Jason Paulos is the creator of 'Hairbutt The Hippo', a hard boiled anthropomorphic private eye. Over the years Jason has regularly contributed to Australian MAD magazine and published a dozen Hairbutt comics as well as contributing stories and art to DC's 'Bizarro World' and 'Judge Dredd Megazine'. He's currently working on the next series of 'EEEK!' books as well as storyboards for the ad industry.

We caught up with Jason to get the scoop on EEEK!

TheBigBadWolf: Your horror anthology EEEK! will be collected by Asylum Press and published mid-summer 2010. Describe EEEK!

Jason Paulos: 'EEEK!' is my love letter to cheesy 'retro' horror comics ... in particular Charlton, HOM, Warren, and to a lesser extent 80's stuff like Death Rattle and Twisted Tales. I use the term 'cheesy' with a great deal of respect and admiration and I hope that comes through in the work. If you made a movie of 'EEEK!' it would be described as the bastard child of Evil Dead and Austin Powers. One of the story titles is 'Death Wears Hotpants', so you can draw your own conclusions from that.

TheBigBadWolf: What makes your comics different from those of other publishers?

Jason Paulos: Because they feature me. Not many other publishers can make that boast about their comics.

TheBigBadWolf: How did you get started?

Jason Paulos: I began self publishing in the late 80's with the Hairbutt mini comics. It was always my dream to work in comics but I've always has a day job and published my own work in my spare time under my personal Rat Race comix imprint. (www.lulu.com/ratrace)

TheBigBadWolf: Why did you choose to self-publish EEEK!? What were the upsides and downsides?

Jason Paulos: In an ideal world I would have loved a publisher to put out 'EEEK!' but as usual I had to stump up the money myself. After selling 50 copies at Supanova (Australia's comic convention) in Sydney I thought that was the end of it. Luckily Asylum expressed interest after I sent Frank Forte a random email, hence the impending US edition. The Asylum edition will sport and excellent new front cover by the talented Aly Fel and a new back cover by Aussie painter Dan Cox. There's some extra pinups in the intro section as well.

Are there any upsides to self Publishing? I'm yet to experience any! The downsides are too numerous and tedious to mention here. All I can say is thank god for Asylum Press. Either Frank has very deep pockets or he's completely insane but I l'm humbled by his unwavering enthusiasm for this prject, especially considering the current financial climate.

TheBigBadWolf: What were your biggest challenges at start up?

Jason Paulos: I'm still facing them ... finances, distribution, general apathy, back aches, the list goes on. I guess it was harder then because printing was more expensive whereas digital printing with websites like www.Lulu.com make high quality short runs more attainable for the beginner.

TheBigBadWolf: The best advice you received when starting out?

Jason Paulos: Don't give up your day job!

TheBigBadWolf: The greatest thing about being independent is . . . ?

Jason Paulos: Creative freedom.

TheBigBadWolf: The worst thing?

Jason Paulos: Having a crummy day job. For 20 years I worked as a Graphic Designer and hated it. For 5 years I worked at a Christmas company run by 3 Jewish brothers which was an all time low. Working on 'EEEK!' kept me sane.

TheBigBadWolf: What has it been like working with Asylum Press?

Jason Paulos: Great! Since the beginning Frank Forte has shown nothing but enthusiasm and dedication for this project. I've never met the guy face to face but I can tell he's the kind of guy you can trust. He always returns my emails promptly and has followed through with every promise he's made. With guys like him in comics then there's hope we can turn this whole sorry mess around and get back to doing what we all do best ... which in my case, hopefully, is more 'EEEK!'

TheBigBadWolf: You hail from down under. What is the comics scene like there. Are there mainly US comics on the shelves or are there Austrailian comics we've never heard of?

Jason Paulos: There is no Australian industry to speak of. There's plenty of talented people publishing their own stuff but everybody has to go overseas to work in comics. To see more Australian comics go to www.pulpfaction.net.

TheBigBadWolf: You're not far from the Filipines. How has the Filipino horror comics influenced you?

Jason Paulos: I found out about Redondo, Nino, Alcala et al through their work for DC in the 70's. When I was a kid the only US comics you get could get were in your local newsagent and they were reprinted in black and white in large collections with generic names like 'Bumper Batcomic'. The Pinoy artists really raised the bar of comics as an art form and in my humble opinion are yet to be surpassed. Not that the US are any slouch in that department ... Wood, Eisner, Wrightson being just a few of my fave masters of all time.

TheBigBadWolf: Your favorite comic book of all time is . . . ?

Jason Paulos: Anything featuring a combination of the above artists.

TheBigBadWolf: Who are your artistic influences?

Jason Paulos: I try and get the NSW state gallery when I can but it's harder now I've got kids. I love the renaissance masters and the impressionists of course. I'm into fat bios of classic artists and I've read books on Turner, Picasso, Giacometti, The Scottish Colourists (Peploe, Cadell, Fergusson). I had a pretty good high school education combined with a fine art component at QLD college of art. Of course all my teachers despised comics and sniffed at my cartoony ambitions.

TheBigBadWolf: Who were among your writing influences?

Jason Paulos: I love Joe Gill's Charlton stuff. Bruce Jones is great and there's probably a few Steve Skeates stories forever burned into my Psyche. I tend to enjoy short stories and long meandering intertwined plotlines bore me. I'm a big fan of the anthology format and I'm hoping some of my buddies will come aboard with 'EEEK!' and make it a regular series!

TheBigBadWolf: The EEEK! TPB will collect the first 4 issues of the self-published EEEK! comic book. What else will readers be turned on to when opening this creepy tome?

Jason Paulos: Hopefully I can recreate for my readers the same buzz these kinds of stories gave me as a kid. I'd love to think 'EEEK!' will inspire young artists the way 'House of Mystery' and 'Creepy' inspired me. I'm hoping people can appreciate the effort I've put into the stories and art and the way I've tried to make every story look like it's drawn in a different style by completely different artists. I like to change my art style with every story to suit the subject matter.

TheBigBadWolf: Are there any all-new stories that weren't in the mini-series?

Jason Paulos: I'm saving the new stuff for the next book. I've already completed 2 issues of all new material featuring awesome covers by Frantz Kantor and Dave Elsey. I've also just finished a cool 8 page 'Wally Wood-esque' story written by Daren White (Batman, Dee Vee) - see
hairbutt@livejournal.com for sneek previews.

TheBigBadWolf: What upcoming projects do you have?

Jason Paulos: Whew! I've got my hands full with storyboards and 'EEEK!' book 2. I am open to offers however!

EEEK! is a giant 176 page TPB by Jason Paulos. it's a B&W horror anthology that pays tribute to the old Warren mags Eerie and Creepy. And to the Skywald books. It's old school horror at it's best.

TheBigBadWolf: So I'm told Comic Monsters has an exclusive short horror story from the Upcoming EEEK! Can you give us a little intro to the horrific tale?

Jason Paulos: That's right! Make sure to check it out. There will also be a 6-page preview of EEEK! will also be featured in Asylum Press' Fearless Dawn and Asylum sampler Free Comic Book Day book.

TheBigBadWolf: Thanks for your time Jason. Readers can find our more about EEEK! at the comics website, www.eeekcomic.com.

Talk about the EEEK! interview with Jason Paulos.