We recently got the chance to pick their brains about their publishing company, God, their art...and about themselves:

An Interview with The MegaMen of The Megazeen! By Staff Writer

1. Tell us who you are and how you got involved with The Megazeen.

JOSEPH CROSSETT: My name is Joseph Crossett, I'm 23 and I live in Little Rock, AR. The Megazeen is actually a vision that I've had and I'm pretty sure Joe Endres has had for years ... a forum for like-minded individuals to explore art and faith through their craft.

Around 1997 I put an ad in the back of the Sam Keith's The Maxx, looking for other Christian cartoonists. The response was overwhelming. Letters upon letters piled in, some serious some... not. One of the early letters I received was from this 28 year old "old man" named Joe Endres. He shared his heart with me and instantly I connected with him even though more than a decade separated us. (HA- I have to rub it in or the old fart will think I'm getting sentimental on him.) Others joined the flock and after about of year of mailing back and forth and unsightly telephone bills, Cross Press Comics Magazine #1 was born. Shortly after Cross Press was published life started pulling at us. Joe was busy with his new baby daughter and young family and I was beginning college. Needless to say there was no Cross Press #2. Slowly we started writing each other less and less until finally we didn't write at all. For the next 3 or 4 years neither of us really produced much as far as published work, but we were both drawing and evolving for what God had for us next. Last year (about November 2001) I e-mailed Joe and told him about this idea I had that was sort of an offshoot of what we did with Cross Press but with lowered expectations. I didn't want to think try to take on the world again just put out something that would honor God. But most of all I wanted to put out a magazine that I would want to read. Joe and I discussed what I was calling the Megazeen (I thought it was a rather pretentious title, that's why I liked it.), and the same old excitement and enthusiasm that was there when we were doing Cross Press was there, but this time it was more focused and realistic. We began searching for artists and writers we liked with one condition, "no cheese". We weren't going to do it like the old guard who seem to talk a lot and never do anything we going to be upstarts and produce something we wanted and knew God had inspired. So far 3 issues of the Megazeen have been produced with the fourth and fifth on the way.

JOE ENDRES: I met this punk kid Joseph Crossett back in 1996 through an ad looking for Christian artists. At the time I was making some real progress on a project called Colossians, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for it to debut. Our friendship and creative partnership has grown and matured over the years. I consider Joseph the brains of the Megazeen, and he calls me his backbone (Tom's sort of the spleen). I believe in what we're trying to accomplish, and put a lot of effort into helping that vision

TOM HALL: I'm just a regular guy with a bit too much creative energy. I have always had to keep writing or drawing or doing some creative project to burn off some of it off. My brother and I used to make mini comics a lot, mostly obnoxious stuff, and for me, comics are a fun creative outlet. As far as why I'm working with Megazeen- it basically boils down to relationships. I don't have some burning desire to become well known for comics or to make a career of it. I'm doing it mostly to get to know other creative people, and for me, it's been successful. I think you can never have enough friends, and I've made some good ones doing this.

MARK MELTON: I'm 25 years old and started my own underground comic "company" in 1999 called "Vision Land Comics". I printed out one title, "The Island of Conformity" and have been working on my second title "AngelDreams" for like almost 4 years! I first heard about Megazeen from the Christian Comic e-group on Yahoo. I checked out the site and loved what they were doing and at once became one of the "artists" but it wasn't until I quit Quest Comics that I approached Joey about joining the team. I was really excited to be part of Megazeen and wanted to offer all my services and the talents God gave me to something special like the Megazeen. I'm honored to be a part.

2. Now tell us about your artistic and/or comic background.

JOSEPH CROSSETT: I've drawn since I was a little kid. When I was small I would put on these little plays with my Star Wars and G.I. Joe toys for hours. I loved cartoons, but as a kid never really read comics. I loved children's books. Eventually, inspired by the Super Friends, I began creating my own characters, and forming stories around them. Sports took over my preteen years and I didn't draw much until I discovered comics in Junior High. Once again I picked up a pencil and pen and started coming up with my own characters and stories. My first published work was in Cross Press Comics Magazine #1. I started doing the Blood Kids in HM Magazine about 2 years ago and the Megazeen last year.

JOE ENDRES: I've been making comics as long as I could hold a crayon- I still have a Hong Kong Phooey comic I drew when I was about 5. I wrote literally hundreds of pages of comic stories featuring characters that would later appear in my comics in an evolved form. I studied mechanical and architectural drawing in high school, and attended Joe Kubert's School in 1996. My work's appeared in Cross Press Comics Magazine in 1997 and most recently Megazeen, which I co-publish and co-finance. I also act as the webmaster for megazeenonline.com, and recruit and disciple artists for the book and site. I've also done some work for Community Comics and Quest Comics. My strips include Johnny Crouton & Hairball, How NOT to Make a Christian Comic (the action figure comic), and Colossians (I still use various characters from that series for different purposes).

