Big Things: Jim Massey

Where does Death go on holiday? Straight into the pages of a pocket-sized barrel of laughs from a man who claims it's all the fruition of a thirty-year plan to break into comics. Perhaps.
20 September 2004

Jim Massey is the creator of DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, "a comic strip about the Grim Reaper that's not too grim, really". Two 48-page DEATH books have been published, and a third is planned for early 2005. Massey is also a graphic designer, and the co-creator of the card game BURN RATE. Jim lives amidst the tall trees outside Seattle, with his wife and three dogs.

BIG NEWS:

DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY #2 hit the shelves a couple of weeks ago, so I'm spending some time talking it up, filling re-orders, that kind of thing. This second issue feels so sudden, after the long battle to get the first issue distributed. Diamond initially didn't want to carry the book, but after months of self-distributing to a few shops, spreading some copies around to reviewers and retailers, and generally trying to create some positive buzz, they relented and brought me onboard.

Once issue #2 settles down, I'll jump back in and finish #3, and hopefully have it out 'round the first of the year. I'm also writing an original graphic novel for Variance Press that, with luck, should appear by the end of the year.

BIG BUSINESS:

My inspiration to create comics was not particularly noble or meaningful. I was just trying to get a laugh, that's all. Warren Ellis, on his online forum, started a discussion of 'superfast' comics, the notion that the Internet and digital media broke down barriers to quick, cheap comic distribution. I thought, "Fair enough, I'll have a go". During a lunch break, I grabbed a pen and a sheet of photocopy paper and drew DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, a six-panel gag strip. I posted it to the Ellis forum, and got a few chuckles. Being a sucker for an audience (I was voted Class Clown of my graduating class, you know), I decided to keep going.

That first DEATH comic was the first comic I ever made. Some two hundred strips in, people seem to still think it's worth a laugh, which is why I did the first one, so it appears to be working out.

Going through the process of writing, drawing and publishing DEATH has taught me that I can be a creator in this medium. So now I'm inspired not just by the desire to generate some yuks, but by the need to see what else I can tackle in comics.

BIG TROUBLE:

My biggest challenge is finding the time to make the comics I want to make. I'm a relatively quick producer, but the rest of my life keeps requesting some attention. My wife, my dogs, my friends... These are all things that are terribly important to me. I could probably fit them all in with no trouble, if I didn't have to work a regular job.

There are occasions when everything comes together. This summer, for instance, offered many happy hours where I could sit under my shade canopy at a weekend dog agility trial, scripting a graphic novel on my laptop and bonding meaningfully with my pooches while my wife ran them over jumps and through tunnels, and in the evening drawing a strip or two over a bottle of wine in the tent trailer.

BIG SPENDER:

Here's the secret plan for affording to make comics: Get good grades in school, go to university and get a degree, get a decent job in a career that suits you, and work for 15 years.

Well, that's how I do it, anyway.

Really, it only took a couple thousand dollars to get started. That covered my first issue's printing and some promotion. After that, people start exchanging money for your product, some of which makes its way back to you, which you then can use to buy pies and drugs, or to print your next issue.

Affording to make comics isn't so bad, and it gets easier as you go. Affording to start making comics is the hurdle. And even that's not so bad. If you want to, you can save your nickels and amass two thousand dollars. Or you can follow my plan.

BIG AMBITION:

If I had all the time and money I wanted, I would expand the product line of Varmint Press, my company. I would write wonderful graphic novels and have them illustrated by the world's best artists. I would hire John Totleben to draw my Western STRING: THAT PECULIAR STONE. I would hire Eduardo Risso to draw my psychological assassin thriller PTARMIGAN. I would make a few DEATH strips a week. I would get an agent to whore my intellectual property to Hollywood.

BIG UP:

I'm still very loyal to my late 20th century indy heroes, Daniel Clowes, Peter Bagge and the Hernandez Brothers. I love Tony Millionaire. I'll always be interested in what Alan Moore and Frank Miller are up to. There are bags of contemporary creators who might not woo me every time, but engage me with fair consistency: Peter Milligan, Garth Ennis, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis. I'm sure there are others. I probably buy two to six comics each week, and am generally quite happy.

BIG TIME:

I want to write more longer narratives, not just humour strips. I want to write graphic novels, or serial floppies, and have them illustrated by proper artists. I'm starting to do that now. I'm writing a graphic novel for Variance Press, ZOMBIE! ZOMBIE! ZOMBIE!, illustrated by the terrific Graeme McMillan.

BIG FINISH:

My ideal epitaph would be, "He spun some good yarns. He made me laugh. He loved his dogs."

BIG DEAL:

Both issues of DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY can be found at quality comic shops across the world. If your retailer fails you, the comics can be obtained via the World Wide Web, through such sites as Mars Import or Khepri.

Ninth Art is not responsible for the content of external websites.

The Ninth Art small press spotlight is designed to help small press creators reach a wider audience. If you'd like to be considered for inclusion, get in touch.

Ninth Art endorses the principle of Ideological Freeware. The author permits distribution of this article by private individuals, on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice.