21 Questions with Montgomery Borror

Please explain what just happened.

I’ll let the empty bottle of Jack do the talking.

What is your earliest memory?

I think I was pretty young. Around three-ish walking down the sidewalk to my grandparents house. But I’m not really sure if it’s a real memory or not. I was likely drawing on the sidewalk with a stick.

If you weren’t a comic illustrator, what other profession would you choose?

I would probably be involved in comics in some way.  Or I would have been the guitarist for G.G. Allen.

Please describe the current contents of your refrigerator.

Oxygen, carbon and nitrogen molecules.

What verb best describes you?

While I would prefer to use an adjective, if I must use a verb in the context of this interview I shall choose drawing.

What would you say to yourself if you could go back in time and have a conversation with yourself at age thirteen?

It all works out in the end, kid. Just worry about getting better. Um..good luck between 2001-2008.  Oh, tell your grandfather goodbye soon. Oh—and the whole Y2K thing is a scam to sell a bunch of New Age books. Don’t bother.

What are the steps you take to regain your composure?

I watch The Empire Strikes Back (What Would Yoda Do?)

Define “success.”

Success is right now. This very second.

From what or whom do you derive your greatest inspiration?

First, let me refer you to question one. Having said that, the work of other writers and artists gives me ample inspiration. Discovering new work, bands, novels etc. is what enriches our lives and I love geeking out on that sort of thing. So that and the incessant nagging of Sarah C. Bell is what keeps me going.

What change do you want to be in the world?

I’m worried that people are not interested in change. If you look at the recent health care debates, you’ll see how terrified people are of change. People actually believed that the government was going to euthanize old people for Christ’s sake. I think many people don’t want any sort of changin’ going on in their lives. And what am I going to do? Force it on them? Wouldn’t that make me a fascist?

Are you pro- or anti-emoticon? Please explain.

I have no emotional attachment to emoticons. They simply are.

How are you six degrees from Kevin Bacon?

Hhhhmmm… I sat next to Jeff Bridges in a restaurant in Santa Barbra. And Liam Neeson in a bar in Charlotte. So probably only a few degrees from The Bacon. And I like bacon, so that’s good.

What makes you feel most guilty?

Wasting time.

Please list three things you never leave home without.

Sense of humor, pants, and extra cigarettes for all of the “non-smokers” who will be bumming from me all night at the bar. God, I hate you bastards. Go find another cigarette fairy, cuz I ain’t him.

What is the worst piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?

“Have something to fall back on.” Translation: Have an excuse when it gets too hard to do what you love.

What is the best advice you’ve ever given to someone else?

“Keep your composure and stay in control. Let the other person be the one acting like a child.”

What do you consider the harshest kind of betrayal?

Those same people bumming cigs off me all night then voting to make the state non-smoking… I HATE you bastards.

Of all the game shows that have graced our TV screens throughout history, which one would you want to be a contestant on and why?

I would like to be on Jeopardy as the first contestant to drop the F-bomb when I get a question wrong. “Who was Mozart?”

“No, I’m sorry….”

“FUCK!!!  FUCKKK!!!!!”

What do you want to know?

All of it. Everything.

In terms of art and specifically comics, I want to learn how to give comics a cinematic feel and make stories that are more character-driven. I think that, in order to have convincing and interesting characters in comics, real characters, an artist needs to find something within himself to bring to the storytelling. In this way, comic characters come alive to readers, and the stories become more emotionally valid. I strive for this kind of reality in my work, no matter how fantastical the story.

What would you like your last words to be?

“I think I did alright.”

Please explain what will happen.

Eventually people will stop believing in mythology and fairy tales as world history. People will stop electing officials on the basis of “Seems like you can have a beer with him.” Really…I kinda go for the higher IQ, dipshits. Then we’ll be four galaxies over in short order hanging out with six-armed tentacle people.
Of course, if none of that works out I’m going to start my own cult and suck cash from Hollywood stars. Would you like some literature? Or perhaps a personality test?