Meet Josh Eiserike | writer, cartoonist, 90s rock enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josh Eiserike and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, why did you pursue a creative career?
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always pursued artistic endeavors. I’ve always had a love of comics and comic books, and began publishing some when I was in high school, making liberal use of the school’s Xerox Machine. Obviously, these early comics weren’t very good, but working with a faculty advisor and creating this kind of serialized storytelling, I knew that this is what I wanted to do in my career. In college, I had a daily comic script in the school newspaper, and then as a young professional, I started self publishing my own comic books (which were hopefully better than the ones I did in high school!). These books actually got me my first job writing for television on the animated series G.I. JOE: RENEGADES. From there, I went on to write for other TV shows (WARIGAMI, LEGACIES, both on the CW), sell movies and television pilots… and then wind up right back in comics, where I am now. Which is a long way of saying, that it was something that I loved and never stopped doing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a cartoonist at heart, but I’ve been privileged to have written on a few television shows and worked on a couple of film projects as well . Today, I’m mostly writing (and sometimes drawing) comic books and graphic novels. And, I’m currently writing for a narrative podcast, that’s a Hitchcockian thriller. So it may seem like my stuff is all over the place, but as long as I’m having fun with it, I think that filters through, regardless of form or format.

As for how I got here, I’ll keep it simple– I strongly believe that work begets more work. Years ago, I Self published a comic book with my best friend. I had no hopes or aspirations for the book, other than it would be fun and that I would get better as a illustrator. However a television producer discovered the book, and it led me to my first writing credit on his show. And that’s been my experience, ever since. One thing led to another in strange and unexpected ways. I mentioned this narrative podcast that I’m currently working on. Now, I’m not a big podcast guy and I never thought I’d be writing in this format, but I’ve found that it’s a lot of fun.

I’ve also learned that as artists, writers, and creators we have no control over the outcome of our material. All we can do is just keep our heads down, and work on making whatever it is we’re making the best that it can be. The rest is out of our hands. But this is also why I love comics, because I can just make them, without needing anyone’s permission to do so. And I’ve been thrilled over the past couple of years to move beyond self publishing to working with small publishers.

THE VERY FINAL LAST GIRLS is my graphic novel from Darby Pop Publishing about the girls who survive horror films and what happens next. The dumb “X-meets-Y” is this book is “X-Men-meets-Cabin In The Woods,” if that’s your jam.

CHARM CITY, from Scout Comics, is a serial killer murder mystery (with magic!) set in my native Baltimore. This one I’d describe as “Jessica Jones-meets-Harry Potter.”

I’m immensely proud of both of these comics.

And, hey! If people are interested in checking these books out, the two best ways are to call your local comic book store or order them right from the publisher:

CHARM CITY: https://www.scoutcomics.com/collections/all/charm-city

THE VERY FINAL LAST GIRLS: https://www.darbypop.com/titles/the-very-final-last-girls/

(Darby Pop also has the first chapter of THE VERY FINAL LAST GIRLS online for FREE, at the above link).

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m by no means an expert on Los Angeles. Although I’ve lived here for many years now, and met my wife here, I still don’t consider myself an Angeleno. However, a big shout out to the Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar. It’s a little off the beaten path, and not super touristy, but one of my favorite things I’ve ever done exploring LA. There’s the museum and the collection, both are free, but the collection you need a reservation for. I don’t wanna give too much away, other than what’s obvious and my favorite part. Nethercutt made his fortune in cosmetics, and collected old cars and music instruments. So you can see these old cars from the 1800s, that are practically bikes, but my favorite were the instruments. There’s this amazing collection of pipe organs but that doesn’t do it justice… so I’ll put it like this, there’s this player piano from the 1920s that is a little different than what most people would think of when they think of player pianos. It recorded music as someone was playing. So if someone made a mistake, it would record that and then play it back as the mistake was made… Or the tempo, the way the person hit the keys, all of that was recorded. When I toured, they played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue… as played by Gershwin himself, on that exact piano! It was like listening to his ghost play piano, easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced.

Beyond that, I love Amoeba records too!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
That’s easy. My first published work was an underground newspaper that got me sent directly to the principals office in 5th grade. It was a good lesson in the limits of free speech and being accountable to your audience. But as I mentioned before, I had two wonderful mentors in high school, who not only encouraged me to pursue the craft of cartooning and comics, but helped me on the path. Mr. Deitchman sponsored my comics and helped me publish and sell them at the school store; Mrs. France let me spend three periods a day in her art class just making these comics.

Oh– and Jeff Kline, TV producer and publisher at Darby Pop Publishing. Jeff gave me my first job in television (after buying my self-published book at a small press show in NYC), and then years later published by graphic novel THE VERY FINAL LAST GIRLS. Jeff has an excellent story sense and gives great feedback. I’ve learned a ton working with him and he’s very collaborative!

Website: www.instagram.com/jeiserike

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeiserike

Twitter: www.twitter.com/eiserike

Image Credits
CHARM CITY- written by Josh Eiserike, art by Scott Van Domelen, cover A art by Hugo Petrus, colors by Lorenzo Palombo; Green Day homage by Josh Eiserike. Edited by Joshua Malkin, published by Scout Comics THE VERY FINAL LAST GIRLS- written by Josh Eiserike, art by Z. Crockett and Andres Barrero, colors by Michael Woods, edited by Renae Geerlings. Published by Darby Pop Publishing. SCREAM gag cartoon by Josh Eiserike