Greetings kiddos and welcome to another Hump Day Rant.  Today we’re going to do something a little different and depending on your tastes it’ll wither be a treat or a complete snooze.  I’ll let you decide, though if you opt for “snooze” you’re probably either a moron, a sorority girl, or burdened with some degree of mental incapacity.

28 years ago today a poor woman had her water violently bludgeoned open, and gave birth to one of the most talented (albeit unattractive) writers I’ve had the pleasure to know: James Michael Ninness.  James grew up in San Diego and after high school, spent a few years traveling through Europe and the Southwestern United States, ending up with a degree in English: Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach (additional alumni include: Steve Martin, Steven Spielberg, and X-Files Chris Carter).  Eventually he realized that travel doesn’t give you anything more than a confused worldview (and in some cases a proclivity for bisexuality) and moved back to San Diego with his better half, Kyleen.  The latest news in James’s life is the birth of his daughter: Natala James (what a fucking ego) Ninness.  So why are we interviewing this bum?  Well, he’s the creator/writer of MYTHOI, Semantink’s inaugural comic.

Mr. Wolff:  Hello James, good to see you again.  Happy early birthday.

James:  Yeah man, thanks.  Thanks for having me.

Mr. Wolff:  You look confused…

James:  [laughs] Yeah, well — you make me a bit nervous.  When Benji (Benjamin Glibert, Director of Publishing for Semantink) told me that you’d be doing the interview I thought for sure I’d done something to offend somebody.

Mr. Wolff:  Ah, don’t worry.  I’ll be gentle.

James:  Please!  I’d appreciatte it.

Mr. Wolff:  Well then, let’s get to it with my first question.  I’ve read MYTHOI Issue One and both of the completed issues in the  MYTHOI: Birth series and after careful contemplation I wanted to know: Did you perform any sexual favors to get this published, or was Benjamin just desperate?

James:  Wow!

Mr. Wolff:  This is me, nice.

James:  Okay.  Fair enough.  Um, no.  I didn’t have to perform any favors for Benji, we’d been sleeping together for some time.  I’d say he was sick of me to be honest.  He probably just wanted to give me something as a thank you.

Mr. Wolff:  Good answer.  Seriously though, what drugs were you on when you came up with MYTHOI?

James:  [laughs] Yeah, I guess it kinda reads that way.  I’ve always been a big mythology fan.  When Ben and I were in school we tossed around the idea for a comic book set in a world where every mythology, religion and folktale existed simultaneously.  Once I set out to do some research my five mythoi (protagonists: Vito, Yuki, Wiglaf, Touch and Taros) just jumped off the page.  The plot proper was the most time consuming part, you know?  Getting all of these guys to come together and then uniting them for one purpose, without the book becoming “superhero” or anything.

Mr. Wolff:  What do you have against superheroes?

James:  Nothing!  I love those books, but the ones I love are-  Well, let me choose my words carefully.  My favorite books are the ones that have existed for quite some time: Batman, Spiderman, the X-Men, you know?  It’s rare that I find a new book in the superhero genre that really jumps out at me.  For the most part they seem like rehashes of something somebody else did better.  I just don’t want to be another copycat.

Mr. Wolff:  So in order to be original, you stole from religions and mythologies from around the world?

James:  [laughs] Yeah, I guess I did.  I’m a hack.

Mr. Wolff:  Clearly.  Another interesting thing about MYTHOI is that it has an end…

James:  Yes!  I actually wrote that first.

Mr. Wolff:  The end?

James:  Yeah.  I knew where I wanted to go once I had the characters fleshed out.  The fun part is getting them there.  J.J. Abrams is a story teller I really respect–

Mr. Wolff:  He’s great.

James:  Man, that guy knows his shit.  Well, he said something in Wireless magazine about, and I’m not quoting because I don’t remember the quote verbatim, but he said he tries to emphasize journey over climax.  He was referencing the public’s need for spoilers and their desire to know the end of something so bad that they neglect to enjoy the experience getting from beginning to end.  Well, by writing the end first I was able to let my geek flag fly and really embellish in the story as it unfolds.  I knew where I was going and I knew where I was coming from, but the journey was a blast to ride.

Mr. Wolff:  How does it feel being the first book out of the Semantink stable?

James:  Terrifying.  [laughs] I don’t know what Ben was thinking!  You know, I just hope people have fun with the experience of MYTHOI.  I’m not trying to write the quintessential mythology book or anything.  As a writer, I just try to tell stories similar to the ones I enjoy reading.  Hopefully there are one or two people out there who have tastes akin to my own–

Mr. Wolff:  We’re gonna go bankrupt if we don’t have more than that.

James:  Yeah!  I guess so.  I try not to think about all that stuff.  It’s not my job.  Benji hired me for MYTHOI, not my business savvy.  If a few people enjoy MYTHOI, then I feel like I’ve done my job.

Mr. Wolff:  How’d you find Jed (artist for MYTHOI)?

James:  He’s awesome, isn’t he?

Mr. Wolff:  I don’t know about “awesome,” but he’s a damn fine artist.

James:  I met Jed through a mutual friend — we were both working on a music video; I was doing some writing and he was storyboarding.  We just chatted up and throughout our conversations I pitched him MYTHOI.

Mr. Wolff:  Was he a hard sell?

James:  Not at all!  Jed was the first artist I had spoken to who seemed to be as gung-ho about MYTHOI as I was.  It was awesome to feel the passion in his heart for the story.  We drafted some stuff up and that’s when Ben called me.  It all just fell into place.

Mr. Wolff:  I just want to clarify one thing.

James:  Yeah?

Mr. Wolff:  I’m quoting you here, “It was awesome to feel,” Jed’s, “passion?”

James:  [laughs]  Yeah.  All over me!

Mr. Wolff:  Well, we’re almost out of time–

James:  We’re being timed?

Mr. Wolff:  No, but I’m too busy for you — I have to get back to playing Dragon Age.

James: [laughs] Oh!  Got it.

Mr. Wolff:  Are their any other projects you’re working on right now?

James:  Yes!  I’m in negotiations with Ben and an artist named Turbo in Orange County for another book, which I hope to put out through Semantink and I’m also working on my first novel.

Mr. Wolff:  Did you steal those ideas as well?

James:  Umm, I don’t think so…

Mr. Wolff:  Thanks for speaking to me James.  You know I love your stuff.

James:  No problem Wolff — thanks again!

That was it!  If you have any questions for James that don’t suck, drop me an email at info@semantink.com and I’ll see if i can corner him for another few moments.  If you haven’t checked out MYTHOI yet, WHY NOT?  You can peruse the Birth series here for free, and purchase Issue one here for $0.99.

Until next time,

Mr. Wolff

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