Damon Hurd is the creator and writer of the graphic novel MY UNCLE JEFF, which was Certified Cool by Diamond, chosen as "Best of the Week" at the Fourth Rail, and has now been nominated for Best Single Issue in the 2003 Eisner Awards. In his own words, he is "twenty-four years old, happily married to someone far smarter than me, and live too far north of New York City." When not writing comics he frequents jazz clubs, brews beer, and can often be found at pubs in the town of New Paltz where he "sucks at pool, but excels at drinking".

BIG NEWS:

I'm working on several projects in various capacities right now, but the ones in the forefront are my new book, A SORT OF HOMECOMING, and a new edition of MY UNCLE JEFF by myself and Pedro Camello that's being published by Alternative Comics. A SORT OF HOMECOMING is a graphic novel that I'd like to get out by the fall if possible. That book was also illustrated by Pedro Camello.

A SORT OF HOMECOMING tells the story of a man named Owen traveling from Boston to New York to attend his best friend's funeral. We follow Owen from the initial phone call to the burial as he drifts back and forth in his memory, chronicling their lifelong friendship together. Some preview pages from Part I will be on my website soon.

BIG BUSINESS:

I've been writing off and on for years, in various media, but through it all I kept coming back to comics. Comics are one of the most interesting storytelling media, with the combination of words and pictures, and the expressive nature of sequential art. What inspires me are the people creating works that simply could not be achieved in any other art form. That's a goal I'd like to achieve someday myself.

BIG TROUBLE:

I think my greatest challenge is reaching the right audience. I find that my work is somewhere inbetween the indie and the mainstream. I think that it possesses mainstream accessibility while maintaining the maturity of the indie scene. That sometimes makes it difficult to gain acceptance from either camp. There are tons of mainstream comic buyers that won't touch anything without a cape, and there are plenty of indie readers that shy away from anything that's not very alternative.

I'm hoping that getting picked up by Alternative Comics will help introduce my work to a larger indie audience and I think the Eisner nomination may get the attention of some more mainstream folks as well. Until then here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

BIG SPENDER:

I finance my comics through a combination of a boring day job and credit cards. As a writer with no artistic ability of his own, I hire all of my artists and pay a page rate for each project I do. That initial expense is manageable within the realm of my own finances. Self-publishing on the other hand required a little help from MasterCard and Visa. Now that my work has a better chance of being published, I hope to release more projects over the course of a year.

BIG AMBITION:

Even with unlimited time, money, and opportunity I would make the same comics I am making because I truly believe that if you want to create something then those factors cannot exist for you. As a good friend of mine told me once, you have to decide what you want and you have to move the line to meet that goal. It may require some sacrifices, but if you're not willing to keep moving the line further and further then you'll never achieve the results you desire. It was good advice, and without it I doubt I could have achieved what I have.

BIG UP:

My big three favorite creators are Seth, Adrian Tomine, and Jason Lutes. I really love Jessica Abel's new series LA PERDIDA and Paul Hornschemeier's FORLORN FUNNIES. I'm very much looking forward to Rob Vollmar's next project, as I have a bit of inside information on that one. Tom Beland's TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD is delightful and I want the first copy out of the box of the new SHUCK COMICS graphic novel by Rick Smith that Top Shelf is putting out this summer. Myatt Murphy and Scott Darylmple's FADE FROM BLUE continues to impress me, and is one of the very few ongoing titles I read.

BIG TIME:

I'm really looking forward to getting A SORT OF HOMECOMING out and hope to do so by SPX 2003 if at all possible. After that I've got two new books that are in the drawing stages now, that I'd like to release in the first half of 2004. I hope to be writing a few new works by the summer, possibly including my first webcomic.

BIG FINISH:

My goal is to make an emotional connection with a reader. If someone reads one of my books and can relate to a character or a situation personally, and have that work speak to them in some way, then that's all I can ever hope for. I want my comics to affect others the way some comics affect me.

BIG DEAL:

MY UNCLE JEFF is available from both Diamond and Cold Cut but the print run is nearly sold out. Copies are available for individual sale via my website and a new edition will be available from Alternative Comics this summer, debuting at the San Diego comicon.

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