winslow Mortimer and Neil Adams.  However, all those names seem a far stretch when looking to ascribe inspiration to my illustration work.  My style on BCB and SHR seem to have been more likely influenced by the Skottie Young-Francisco Herrera-Joey Mason era.  That is undoubtedly due to my desire to merge the contemporary DJ culture with the contemporary comic’s medium.  However, I would also like to explore a more classic approach to illustration, blending “modern” art movements with the contemporary vector art movement.

BF: Super Human Resources is funny, but I'm sure you know that. How difficult is it to convey humor on the printed page?

JB: Drawing humor has forced me to think a little more abstractly about what I am drawing.  You can’t think of the panels as concrete movie scenes—this is a different medium, with far different properties.  Instead, you have to ask yourself, ‘what is the best way to relate the joke to the viewer—what is the best way to relate the human experience?’ 

The means to get to the joke can change, but the end result must be the interpretation of the joke—the feeling of humor.  What I have found is that we all have very similar experiences in life, my job as the artist of SHR is to exploit those archetypal experiences, use them as vehicles to portray the humor that Ken is so good at writing.

BF: Do you still manage to make music between art gigs?

JB: I still love the music, and am a ‘raver’ who is proud of his past.  However, like the irrational flow of love, my inspiration is always changing without reason and is currently leading me down a different path.