Photo by Ash Daniel

James Callahan is a prolific illustrator who has both created his own work with Barf Comics and contributed to tons of different projects, including some great work for Thrash Metal revivalists Municipal Waste and ourselves. James illustrated our recent tees for Mastodon and video game, Brütal Legend, which makes him basically the most metal dude who ever lived by proxy. If only he weren’t such a sweet guy.

In addition to all this, Callahan is the co-founder and art director for Born Ugly Magazine and he is working on his first graphic novel, Rotting in Dirtville. This season James also illustrated the Superfiends! t-shirt for our Summer 2011 line. A design that features all our favorite mascots done up as an 80′s cartoon super team in what has to be the best combination of things we love since peanut butter and chocolate. He took some time to speak with us recently about his influences, motivations, and future projects.

James Callahan: Think of the shittiest, most corn-ball joke you’ve ever heard. Now make it ten times shittier. Now draw a picture of it. That’s Barf Comics. It’s Leslie Nielsen and Weird Al high fiving in the center of a black hole. Or, if you want an answer that isn’t stupid, it’s me drawing stuff for record covers and skateboards.

How do you discern what kind of artwork to do when you’re commissioned by bands, like Municipal Waste? Does the music influence what you do in a major way, or do you just do whatever comes to you?

James Callahan: Sometimes people ask for something very specific, and sometimes they leave it wide open. When it’s left up to me, I try to come up with some combination of subject matters and styles that I’ve never seen done before, as futile a task as that can often be.

I usually am trying to come up with an image that, when I’m done and I step back, either makes me laugh, wince, or leaves me stupified…or all of the above.

James Callahan: Anything by Daniel Clowes, Jim Phillips, Frank Miller, Winsor McCay, and Charles Burns were endless sources of brain food. I couldn’t get enough of that stuff. It’s ruined me. I was also a a huge fiend for all things Batman or EC horror comic related. Really though, if I didn’t have to narrow it down… everything, all at once, every second, forever. I love comics.

What upcoming personal projects are you working on?

James Callahan: I drew the last two issues of Pirates of Coney Island, written by Rick Spears, which should be coming out this year. I’ve also been working on another comic with Rick called Die Pumpkin, Die.

I just had a project come out from Carhartt‘s skate division that I’m still amped on. Summon The Snake Beast was a three board series with a full color comic that I wrote and illustrated. I’m real gassed on how that came out. Decks for Freedom Fighter, Demon Seed, Ready Amongst Willing, some new work for Thrasher Magazine, and there’s always some Born Ugly stuff in the works too.

- Pukelear Reactor