Jim Mahfood a.k.a. Food One is an American comic book creator, born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Apart from his creator-owned comic book series Grrl Scouts and his comic strip Stupid Comics (which appears weekly in the Phoenix New Times) he also did work for Marvel Comics on various Spider-Man titles, including Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and Spectacular Spider-Man. His big break came when Oni Press hired him to illustrate two comic books based on Kevin Smith's movie Clerks from scripts by Smith, following his work on Marvel Comics Generation X Underground Special, billed as 'the most subversive comic book ever released by Marvel.' (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
Former Acme Comics employee Lincoln Griffin interviewed Jim Mahfood in 2001. They spoke about topics such as his influences, how he got into the business, and working with Brian Bendis. Read on for the full interview.
Lincoln Griffin: How'd you get into comics, and who gave you your first big break?
Jim Mahfood: Well, I've been drawing my whole life, ya know? Ever since I could hold a crayon. So I just never stopped and once I discovered comics I realized, yea, this is what I want to do. I want to draw these weird little books. I hooked up with my first freelance work when I was in high school with a local St. Louis publisher called Artline Studios. They showed me what tools n' shit to use and they had me doing inking work and backgrounds and stuff like that. It was good training. Then I went off to art school in Kansas City where I met my buddy Mike Huddleston and we formed 40oz Comics back in '93. Mike and I worked together, with him penciling and me inking. We must have done hundreds of pages of artwork together and hardly any of it ever got published. But again, this was great training ground for me. Workin' over Mike's stuff really taught me a lot about drawing. We couldn't get any work together as a team, so I just started writing and drawing my own stuff. I self-published my first comics, Girlscouts and Cosmic Toast. I showed those books to X-Men writer Scott Lobdell at a convention in St. Louis back in '96 and he hooked me up with the Generation X Underground Special at Marvel. Then I went to the San Diego con in '97 and I met Jamie Rich when he was still workin' at Dark Horse. I showed him what kinda stuff I was doing and he seemed to dig it. He sent me over to Bob Schreck, who had just formed Oni Press, and the rest is history.
LG: Yeah, I was pretty surprised when that first came out. Marvel had never done anything like that before.
JM: Yeah man, I know. It was really weird for them to take such a random chance on me.
LG: What's the toughest thing about being in the business today?
JM: Its just that comics aren't appreciated in this country the way they should be. There's a whole generation of kids like me that are doing all this kick-ass work, but comics are considered a "low art" in America. We have to rely on this loyal cult following to keep the business going.
LG: It seems to me comics are getting to be more like movies...
JM: Yeah man, like the production quality is so high on them today. The coloring, the paper... It's all really high end. People should be reading comics instead of these brainless sitcoms on TV. I don't know... It's just a shame people aren't hip to it.
LG: You seem to be a big music fan. What music do you listen to most often, while working?
JM: Oh tons of stuff, it just depends on the mood. If it's during the day and I'm really into work, I listen to a lot of hip-hop or punk. At night it's more mellow stuff... jazz, reggae. I've got music on in this apartment like 10 hours a day. Rarely is the TV on, it's such a waste.
LG: Favorite bands?
JM: Oh, Fishbone, Bad Brains, Run D.M.C... the Ramones. There's a lot of older stuff that I'm just discovering for the first time.
LG: Yeah, that's one of the reasons I like your stuff so much. On any page of, say Grrl Scouts, I can see posters and t-shirts for older bands I love, that don't get much exposure.
JM: Yeah some of that older stuff is timeless. And there are bands like Fishbone, probably the most underrated band ever. (laughs) But it's the same with comics. Like Kirby's stuff... That stuff just never gets old.
LG: So who were your influences?
JM: As far as art goes? A lot of graffiti art, the Hernandez Brothers, Mignola, Jaime Hewlet, Crumb, Kirby... The list could go on forever.
LG: How do you feel about working for the mainstream companies like Marvel or DC?
JM: It's ok, as long as you don't sell out. I've been lucky to work with editors that let me do my own thing. It's like the Spider-Man story I'm doing with Bendis. It's all totally sight gags and slapstick... it's really bizarre. Bendis knows my style and wrote a story that played well off of it.
LG: So you'll be doing what, an Ultimate Team-Up story?
JM: Yup, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9.
LG: Have you ever turned down an offer from a big company because you didn't like the material?
JM: No, not really. I've had offers from animators, but unless it's all me, I'm not interested. Like, Disney called me up wanting to do a Zombie Kid afternoon cartoon. The way they wanted to do it would have completely changed the character, and that's just not me. I guess if it's my creation, I want to be the guy in charge... Like a producer. And I've had offers to design cartoons for people, but unless it's my own stuff it's just not worth it, you know?
LG: Are you currently trying to develop any of your properties for movies or tv?
JM: Not really. I mean, I've got some connections in Hollywood, but everything moves so slow there. Plus, I generally just don't like working with people. Right now comics are too enjoyable for me. I don't have to answer to anyone, I can just wake up, do the work, and it gets published.
LG: How'd you get involved with Kevin Smith and the Clerks book?
JM: I met Kevin in '97 at the San Diego Con. He was signing at the Oni booth, really just doing promotion for the company. They didn't have any artists yet. I'd brought some of the stuff I was doing, like Grrl Scouts and showed it to Bob Schreck, the head of the company. He liked it and showed it to Kevin, who was also impressed. He just called up one day and said I had the gig.
