STOP! Before you read this, have you purchased your copy of Parallel?
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Jason, you are our first 2-time guest on Comicbookchuck. There is a reason for that. Though we didn’t know you as intimately at the time, it was evident after our initial Q&A that you were the perfect person to contact regarding the topic of Getting Started. Why? Because that is one of the most prevalent themes in your book Parallel.
The pandemic has made Parallel even more relevant and given it another pressing undertone. Life is short. Sometimes you have to take the leap. No one knows this better than you because you are Landon (Parallel’s protagonist) the same way every reader has a bit of Landon in them.
Q1: When exactly did you “start” and why at that particular time opposed to any other time in your life?
First off, thank you for having me back. It was interesting, and a lot of fun the first time around, and a true honor this time.
“Start?”… The truth is nebulous, complicated, and all over the place! The most straightforward answer I can give comes three summers ago when I decided to take a break from writing a new one-act stage play for the middle school drama club I run and finally dive deep, plunge into, and finally pursue the long simmering life-long dream of writing a comic. The idea was always floating around various spaces in the far reaches of the back of my brain. It was there from 12-17 years old (my first stint as a comic fan). It was there in 2003 when I walked back into a comic shop for the first time in just under a decade to pick up the first issue of Neil Gaiman’s 1602. It was even there, percolating just under the surface, as I was dedicating every once of my creative energy into writing, casting, producing, and directing plays for young people.
So why that exact moment? Why after decades of putting it off, never confronting the dream head on, fully immersed in another form of writing (that while I was passionate about, was certainly never the plan or dream), playing the mental game of “there is always tomorrow” with myself?
Three (only slightly tangential) circumstances/catalysts/events came crashing together in a relatively short time to finally make me address what had been lurking in the back of my mind for so long. First, the existential dread of time passing, dreams deferred, and opportunities lost (a major theme of PARALLEL, a major piece of Landon’t psyche, and- I think- a near universal theme of most of our lives) was weighing on me in exponentially increasing quantities each and every year that passed. There was a conversation about parallel worlds (and our mutual love of comics) with my buddy Pete from college. And while those two things certainly brought the idea of my desire to write a comic further to the forefront of my brain they were not nearly enough to compel me to take the final (often terrifying) leap forward into actually doing anything about it. It was not until the third occurrence, a handful of conversations with former students of mine- now, themselves, in their late 20’s- who were literally in the midst of their “Quarter-Life-Crisis”, asking the universal questions like, “Where did the last 5 years go?”, “Why am I still doing this when I WANT to be doing this?”, “Why am I still with this person? Still in this job?”.
Something clicked for me. I took the aforementioned break. Sat down, studied the format and structure of a comic script (a massively different animal than any other form of writing), and began telling a story. Why then? Only because those three things converged. I can just as easily see a parallel world (sorry- I couldn’t resist) where one or more of those circumstances did not crash into each other (or at a different time) and another decade would have gone by (or… my whole life?) where I never confronted the dream, took the leap, and forced my own hand.
Q2: Parallel has sold quite a few copies since we’ve last communicated. Do you feel any differently about the process and journey now? Are you happy with the time you released Parallel or do you wish you would have started writing earlier?
It is hard to say if I feel “differently” about the process and journey now. Since this is my very first script/comic/venture my frame of reference to the various stages is new and fresh each and every time. First script, first contract signed, first pages back from an artist, first lettered page, first time in Previews Magazine… you get the picture. I feel “now” about the process. Currently, the “now” is finding ways to get more people connected to the book in a world where, due to the pandemic and the release of the book, I am still yet to do a signing or a convention. All of those were (obviously) canceled. That is where I am at, and with no prior experience to compare it to, I am fully embracing where I am on the journey.
On a larger scale, do I have fleeting fantasies about having started writing comics earlier? Sure, but they don’t go far. Turning a situation that has quite literally wiped away a future life regret into a sub-regret… that way leads to bitterness! Besides, Parallel would not have existed had I started writing comics earlier. It is (as I said above) very much a product of the age I was and the circumstances surrounding me at the time. And for a guy who lives in a perpetually glass half empty world, that is about as bright and sunny and, “things went exactly the way they should have”, as I have ever been!
