Who's Who In The CBU Update 2008

Who are... Park and Barb?

Barbara Lien-Cooper writes the comic GUN STREET GIRL at Panel 2 Panel, was an original founder of Sequential Tart, is the managing editrix of the 2004 Eisner award-winning print magazine COMIC BOOK ARTIST, and was named by Mark Millar (The Authority, Ultimates, Wanted) as one of the three most promising new talents in the next wave of comics writing.

Park Cooper started writing about comics at the now-defunct DC FANZINE website.

Going Around: The Chris Moujaes/Squirrelworks Interview

By Park Cooper

Before I say anything else, let me just say that Half Dead is in comic book stores now.

Once again, that's Half Dead, a co-publication of Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel Comics, a 128-page graphic novel, cover price $10.99 (American), written by Barbara Lien-Cooper and Park Cooper and drawn by Jimmy Bott, colored by Wes Wong and Dean Welsh, and lettered by Simon Bowland.

http://www.halfdeadcomic.com

So please go to your local store and get one, or if they're sold out, ask them to get you one. Thanks very much.

--Park and Barb




Okay, so in the latest in my series of interviewing people going around the mainstream comics industry, I have an interview here that I just did with Chris Moujaes of Squirrelworks. (http://www.squirrelworks.com). I saw him and the Squirrelworks crew at Staple, although I'd seen them a couple of years ago at the first Staple, where they were on the webcomics panel with Barb. Anyway, catching up, we thought we'd do an interview. Chris draws and co-writes the comics Coz/Effect and Battlegate, puts the whole SW site and community together, manages the entire website, sells advertising, and handles all convention preparations. So, like... he does a lot of stuff.

Enjoy the interview.




Chris Moujaes: Hey There

Park Cooper: I was about to say the same-- Here I am, just like clockwork

CM: Awesome.

PC: So what was your day like?

CM: Oh man, we just finished the clean-out of the studio and did the few finishing touches. Now all we need is a few more furniture items.

PC: So you've... what, rented a new building?

CM: Rented a new office condo.

PC: Wow. How did you decide it was time for that? How many people will be working there?

CM: It just felt right. It was the time to return to what I love and make a commitment. I love this work and I've known I wanted to do it since I was a kid. To start with, four of will be there, to start with.

PC: What were you doing before SW? Er, SqW… Heh... "South by SquirrelWorks”

CM: Heh... Before SW, I had an advertising and branding studio I built from scratch while in college. After 5 years doing that, I sold it and went to run another design agency called Spoonbend where I took over as president. Now, I run SW under my company, Moujaes, Inc. http://www.moujaes.com

PC: So what did you go for in college? Design work? Ba of Science in something? Marketing? Or... give me the educational lowdown, I'm an educator over here. Which is why I can afford to be sick this week... spring break.

CM: Ahhhh... I see.

CM: I got my B.S. in Radio-TV-Film. I focused on the business side of the industry.

PC: Tell me about SquirrelWorks. Er, that's broad... obviously I mean the origin... I think the Squirrel part is obvious, based on what I know… but tell our readers anyway-- How did SqW come to be?

CM: Okay... Before SW there was BoxerStudios.com - a website I started at my first studio with my wife Leila. That's where we launched Coz/Effect in 2001. I met Aaron Romo during that time. He and I worked on a Coz animatic for a Universal trailer. At the same time, he launched FVHigh.com as the home of his new Fairview High web comic. As new friends and fellow artists, we were excited to send fans to each other's websites… In Jan 2002 we realized that it made sense to combine our efforts, I mean, why were we duplicating efforts? So, we formed SquirrelWorks.com and launched it as a combined web comic collective in late Feb 2002 - debuting at Ushicon 2.

PC: What are your artistic influences?

CM: Just like Aaron, I'm heavily influenced by Disney - I grew up on it like everyone. But what shaped my style were styles of the early 90s… Joe Murray (Rocko's Modern Life)… I was also influenced by games at the time; Super Mario Bros, Sonic, etc.

PC: Was the debut at Ushicon simply a convenience of location? Would you call your works manga?

