Interview: D.J. Coffman on Politics and Webcomics
On D. J. Coffman’s blog website George Washington stares at me from behind a "star-spangled" bandana, almost daring me to challenge him. Below is a quote from another founding father John Adams "An honest man will never have any other." Our founding fathers were real hell raisers that defied the British Empire, the legal government at the time, and we should all respect these hooligans for giving birth to our nation.
The 32-year old Coffman has come a long way since 1998 when he first self-published Yirmumah, with his own brand of slapstick humor to kick his sometime collaborator Bob in the nuts and our funny bone.
In June, Coffman allied himself with the Flobots while at the same time publically estranged himself from Platinum Studios over non-payment for his Hero by Night webcomic. He suddenly became a highly public figure in the struggle between creators and the company.
Today Coffman also shows a very serious side of himself; a sequential artist, a thinker to be reckoned with, and a dreamer with a lot of fans. I caught up with Coffman recently:
CMix: How did you hook up with the politically active Flobots musical group?
DJ: Fate I suppose, and it all started with a sign. I don’t consider myself in anyone’s party per se, but I found myself agreeing with [Barack] Obama’s ideas of change. His quote "We are the ones we’ve been waiting for" made me think about hard work, and if you want something done you have to do it yourself. Back in April I created my own yard sign encouraging people to VOTE. I had seen a lot of pickups go by with rebel flags, and some even shouting out racial slurs. The ignorance I was surrounded with, and that my kids might witness, made me sick. I felt like I was the only one that was thinking about the future. Before they took off, I downloaded the Flobots’ Fight with Tools album, which I listened to continuously on the trip to and from the New York Comic-Con. While I was away that sign was stolen and my yard was trashed, right before the Pennsylvania primary. I painted another sign, and I would have continued just to exercise my freedom of speech, and not to have it silenced by any "Hillbillies." The album’s politically charged lyrics stuck a chord inside me, so I emailed the band to inquire about making a webcomic or graphic novel based on their positive lyrics. I quickly received an email reply from Stephen "Brer Rabbit" Brackett, who had heard of my work, and conversations grew from there. I told him about my sign and he replied, "It’s time to paint those signs!"
NBC rolls the dice in a big way with a three hour relaunch of Heroes this Monday. After nine months away, and a weak second season as well, can they overcome it all? Milo Ventimiglia thinks so and in our exclusive interview, he explains it all, plus:
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The idea that the march of technology is too slow and could kill a baby art form is nothing new. Scott Kurtz wrote “Could Success Kill Your Webcomic?” in 2002, as he was then concerned with the increasing cost of bandwidth that came with an influx of readers. Fortunately, in the last six years, technological growth outpaced his concerns, but things were a bit dicey for some popular webcomics for a little while there.
Feels like it is hard to believe that when you say a name like Green Hornet, the first actor to come to mind is Seth Rogen, but it looks as if that may just become a reality now. Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg have finally serenaded Hong Kong legend Stephen Chow enough in wanting him to don the eye-mask as Kato, Hornet’s driver and not-so-side-kick, that it looks like Chow will also be taking the helm as director.
