DJ Coffman recently got quite a bit of internet press over his contract dispute and bad break from Platinum for his work on Hero by Night, and briefly revived his old popular webcomic, Yirmumah, which soon went back on hiatus. I caught up with DJ, and had a chat about what the comicker has been up to, and what his current projects include.

1. So how did the Flobots project come about? What were some of the initial ideas being tossed around, and what is actually going to happen? Oh, and how did you even hook up with these guys to begin with?

Long story short, I had a copy of their album in early April, (before their single blew up on the charts) And i had been listening to the album and the messages inside were really talking to me, and the lyrics and beats were really painting a vivid picture in my mind so I had sent a blind email to their website just saying if they’ ever be down for maybe illustrated songs or stories based on the stories in the music I’d love to do it. As it turned out, I got an email back because they already knew of my work before, and conversations grew and we really clicked. The timing for everything that happened seems almost predetermined. We really wanted to focus on the idea of “re-mixing” true stories we’d hear from the fans, or stories that were being sent in, and then also put a sci-fi twist to the whole thing which is upcoming.

2. The Flobots webcomic looks pretty promising so far, depsite having lost your colorist. How long will the comic be, or is this an ongoing comic?

Yeah, it’s taking me a little longer to produce doing the whole thing myself art wise. For now, I’m setting it up in “chapters” that will end up all tying together. I’d like to challenge myself a little with the types of settings and stories we tell through the comic, and then there are plans to put out a thicker graphic novel. I didn’t want to launch or promote in a big way  until the first story was done, but I’d like to get it onto a daily updating schedule at some point in the very near future (M-F), after this current “vote for change” story is done. A whole bunch of other projects have ended up springing up with the Flobots as well, which is pretty exciting and keeping me busy.

3. Let’s talk about the two dollar sketches. You’re getting a bit of a rep as an art whore for those quickie commissions, among other issues. Why two bucks, and are they really all that important for your overall income?

It wasn’t really thought out very well, huh? Hah. Well, it started out as an idea to reverse the donation button system, like give people a 2 dollar doodle for supporting Yirmumah. Fine. ”2 dollars” just sounded funny to me. And if you know or follow Yirmumah, you know I would put a lot of work in drawing on the inside of every book I use to sell, and I was only making 2 dollars profit per book back then, so in a weird way, this was kinda like doing the sketches without the extra pain of shipping and printing right at this moment. Sometimes I felt like people just bought the books to get a little head sketch anyway. Then it evolved into sort of a weird viral thing pretty quickly, and i realized this could be a thing all on it’s own for fun… ANDDDDDD an added bonus– after doing the first 20 or so, I realized, hell, this is good practice, making me faster, prepping me for sketchcard plans i have and other things, I’d do a few in the morning as warm ups, and a couple before calling it a day. Maybe one at lunch, etc.  I spend between 5 and 10 minutes tops, maybe faster if it’s something simple. Someone broke it down that if I filled an hour with 5 minute sketches I guess that was like getting paid $24 an hour to do warmup sketches. But I don’t really sit for a straight hour and do them, and i don’t time myself. But no, they are not part of some income scheme– hell, I haven’t looked, but I think paypal is taking a cut too, so it’s not even 2 dollars. I just think it’s rather funny now.

Now I have people asking me for Will Draw Anything merchandise or book collections. I’ve only done like 60 so far. And I’d better think that through a little better before going there. I had a shirt company want to do a line of shirts based on the micro ideas or funny things, “Godzilla on a Segway” — but I’m not looking to jump on all this right now. Happy accident I guess? We’ll see how it goes. And I oddly found some sort of odd market for people wanting Blog headers drawn or designed. I have 5 orders for those right now as well, so I guess that’s a perk? After all the drama, I thought maybe I’d just refund the 30 or so sketches waiting for me to draw right this second, and just close it down. But it is actually kinda fun, and makes me laugh. “Iron Man meets Jurassic Park!” - Who knows, it might be all gone in a week, or maybe I will take up one of these offers to publish them through bookstores.

4. What’s up with Yirmumah? It’s back, it’s on hold; what’s the story there?

It was never supposed to come back. I had some time that opened up on my schedule so I thought I’d put it up and see how my schedule went… things get busy, opportunities pop up that claim the time because I do have to pay my bills, and I’m lucky enough to have the work as a comic artist and graphic designer. Yirmumah is like that red headed stepchild or split personality that keeps getting me into trouble, and I can’t seem to resist “going there.” with it. That feels irresponsible, but also like a creative thrill or some kind. If that makes any sense at all?

5. After the Platinum mess, are you staying totally digital, or would you consider trying your hand at the dead tree books game again?

If you’re talking within the Diamond distribution system, I wouldn’t touch it. I’m totally down for working for other publishers or something, but not self publishing my own books through there. I don’t want readers to have to pre-order then wait 2-3 months to get a book. Or have publishers bail or stall product they solicited when they have no money in the bank. That just sucks for FANS. I’d just rather put out my own books and sell them direct to the online audience. It’s faster and I stay more connected to fans too. A lot of work, but it’s worth it. Plus there’s way less bullshit involved.

6. Do you still stay in contact with the other members of the Hero by Night creative team?

Well it was only myself, Jason Embury and James Patrick, and yeah, we’re all still friends. I do occasionally talk to myself. I was just IMing with James Patrick just now as I was typing this reply to your question. He says Hello.

If you liked that, try...

1. Hero by Night
2. Free Comic Book Day 2008
3. Comic Rundown: Space, Sorcery and Half-Skrulls
4. Comic Rundown: Free Comic Book Day Edition
5. RIP Michael Turner

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