You’ll have to excuse me, I’m in a bit of a mood. My eldest dog has had diarrhea the past two days because we mistakenly bought the wrong kind of wet food, and so our mornings just consist of shampooing various carpets. Also, we live in an unjust society that has abdicated its responsibility to ensure women’s access to reproductive health care, has seemingly little interest in stemming the tide of manmade climate disaster and just yesterday saw fit to abandon all pandemic precautions despite the fact the pandemic has not been declared over and in fact my dad just got over COVID and nobody bothered to tell me he even had it in the first place.
I’m hungry, I’m dirty, I’m losing my mind, EVERYTHING’S FIIIIIIINE.
(Kids, ask your parents about Tracy Bonham.)
Point being, we’ve probably all felt more than a little rage these past two four six eleventy years, however long it’s been since we became adults and realized the world is a fucked up place and would remain so despite, or perhaps because of, our best efforts.
Justin Richards knows from rage, having explored it and other emotions in their 2020 Vault Comics series Finger Guns. Now, they’ve gone rage-exclusive, exploring the topic over a series of short stories drawn by different artists in a 20-page comic called Everything Is Different Now, currently funding on Kickstarter.
Joining Richards on this emotional journey are artists like Chris Shehan (The Autumnal), Kelly Williams (Bountiful Garden), Fabian Lelay (Jade Street Protection Services) and, on covers, Val Halvorson (Finger Guns) and Liana Kangas (Trve Kvlt).
We chatted with Richards about the comic and the things that fill us with, and help us cope with, RAGE. Check out the interview below all this sweet art.
Dan Grote: Why did you want to explore rage in a standalone comic?
Justin Richards: I like to write stories about emotions in general, and I was thinking about what kind of stories I want to tell with my next project and things that I’m mad about is what kept popping in my head. There’ve been so many things, both in the world and in my personal life, that have been making me, and a lot of other people, quite enraged. Once I thought of the idea, it made the most sense and I had a bunch of ideas really quickly for how I wanted to present this.
Dan: How did you go about getting all these talented folks involved?
Justin: For the most part I’m friends with them. I focused on keeping my stories really short. In part, this was because I wanted to keep the book small enough to not need a super high goal for the crowdfunding process. The other part was ’cause I knew if I only needed 1-4 pages, my super-talented friends would be able to fit me into their packed schedules! Lol. The rest came from having Michele Abounader come on as an editor. She helped line up a couple of our artists, and it helped everything really come together how I wanted it to.
Dan: What was the process for matching stories to artists? Did the stories exist before them, or were they born of conversations with them?
Justin: I actually wrote everything ahead of time. Once the decision to go with rage as our theme was made and I brought Michele on to help, the ideas flowed really quickly. I jotted down basic story ideas for about 8-10 shorts in a couple days and then we weeded a couple out and added a new one in. From there we matched the stories to people we thought would do well with each story. I had a couple of artists who couldn’t fit it into their schedule, but otherwise everyone really liked the stories we pitched to them and it went really smoothly!
Dan: There’s a lot to be mad at in the world. What’s got you aggravated today?
Justin: There sure is! That’s a large part of where this book comes from. I’m pretty aggravated with the state of much of our political and cultural landscape these days. The “Supreme” Court has probably jumped to the top of my list in recent weeks. Among other political things I would have to highlight my relationship (or lack thereof) with my father and the inability of my entire generation to be able to own a house or have any semblance of the life our parents and grandparents were afforded because our systems are broken and outdated.
Dan: Apart from writing (one hopes), what’s something/someone that’s good at calming you down when the ragies set in?
Justin: Music and video games. I’ve played guitar and other instruments since I was a freshman in high school, and I have a deep love for music. The title of this book is inspired by the lyrics of a Nine Inch Nails song! I love both playing and listening to music. Video games provide an extra level of escape and interaction that’s great for distraction from the enraging things outside and for letting off steam!
Dan: What’s on your playlist of songs for an angry mood?
Justin: Lots of NIN, Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Refused, Turnstile and The Bronx. I love a lot of heavy metal and hard rock music in general. I grew up on classic rock and love it, but the heavier side of things is where my recent mood, and this book’s mood, has taken me.
Dan: This is your third KS campaign, after A Silent Night and I Only Have Eyes for You. What’s something you learned from the previous two campaigns that’s helping you this time?
Justin: The biggest advantage I’ve given myself this time is bringing on an editor. Having Michele involved in this book from the beginning has really helped me bring it together in a faster and less stressful way than with my previous campaigns. I’ve also learned to not stress about every detail. As you do this more and more you learn what you need to have done at certain times in the process and things that don’t need to be stressed as much as you might think.
Dan: And now, the best part of every KS campaign: SWAG. What was your merch strategy for Everything Is Different Now?
Justin: Yaaaas! We love swag! I knew I wanted to keep things affordable and easy to ship. Efficiency and accessibility is what I wanted to focus on. Times are hard right now, and I wanted to make sure that our rewards were awesome, but affordable. Between Michele and I, we’re developing and making our rewards “in house.” I bought everything to make our buttons and designed them all myself. Michele and her sticker partner, Brett A. Schmidt, are handling our stick sheet! This lets us keep costs down and pass that on to our backers, while keeping our goal lower.
Dan: I imagine one has to tweet a lot to remind people this campaign is out in the world and exists. Are you getting enough water and taking frequent social media breaks?
Justin: SO. MUCH. TWEETING. It’s a grind, but I make sure I take days off, or at least much slower. It’s part of the gig when you’re self-fundraising, but it’s important to keep your mental health intact.
Dan: You were one of a number of creators who saw series launch in early 2020 (the aforementioned Finger Guns) only for them to take an unplanned hiatus for the Diamond COVID shutdown. I imagine that was a good time for rage, yes?
Justin: It was definitely a time of frustration and uncertainty. I was one of those people who was convinced 2020 was going to be “my year” since I had my first published series coming out and was set to go to some big cons. While it certainly provided some rage and worry, we pulled through and Vault made the process as easy as possible, given the circumstances. While I wish things could’ve been smoother for us, I still look back on that series with pride and the time I spent making it as a positive experience.
Everything Is Different Now is available to back on Kickstarter through Aug. 31. You can follow Justin Richards on Twitter @EmoComicWriter.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