Q3: I’ve actually started a new venture since we’ve last communicated. It’s a digital marketing agency that helps businesses with social media marketing. The aim is to help people launch their dream brand or business using tools to advertise. Before any advertisement, any investment, or even the first pen stroke in writing down a plan, what has to happen mentally before someone starts pursuing their dream?
Actually, truly pursuing your dream is simple and terrifying in equal measures.
You just have to DO it. It is literally that simple, and yet, it is always easier to do nothing than something so it is terrifying at the same time. It is possible that the longer you wait the more terrifying that first leap is. It is a simple yes or no decision with a ton of weight, unknown, and baggage attached to it. Listen, I am not in a position (nor is anybody really) to tell you what will happen when you take the leap (good, bad, somewhere in between), but I can guarantee one thing. If you don’t pursue it, if you choose atrophy over action, I promise you absolutely nothing will happen.
Q4: Despite existentialism being such a universal theme, an argument can be made for Parallel being more impactful to a certain demographic. Teens and college students are at a crossroads when they pursue higher education. They are essentially completing prerequisites for their chosen profession after their schooling is over. What questions should a person ask themselves before they make such an important life decision?
This is a tricky one. I am not sure there is a perfect set of questions you can ask yourself at that age that will help guide you down a life path that avoided the existential dread that we are talking about. Asking yourself what you really want, what you want to do, what is going to make you happy and fulfilled is important, but, unfortunately, the realities of real life, immediate concerns and needs, and the VERY seductive allure of, “I have all the time in the world” thinking can quite often derail, defer, and postpone dreams. The perspective of people who have already been through that part of life could be invaluable to someone at that juncture, but, let’s be honest here, the last thing you want to listen to at that age is some “old” talking about “back in their day”. The stark reality of the decisions that most of us make in those formative years ironically plays out in the fact that the quarter and mid-life-crisis phenomenon is so nearly universal. It is hard to be self-reflective about something that seems so far off, and about something you have not experienced yet.
Q5: Is there such a thing as too late?
No, with a caveat. You always have a choice. You can literally do anything at any time. But… there are always going to be factors that make your results vary. Age, time, skill, ability, availability of opportunity, and of course other people, any or all of these can make your mileage, your outcome vary. This harkens back to my earlier point though. The only thing I absolutely know for sure is that if you do NOT try, nothing will happen and then your “too late” is of your own making.
Q6: Let’s discuss the ugly side of chasing dreams: financial stability. Bills do have to be paid and opportunities can be costly when it comes to materials and supplies. Is everyone capable of following their dreams the way you did, or do you first need to establish some capital and a budget?
There is certainly no universal answer here, and honestly, this can be a double edged sword. Being nearly two decades into a public school teaching career afforded me the time and financial stability to be able to sit down and dedicate my focus on making a lifelong dream of mine come true. But that same drive to make sure the next bill is paid, the next check clears, that tomorrow is not terrifyingly unknowable is the very drive that so many of us set aside dreams in order to satiate. There is certainly no right way to do this. Mine worked for me, but that certainly does not mean it would (or should) work for anybody else.
Q7: You mentioned Neil Gaiman in our last interview. Though your exchange was short, is it safe to say you viewed him as a mentor? Were his words the catalyst to make you type the first letter of the comic script? If his advice was that influential, how can we inspire the next Jason Douglas at this moment?
Neil brought me back into comic shops way back when, Neil is a true inspiration (as a writer and as a person), and in the two times I have met him, he was more than generous with his time, advice, and conversation (something I plan on emulating at any and all signing and cons I am lucky enough to be at in the future). I pass his short, sweet, and sage advice onto anybody who might be thinking of taking that leap toward their dream. He told me to just write. It doesn’t have to be good, it doesn’t have to be amazing (there is time to make all that happen). But if you don’t write it… it won’t exist. Put your dream into the world, because that is always the hardest step.
