When I scrolled past this message from @Lost_4815162342 on the Twitter feed “found my new favourite #Lost site http://www.lostincomics.com May 23 ‘So Long and Thanks for All the Mystery‘ is beautiful, thx @hellobampop 1:54 PM Jun 23rd,” I had to stop and click the link. Twitter has been one of the best sources for finding LOST related news, theories, events and certainly, art. The work of JJ Harrison captures LOST characters in quirky, humorous moments, but they touch the heart as well. I inquired to Mr. Harrison about his work and he kindly replied below. Enjoy!
What inspired you to become an artist?
When I was little I was super shy and I drew a lot. Mostly my own Star Wars comics with crayons and construction paper. The ladies in my life–grandmas, aunties, and my mom–would shower me with praise while tossing my drawings up on the refrigerator. I learned an important lesson then. If you draw good you can get girls to like you.
What types of media do you use to create your LOSTinComics? Or they hand-drawn or are all digital? Any insight into the day and life of JJ would be interesting.
Most of my art is 100% digital now. I use a tablet instead of a mouse so the work has the benefit of being all hand-drawn, too. Of course I prefer the look and feel of physical art made with gouache and acrylics, but over the years software has gotten WAY better and so has my understanding of how to use it. I’m able to get a more tangible look out of my illustrations thanks to a nifty set of custom digital brushes that I made from scans of my real art. That was a real break-through in my process because I always loved the digital work flow but I was never thrilled with the results. Now I get the best of both worlds!
Tell us a little about BamPop! and your relationship with The Nature Conservancy.
BAM POP! is our family business that I started with my wife right out of college. My imagination is always popping with ideas for stuff, so I wanted an outlet where I could take ideas from concept to reality without somebody in the middle meddling with them. Mostly we make kid-friendly craft and art supplies like patterned paper and inking stamps. We’ve done pretty well. We’re carried in cool little boutiques and art shops in something like 15 or 16 countries and that’s with hardly any marketing effort at all.
Last year I worked on a project that involved the Nature Conservancy and their Plant a Billion Trees initiative (www.plantabillion.org) and I was just so taken by their message. I’m not the most environmentally minded person, I grew up in America afterall, but I do what I can. When it came time to offer art prints on LOSTinComics I remembered these guys and thought it would be awesome to adopt that message of “buy a print, plant a tree.” I also chose to print on 100% cotton paper, so no trees are harmed in the making of the prints! 
How did you become a fan of LOST?
Oh my wife gets all the credit there. I was still at the university full-time and working full-time when LOST premiered, so I had like no time for new TV shows. She showed me some ad for it before it aired and my first reaction was like, “ugh, this looks like dramatized survivor.” I had no idea it was sci-fi. Then some of our friends really got into it and kept recommending it. Luckily my wife kept pushing, too. So we turned down the lights and got cozy like we were at the movies (the only way to watch LOST!) and put on the first episode. Five minutes later Jack is running around the beach saving lives and my life is changed forever.
Who is your favorite LOST character and why?
I struggle with this. They are all so good. Even the ones you think you’re going to hate when you’re first introduced to them. Early on I really took a shine to Sawyer. He was just so despicable, but he had some of the best lines. His character had the most room for growth. It’s amazing to watch him change over the course of the story.
Of course I always felt like LOST is Jack’s story, but I think in the middle there he became even more lost, proverbially, and it was hard to watch him hit rock bottom.
And then there’s Locke. Oh Locke. I loved him even when he was all creepy whispering secrets to Walt. When he met his end, I denied it and didn’t mourn him. I kept going, “no he’ll be back! He’s freakin’ John Locke!” I can’t describe the excitement I had when we saw him sitting on the beach after the Ajira flight landed on Hydra. When I finally realized it really was his true end, I just felt cheated. He was so important to me.
Oh my gosh, I’m not even going to talk about Hurley or Desmond. I would ramble on forever! Overall, though, it’s gotta be Sawyer. He’s the one I’d want to have over for a barbecue and a movie.
Kate or Juliet?
Juliet.
How did you like the ending?
That’s a tuffy. In the moment, I was overcome with emotion. I think a lot of us were. The ‘awakenings’ were so powerful. It was like a reunion special celebrating the characters and that was really nice. I can’t deny that. It helped me to forgive its shortcomings. I didn’t mind not getting answers. The mystery is all the fun! Who wants answers? Answers are boring. More fun to wonder about the Loch Ness Monster than to drain it and find nothing.
Throughout the series I always said that these characters are so good that I would watch them in any setting or genre and still love it. Everything else–the mystery, the sci-fi, action–is just icing on the cake. I think the final season really put that statement to the test for me.
I would have preferred a final season with no flash-anythings, just straight plot and action with scenes just as emotional as all those wonderful finale moments scattered throughout the entire season. The finale itself is beautiful. I do have issues with message you take away from the last season that is like, “oh don’t worry if this life is horrible and bad things happen to you because it’ll all be awesome in the next life!” I feel like we have to make this life we have now the most meaningful radical experience it can be!
Oh well. It is LOST and my love for it is unconditional. I’m just happy to make LOSTinComics and play in their sandbox a little while.
JJ
LOSTinComics.com – cartoon adventures of our favorite island misfits
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Thank you, JJ. You can purchase Lost In Comics full-color giclées on 100% velvet cotton paper. Tree-less! For every print sold a tree will be planted in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy and the Plant a Billion Trees initiative. Lotto
