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Joëlle Jones
182 Plays5 years ago
Joëlle Jones is an Eisner nominated artist currently living and working in Portland, Oregon. Since attending PNCA in Portland, OR, she has contributed to a wide range of projects and has most recently has worked on Batman for DC comics. She also wrote and drew the series, Lady Killer, published by Dark Horse comics. Jones has also provided the art for fashion designer Prada, and various projects for Marvel, Boom, Vertigo, Oni Press and The New York Times.
Joëlle currently has projects with DC comics as well as continuing her Series Lady Killer.
https://www.joellejones.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Ken Valente. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
00:00:17
Speaker
This is Ken Vellante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast. And for this episode, very pleased to welcome Joelle Jones. And she's just really an artist that I've enjoyed for some time. And we're just lucky to have a chat with her and learn about her art, her career, her thoughts on
00:00:40
Speaker
art itself and art as it stands right now. Joelle Jones, welcome to something rather than nothing. Hey, thanks for having me. Like I said, it's a great pleasure.
Joelle's Artistic Beginnings
00:00:51
Speaker
Joelle, what were you like when you were younger? I mean, did you do a lot of art, sketching, music? Were you an artist when you were younger?
00:01:10
Speaker
I was I was a pretty solitary kid. And I preferred to be by myself and draw most of the time, not knowing that I'd be doing that dress in my life, and I should have been outside playing. But yeah, so it's always just been drawing basically.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, that's the question. Should you have been outside playing? You've done well with the art. So you've always done it. Was it something in the environment that you were in? Were there folks around you that did it or was it something that felt a little bit more neat as far as where your interests were? Do you know, I think it was just because I was personality wise, pretty solitary.
00:01:55
Speaker
It just seemed to fit really well. And so I kept doing it obsessively. I don't remember a time where I didn't. And then about eight years old, I discovered comic books and really made up my mind of like, no, this is this is what I want. This is amazing, the storytelling. So I'm going to go after this. And so I went all in. Yeah.
00:02:23
Speaker
And I wanted to thank you for that. I wanted to chat with you about and give you the opportunity to speak about some of the characters you've worked on and some very prominent characters within the comics universe and also some of your own creations.
Discussion on Joelle's Iconic Works
00:02:44
Speaker
And just for the listeners, Joelle has done
00:02:49
Speaker
You know, she's worked on Batman Catwoman. She's won an award for Lady Killer, which was a limited series in two volumes as well as Hellheim. I love Hellheim, by the way. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Yeah. Just love Hellheim. Just the aesthetic there and the... I love that book. Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:14
Speaker
And so I really loved your creations. I was wondering if you could start, Joelle, by just giving the listeners a little bit of background about what you've gotten some attention for and just the wild and wonderful creation of Lady Killer. Can you give a little bit of background how that came about and some of the attention around Lady Killer?
The Birth and Impact of Lady Killer
00:03:41
Speaker
Sure, yeah. It's all been kind of a
00:03:44
Speaker
a surprise to me. But basically, I came up with Lady Killer. I was in sort of a work funk. I wasn't getting the kind of jobs that I really wanted to do. I wasn't getting the books or the genres that I was really interested in. Because I hadn't done it before. I had to do kind of create a job so that I could show people what I was interested in what I wanted to do.
00:04:13
Speaker
And I just sort of daydreamed and kind of played with it for the longest time. And eventually I pitched it. And then one company told me, they're like, oh, we don't know who this is, who the audience is for this. We don't think that this would do well. So then I went to another one and they ended up picking it up in exchange for me doing another project as sort of like a quid pro quo.
00:04:41
Speaker
situation. And so I did the first one not thinking anybody would read it. So I just went in with the intention of entertaining myself. And then it sold out like two or three printings. And people spoke really well of it. And I was I'm still I'm shocked by the reception, you know, people enjoying it.
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, the and I think that, you know, for the listeners with with Lady Killer, you know, attractive female primary character, a housewife, but also an assassin.
