Interview: Andres Salazar

I now present my interview with Andres Salazar, author and illustrator of Pariah Missouri:

Who is Andres Salazar?

Well, I'm an average joe who loves comics, films, dancing, backpacking and surfing. Art and creative things have always been a passion and something encouraged in my family. Music and art was always important. I now live in Ventura, CA with my family and I love what I do for a living.

What got you interested in comics?

It was one of those things that were getting very popular in the late 70s. The Adam West Batman show was on TV and Spiderman Cartoon was going, and I saw Star Wars when it first came out as a 5-year old, so I was in that element with very cool properties as a kid. I played with GI Joes and Transformers and along with the toys were comics. So I jsut started reading them. I had a friend who had some and I read some of his. I remember staying up late nights with the flashlight reading Garfield and things like that. I never thought about making them at that time. I think I wanted to be an Astronaut or special effects for horror movies.

What is Pariah Missouri about?

Thematically Pariah Missouri is about people who are hiding who they really are. Everyone wears a mask. It was a tumultuous time with slavery and poverty and the wild countryside. You had invaders and foreign governments all around you, so it was extremely dangerous and exciting for me to write about. We follow Hiram Buchanan navigate through the lies and disguises and trying to uncover the hidden crime network in town.

What inspired you to write your comic?

I still don't really know. I had written a couple of scripts and stories prior to this, but nothing felt quite right for comics, until Pariah. Pariah fits the comics mold and format so I thought it was perfect. Making a comic was on my list to do and I had tried a couple of times years ago, but this time I wanted to follow through and make it the best I could. I am very proud of this set of books, it is quality and professional and I'm excited to share it with the world.  So far the response has been amazing.

Why did you decide to use Kickstarter to fund Pariah?

I've used kickstarter a number of time as a creator and love the concept of crowd funding. I have used it many times to support other creators. It has cache in the online community and it's great for comics.  So forcmecas a self publisher it was a no-brainer.

When can we expect book two?

Book 2 hits the printers Oct 1st. I will be getting the proof and then ordering right after that.  My goal is for Halloween to have the books shipped out! Pretty quick!

Any advice for aspiring comic book writers and artists?

It's a great job, but very demanding. Long hours and tough work and sometimes the creativity gets swamped up in the day to day activities. Stick with it and be positive, you will be broke for a while, so it's not a way to make money. If making money in not your goal then I say go for it, read a lot, study a lot and know what the world is about and what makes people tick. In other words learn about the human condition and write about that.