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.

Top 5 Posts from September 2014

What were the most popular articles of last month? Check it out:

1) Comic Review: Pariah, Missouri #1 by Andres Salazar by Matt Mitrovich.

2) Map Monday: Maps of the Change by Matt Mitrovich.

3) Weekly Update #160 by Matt Mitrovich.

4) What if Wednesday: The German-American War of 1902 by Matt Mitrovich.

5) What If Wednesday: NATO Did Not Expand Into Eastern Europe by Matt Mitrovich.

Everything is coming up Mitro!

Comic Review: Pariah, Missouri #1 by Andres Salazar

It is quite serendipitous that I decided to read and review Pariah, Missouri by Andres Salazar when I did. I just started reading Truman by David McCullough and his family settled in the part of Missouri that Pariah is set and the first chapter talks about the trials and tribulations of living in wild Missouri. The author actually did a good job capturing frontier Missouri life, although Salazar did over-exaggerate certain parts for the sake of the story. That can be forgiven, however, considering the story he was trying to tell.

Pariah is historical fantasy comic with a good heaping of weird fiction. Its the year 1857 in the boom town of Pariah, Missouri. Several people, including the Marshall and many children, have disappeared and a recently arrived puppet show is suspected. A card shark with a secret identity, a prostitute trying to help her family, a voodoo practitioner on the run from the law and a backwoods bounty hunter have to team up to save the down from the supernatural forces that inflict it.

I enjoyed reading Pariah. It was a quick read (I finished it during my lunch break), but it kept me entertained with its wild west heroics. I have seen it described as "A-Team set in a supernatural western", although to be honest it put me in mind of Guardians of the Galaxy by the way the characters interacted with each other. Character development was a bit spotty. At one point a character uses a hitherto unmentioned supernatural ability to defeat the bad guys just when it was needed the most. Perhaps I missed the set up, but nevertheless it came as a big surprise.

The artwork was good, although as I have mentioned before I don't have an eye for such things. The use of watercolors was unique and worked for the story. This is only, however, book one. Salazar has set up the town of Pariah for more mischief, especially from another group who don't have the town's best interest at heart. No spoilers, but I can safely recommend this book for those tired of usual superhero affair and want to try a dark fantasy set in one of the rougher periods of American history.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Pariah Missouri: I've seen the Promised Land!

Guest post by Andres Salazar.

My name is Andres Salazar. I’m a storyteller. I've been hunkered down working on the second graphic novel in the series, Pariah Missouri. Part Huckleberry Finn part Twin Peaks it’s a mash-up of some of my favorite stories and ideas all set in Antebellum 1857 Missouri. It’s steampunk without the punk, but a good dose of religion, folk magic, bounty-hunters, slaves and demons. It’s the A-team with Hiram Buchanan, an undercover Pinkerton, Nellie, a feisty courtesan, Jean Lafitte, a practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans, and Toro, a Mexican/Comanche bounty-hunter as they ferret out evil.

Book Two introduces two new characters, Elijah Harris and Jasper Whitmer, both preachers on different sides of the Great Awakening. Both there to save souls, or are they?

Book One was a Kickstarter last year. We did very well and I started hitting the convention circuit.  I attended 14 comic book conventions in the last 12 months (That's a whole another post I can write about those experiences).  I sold over 1,000 copies of Book One and it was selected as the Staff Pick for July's Preview in Diamond. Now we are at it again with a Kickstarter for Book Two. The book is already 96.3% done. I am putting some finishing touches on a couple of pages (out of the +100 page story) and re-working a few lines of dialog. It's interesting how I wrote the script back in September of 2013 and now re-reading it as I letter in InDesign, there's some things I want to change and add. The Kickstarter was selected as a Staff Pick by Kickstarter, so that must mean something, right?

I work with an amazing artist/penciler, JL Pescador, and I color every page of Pariah Missouri in watercolors. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since the beginning. I wanted that old-timey feel and keep the color palette down to a minimum. Even made a Deluxe Hardcover complete with writer-commentary throughout the story, on every page as well as extra pages with additional epilogue, behind-the-scenes art, production sketches and reference pictures. It’s the blu-ray of the book. Because of the costs to make the deluxe hardcover, I will not be selling them at stores or through Diamond, it will be strictly a Kickstarter thing (or face to face).

I just finished the rough script for Book Three. It should be ready for print in July 2015. The goal is to finish the story by Book Five, which will be the end for our little town of Pariah, and the beginning of the American Civil War.

I got some new Stretch Goals which will include a radio drama and a card game. It will be an exciting story for the next 30 days to see how we progress through the campaign.  I will be posting videos and updates often so backers really get a sense of the behind the scenes of what it takes to make a comic book.  Please become a part of our team!

To see the Pariah, Missouri Kickstarter campaign to go: www.pariahmissouri.com.

Editor's Note: I am also going to be reviewing Book One so stay tuned for that.