TOM HALL: My brother and I always had some creative project going when I was growing up. We made comics, put zines together, made films write poetry... basically anything that we enjoyed reading or watching, we tried our hand at creating. Most of it was pretty bad, looking back at it now, but our goal was always to do our best at the time, so I always felt successful at the time. My main interest was always writing, so I like to focus on coming up with interesting ideas and good dialogue. Not that art doesn't matter, but it's not my main focus. I think that coming up with something unique concept wise will always grab people's attention, even if the art isn't groundbreaking.

MARK MELTON: I took a one year class on Fine art during my senior year of high school but other than that have had no artistic training. Yikes! But I love to draw and I find studying other artists work really helps me. I've had a three part comic strip called "Ascent" published in Breakaway Magazine (published by Focus on the Family) and also did a lot of work for Quest Comics (from penciling to coloring and everything in between). I've always been working on my own titles such as "AngelDreams" and "Island of Conformity" and also have my side projects with other artists such as "Dreamland" which is being worked on by Joey Endres, Ben Avery and I. "The 6th Seal of Revelation" which is being written by my good friend John Finlay and drawn by me. And "Azalea" which I won 3rd place in the MegaUnity Challenge #1. Joey Endres just jumped aboard that monster with me. Needless to say my plate is always full. I feel like I'm still really trying to find my "style" but that could be an endless journey….who knows…

3. What role does God play in your life and in your art?

JOSEPH CROSSETT: He's my savior. I want to honor Him and follow Him in all I do, not just cartoons and funny books.

JOE ENDRES: God admittedly has not always been the focus of my art, but He is now. I made a commitment to Him when Megazeen was in its fledgling stages to turn it all over to Him. That means all my artistic efforts, even financial gains. I find God has strengthened my gifts, and given me a discipline and drive I never thought possible. I pray over my work- when I don't, I fail, it's that simple.

TOM HALL: I think that God, and the knowledge of God, need to become so much a part of you that it oozes out of your pores. When Christians celebrate the Lord's supper, I think one of the things that it says to me is that I need to "ingest" Christ, and that He needs to fuel my body. If that's true, then God's power should be the driving force behind everything I do. As far as God's role in my art, it's an organic thing. When I create, I focus on the problems presented by the storyline, and what makes sense or works best in a given situation. I pray a lot during the process, and I trust God to keep me on track. But it boils down to having a proper relationship with God in the first place, and listening to what God is telling you.

MARK MELTON: As with Joe, God has not always been the focus of my art. All through elementary school and junior high I drew some ……well……weird/dark/freaky stuff that I'm not too proud of (inspired by such things as "Hellraiser" and "Nightmare on Elm Street"). But around 12th grade I finally realized God had given me my gift and I needed to give it back to him. My Lord, Jesus, has changed my life drastically and even now has granted me freedom from a bunch of junk that used to hold me down. Daily I pray that I will never forget that my talent isn't really "mine" but I'm just a steward of what God has given me. I pray that when it's all said and done I will hear "Well done my good and faithful servant".

4. What advice can you give the rest of us:

JOSEPH CROSSETT: Do something. Draw or write, whatever you do. It doesn't matter if you suck, at least your putting out work, and that's more than most people can say. Stay away from cheesy easily gathered conclusions and be honest with yourself and the Lord. Be prayerful in all you do.

JOE ENDRES: No matter what you do in life, you need to be spending time in God's word, you need to be praying to Him, you need to be fellowshipping, you need to be going to church. Get all that in line first. If you're looking to get into comic ministry, you need to pray over what direction God wants you going in. Seek His blessing, consider the type of person God made you to be- not how you turned out, but rather what He wants you to be. Devote your gifts to God- He GAVE you those gifts, so give them to Him, not anyone else, and certainly don't waste them. GET INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER CREATIVE PEOPLE, I can't stress that enough. And hone your skills. Get some books, take some classes, get some good criticism and feedback, and draw a LOT. Draw constantly. Draw in the margins of a notebook, draw on a napkin at a restaurant, and draw at home on good paper too, every chance you get. Show your stuff to people and keep going!

TOM HALL: Pray a lot, read your Bible a lot. Think about your life and how you are following Jesus. Love the people you know and the people you meet, regardless of circumstances. Make those things your priorities over some scribbles on a piece of paper.... As far as comic advice, though, I would draw a lot, and try to take on projects that you can finish. The more work you can complete, the better you'll be, and the better feedback you can obtain from others. And have a thick skin: I get tons of hate mail. I also get lots of critical feedback. If you are ever going to improve, you have to know the difference. If you can't blow off the mean stuff and accept the constructive comments, you won't get better.

MARK MELTON: Wow…after all the good advice given from Joseph, Joe and Tom all I can do is leave with a poem I wrote in high school back in 1995: CONFORM I'm not going to give up God for art, when that happens art will become my god and everything will fall apart.