I had the pleasure of making Jon Adams’ acquaintance several years ago when we met through our mutual friend Ryan Montbleau. Soon after, Jon moved from Boston to San Francisco, and we maintained our friendship via mail. I was happy to get a chance to talk to him on the phone so we could discuss the ten year anniversary of his Truth Serum comic, Hitler, terrorism, and suicide.
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The Rumpus: I really like your comics. Some of them I don’t care for — there was one about a snail which I didn’t like because I’m scared of snails, but others I enjoyed quite a bit! Your mom must be really proud of your work.
Jon Adams: Oh, she passed away.
Rumpus: I know, I know. I was trying to be provocative. I’ve discovered journalism gets a lot more attention when it’s edgy. Have you ever seen this news show called TMZ? They do a really good job of turning otherwise uninteresting events into incredibly important and exciting news. That’s kind of what I’m going for with this interview.
Adams: Don’t you think people will be interested in a regular interview?
Rumpus: Maybe if you were more famous. That’s not me talking, that’s America.
Adams: Fair enough. So… should I say more provocative things?
Rumpus: Yeah, could you try to mention Hitler? Hitler is the new bacon. These days one can compare just about anything to Hitler, so it should be pretty easy to work in something about him.
Adams: Okay, I’ll try.
Rumpus: Great! So this month marks ten years of your comic Truth Serum. Ten years is a long time.
Adams: Yeah. I started drawing it back when I was in Connecticut, then the first issue was published by Slave Labor soon after I moved to Boston. It seems like a lifetime ago.
Rumpus: I know you had a difficult working relationship with Slave Labor. Would you say anyone there was like Hitler?
Adams: Well, maybe not Hitler. I got an angry email from Dan, the publisher, after I’d suggested some different formatting options to one of the editors. I still have the email. He called me some unflattering adjectives. It wasn’t very professional. He seemed to be upset because he thought I was making outrageous demands, when in fact I wasn’t demanding anything, just asking if things could be done differently. That email was the reason I decided not to continue working with them once my contract was up.
Rumpus: So in your estimation, would you say he’s a lot, or a little bit like Hitler?
Adams: Well, he has a mustache. I think that’s where the similarities end. I’ve since talked with him at comic conventions and he’s always been very nice. I thanked him for being the first publisher to publish my work. I don’t hold anything against him. It’s probably not as controversial as you’d like.
Rumpus: Has that been the worst working experience you’ve had? There must be something else.
Adams: I was held up at gun point once when I worked at a Holiday Inn.
Rumpus: Did you wrestle the gunman?
Adams: No, I just gave him the money he asked for and he went on his way. It was over pretty quickly.
Rumpus: I’m looking for something readers can sink their teeth into. Something with some meat. Have you ever worked with someone you hated?
Adams: Fortunately not. There are some projects I haven’t enjoyed, but the people have mostly been fine.
Rumpus: Geez. I wonder if anyone is still reading this interview at this point. What if I ask you a question and you can just make up a controversial answer? It doesn’t have to be real. As a journalist, it would be unethical of me to make things up, but as an interviewee, you can make up anything.
Adams: That’s not really my style. I think we can have an interesting enough interview without making up things. Why don’t I tell you about the ten year anniversary of my comic? I’m pretty excited about that.
Rumpus:That’s fine, I guess. Let’s not try to steer this in any direction. We’ll just talk, and when I see an opportunity for controversy I’ll seize it. So tell me why you’re excited.
Adams: Sure. Well, I just sold out of the first Truth Serum book. It was the second printing and the remaining copies were bought up because the book is being taught at the University of Toronto. I had several boxes taking up space in my apartment and now they’re all gone. And in a couple of months the French edition of Truth Serum Conversations will be coming out from Cambourakis. It’s a fancy little hardcover book.
Rumpus: It sounds like your work is getting a lot of traction outside the US. Would it be a stretch to say that you have a growing bitterness about the way you’re treated in America? The type of bitterness that might fester until it transforms into domestic terrorism?
Adams: Um, yeah, I think that would be a stretch.
Rumpus: Are you sure?
Adams: Yeah.
Rumpus: Because I read your second book, and it’s a parody of the Bush administration. It seems like an anti-American sentiment that could lead towards – I don’t mean to put words in your mouth – but it could lead towards something rather dastardly.
Adams: If you’re referring to terrorism again, I would say that seems really unlikely.
Rumpus: How do you feel about all the trees you’re killing to make these books? Do you worry about the toll it’s taking on the environment?
Adams: I don’t think the print runs of my books are enough to do much damage.
Rumpus: Besides Truth Serum, what else are you working on?
Adams: I’m currently working on a children’s book for McSweeney’s. I have a weekly comic in the San Francisco Chronicle called Friendship Town. I also write a weekly —
Rumpus: You have a comic in a newspaper? Newspapers are dying. That’s controversial! I heard that the internet is killing them. It’s a really big deal. I read an article about it in the newspaper. You should probably quit running your comic in the newspaper and put it on the internet. That’s where comics are really big.
Adams: It’s online as well. It’s on SFgate and I usually post it via my Twitter or Facebook.
Rumpus: And how much money do you make from your online comics?
Adams: Nothing directly. Usually it translates into sales of books. I could probably put banner ads on my site or something but those are pretty gross. Most of my money was made freelancing, up until a few months ago when I went back to full-time work. I still do freelance work on the side sometimes, but only for projects that seem like a lot of fun. It’s a nice luxury to have.
Rumpus: Is your full-time job controversial in any way?
Adams: Nope. I’m a designer at a start-up. Everyone I work with is actually incredibly great and nice. We’re on the top floor of a building downtown with an incredible view of San Francisco. I don’t look at it enough.
Rumpus: The top floor? Has anyone ever –
Adams: No. No one has ever jumped off.
(A Truth Serum play featuring the Rumpus’ own Dan Weiss and Isaac Fitzgerald.)
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