BORN ON THE BAYOU: JEREMY LOVE TALKS ZUDA. BAYOU

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arrant

Yesterday, Zudacomics.com announced the first ten contestants in its webcomics contest format, and today, the digital imprint revealed someone who's already won one of the top prizes as its first "Instant Winner:" a year-long contract to produce their comic.

Bayou by Jeremy Love is a comic set south of the Mason-Dixon line, in a pre-WWII era comprising both truth and mystery. The central character is Lee, the daughter of a African-American sharecropper who finds companionship with a blues-singing swamp monster named Bayou.

Jeremy describes Bayou as "a southern fried odyssey", inspired by African-American folktales, African mythologies, the Uncle Remus stories recorded by Joel Chandler Harris and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

Jeremy Love is no stranger to comics, having worked on such titles as Chocolate Thunder and Fierce with Dark Horse. Jeremy Love's Bayou was selected by Zuda editorial in preparation for the launch of the title. As the rules stipulated, Zuda can select up to six submissions as "Instant" winners during the calendar year. All Instant winners, as well as competition winners & finalists, will be paid for one year's worth of their comic.

Newsrama: Jeremy, what led to you creating Bayou?

Jeremy Love: I’ve always been interested in the mythology of America. The south, in particular, seems like a haunted place. You have this region that is covered with blood, but produces so much beauty. I never really felt connected to African mythology until I started reading Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus tales. Seeing how elements of African mythology were interwoven with American folklore was the spark. What led me to the Uncle Remus tales was Disney’s Song of the South, a film I’ve always had mixed feelings about. I felt I as an African American creator could reclaim that mythology.

I thought this world would be the perfect place to stage an epic fantasy tale. I could mash up elements of the Civil War, Blues, African Mythology, Southern Gothic and American folklore and show how they form a tapestry that is the American South. At the very least it would be original. As an added bonus, I am from North Carolina so I was able to draw on old family stories.

NRAMA: Bayou stars a human and a monster. Let's talk about the former first, Lee Wagstaff. Just who is she?

JL: ee is the embodiment of the resilient spirit of southern blacks in the face of terror. Growing up as a poor sharecropper has made her body strong and durable. The big thing about Lee is her optimism and determination. Her struggle is to retain these qualities while she navigates the dangerous parallel world.

NRAMA: And now the monster, Bayou. What's he about?

JL: Part of the fun in this series is learning just who Bayou is. When we first meet him, he is a benevolent, soft spoken monster who lives in the swamp. For as long as he can remember he’s lived alone in a shack on the banks of the bayou. He is haunted by memories he doesn’t understand and that leads him to leave his comfort zone and go on this journey with Lee. I really can’t say more than that without spoiling the big reveals to come.

NRAMA: What are Lee and Bayou out for?

JL: Lee enters this world in order to save her best friend, a white girl, from the clutches of an evil force that rules the parallel world. The bond she has with her friend has far-reaching effects on our world and the parallel world.

NRAMA: When and where does this series take place?

The series starts in the fictional town of Charon, along the Mississippi Delta. It takes place in pre-WWII depression era America. We then move to the world of Dixie. Dixie is a strange Southern neverland that exists parallel to our own. The world was formed from the blood, war, and strife that plagued the South. The full nature of this world will be revealed as the series goes on.

NRAMA: Do you anticipate any big changes in how you work in print with what you'll be doing here, online?

JL: I don’t see any changes in how I work in print. I don’t really see working with Zuda as all that different than a print comic. Working in 4:3 screens is a challenge at first. I looked at a lot of Sunday newspaper strips and used that readjust my brain. Each page is like a Sunday comic. The biggest advantage is being able to control the pacing because a reader can’t just flip through the pages. But I can bounce between formats with no problem.

NRAMA: How did you find out your comic was selected as Zuda Comics' first Instant Winner?

JL: To be honest I didn’t even know about the contest portion of the site when the fine people at DC let me know they wanted to run Bayou on Zuda. I was approached by an editor months in advance to pitch something to Zuda. I sent them Bayou, the loved it, and a month or two later I was working on the first part.

NRAMA: You're a professional cartoonist, with many credits to you name. What led you to submit to Zudacomics?

JL: Like I said, I was approached to pitch an idea long before I knew what the particulars of Zuda were. I didn’t even know it was going to be called “ZUDA”. I was very pleased that they were willing to run my strange little serialized graphic novel and I hope to live up to the love this book is getting in the Zuda offices.

[Hobowatcher]

Looks and sounds great! I can't wait to read it.

[CodeGuy]

JL: Like I said, I was approached to pitch an idea long before I knew what the particulars of Zuda were. I didn’t even know it was going to be called “ZUDA”. I was very pleased that they were willing to run my strange little serialized graphic novel and I hope to live up to the love this book is getting in the Zuda offices.