Exploring Themes in Lady Killer
00:05:26
Speaker
So it's like the you know, I always think in the sense of this and let me know what what you think, Joelle, just, you know, that kind of like
00:05:36
Speaker
American fascination with like the underbelly right with Appearances being one things and then you know kind of like underneath this kind of you know violence or bizarre type of activity Did you did you feel that creation was helping you work out just like kind of some of those like contradictions or I I guess what I'm saying is
00:06:03
Speaker
hearing that there might not be an audience for that or what you're hearing initially, you know, it doesn't seem to be the most inviting subject matter. But yet when you see things of this nature, they tend to do well. I think, you know, I think it speaks to a lot of people in terms of it's sort of a it's not black or white. She's not a superhero. She's not a good person. And yet you're compelled to watch what she does. And
00:06:29
Speaker
you sort of root for. And I like contradictions in people. So where she wants everything to be the perfect 1950s daydream Pepsi ad, she can't live up to that. And, you know, if somebody's got a darkness like that inside of them, it's going to come out, no matter what. You can't find it. You know, you are who you are. And she happens to just be a terrible person.
00:06:59
Speaker
But I enjoy those contradictions. I like visually the juxtaposition of the blood and gore with a perfectly tailored suit and crinoline. I really enjoy it. Well, you capture it perfectly when you are. And I'm not trying to overstate it or just, you know,
00:07:23
Speaker
throw that out there. But there's some way you capture kind of that gloss and that color that exists there. And then at the bottom of the mop is a bucket of blood, right? You're able to do that. And it's quite the pleasure. Now you've done maybe some more of the standard large publisher
00:07:46
Speaker
you know, superheroes as well. Do you have do you have one that you just feel like you're made to to draw a superhero? I mean, I I adore drawing Catwoman. I I've always been drawn to her. She's always been one of my favorites. She's probably my favorite. Do you see for sure? And so I got to do that for quite a few issues.
00:08:15
Speaker
And now I'm kind of looking at who's the next one going to be and which one is going to be exciting now that I did the one I always wanted to do. Yeah. And that was wonderful. I also enjoyed your work with Supergirl, the limited series. I think it's being super, Supergirl being super. Yeah, with Mariko. Yeah, that story was so sweet. Yeah.
00:08:44
Speaker
that that that was that was most most enjoyable. And of course, you're based in Portland, one of the things I'm originally from the East Coast and lived in the Midwest. When I got out to Oregon, and particularly to Portland, I was just amazed because it felt like such a comic book epicenter. And I didn't know that about it before getting here. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. So it's been just a it's been enjoyable. I've been here for about a decade. But
00:09:09
Speaker
such a fertile ground for creativity, first of all, but also for comics. One of the questions, one of the big questions I wanted to ask you, Joelle, is what is, in your opinion, what is art?
The Role of Art According to Joelle
00:09:29
Speaker
You know, I had to answer this question so many times because I went to art school. I was a fine arts painter.
00:09:36
Speaker
And I don't remember any of my answers, and I'm pretty sure I give different ones every time. And my opinion is probably different. I mean, art, it's subjective, I guess. What's art to me is an art to the same person or to a different person. It's tricky, I'm trying to remember.
00:09:59
Speaker
Oh, my art school bullshit. One of your answers. I answer this question differently, depending upon what mood I'm in and sometimes with my audience. And when you point a personal privilege here, when you were, you know, within maybe of a fine art setting and art school and such,
00:10:21
Speaker
Is it you were asked this question around that time? Was this a question that maybe art students kicked around or just thought that they should be able to have an answer for? Do you know what is funny is day one, like the introduction course, they sat us all down in a hall and they put it on a whiteboard and they said, what is art? You need to answer this. Not now. But eventually, like when you graduate, you can answer this question. And it was something posed to us.
00:10:50
Speaker
pretty much in every class all over the place all the time. But I dropped out before I graduated, so maybe I don't know what I was. Maybe that would have been given to you with the diploma, right? It would have been the answer and the diploma. I would have the answer. I think in terms of art, I think just speaking for me and not for other people, it's something that
00:11:20
Speaker
can emotionally draw me in and sort of tap into a part of myself or a softer way of thinking. It's just opening me up to different ideas, different ways of looking at things, sort of cutting in through the day-to-day muck and sort of challenging the way you think or comforting
00:11:49
Speaker
you know, it's I think it's just, if it strikes an emotion, I consider that to be successful art. There's nothing worse than just, you know, blah, it's nice. And then you walk off, or you have no opinion whatsoever. That's death. Yeah, I think, you know, something for me as a visual artist, if I can tell a story that can get emotions out of you, or we can
00:12:19
Speaker
kind of come to the same table as far as like, oh, you understand me and, you know, I understand you and I'm going to reach you through this medium. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a treat. It's tricky because it's different for everybody, I suppose.
