The following is an interview with Jim Bishop regarding the recent launch of a Backerkit crowdfunding campaign for the English-language translation of the graphic novels, Lost Letters and My Dear Pierrot, in collaboration with Magnetic Press. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Bishop about his experience in bringing his work to an English-speaking audience, what readers may take away from the stories, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the recent launch of your crowdfunding campaign! For readers who may not be familiar, what can you share with us about the premise of your graphic novels?
Jim Bishop: Hello and thank you! These are the first two titles of a trilogy called “the child’s trilogy” I’m working on that brings together Lost Letters and My Friend Pierrot.
They have the common theme of talking about the transition to adulthood but from different aspects of life. In the first, Lost Letters, it is about mourning, written after the death of my mother 5 years ago. I wanted to tell a fictional aspect of a grieving process through different characters, each of whom has to live through a moment and will have to learn to accept what happens to them. In My Friend Pierrot, it’s about talking about the transition to adulthood through a love story, how various life contexts and ideals create relational conflicts, always with the idea of talking about everything in a fictional universe, inspired by several things that have built me as an artist but also by my own relationships. The subject being that real love already begins with that which we bring to ourselves, in order to be able to welcome that of others.
BD: This will be the first time these award-winning graphic novels will be presented in English. What is your experience in bringing these stories to an English-speaking audience?
JB: This is the first time that my books have been published for an English-speaking audience. It stimulates me to know that these stories that I wrote and created all alone in my room will be read on the other side of the Atlantic. It creates a strange feeling of creating invisible connections with people I will probably never see. And I wanted to, there’s a phrase, a play on words that would only work in its English translation. And I can’t wait to see it, it is from this joke that the entire universe of Lost Letters was built.
BD: What makes Magnetic Press the perfect place for these stories?
JB: I saw Magnetic Press had recovered lots of strong French licenses which I appreciate. This immediately gave me confidence in their approach, and I’m happy to be part of their catalog with authors that I really respect.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative works to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences across different media. How do you think these stories of love and loss will touch and impact readers?
JB: I’m not sure how these stories will impact people, but I know that I wrote them with a lot of honesty. I didn’t just want to talk about my experience, I wanted to convey emotion and for that it was necessary that the characters are embodied by one of them, for example, sister in Lost Letters embodies an anger, that of injustice and helplessness which we can face in an out-of-control situation. I imagine that this may resonate with someone who recognizes themselves in this same emotion.
BD: Are there any other upcoming projects that you are currently working on that you would like to share with our readers?
JB: Yes, I am working on the third volume of my story about childhood. I cannot yet give the name of the project, but it will be released in France at the beginning of 2025 if all goes well. I will talk about growing up, but this time, through society. How do we become someone in a world that crushes us with all its injunctions, its rules which seem absurd when we take a step back? And it will be done under a horror genre narrative.
BD: Finally, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about and support your BackerKit campaign?
JB: All you have to do is visit the Magnetic Press website, then on Backerkit, take out your bank card, enter the code to get a reward, and that’s it!
