5 Questions with a Hypersmash Artist: Jeremiah Goldson

This is the third and final installment in a series of snapshot interviews with the artists of Hypersmash Studios. (You can catch up on the first two here and here.) Taking the time to answer our questions is the artist on Rogue Agent Zed, Jeremiah Goldson. We hope you enjoy his responses.

1) Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Where do you live?
What do you do for a living? And what is your artistic background?

I was born in Columbia, South Carolina. Currently I reside in Missoula,
Montana, with my wife Robin, after spending a year or so in Calgary,
Alberta, drinking copious amounts in a vain attempt to stay warm. Am
currently working as tech support at a webhosting/design company called
Modwest.

I spent most of my school years drawing, in lieu of schoolwork, social
interaction, girlfriends, etc. Started drawing around the time I
discovered I could pick up pencils. My original influences were the Star
Wars films, as well as Transformers and G.I. Joe; pretty much anything
with guns or robots, as they were my primary area of study while growing
up. In the 7th grade, I discovered Todd McFarlane (who is from Calgary,
hence all of the hockey toys, I suppose) and Spider-Man, and haven't
looked back.

I'm about 95% self taught, mostly due to my near-complete inability to
listen to anyone, ever.

2) Who are your artistic influences? Could you name a couple of your
favorite comic books and comic characters?

Alongside the aforementioned Mr. McFarlane, I had also discovered Marc
Silvestri and Uncanny X-Men, followed by Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld (oh what,
like YOU didn't like his art before you knew better?), all of whom I
copied endlessly, so all of my bad (artistic) habits, I blame on them.

My illustration influences fall mostly outside the realm of comics these
days. Visually, Bladerunner, David Fincher films and anime by Production
I.G. fill me with a desire to create. As does the music of Underworld and
Chemlab, Burial and a few others, and books by William Gibson, Bruce
Sterling, and Neil Stephenson, which have always filled my head with
imagery and are big influences. Anything with edge, that conjures images
of rain and skyscrapers.

As I've not picked up many comic books recently, I am not so familiar with
comicdom's current landscape, though I am really enjoying Jae Lee's work
on The Dark Tower. Warren Ellis's Transmet/Planetary/Authority work is
pretty brilliant, too. I'm also a fan of Bryan Hitch and Frank Quitely
and their cinematic "widescreen" panels, and Katsuhiro Otomo's
storytelling makes the hair on my arms stand on end.

3) What were your first impressions when you saw the art of the other
Hypersmash artists?

I dig both these guy's work. Scott's style is expressive, dynamic, and
cool. He brings a lot of energy to the page, which I think will be a
great compliment to a title like Lightning Girl Loves Rocket Boy. Jason
has a classic style; it reminds me a lot of guys like George Perez. His
character sketches are badass, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he
brings to Battle Team Omega.

4) How would you describe the title you are working on? What is the
most appealing part of working on the title? And are you working on any other projects?

I would describe the title I'm working on as a fast-forward freefall, dark
and slick, towers of luminous black mirrored glass disappearing into low
clouds. Which is also the project's most appealing part, to me. Roel's
script is grimy, darkly funny and cool, a dingy warren of cyberpunk
dystopia. I'm chomping at the bit to get started on it.

5) Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of the blog?

It's entirely possible that I've already said too much, so I'll just say,
listen to Burial if you don't already, and stick around. I forsee great
things happening with Hypersmash, and it's going to be fun!