The DRY FOOT Interview: Writer Jarred Luján in conversation with...Jarred Luján

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Editor’s Note: This may surprise you all to learn, but Comics Bookcase contributors do other things aside from contributing to Comics Bookcase (shocking!). They have jobs, lives, and other creative pursuits. One of our long-time reviewers/interviewers/all-around-good-dudes, Jarred A. Luján, just so happens to be a very talented comics writer in his own right.

Recently, Jarred was named one of the winner’s of the Mad Cave Studio’s Talent Search, and, as such, he now has a new book coming out this year through the publisher: Dry Foot. We had to interview Jarred to get his take on this exciting new project (it’s really a great book!), and we could think of only one man for the job: Jarred.

Without further adieu, I present to you now dear reader the definitive DRY FOOT INTERVIEW: Jarred A. Luján in conversation with Jarred A. Luján

The DEFINITIVE Dry Foot Interview: Jarred A. Luján in conversation with Jarred A. Luján

Dry Foot #1 is due out Sept. 9, 2020.

JARRED: I’d like to open this with the fact you are in supremely handsome.

JARRED: Wow, thank you. That is so kind and, yet, so true.

JARRED: So, let’s get down to the real questions. How did you get into writing comics?

JARRED: Dude, I don’t even know if I could tell you. Growing up I was into everything from novels to movies to anime to being super active in my high school drama club. I read comics on and off for like a decade, but it’s when I really delved into the indie stuff that kept me around. Seeing what other people were doing outside of the mainstream stuff just blew me away and inspired me to realize what comics could do. I had always wanted to write, but that was the light bulb moment where I was like Yes, this. This is what I want to write.

JARRED: That was incredibly boring. How can someone so handsome be so uninteresting?

JARRED: That’s exactly what my wife asks me every morning.

JARRED: Sounds like a smart woman. Anyway, tell me about Dry Foot. For someone so painfully dull, Dry Foot appears to be like a fun ride.

JARRED: Oh, thank you! So, Dry Foot is a story about four teenage friends who, desperate to escape the violent and drug-filled streets of 1984 Miami’s Little Havana, decide to steal money from a drug kingpin. It’s like 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank meets Miami Vice. It’s a story about loyalty, friendship, responsibility, and trust. The art is by Orlando Caicedo, colors by Warnia Sahadewa, letters by Justin Birch, and edited by Chris Fernandez. So much of Dry Foot is—

JARRED: Wow, this is going to a real long answer, huh?

JARRED: I’m almost done, dude, chill out.

JARRED: Fine, I’m going to make a sandwich. Do you want a sandwich?

JARRED: Uh, sure. Anyway, Dry Foot is a tremendously personal story to me. So much of the story is really steeped in my own friends growing up and our struggles and our dreams and wishes. It’s been a really great experience and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to—

JARRED: Anyway, these pages are gorgeous. It’s like Orlando Caicedo and Warnia Sahadewa have elevated themselves to a different tier of existence, like their looking down upon us as we scramble to understand their talent.

JARRED: Right!? Honestly, Orlando and Warnia are like a cheat code on the book. I’m really bad at keeping secrets, and not posting pictures of these pages has been one of the hardest parts of working on this book. They are awesome.

JARRED: How did a group of talented, great looking people like you five wind up together?

JARRED: Orlando and I are actually winners of the Mad Cave Studios Talent Search 2019. That is to say: Orlando was stuck with me. Chris was the editor that was responsible for corralling us together, and he brought in Warnia and Justin in to deal with us. Honestly, it feels like a lightning strike with this whole group. I couldn’t imagine a better group to tell this story with, I’m so psyched.

JARRED: I’ve heard you say Dry Foot is the greatest comic book written by someone named Jarred Luján…do you stand by that?

JARRED: If there is another Jarred Luján out there that has written a comic book that would like to contest this, I would happily duel him Highlander Style.

JARRED: The Mad Cave Studios Talent Search 2020 is going on right now. Any advice for those would-be entrants?

JARRED: I don’t feel like I’m in any position to be giving writing advice, to be honest. I’m only at the start of this journey, you know? So, my advice would be to understand that if you lose this year’s talent search to not give up on comics altogether. I lost the Talent Search in 2018, I won in 2019. You can get better. If you don’t give up, getting better is inevitable.

JARRED: That’s not technically what I asked, but okay. What other projects do you have in the tank?

JARRED: I’ve got another mini-series in the pipeline at another publisher. I can’t talk about it yet because it hasn’t been announced, but it’s totally different from Dry Foot and I’m excited to get it out into the world. If you’re itching for something to read right now, after all Dry Foot is still a couple months away, you can go to my website lujanwrites.com and read some free short comics I have on there with some incredible collaborators.

JARRED: Thanks for joining us, Jarred. All glory to the Wu-Tang Clan.

JARRED: Thanks for having me, Jarred! All glory to the Wu-Tang Clan!

Dry Foot #1 is due out September 9, 2020. You can pre-order it now via Previews code JUL201276.

Jarred A. Luján makes comics, studies existential philosophy, and listens to hip-hop too loudly. For bad jokes and dog pictures, you can follow him on Twitter.