00:12:35
Speaker
Yeah. And I, I think in the terms of some of the things you talked about or mentioned in there, I like is, um, you know, the kind of concept of language of how do you communicate or like the heart or the emotion, right? To, to, to, to cause something, the cause and effect upon, uh, upon the viewer does, uh, another follow up question to, you know, art, you know, um, you know, with the, with a big A.
00:13:00
Speaker
Is there a different role right now for artists? And I speak this, you know, there's issues that have come to the fore in the new decade, you know, obviously the pandemic, racial injustice, environmental issues, and a host of other issues that have been around for a while, but seem to be more prominent, you know, at present right now. Do you think art has a different role in this context right now?
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think it can I think it can definitely provide a different role than what we've previously seen or experienced with art. It's hard to tell when you're in the thick of things. I think, you know, we can only really assess that when we look back and see how art affected the pandemic or, you know, the sort of
00:13:57
Speaker
media that people are putting out during this time. I'm very interested to look back and see what we were thinking, what we were going through, and what was produced during that time. Because that's going to stay, right? The sourdough bread that you learned how to make is going to be a distant memory. But when you take in a piece of film or art, you'll remember that as being tied to that time. And I'm really interested to see
00:14:27
Speaker
you know, how we how we're going to see it. Yeah, it has such an impact. I found that with the the recent fires and ongoing fires here in the Pacific Northwest that a couple of paintings I paint in a couple in a row, I was just like looking for like light blue colors of like seeing anything that was just cooling or softer or less, you know,
00:14:53
Speaker
Violent, I guess. Yeah. Well, I think comfort food in art is viable. Sometimes you don't want to be challenged. Sometimes you just want to be comforted. And I think right now, that's where I'm going, if I want something a little comforting. I don't really want to be challenged. I'm stressed out enough. Yeah, it's interesting.
00:15:23
Speaker
especially for film, I think that'll be fascinating to find out like what worked, what didn't. And in terms of comic books, you know, what's going to hit what's what are people going to not enjoy? Yeah, I'm trying to think of like, other crises in what we consumed, because I think after 911, it was a lot of garbage movies,
00:15:49
Speaker
But it felt good. Like distraction, right? Yeah. And it felt good. It felt like this is comforting, this is familiar, and we like this. And I know a lot of artists that, especially during the beginning of the pandemic, none of us could really work. We were just sort of kind of stunned and the idea of going into our heads and
00:16:16
Speaker
working was really difficult, I think, for a lot of people, especially writing stories. I think at the time I was writing, maybe I was writing a Catwoman, and it became really difficult for me to focus because she was going through a crisis, but so was I, and I didn't have time for her. Right, right.
00:16:39
Speaker
And then, yeah, obviously, those impacts, I talked to artists, you know, particularly with with the pandemic and the kind of strange pressures I would say, right, where it's like, I need to use my time to do this now or, you know, fuck all this art stuff like I'm going bad. Yeah, you know, and I think everybody had the grapple with it in their in their own way and continue to, of course. Yeah.
00:17:04
Speaker
But it's definitely been an interesting question I've asked over time because it also matters when you ask it, right? As far as how are you doing, whether it's health-wise or just the environment that's there. I got another big question or two. One big question I ask is, who or what made you who you are?
Influences and Inspirations
00:17:31
Speaker
No, that's a good question.
00:17:34
Speaker
Well, I mean, I have to give credit to my parents, I suppose. But in terms of where I ended up, I mean, it was a lot of little help along the way. But I think that my personality is just really suited to this job. I don't think I'm much good for anything else. I used to be a bartender and I could
00:18:04
Speaker
pretend to be that for a while. But, you know, I think the idea that I like the isolation, I like playing in my head. I like daydreaming. This sort of really fits right into this job. And everybody along the way exposed me to art that I wouldn't have found on my own. Different books, different types of art, different films.
