Interview With... Zach Miller

With the new Joe and Monkey book around the corner, Zach Miller is a busy busy man. Not only busying himself to go around the circuit of Wizard World Chicago convention this week but launching his book along with Theater Hopper Tom Brazelton. Before he flew off, we grabbed him for some questions.

With the success of Joe and Monkey's first book winning the Blooker Prize, how quickly were you interested in making the second?

I was always going to release the second book immediately after the second year ended. It was only fitting that I received the books the day the last comic in the book was posted online.

What exclusive material can we expect in this one?

There is a four page intro comic which I wrote and drew as my final project for the Basic Comics Seminar with Scott McCloud at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His suggestions helped flesh out the comic. I think it's some of my finest work.

Can we expect you to enter Joe & Monkey's second book into this years Blooker Prize competition?

Yes. I will be entering, although I doubt the book will even be a semi-finalist. There are just too many good self published comic books. I think competition for 2007 will be extremely fierce.

Do you think you'll always use lulu.com or will you sooner or later expand into self-publishing using another company?

Lulu is excellent for small runs on books, and right now it's perfect for me. JaM's popularity may some day grow beyond the capacity for Lulu to be able to cheaply publish the books, but I think I will continue to use the service for limited edition, exclusive books, and whatnot.

What do you think of people who say webcomics should stay online and not in print?

I think it's extremely foolish to limit yourself.

Will a future book be entirely exclusive strips never seen before or are you gonna keep on doing collections of the years gone by and maybe add a few extra bits in?

I would like to work on a bi-monthly book with exclusive comics in it, but that would require some kind of drive, or ambition. Right now I can barely get out of bed in the morning.

Do you ever think a "No Pants Tuesday" book will ever come to light?

NPT might one day see the soft, gentle caress of a book, but since most of the strips were in color I would have to make a fairly expensive book. That's no fun.

What is coming up in the future of Joe & Monkey?

More of the same, old, rehashed crap that everyone's now bored with. Also, the apocalypse!

Joe and Monkey's book, Definition of Awesome is available at the Wizard World Chicago before being released onsite. Keep an eye on our site this Tuesday for something special!