Neil’s words and example were exceptionally important at the beginning of this process, but my true mentors in the actual execution of turning my idea and the first half of my script into a real, in the world, in Previews Magazine, 64 page graphic novel with 3 variant covers (the fan-boy in me quite literally dances around every time I get to say that) have come much closer to home. Bob Salley (my editor on PARALLEL, and a ridiculously talented writer himself) and Josh Werner (SPP Co-Founder/Art Director) guided me through this amazing process, but I owe so much to Kasey Pierce. Kasey wrote the foreword to PARALLEL (worth the price of admission in and of itself) and is the most talented, hardest working writer in comics today. She talked me off a half dozen ledges and inspired me to see my dream through to the end.
Q8: Our team has grown drastically since our first interview. We now have 13 contributors. We all have one thing in common: we love Parallel. The team wants to know what Jason Douglas has in store for the future.
Thank you so much for asking and for the support. It is very much appreciated. I have three things happening, percolating, and that I am excited about going forward:
- Most immediate and the most fun for the fans of indie comics and variant covers is the giveaway I am doing right now on my Instagram account. Head over to @jdouglaswrites, follow, and enter the giveaway to win a free signed copy of the SOLD OUT exclusive SOC Esteban variant cover of PARALLEL! These books sold out in less than 48 hours and only pop up on eBay every once in a while. Come on over, check out the page, give me a follow and win this very cool book!
- As I mentioned before, the final phase of seeing my dream through from the idea phase to the end was canceled/postponed. With no signings or cons this past year, there are still about 200 copies of the original print run of PARALLEL out there. I have a goal of selling out that print run as a first-time author without a single con sale. Not only would that be ridiculously cool and rare, but it supports indie creators, indie comics, and an amazing small press publisher in Source Point Press. Travis, Josh, and the whole SPP family have built something amazing, but it isn’t easy. Every dollar spent on an indie comic goes so far. It literally keeps the lights on and puts food on the table of so many amazing hard-working people doing what they love and following their dreams. You can get a copy of PARALLEL shipped to you from www.sourcepointpress.com, or support your LCS and ask them to order you a copy using the Diamond Order Code: FEB20 1983! Which brings me to my big news about what, hopefully, is coming next!
- With a little luck, the prestige of a sold-out print run, and maybe the voices of a few PARALLEL fans out there, I am hoping SPP will pick up my new project, JANE AMERICAN. This series is very near and dear to my heart, it is a post-WWII small-town superhero drama inspired by my late grandmother, some o the struggles she faced, and some of the same struggles that I see so many of the young ladies who come through my classroom each year struggling with even in the 21st century. Identity, being comfortable in your own skin (gender, race, religion, orientation), and being brave enough/feel safe enough to completely embrace being you in a world that might not accept you (especially if they do not think you fit the role they have prescribed for you) thematically runs throughout this entire story.
By 1946 and In the wake of soldiers coming home from the war, most of the Rosie The Riveters are out of work in the factories that kept the war effort afloat on the home front. This has left Jane’s mother uneplayed and their family destitute (Jane’s father died in the War, the news and trauma of which triggered Janes latent enhances strength and speed which she and her mother have kept secret for three years). JANE AMERICAN tells the story of Jane stepping into her mother’s role on the line with the ability to do the work or any 10 men but keeping her abilities a secret. She faces discrimination, opression, and derission alongg the way, makes friends who hae it even worse than she does, and finds herself using her abilities more in more in some classic comic book ways taht fans of the genre will be delighted by and cheer for. The first script is ready and written, the others have been plotted. Character bikes exist and some amazing research has been done (I got a tour or the actual factory the story takes place in, where my great-grandfather actually worked during WWII when they converted from a wire factory into a MArston MAtt factory – making the temporary runways the allies used in Europe and the Pacific theaters). It is a story that I am very excited about and would be proud to put in the hands of young people everywhere, I just need the green light!
