DF Interview: Jesse Lonergan takes us on a vacation like no other in the ‘Planet Paradise’ OGN

By Byron Brewer

To survive after crash landing on an alien planet, a vacationer must battle against a hostile environment, killer lizards, corporate bureaucracy, and the pessimism of her sole companion, the drug-addled captain of the ship.

From Image Comics comes Planet Paradise by artist/writer Jesse Lonergan. DF couldn’t wait to deep dive into this graphic novel’s story, so we sat down with the bulk of the creative team: Jesse Lonergan.

Dynamic Forces: Jesse, from what I understand you were born in California, raised in Saudi Arabia and Vermont, and spent two years in Turkmenistan with the Peace Corps. How came you to be an indie comics creator?

Jesse Lonergan: I’ve always loved drawing, and as a kid I really loved Calvin and Hobbes, and then in high school I discovered comics and became kind of obsessed. I think what attracted me to indie or alternative comics was that the stories resonated a little bit more with me than a lot of the mainstream comics I saw. Also, as a creator, I like the sensibilities of indie comics in that it’s okay to be all thumbs, and even if all you have is a ballpoint pen and some copy paper, you can make a comic. There’s an immediacy in that.

DF: Before we start on Planet Paradise, congratulations on your one-shot, Hedra. Since there will be elements of the wondrous “visual experimentation” that was a big part of Hedra, could you perhaps talk just a little about that technique here for readers?

Jesse Lonergan: Before Hedra, I did a book called All Star, which came out from NBM, and it is set in rural Vermont and tells the story of a high school baseball star coming to realize how much he is given that others aren’t. It’s a very down-to-earth and realistic story, and that meant that the drawings and storytelling had to be down-to-earth and realistic, and after working on it for two years I felt very constricted; I just wanted to do something totally different and really experiment with the medium, play with different ways of organizing a page, and incorporate non-comic visual elements like maps and diagrams into a page.

DF: Tell us about the world you are creating for Planet Paradise.

Jesse Lonergan: I don’t know that I really think in terms of worlds. It makes me think of movie trailers that start with “In a world where...,” but Planet Paradise isn’t that kind of a story. It’s more about who people are, who they think and act like they are, and the dissonance between these two things and how that affects how people are treated and how they interact.

DF: What without spoilers are you able to tell us about the OGN’s storyline?

Jesse Lonergan: The main character is an ordinary passenger on a spaceflight to a dream vacation, the kind of person you might not notice or think anything of, and the story follows what happens when the ship crashes and she and the captain are the only ones conscious on a desolate planet.

DF: You’re a one-man band on this book. Can you talk about the process, the advantages/disadvantages of working solo?

Jesse Lonergan: The process for Planet Paradise started with little 3x5 inch notebooks I’d carry around with me and draw comics in when I had a little time, before work or during lunch. Basically, it’s a good way for me to get ideas out. Some of the stuff that comes out is good, and some of it isn’t. Sometimes I might start and finish a comic in a sitting. Planet Paradise was one I drew over the course of four months, a little bit every day.

That functioned as my template for the story, and I looked at it and decided what needed tweaking, what could be removed and what needed to be added. Then I went to work drawing finished pages, which I drew at 6x9 inches, so with more detail, but I kept pretty close the original little sketchbook layouts.

When I finished, I reread it and thought it just didn’t work. I feel like you can see creative energy in something, and the little sketchbooks had lots of energy because I’d been coming up with the story while I was drawing and figuring the whole thing out. This second version was just dead because I hadn’t really allowed myself to be creative while doing it. I’d stuck a little too closely to what I had done in the sketchbook, and it lacked life as a result.

Fortunately, I draw fast, so I decided to draw the whole thing again, but this time I pushed the layouts and design of the pages much more, and making those changes and keeping my mind active while working on it made it work.

That was the process for Planet Paradise, but it wasn’t the process for Hedra or for what I’m working on now. Each project takes its own shape, and I think that is really a freedom that you have when you work solo.

DF: Jesse, aside from Planet Paradise, what can you tell readers about near-future projects in which you might be involved?

Jesse Lonergan: I have an indie book coming out at the end of this year or beginning of next called Faster. It’s going to be two-color risograph and is a madcap race car comic. I’m also working on a stylistic follow-up to Hedra called Prime, which I’m putting up on my Patreon, and will start pitching soon. There are also a few other projects with some other creators that are still coming together.

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Jesse Lonergan for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. The Planet Paradise OGN from Image Comics is slated to hit stores Nov. 11^th!

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