CM: Ushicon just so happened to be coming up and we thought it would be a great place to do it. We love cons, I could live at them.

PC: What's your personal stance on manga? Or anime in the Eastern sense? Do you read/watch?

CM: I love manga, that's my stance! Art from the east is amazing and I love seeing the risks they take. I'm definitely influenced by manga and anime, but I'm not sure you could really classify my work as such. I believe it's thanks to the popularity of manga and anime that traditional animation has been able to survive the fad of 3D animation. I’m glad to see that it's rebounding. I love a lot of anime that most folks like, but my favorites are definitely FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist.

PC: AHHHHHHH FLCL

PC: "It only works with YOUR head, Takkuun"

PC: We are great believers in FLCL here at the Show. And the Pillows.

CM: I actually have a cool FLCL poster I got at AnimeFest that is going in my office - it's being framed now!

CM: The Pillows rock. I love the soundtrack.

PC: They absolutely do. In my opinion FLCL is their best work. I have many powerful emotions about FLCL. Okay back to it... we can talk FLCL any time...

PC: …although I must say it bears repeated viewings

CM: Oh yes.

PC: Barb hates EVERYTHING. So when she'll deign to watch something more than once, let alone all the way through... that's a powerful statement.

PC: I get FLCL more than her… but then we get the pleasurable experience of me explicating it. Often when it's not mutual, it's purely her to me... like Bob Dylan. Though often such explications are mutual on our part… as our column shows…

CM: FLCL is life

PC: >bodily tearing away from FLCL<

PC: But back to it!

PC: Mario, Sonic... Are you now or have you ever been a 'gamer'?

PC: COMRADE?

CM: Ah, yes. I still am…

PC: If so in what-- ha! He admits it! BURN HIM!

PC: >peasants thrust torches at you<

CM: I started with the classic NES and moved up since then… although I’ll always miss my sidescrollers… there was nothing else like classic Megaman and Mario. The irony is that those worlds were considered very 2-dimentional (not necessarily in the artistic sense) than what we have today, but I felt like the stories and worlds were fun and addictive in their simplicity.

PC: I salute your oldschoolness.

PC: Let me try something...

PC: http://profile.imeem.com/KTMGOk/music/wegIf0Kr/system_of_a_down_zelda_theme/ click that

CM: it's giving me some trouble for some reason…

PC: Aww…! Well we can play with it later... maybe its because you use firefox

CM: Is it the classic Zelda theme?

PC: It's a rocked-up version.

CM: ZELDA is also life.

PC: Even barb likes it. And she not only was not a zeldite back in the day... she hates everything (see above) so it really must be a good cover…

CM: That's a shame…  Leila likes everything, thank god…

PC: You read a lot of other webcomics, I don't suppose?

CM: Not as many as I wanted to - making comics is very time consuming, especially at the level of quality we try to produce at SW… but I definitely peek in here and there to see what my friends and others are doing…

PC: Okay so it's hard to keep up these days... but any influences as far as what a webcomic should be like? From back starting out?

CM: You mean what influenced me when starting out?

PC: Yes as in any particular webcomics…

CM: Hmmm… to be honest, when I first started doing them, I didn't know much about the community… as I got more into them, I learned more about other creators - but it was more of classic storytelling and animated shows that influenced me more than comic creators

PC: Okay back to gaming for a moment. Playing anything these days? If so, then what?

CM: Sly Cooper - I’ve been on a straight Sly Cooper run and am on the last of the 3…

PC: Any others lately?

CM: Fullmetal Alchemist (both games), DDR for PS2, and, always, Vice City…

PC: So why Coz Effect? Pure love of the medium? Why that genre (IF it even fits neatly into a genre, not saying it does)?

CM: It just reminds me of the stuff I loved as a kid on Sat. mornings - and the way the 80s seemed to make everything become possible.

PC: There's something about the color palette you use... that evokes that somehow

CM: Thanks—it’s intentional.

PC: Why the “2-4” stuff?

CM: It’s funny-- I wanted to use it as a way to somehow indicate that the characters have a certain "cool" about them when the talk that you can't perceive without hearing their voices… it's been black and white in terms of reception - people love it or really hate it >laughs<

PC: It's a style thing… it's like the ‘80s (Kidd Video maybe?) and Prince and... and some other stuff all wrapped up…

CM: I LOVED KIDD VIDEO!

PC: Hm... how old are you? I wanna see if you and I are the same age... I'm 34.

CM: I'm 27.

PC: Mmm... yes, I grasp that that whole saturday supercade pandamonium thing had an even greater impact on you… There was... a sort of... See, I hate how when we admire a piece of culture, one of the hardest things to find out is who wrote it… acted, directed, voiceovered, adapted... but finding who WROTE something is sometimes a hard thing… and with tv shows it's often not even always who wrote it but who wrote the series bible for it… some of the world's finer science fiction writers worked on the bible for Land of the Lost… Anyway... some of those ‘80s shows... the animation wasn't the best, the WRITING wasn't always the best... formulaic plots... but they were NOT phoning in the series bibles in those days. Let's get back to it though... Comics. You were at Staple. What's your personal stance on comics? From, you know, this continent and parts that-a-way (points off to the right)… Read em?

CM: I was never really a comic fan (don't hit me) when I was a kid - I always liked animation better.

PC: Understood. And now? Anything changed?

CM: Well, I enjoy Manga lately, I’ve gained the appreciation for the printed comic while doing my own. I just wasn't fascinated with the art style then

PC: Examples? What changed?

CM: As much as I loved American animation, I just couldn't get into American comics - even today the mainstream comics, or superhero stuff. But what I like about web comics is that I can see more than just the superhero stuff this country is famous for - I can see what other Americans are doing in comics in a variety of styles.

PC: Ah... so you're enjoying manga webcomics?

CM: Manga, american manga, or whatever it may be, I like the variety a lot more

PC: New topic--

PC: So how did you meet your wife?

CM: We met at U.T. my freshman year. We also knew each other as kids.

PC: Wow

CM: Yeah, but only really knew each other when we were older…

PC: So... you majored in the business side of media... So how'd you learn to do all the creative sides to the stuff you do?

CM: Self-taught, really…

PC: >boggles<

PC: How do you see your business changing in the next 3, 5 years?

CM: Several projects we're working on currently are for developing entertainment properties for clients. I think we'll see even more growth here as well as greater growth in our own content business

PC: What makes SqW different from its competition?

CM: I think it's our approach to the work and our fans. We've seen so many others who have such great passion, wonderful art, and excellent websites. We're different because we design our comics as if they were stills from animated shows. We also sincerely love our fans - I’m always talking with them on IM or email, I’m never too busy to take their emails or IMs…

PC: Ooh I'm lookin at y'all’s "about us" section again…

PC: I see L likes Foster's...

PC: But we got you down for... Big O… "You're a louse, Roger Smith"

CM: I love Big O

PC: Man, they were really workin' it... but they kinda fell down in season 2 I didn't want that ending...

CM: Ditto

PC: I wanted something a little more... good, so it's a universal feeling.

PC: Anyway... BEBOP

PC: "CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE"

PC: I still hear that laughter from Pierrot the Fool

PC: Also, if Bebop teaches us nothing else, it's that Children are Evil

PC: Except Ed

PC: And anyway finally... CASE CLOSED. Will that series EVER end? Give the boy his body back already! Find out what's up with those bad guys! For pity's sake! Has Conan/Jimmy still not suffered enough?!?

PC: Barb and I are mildly big on Case Closed.

PC: Oh, and you like Fosters too. I'm not surprised... I hadn't thought of it before, but Foster's recaptures that ‘80s thing a lot, doesn't it. The Powerpuff Girls are a little too shallow… a little self-conscious. Foster’s is... COMPLEX

CM: I love Foster’s, you're right about it.

PC: But I'd never made any kind of Foster’s/’80s cartoon energy connection before now

PC: Still... you make me think. There's a great power in Serial fiction, don't you think?