That's a little odd. I thought he was someone who submitted and got an instant win, not someone the Zuda people sought out. Perhaps he means that a friend or something got him to submit.

[d00gZ]

I was basically totally ambivalent/waiting for the trainwreck on Zuda until seeing this. The art is astonishing, the level of imagination and creativity is staggering, the idea is very solid, and honestly this looks like the kind of comic I want to read on the web serialized.

I'm not familiar with Mr. Love's stuff, but if this is the level of quality we can expect from Zuda in the long-run, I'm pretty damn happy. Too bad all the submissions sound like "ninjas... AND PIRATES!" or "vampires... AND ROBOTS!"

[Hobowatcher]

I think that's why they chose this as an "instant win" because it was so different. Zombies, robots, and pirates are getting pretty hot right now, so they probably got a lot of those, and chose the more promising ones for the vote.

[vbartilucci]

If anything, the idea that there were people out there they actively wanted involved with (what became) Zuda is a good sign. It meant they were out looking for talent, not just waiting for the hopeful to line up.

Not to start the whole Song of the South thing here, I'm curious to hear more about the "mixed feelings" he had, and his idea to "reclaim" the stories. The stories are more a part of black history than many know. Folks my age may remember a show on Public TV called Juba that connected Br'er Rabbit to a similar character to similar characters from African storytelling culture, Kalulu the Rabbit.

If the rest of Zuda's strips are going to be this interesting and unexpected, we may see a few servings of humble pie get served.

[JackTilsdale]

The art looks fantastic and the story sounds like a lot of fun. I'll definitely be reading this.

[heelmark]

While I was reading this, I began wondering why I didn't remember a release date mentioned. I was about to go back to look for it, when I remembered it's part of the zuda deal.
I was interested in the site already and planning to check it out, but Born on the Bayou is something I've gotta see. Get this thing traded already.

[gwangung]

Originally Posted by vbartilucci

If the rest of Zuda's strips are going to be this interesting and unexpected, we may see a few servings of humble pie get served.

And they'll be consumed with great relish....

Win-win-win for everyone in that case...

[Blackbeard]

Excellent interview, Jeremy and Chris!

I can't wait to read this!

[EMeadow]

If Jeremy does any posting here, I would like to ask if Chocolate Thunder is ever going to be released?

I'm still waiting to read that book.

[ShinAkuma666]

I am really looking forward to Zuda in general, Bayou is something different from most of what is out there and it will be fun to see how the story evolves.

[RockSP]

Originally Posted by EMeadow

If Jeremy does any posting here, I would like to ask if Chocolate Thunder is ever going to be released?

I'm still waiting to read that book.

There was one issue released years ago. I have a couple copies.

[mikey_danger]

Holy Hell, this just gets more beautiful and sounds better by the minute. Excellent work!

[EMeadow]

Originally Posted by RockSP

There was one issue released years ago. I have a couple copies.

1 issue? Could have sworn it was an OGN. First coming out from Oni, then Speakeasy.

[NeoSamurai]

this looks great!

[WiggumBeard]

Hm. Even more excited now. This sounds like a great idea, using American and Southern mythology. Look forward to it. "Southern fried odyssey." I like the sound of that.

[Kevin T. Brown]

I'm not someone who normally gets into online comics, but I'm definitely going to check this out. I only hope that DC publishes this once it's been run.

[newskoopa]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: How did you find out your comic was selected as Zuda Comics' first Instant Winner?

JL: I was approached by an editor months in advance to pitch something to Zuda. I sent them Bayou, the loved it, and a month or two later I was working on the first part.

NRAMA: You're a professional cartoonist, with many credits to you name. What led you to submit to Zudacomics?

JL: Like I said...

What kind of interview is this? Couldn't the interviewr tell that that last question was already answered?
I hope all of the winners aren't guys that were asked to pitch like this guy. I know they want professional comics, but I thought the contest part was togive other guys a chance. I may read this, but I may lose track of it like DHP.

[AdamYJ]

I may have to check this out. I'm a sucker for stuff with connections to folklore.

[DavidGallaher]

This is awesome, congrats man!

- David Gallaher

[shrike]

this looks AMAZING.

I hope they decide down the road to put it in a book format, however.

[RockSP]

Originally Posted by EMeadow

1 issue? Could have sworn it was an OGN. First coming out from Oni, then Speakeasy.

That's probably the "latest" version they're working on. The one I'm talking about was probably one of the first things they ever published.

[Peasily]

I'm curious if the Br'er Rabbit portrait is inspired by the Robert Johnson photo with the cigarette?

[EgoAlltrd]

Totally stoked about it!
Can't wait to see some pages.

AE.