An Interview with J.T. of Between Failures
Between Failures is an up and coming webcomic about a group of retail employees. It’s filled with references to movies, music and video games and is reminiscent of movies like Clerks and Empire Records. It’s writer and artist J.T. is a talented artist who puts a lot of work into the webcomic. I asked him some questions about his experience working retail, his success as a webcomic artist and the music and art that inspires him.
Between Failures is based in a retail store. What has your experience been in the retail industry?
I worked retail for many years. My assumption is that my experience was typical. Whether it was or not I really can’t say. They tell me I have a unique reaction to the world, so maybe my experience was atypical, and I’ve been operating under a false pretense this whole time. I guess it doesn’t matter either way really. The long and the short of it was that people were angry all the time over what amounts to nothing. The companies I worked for were controlled by faceless people who govern in a way that seems arbitrary. It made me sick of humanity. Eventually I came to a point where I couldn’t tolerate it anymore, so I walked away. It all must have tainted me in some way though, since I’ve spent so much time essentially working through how I felt about all of it; through various forms of creative expression. Read the rest of this entry →