LG: I notice you draw from 70's movies and hip-hop culture for a lot of your inspiration. What else inspires you?
JM: Mostly the people I hang out with. DJ's, graffiti artists, musicians, artist... People that are really passionate about what they do. And for instance, a lot of the conversation and dialogue you find in Grrl Scouts, is taken from real conversations I hear. Yeah, basically I just hang out with people that are really passionate about their art. And also, from listening to hip-hop for so many years? Hip-Hop sort of has it's own language and slang. It's taken a while to learn it all.
LG: So what comics did you read as a kid, if any?
JM: I was a huge Spider-Man and Batman fan. I was totally obsessed with Spider-Man. I got hooked on Spider-Man from the Electric Company stuff, then found out there were comics for it. Immediately I started buying comics, then making my own. And I liked G.I. Joe, Crisis on Infinite Earths came out then? Batman, the John Byrne revamp of Superman. In the 80's DC was putting out a lot of cool shit. Then came Dark Knight, Elektra: Assassin, Watchmen... that stuff revolutionized comics. They became grittier, darker, more reality based. That stuff influenced me a lot. It showed me that comics didn't just have to be about super-heroes., they could be about politics and real-life stuff.
LG: What comics do you read now?
JM: Pretty much anything by my friends. Scott Morse (Ghost Dog / Soulwind), Chyna Clugston-Major (Blue Monday), Andi Watson (Geisha / Skeleton Key), Dave Cooper (Weasel), Craig Thompson (Good-Bye, Chunky Rice)? And 100 Bullets, man? That's one of the best books out there. Azzarello's great and Risso is such a fantastic storyteller. Uhm, and the Hernadez Brothers are doing Love & Rockets again... As for main stream stuff, I read Ultimate Spider-man. Bendis version is very true to the myth of the character. I'll read anything people send to me.
LG: Out of today's mainstream books, is there a character you'd never want to touch?
JM: I dunno, I never say never. As long as I get the full story on it. Even if it was a stupid character, and there are soooo many cheesy super-heroes now. You can always do them in a different way. Like what Morrison did with the Doom Patrol in the 80's. He took a team that was already obscure and weird and made it even weirder. I mean, you could bring back something like Power Pack you know? Did they already bring back Power Pack?
LG: Yeah, I think so. It was either a mini-series or it didn't last long. They were just using the same characters and doing the same thing.
JM: And Animal Man? That was Morrison too right? With Animal Man they threw a lot of animal rights and social issues in with it. It really fucked with the comic format.
LG: Hey, I've always wanted to write some obscure character, that'd be fun. But a lot of the people I've talked to, say that characters like Superman would be the toughest to work on. You can't really change him or do anything with him. He's too powerful.
JM: Well, it's like Batman can be changed around a little. He changes a lot with creators, but Superman is such an American icon, you can't do much with him.
LG: I dunno, Batman's pretty stagnant now a days too. He's unstoppable in every book but his own. Say, in JLA Batman can take down an entire planet with a couple of hours notice, but in Detective he's getting tripped by old ladies and gangs of teen-agers.
JM: Really? I haven't read that stuff in forever.
LG: Yup. All right then? What's your favorite cartoon of all time?
JM: Oh, gotta be the Simpsons. To me that's probably the best show on television.
LG: That's a very adult answer, what about as a kid?
JM: I loved Battle of the Planets. You know, G-Force? I also watched all those Hanna Barbera cartoons. Space Ghost, the Herculoids? You know, all that stuff that was designed by Alex Toth was crazy.
LG: If you liked G-Force, you must've watched Starblazers. (my favorite cartoon)
JM: Yeah, but I didn't care as much for Starblazers and Robotech. I didn't go in for all that drama. On G-Force, the costumes were just so dope and the ships were awesome. It was like Japanese pop art It really appealed to me.
LG: Do you have a dream project?
JM: Heh, more like projects, plural. I want to be creating art the rest of my life, you know? Comics, short film, I'd like to take a whole year off and tour, doing live mural art. People here in Arizona seem to really like it. It's really amazing to do art to do live music, it's like freestylin' man. We'd take it on the road if we could get the money together.
LG: No G-Force comics in the works?
JM: Nah, I'd take them up on it if they offered though.
LG: Have any advice for aspiring writers & artists?
JM: Nothin' they haven't heard before. It's just, the more determined and obsessed you are, the better off you'll be. You'll have to go through years of rejection, but it's good for you, toughens you up and makes you try harder. If you've got the talent, just don't give up. You've got to be a little ignorant and bullheaded, really. I know Mike Huddleston and I went through years of rejection. But every once and a while you get a lead or a break and that's all it takes to get you excited again. It's all just a big game man.
LG: Any projects you want to push?
JM:Uhm, actually yeah. I'm doing an 8 page story for the second Grendel Black, White, & Red. Now that's a dream come true man, working with Matt Wagner.
I'm doing Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9 with Brian Bendis?
I'm also going to be doing a yet-to-be-named mini-series for Oni this year. I don't wanna say anything about it yet, but it's gonna be fresh! I think people will be really blown away by it. It's something that I'm just drawing with a great writer attached to it.
I'm also going to be doing a black and white Batman story for the back of the Gotham Nights book. Brian (100 Bullets) Azzarello will be writing it and it's going to kick serious ass!