00:18:36
Speaker
It all sort of informs my point of view and lets me sit down daydream and put out a page of a comic book. And I mean, I've got friends, I read like crazy and I've got some friends and we just exchange books and we'll go through about like three books a week, you know, just devouring them. And I need those people to show me things that I wouldn't
00:19:05
Speaker
you know, I guess back to the comfort thing of not, I'm not being exposed to that. So yeah, that's invaluable. The challenge from other people. Yeah, that's a good kind of intellectual climate and artistic and creative climate. Is that as like a kind of just in general, that's like a small community for you that's probably helped you, you know, helped you from AI to imagine, right? Yeah, well, and
00:19:34
Speaker
uh, being in Portland and being around other comic book artists, uh, can be really comforting. It can also be really annoying, but it can be comforting in terms of I get to complain in shorthand about my job to those people. And then we share, you know, tools of the trade and, uh, exchange ideas and, you know, comic books is, is they're very, uh,
00:20:03
Speaker
It's not that competitive that I can see where people really raise each other up and they're all rooting for each other to succeed because we're all really distinctly different. So yeah, it's been invaluable to be in Portland. I moved from Idaho. I think it's 2003. And just being around artistic people and a community was such a difference. I'm not trying to
00:20:32
Speaker
slag off Idaho or anything, but I didn't really get any sort of artistic community there. And the people that were artistic took off probably to Portland. Yeah. Well, and I think you would have, you know, uh, you know, uh, just even as far as the scale of it, I mean, Boise is pretty cool, but it's small, right? So, you know, in comparison to
00:20:57
Speaker
And then I'm glad that the environment that you have there for Portland, it's one that I've been particularly sensitive to and one that has helped me beyond belief as far as expressing the art that's inside of me. So I adore Portland for that reason, because it's really helped me along.
00:21:21
Speaker
So a couple more questions Joelle. One I had and this is just kind of like a step back and another step back like what is art type of question but did you ever step back and say or wonder what the purpose exactly is of why you're creating? Like you're trying to do with your creation? All the time. All the time. I'll tell us.
00:21:49
Speaker
And usually it's late night after I've put in like a 13-hour day. Like, what am I even doing with my life? This is so ridiculous. You know, what purpose does any of this serve? And I think that artists can get down themselves or get stuck in that cycle of what is the point. Because we don't get instant gratification like a stage actor would. We don't get any applause. We don't get any recognition.
00:22:17
Speaker
the art won't come out for months until after you finished it. So we don't really get any sort of feedback. It just goes to your editor and off to the printers. So it can get, you know, the loneliness of it, I think, can make you really question what is the point. But, you know, every now and then somebody will bring up something that they saw in my art that I completely forgot that I drew.
00:22:48
Speaker
And they'll say, oh, I loved it when you drew this. And it's always a real surprise. And people that were touched by it or just got a good giggle out of it one day. Yeah, the fact that there's still people that read it, not that I'm a fan of comic book conventions, because I'm really shy, but seeing all those people and realizing that people actually read comic books
00:23:16
Speaker
instead of just be makes me keep going for sure. Yeah. Well, and one of the things too, I mean, just to speak clearly is I know that tends to be a doubt amongst artists, but
00:23:30
Speaker
Uh, everything you've created that I've come in contact with is completely received in a great addition to the world. So if you're, if you're ever in doubt, just say, I don't know, there's that podcast guy crisis averted for the day. Um, uh, big, big question before we're going to ask you this kind of just sheer, you know, how to come in contact with the art, but, uh, title of the podcast. Why is there something rather than nothing, Joel?
Philosophical Musings and Social Media
00:24:00
Speaker
I have something rather than that thing. I don't know, I'm a nihilist. Lady Killer is you. Basically. So, Joel, what's the best way for the listeners and fans, etc.,
00:24:30
Speaker
kind of come in contact with your work, whether it's where to find it, where to find you as is appropriate. Where do folks go to find Joelle Jones and encounter your art? I am on social media in a very limited capacity. I'm very lazy with it. But I post art on Instagram the most, and it's just, I think, Joelle underscore Jones. And then I have a website. It's just Joelle Jones.
00:24:59
Speaker
And that's usually where I post stuff. I've got some new stuff coming up with DC that'll be announced sometime soon, I think. And then, yeah, that's about it. Well, that's great to hear. And it's easy as could be, right? So website and Instagram. And it's great to hear that maybe an upcoming announcement with your work, like I said, I know when I
00:25:27
Speaker
Convey to some folks I know in comics and in comic fans that you were gonna be on the podcast. They were just so excited and I want to thank you for that because for me it's the same thing. Like I said, your artwork, your ideas are very noticeable and it's really great art to enjoy. So I just wanted to thank you so much
00:25:57
Speaker
in your busy schedule for taking some time and joining something rather than nothing. Yeah, thanks for having me and the wonderful compliments that'll get me through the day. Hey, you got a few more hours. That's right. Thank you so much, Joelle. And you have a great day. Thanks so much. Thanks. You too. All right. Bye bye. Bye.
00:26:25
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing.