Pen Name: Atlas
Contact Info: jedimastersamurai@yahoo.comLocation: N. Hollywood, CA
Credits: Tales of Atopos, Fractured Scary Tales, Book of Lies Anthology, Awareness (coming soon) and a whole bunch of stuff I probably can’t say yet.
Creative Title: Illustrator, Writer, Producer
Favorite Comic: Blacksad
If you could have a 1 power: Flight (cliche, I know).
Elijah Johnson it will take more than some Jedi mind tricks to get past
The7Deadly Questions
Where is Eli Isaiah going over the next ten year??Straight to the top. I’m working on several books at a time right now, and I’m hoping to break into the comic industry this year and work my way up to work with the best (and my favorite) writers and other creative minds in the business. One of my dreams is to win an Eisner (or two); by then I imagine I’d have several best sellers, probably have some of my books optioned off and turned into movies. I’d love to become a household name, someone that even transcends just comics. I’d like to be up there in just “literature” in general, like Neil Gaiman. Not too many artists have done that. I also want to do illustrations for games/movies for sure. Actually, I’m working to get all this done before 10 years…
Who are the aritsts that inpsire(d) you ?My brother firstly. He’s the one that got me in to drawing in the first place–probably when I was 3 or 4? I made some ridiculous stories to start with. Hah. Since then: Adam Hughes, Paulo Siqueira, Ed Benes, Stephen Segovia, Stuart Immonen, Seung Eun Kim, etc. These are just the comics/cartoon guys. There are plenty other sources I get inspiration from too. I love the way foreigners use visuals, like French and Asian directors on their movies, the way they use sounds and especially silence. Great musicians like John Williams, Joe Hisaishi, Rachmaninov, so on and so forth. These are all artists to me.
In the 60s with all the unrest due to civil Rights comics found a giant voice and spoke to many and reflected the times in a very artistic way. Do you feel that comics of this generation have the social pulse as Marvel did in the 60’s?I think people are definitely TRYING and aspiring to that level of relevance in comics. I feel like Marvel still certainly has its finger on the pulse with what they’re doing with Miles Morales as Spider-Man and such. Bendis’s Spider-Man is my favorite book right now. I feel like a lot of writers are missing the mark because they’re probably too direct. The best stories get their point across through allegory and metaphor; the less you have to explain the wider the audience you can attract. Then all these different kinds of people will take your idea, find themselves somewhere in there, and run with it. I honestly get at least 2 or 3 scripts sent to me a week, but a lot of them just don’t hit the spot. Either too preachy or not focused enough on anything. Back in the 60s/70s, even though it was Civil Rights, none of the X-Men were even black like that (Storm’s first appearance was in a 1975 Giant-Sized issue). Ever noticed? Yet so many people–the younger black AND white generation of the time–really related to them and in turn (I imagine) found a connection with the movement. I think maybe these days the up-and-coming writers just need to keep working on how to incorporate all their ideas and beliefs in a more refined kind of way; the bigger dogs a lot of the time simply shoot for shock value when they introduce these social ideas in to their books. ‘least that’s what it seems like.
Do you as an artist have types of project you dont want too deal with maybe due to content maybe the type of art itself?I think, as an artist, you’re almost like an actor: there really shouldn’t be a scenario that you “can’t” do. As far as “won’t” do… There are a lot of things that I probably would have said I “don’t want to do” a year ago that I’m doing now. And there are things right now I say I won’t do in the future, but who knows?
You are head Comic Guru Guy for the day and can whisper into the ears of all those you need to so you can make anything happen. So what Villain do you make a hero and what hero falls from grace to replace them as a villain?
I would’ve said Magneto, but he’s always flip-flopping. In the movies he’s an anti-hero, in the books he’s a good guy (for the time being), years ago he was a villain, etc. You know, I think I would make Doctor Doom a hero. I really like what they did with the new Secret Wars. I felt like they finally put some respect on his name; imagine all of that energy he spends trying to one-up Reed Richands put to good use. Far as turning villain, probably Superman, but not in the Zack Snyder “everyone’s scared of Superman” type of way. I mean in that Red Son/Kingdom Come kind of way. Throw a few years on him, grey streaks in his hair and that slick black suit (with no cape). He would be the ultimate tyrant. Now have him AND Secret Wars Doctor Doom fight….
What character are you dying to professional draw?I would’ve said Peter Parker Spider-Man years ago, but Miles is my favorite guy now. So him and old school Eddie Brock Venom going at it for a quick story arc. On the flip side, I’m already creating some original characters for a story with a marvelous writer named Drew Kim, and we’ve already got great (and some industry pro) artists drawing my own designs. Which is mind-blowing to me!
Do you think it is harder to draw or write? And why?Drawing for sure. Writing only takes an idea and some imagination; you’re never wrong when you write. With art, if I even draw an eyeball just a centimeter too high than the other, or just slightly lopsided, we literally can’t go to print! Haha. It might just be my own standards being so high, but other people usually call me out on this stuff too. You’ve GOT to know HOW to draw when you commit to it. Then you have to be able to do so many types of subjects: people, cars, animals. Put it this way: it’s one thing to “think it,” it’s another thing to “do it”.
Seems like Elijah Johnson goes way beyond tricks and uses creative truth to guide him. And as such The 7 Deadly Questions happily grant him a paragraph to shamelessly Plug himself. Enjoy our favorite sin Elijah Johnson :I’m not sure when this particular episode of Deadly Questions comes out, but right now I am working with some of the hottest creators in comics right now (DC colorists, Image artists and more) to create an amazing original sci-fi/action/drama graphic novel that I can’t reveal too much about right now. But if you want to check out my existing work, I’ve done tales for the Horror Heads to the Sci-Fi Addicts alike. And there’s plenty more in between on the horizon, so make sure to look out for my name when they arrive!Thanks,Eli “Atlas”
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