1. Jason, first off I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer some question with The Comic Avalanche and say congrats on putting out a great comic. I am of course referring to both your books but namely Ellium Hybrid Vol.2. For those who haven’t picked up on Ellium yet could you tell us a little bit about the books in the series so far leading up to Hybrid Vol.2.

JM: Not a problem Bryan, I’m always eager to talk to reviewers about my latest work! So far there have been two books published.  The first was a teaser called Ellium: Tangents.  Tangents was a 32 page book with two short stories (one of which is reprinted in Hybrid with new art).  The second was Ellium: Sword of the Dragon. 

2. Care to tell us a little bit about Ellium : Sword of the Dragon?

JM: Sword of the Dragon introduced the main character, Angelica Cain.  At the beginning of the book Angelica is your average college student who finds out quite abruptly that her father has died.  The circumstances being rather mysterious, she begins looking into his death, only to be wrapped up in a larger-than-life conspiracy.  Monsters, guns and cybernetic monkeys await!

JM: I’ve known Dave for quite a few years, we met back in college.  He made a great sounding board for Sword of the Dragon as I wrote that one, and did a fantastic job on the story that appears in Hybrid (and Tangents, called “Fair Play”).  It’s been a fun collaborative effort between us and actually the first fully written book by Dave will be the forth-coming book Plato Continuum, but that’s a little bit down the line.  Hybrid is actually comprised of several writers and artists, a 136 page book collecting a number of short stories.

4. What tools/software do you use to produce your art?

JM: Mostly Photoshop and a Wacom tablet.  I’ve used 3d elements in the past, mostly in Sword of the Dragon but I’ve been moving away from that lately.

JM: It’s kinda sad, but I’ve got about 3 or 4 mini comics I made back then with the title.  Not much of the plot remains intact, but I liked the name! 

6. Who is your favorite Ellium character and why?

JM: Angelica Cain is the main character, and I write her very close to my heart, but in truth, a character by the name of Chris Hendrickson is my favorite.  The guy comes off as a bit of a mystery in the beginning, but as you see more of his personality you get to see some very interesting traits.  Nice mix of caring older uncle and old perv! 

7. Who/what is your favorite writer/artist/book today?

JM: I haven’t been able to buy a lot of books lately due to time constraints, but usually I look for anything from Warren Ellis, Mike Mignola, John Cassaday, and I’m really loving The Incredible Hulk by Bruce Jones. 

8. When did you first discover your artistic talents and at what point did you decide to pursue comics?

JM: Ever since I was a kid I was taping other toys together to try to make what I saw in my head.  Around eleven I discovered comics and it was a wonderful thing to find!  I loved the art, the stories, everything and I just got it in my head I wanted to draw, I wanted to tell a story in this way.

9. Who are some of your influences when it comes to art in comics?

10. Do you have any other projects coming up in the near future?

JM: Several in fact.  The most recent will probably be the next Ellium project, a role playing game, 136 pages long.  It’ll have about 20 pages of original story illustrated by me, and a number of illustrations done by some very talented artists.  Should be a lot of fun!  Later down the line are more Ellium books, a crime-noir graphic novel and a horror graphic novel, but those are too far off to give a date on.  I’m hoping to have the role playing game out by May though!

Mr.A : I would like to once again thank you for taking time to speak with me and hope to see much more from you.