Jan
27
2014
1

Joey Esposito talks Pawn Shop

Last Friday, we reviewed Joey Esposito’s new graphic novel, Pawn Shop. And we gave it a pretty high score, so to follow that up, we talked to Joey about Kickstarting Pawn Shop, living in New York, and homeless people. Check it out:

WeTheNerdy: First of all, how are things on the East Coast now? Are you freezing yet?

Joey Esposito: I froze a long time ago. Once Christmas is over I’m ready for the snow to go away forever. But other than that, I’m glad to be back. [pullquote_right]Doing it ourselves I think was the best route to go, as it got our story told the way we wanted to tell it.[/pullquote_right]

WTN: Pawn Shop was a Kickstarter project, why did you choose to go that way?

Joey: I pitched it to a few publishers who felt it wasn’t quite right for them, and having Kickstarted Footprints previously, I decided to do Pawn Shop myself. There’s no genre hook to the story, which makes it hard to market, especially from relatively unknown creators. Thankfully we live in a world where Kickstarter is a thing. Doing it ourselves I think was the best route to go, as it got our story told the way we wanted to tell it. Hopefully it finds a new life now that it’s done and out there, but even if it’s only the Kickstarter backers that ever read it, I’ll be happy. It’s out of my system and that’s really all that matters to me.

pawnshopcover

WTN: During my reading, I really enjoyed the way you describe New York through the book. I know you lived there for quite some itme, how were those years? Did you enjoy it, and how much did those years influenciate Pawn Shop?

Joey: While I always appreciated the nature of New York I was actually pretty miserable during that time. A part of that had nothing to do with location but it all sort of festered and led me to resent New York so fully that eventually I left and moved to LA. Which was worse. So it was only in retrospect that I missed my time in New York and started working on Pawn Shop almost as an apology letter. And even though I’m back on the east coast now and still spend a lot of time in New York, I think it’s safe to say that I don’t ever want to live there again. I had my time and it’s over. So in that way, my time there was a huge influence. I think it’s interesting that there is the mythical New York, the one you see in movies and TV that is full of wonder and fascinating architecture and adventure. And then there’s the reality of New York, which is that it’s fucking cold and lonely and dirty and expensive. Hopefully Pawn Shop represents both versions with some accuracy.

WTN: I felt like Pawn Shop was some sort of “fairy tale” set in our world. And part of that came thanks to the distinctive art style and coloring. Can you share part of the creative process behind that?

Joey: That’s what I loved about Sean’s work in the first place and why I thought he was right for the story. There’s a surreal quality to his style, and even though Pawn Shop is very much true to the real world, I liked that Sean could give it that slightest touch of fantasy. Especially in the New York setting, a city where you daydream all the time, and going back to what I said about the “mythical” New York. But I think the art style in general lends a personality to the characters and the city that a more traditional look couldn’t have captured. It would’ve been sterile and bland otherwise, and we all know New York is neither of those things.

WTN:  So Footprints is a comic in the Pawn Shop universe.

Joey: It’s the real world, after all! The Footprints references were Sean’s doing, which I thought were fun.

WTN: How was the process of creating these 4 different characters, and then working from these different view points?

[pullquote_left]From a structure standpoint it was maddening.[/pullquote_left]Joey: From a structure standpoint it was maddening. Making sure the timeline worked out correctly I almost drove myself insane. Our letterer Adam can attest to that, I’m sure I drove him bonkers with corrections. But as far as character, I found it somewhat freeing. I think character is the most important thing in the world, and building them is my favorite part of the process. So getting to explore the same block of time and the same subject matter from four different angles was just interesting to me. To me Pawn Shop is about taking action in your life and taking control — Harold sort of represents what happens when you don’t do that or wait too long, Arthur struggles to go after what he really wants out of life, Jen tries to get free of her own addictions and bad habits, and Sam puts everyone else before herself and is losing control of her life because of it. They all sort of have the same problem, and I like the idea that people can be linked by their problems even if they take different forms. Plus I guess they are all facets of my own personality to some degree and struggles that I’ve had amped up a little bit, which made it simultaneously difficult to be honest about but also therapeutic.

WTN: What’s up with the homeless guy lurking in the background of some panels?

Joey: What’s up with any given homeless guy on any given street corner in New York? Nobody ever knows!

WTN: Where can people buy Pawn Shop?

pawnshoppage

Joey: If you missed out on the Kickstarter, I’ve got it up for pre-order at my store — joeyesposito.storenvy.com — and it will eventually be on Amazon and Comixology and stuff too. If you pre-order, it should be shipping sometime in March after the Kickstarter backers receive their copies.

WTN: And finally, have you got any upcoming projects you’d like to talk about?

Joey: There’s some new stuff that I’m not ready to talk about yet, but for now I’ve still got the ongoing Captain Ultimate from Monkeybrain Comics, co-written by Ben Bailey with art by Boy Akkerman. Issue #5 is hitting soon and then #6 wraps what we consider our first “volume,” so to speak. Things are gonna get nuts.