From The Library: Jeffrey Zornow
Posted by ElizabethGenco on Thursday, May 10 2007 at 9:39 pm
Jeff Zornow is a man on a mission. I’ll let him tell you about that mission himself, but I’ll start by saying that he’s doing a bangup job so far, as evidenced by his current workload. DAY OF THE DEAD, a steady gig with CRYPTIC magazine (our story, “The Dog Lady,” should be in the next ish, if I’m not mistaken, with lettering by my husband), an adaptation of THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, art chores on the lead tale in Gene Simmons’ brand new horror anthology (penned by Leah Moore and John Reppion)…
Jeff has the distinction of being one of two artists I’ve worked with whose art made my stomach drop and a chorus of “THAT GUY! That is THE GUY!!!” break out in my head the first time I saw it. (The other? Boorman.)
I tried to be all suave (that is, if girls can be suave) when I asked him to work on WEIRD SISTER. I think he saw right through it, but humored me anyway, bless his monster-lovin’ heart. And I’m so glad, because he is one of my all-time favorite people to work with. He has also been known to get me to laughing my head off.
By the by, I barely recognize Jeff in that picture over there, as I think it may truly be the first time I’ve seen him dressed in anything other than, well, a lot of black.
You know, like my soul.
Okay! Back to the music!
Remind me again of how you got on this crazy bus called comics in the first place…
By killing people….
I started out trying to be I guess what could only be described as a “normal” comic book artist, trying to draw superheroes fighting bad guys…but no one cared about that, especially since nowadays superheroes don’t fight bad guys anymore, they just sit around and cry over thier personal drama, like little girls in a soap opera.
Unfortunately for comics I am a ridiculously stubborn person, so I decided to draw the things I loved more than anything else: monsters, horror and people getting eaten, mutilated, slaughtered, and killed in horrible ways. Then I suddenly started to build a bit of a tiny following.
Was drawing something you pursued for its own sake, or was it really more about setting the monsters loose upon the world?
Well, I started to take drawing very seriously in first grade. Drawing started as something to relieve boredom from school, and since I couldn’t watch TV in school, I could escape my teachers’ blathering by trying to re-create images of the characters and things that entertained me. My teacher caught me drawing in class one day and said, “Oh, thats very good Jeff, do you want to be an artist when you grow up?” Then it dawned on me that that was something that adults actually did for a living so I replied with an enthusiastic “YES!” And then my teacher scolded me for not paying attention in class.
I suppose that it would sound much more romantic to claim that I then worked all my life towards this life long goal of mine. But unfortunately that wouldn’t be truthful. I have come to learn that actually my abilities and talents (such as they are) are really just here to “set the monsters loose upon the world.” Really, I am just a tool, controlled by creatures from beyond. They took ahold of me that same year I was in first grade, on Halloween night. I was visited by two demon-things from… somewhere. Not here.
And since then…well… I do their bidding, spreading their evil messages.
Such as?
We are DOOMED!
Do you ever get bored, or tired of drawing? Or are you having a blast, being so busy and working so hard?
I am having a blast so far, but I tend to need downtime in between projects to re-charge the batteries. If I didn’t do that I suppose I do get tired (not bored). But it’s good to be busy, and work hard. Work hard, and play hard, it’s a very good balance. As long as it’s all done with gusto!
What does your workspace look like?
My workspace never stays clean or organized for very long. I admit, I am one of those who works among a pile of clutter. I have the same drafting table I’ve had since I was 13, and one side has all of my drawing/inking tools (on the left because I am left-handed). The right side is usually covered in scrap paper and expendable reference material. Other long-term reference images are taped up on the wall in front of me. As of this writing, my space is in desperate need of cleaning!
We were talking on the phone, oh, whenever it was, not so long ago, and you were talking about being “the monster comics guy.” And whenever we work together, I always find myself thinking about how I can keep that guy happy while at the same time, bringing a little depth to our stories, while at the same time, staying away from the high falutin’ because, well, you know how much I hate that crap. And anyway, I…
Wow, what a long-winded way to get at this. Lemme try again.
Monsters: what’s the appeal?
God, do I really need to explain this? Haha!
Yeah, okay! Humor me, babe.
What isn’t appealing about monsters??
Ok, the monster thing started with me before I can even remember. I can still remember the first time I saw the original KING KONG on TV when I was 2, but at that time I already loved Godzilla (king of the monsters, by the by). I can’t even remember how I got into Godzilla, for simply as long as I have a memory Godzilla was there with me, and for me.
Essentially, most of my life lessons were learned from Godzilla movies (mankind is stupid and deserves to be punished for fooling with things they shouldn’t fool with). Monsters provide the best vehicle for replaying this important message over and over: human beings ARE LAME! No matter how much we think we improve ourselves we are all still just monkeys banging each other with sticks. It’s fun to then have some slimy creature come and ruin the party for the humans.
I absolutely delight in many of the concepts introduced by H.P. Lovecraft, like “creatures from beyond”-type stories where the mere proof of such a horrible monster is enough to make the main protagonist go insane, or commit suicide! As a race I believe we need this lesson explained over and over, because it never really sinks in. There is something out there that is much more powerful than we could ever be, and IT ISN’T GOD, (or wichever version of the invisible man in the sky you subscribe to). It is something inhumanly HORRIBLE and it can lay waste to all of us without so much of a second thought. These basic concepts tend to apply to almost all monster stories, whatever the scale. Whether its a zombie plague, a werewolf massacre, or a giant creature/aliens laying massive destruction upon us.
Plus there is the other aspect to monster appeal: monsters are wayyyy cool. Why? Because as characters they are completely un-pretentious, and easy to understand . They tend to look wicked cool, they always get to do really fun things like break stuff, and destroy things, and its really hard (for me anyway) not to root for the monster as they eat or kill the stupid people. This applies to “human” monsters as well, such as the classic American slasher, always great to see them hack up foolish teens to bits.
Plus when it comes to drawing, well, drawing monsters is way more interesting than drawing people (or superheroes crying), and drawing monsters eating people is SWEET! That pretty much never gets boring.
I personally feel that comics are now a great vehicle for monster stories. Not a lot of creature features get made in movies anymore, and with comics, you dont have to worry about crappy effects and a budget. If you can draw it, it can happen on the page.
So I’ll keep making monster comics to satiate my need for monster action. Just like when I was a little kid I drew the things I wanted to see, to be entertained. And the only thing better than watching a monster mess up human beings is watching a monster battle another monster! Or a GROUP of Monsters in an all-out rampaging rumble! There is pretty much no level of overkill with monsters…MORE is always MORE and therefore BETTER with Monsters!
Monsters are awesome because they point out our faults, just before they kill us.
Monsters are awesome because they appeal to the misfit in all of us.
And monsters are awesome because people tend to look down upon them, but they are better than us.
Monsters aren’t here for soap opera antics. Monsters aren’t here to make us feel good about ourselves, or give us hope. Monsters are here to put us in our place! And I will do what I can to make sure they retain their rightful spot at the top of the food chain!
I don’t have much choice in the matter (controlled by creatures from the black void since I was 6, doing their secret bidding, all that).
Do you have a lot of nightmares?
Yes…..since I was very very little.
Are you a nightmare?
Depends which side of the fence you’re on.
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Category: From the Library
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