GET YOUR FUNK ON
Jim Mahfood Tells All About Classic 40 Ounce

If you read indie comics, then you’ve read Jim Mahfood. And if you haven’t, then run -- don’t walk -- to the nearest comic shop and pick up some of his stuff. Known for kick-ass characters, graffiti-esque pencilings and a deep love of funk that infuses his entire body of work, Jim gives a desperately needed shot in the arm to the comics industry. His stuff includes Clerks: The Comic, Grrl Scouts and Grrl Scouts: Work Sucks, and Bad Ideas (with Wayne Chinsang and Dave Crosland). Recently, Image published Classic 40 Ounce: Tales from the Brown Bag, a collection of Jim’s very early work. We here at LO-FI managed to con Jim into doing an interview with us by promising him copious amounts of booze -- pity we drank it all ourselves. Tough luck, Jim!

 

LO-FI: Instead of the typical “What’s your background?” question, I’d like to ask what kind of crazy-weird back story you wish you had.

Jim Mahfood: Jim Mahfood was born to aliens and sent to Earth to resurrect the funk. So far so good.

LF: Where did you get the idea to publish Classic 40 Ounce?

JM: Most of my fans just kept asking me to reprint the stuff I did in college. The original books are really hard to find and had low print runs, so this collection just seemed like the right thing to do. Also, it's the tenth anniversary this year for a lot of the material and this is my way of celebrating that. It feels good to have it out in one nice-looking trade.

LF: Why is it subtitled “Tales from the Brown Bag”?

JM: Well, ya know, you keep your 40 oz in a brown bag to keep it cold or concealed or whatever. When I was in college working on this material, 40 ounces of malt liquor were a huge part of the creative process for me and my friends.

LF: How did you pick what would go into Classic 40 Ounce?

JM: I wanted to reprint Girl Scouts #1 and #2 and Cosmic Toast in their entirety. I also decided to throw in all of the short stories and one page strips from this period. Then I found a bunch of old stuff that my buddy Mike Huddleston penciled and I inked, and threw it in. I wanted to have a sketchbook section from this era as well, to show the evolution of my drawing style.

LF: Where did you get the idea to include official soundtracks in your books?

JM: I stole that from early Jamie Hewlett Tank Girl, and then everyone else stole it from me.

LF: Are they the tracks you listened to as you drew that particular book, or music that you think captures the feel of the comic?

JM: Both.

LF: The original Girl Scouts stories were drawn in a much more realistic fashion than the current, angular/cartoon-y style you use. Why did you choose to shift your style in that direction?

JM: It was never a choice on my part at all. It was just a natural evolution of the style. I'm always trying new things artistically and trying to push my work into other areas. My style keeps changing and, hopefully, improving. Even the stuff you see me drawing today will look different than the stuff I draw five years from now.

LF: Would you like to see a video game based on the Freak City cast of characters? If so, which characters and what genre of game?

JM: I'd like to see a game called Freak City, and in the game you could choose to be one of the Grrl Scouts, Zombie Kid, Smoke Dog, or any other character in the 40 oz Universe. Then you could run around Freak City dealing drugs, fighting monsters and robots, painting graffiti, collecting records, etc.

LF: Since you and Jen Van Meter have both worked with Oni Press, is there a chance we’ll ever see a Grrl Scouts/Hopeless Savages crossover?

JM: I never thought of that, but it would be a pretty cool idea. Jen is a great writer.

LF: Name the one book in the industry you’d kill to work on, and tell us why it’d be worth doing the time for homicide.

JM: To be honest, not many books out there excite me enough to kill for. I'd rather just do my own stuff and have more people get hip to it. Although, I would love to do some art for Mad Magazine one day.

LF: Who would you like to collaborate with that you haven’t had the chance to yet?

JM: Peter Milligan.

LF: What are you working on currently?

JM: I'm writing and drawing FELT: True Tales of Underground, Hip-Hop Starring Slug and Murs, I'm co-directing music videos for Z-Trip and Zion-I, doing character designs for a show in development over at Cartoon Network, doing graphics for a new NY-based skateboard company called Mint Skateboards, coordinating a gallery show with Dave Crosland, and planning my convention tour for this summer.

LF: What comics do you read religiously?

JM: 100 Bullets, Street Angel, Snakepit, and anything and everything my friends put out.

LF: What’s in your CD player right now?

JM: Felt 2, the new Beck album, De La Soul: The Grind Date, Blues Explosion: Damage, Herbie Hancock: Flood, Wale Oyejide, and Stark Reality.

LF: If you were a super villain, which major world city would you destroy first?

JM: Washington DC, of course.

LF: What do you hope to accomplish in the next ten years?

JM: Lots and lots of cool shit. Hopefully, world domination at the same time, too. The brain-dead masses need a new leader and new vision for what we can accomplish.

-- Caitlin Moriarity

 

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