CM: Ah yes.

PC: The power of the TV show, where you've got self-contained stories yet they change all the time over time... Darkwing Duck would have running characters. It wasn't a different villain EVERY week, they'd come back. And yet... and yet... Darkwing, god love 'im, a given episode could appear anywhere and it wouldn't matter. That's where the Japanese imports came in... See, I'm older than you a bit... _I_ grew up on Battle of the Planets (a particular version of Gatchaman) and Star Blazers. Star Blazers was weak by comparison… both seem weak to me in retrospect… But that weak and datedness aside, there was an ongoing storyline that progressed. If you mixed those episodes up it would be instantly noticable. And that's where it started. It bleeds over to Big O and stuff we love now. And it's in all of manga. And it's in y'all's work.

CM: You and Aaron are the same age

CM: He talks about the same stuff

PC: YESSsssssssss

PC: Heh. Maybe I should interview Aaron too someday.

PC: YOU are clearly a man (/couple) of taste and refinement and discernment and other big words…

CM: Well thank you

PC: But I wasn’t not leaving you much room to jump back in… I'm haring off on my pet topics

PC: Well anyway it's been refreshing to talk to you more about what you do and about the inspirational factors behind your work… I can't believe you've taught yourself to do what you do…

CM: Thanks man, it’s been great talking…

PC: And your career path seems to show a history of seemingly effortless management and leadership. It's been good to get to know you better.

CM: I think anyone can really teach themselves, you just have to be willing to learn and drop the ego. It’s ego that gets in the way of growth and learning. You ALWAYS have room to grow and learn, I don’t care how awesome of an artist you are. But heh, well, I wouldn't call it "effortless" ...there's been a lot of learning in becoming a good manager

PC: That's an interesting point… YOU collaborate. You've got co-credits, like Barb and I… We were talking to another creator whose husband does his own comic too and she was like "We will never, never collaborate" and I said to Barb today... HOW DO we collaborate? She said it was about the lack of ego and I said "Well I argue with you" and she said "Yes but it doesn't turn into a fight because you never argue because you like a line or scene just because you wrote it... only if you think it's good or not. If you see I have a better idea you don't fight it."

PC: Is... this... anything like what collaboration is like with you and L? Or is it even more smooth and simple than that? Y'all are this sweet couple...

PC: You must make single people vomit like Barb and I do.

CM: Yup.

CM: Haha, we do.

PC: Anyone looking at you would just (after throwing up) say, "Gawd them working together must just be heaven for them"

CM: heh... We're a good team.

PC: One more thing -- You strike Barb and I as quite the businessman. You've started from scratch, just as a matter of reaching your goals... I understand marketing is not the same as the business of making comics, but you're doing both and you seem to be successful. Many people are having a very hard time making any money at all out of making webcomics, let alone breaking even or showing a profit. The same goes for many start-up publishers in print comics, and sometimes retailers, too, although those that were at risk have by now greatly vanished, unfortunately. They get into it on a completely sincere, well-meaning level, and have difficulties.

PC: As someone who has a passion for telling stories who seems to also grasp how to run a business, do you have any advice for those also trying to entertain as well as run a business?

CM: The entertainment business in general is an incredibly hard one to break into, regardless of the genre or medium you are in. I've learned that making a successful career start in that field means capitalizing on your storytelling skills to help other people tell their own stories.

CM: I chose the route of a studio enterprise: a company that allows me to produce my own work, sell and market it, and also do the same for others by helping them create entertainment properties, brands, advertising, and all sorts of brand communications.

CM: The key is not putting all your eggs in one basket. If you have artistic and/or storytelling talent, put it to work for other people. It will help generate revenue, diversify your business, build contacts and ultimately help exercise the business side of the brain that many artists neglect.

CM: We all like to pretend that we do it for the sake of art and storytelling. Sure, that may be true, but in the end - they call it the entertainment "Business" for a reason. And to succeed, you have to respect that and work with it. Just because it's a business doesn't mean you're compromising artistic integrity, but there will be things that you'll have to bend, give and take.