Comic and screenwriter, Joe Harris has played an important role in shaping the pantheon of the Western comic world. But even after having worked on some of the most famous series in the world including Batman, X Men, Spider Man and X Files, Harris reveals that he is still one of the biggest fan boys of all the series he’s been a part of.
Harris, who was visiting the Mumbai Comic Con this year as a special guest talks about his journey through the world of comics and the challenges of writing characters that are larger than life.
A film grad from City College, New York, Harris says, “After graduating from the college, I ended up writing comic books for Marvel Comics after an artist friend of mine introduced me to the then editors of the X-Men line of comics. There I got to write so many of the characters I grew up reading and dreaming of working on— such as X-Men comics and Spider Man.”
And after working on a number of horror films and titles including the hit movie Darkness Falls, Harris is currently working on the immensely popular X-Files television series.
“I was hired to launch a new series continuing X-Files television show in comic books. Since 2013, I’ve been writing the monthly adventures of Agents Mulder and Scully,” he adds.
However, unlike his earlier projects, working on the X Files was a tough task, says Harris. “I was honestly terrified about the fans. The show is coming back to television in January, but when we first announced the comics series, there hadn’t been any new X Files of any sort in almost 10 years. And these fans are very passionate and knowledgeable and protective of the characters they know and love so much,” adds Harris.
While crafting the storyline of some of the most famous characters in the world has its perks, Harris says that his focus now is on creating original content. “When I first started writing comics, it was an absolute thrill. I remember when I got my first paycheque from Marvel Comics, the cheque had an image of Spider Man printed at the top and I just nerded out over it for a while. It’s still fun, and I remain interested in writing more super-heroes. But I’m even more excited about publishing more original comics and creations.”
Telling us about the challenges of the trade, Harris says, “Honestly, making a living can often be the hardest part. Challenges related to the craft of writing are things you learn to deal with. Sometimes deadlines feel impossible to meet, or writer’s block will make delivering your best work a challenge, but none of that matters much if nobody is paying you to write. I’m doing okay at this point in my life, but I know what it’s like to struggle to get published, to finish making a film, to try and find an audience. It gives me perspective and I’m grateful for the experience, but that’s the hardest part of all this than I can relate.”
And although there is no guarantee of success in a world as unpredictable as comics, Harris believes that hard work and originality are of utmost importance in the field.
Sharing a word of advice for aspiring writers, Harris says, “I think it’s important to develop your voice and read a lot, watch a lot of films, learn how to tell stories by recognising how stories are told and analysing the storytelling devices, the way the storytellers craft their narrative and the vocabulary and techniques they use. But, honestly, the best advice I think I can give and which would have made me feel better if I’d heard it when I was much younger is— everybody sucks at first. You probably need to write many, many crappy pages before you start writing good pages. It takes work, and practise, patience and commitment to develop your talent.”
While he has been a part of comic conventions the world over, Harris reveals that India in particular has been very fascinating to him. Why “The people, the culture. What’s different, and what we all have in common as pop culture has the ability to make the world feel much smaller than it is sometimes.”
