Jason Shawn Alexander, an artist known for his gritty and inspiring work at Spawn and Killadelphia, literally turns the pages in a long-lost passion project. Scrooge: Christmas Carol is a prestigious hardback adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless holiday story featuring over 80 illustrations. Alexander began working on this over 20 years ago.
Now reworked, rethinked and finally completed, Scrooge is both an unforgettable visual respect and conversation between the past and present. Fans rarely experience ghost stories depicted in souls. For a limited time only, they can own sketches, signatures, and even original pages from the artist themselves.
Beat caught up with Alexander ahead of launching the campaign to talk about revisiting old work, connecting with the story, and what it’s like to work with your younger self.
Diego Higura: What inspired you to revisit and recreate your illustrations for Christmas carols over 20 years later?
Jason Sean Alexander: Ah, cash grabs. Haha. Yes, I first thought I should pull out the pieces from my flat files and my wife, look at it and love it, and use those illustrations to make sure I should publish my version. It sounded great as I don’t need to do any additional work. Then when we started putting together the book, it clicked in my head and clicked in my head that this was probably the only time I would write this story. It’s one of my favourite stories, not to mention the Christmas story. So I started cleaning some images as I was 25 years old artwork. And then I got it digital, and it started with me, and added colour tones, then I was a little unhappy with some of the stiffness and quality of the artwork, and then I was a little unhappy with Yadayada.
Higuera: How did your perspective and artistic approach change between your original work and new illustrations?
Alexander::My perspective and approach changed over time and experience. It’s a long way to say that I’ve been better off working overtime. Early versions of the art were also intended for younger audiences. And while still a bit whimsical from the art by understanding the story and how I work now, I’m now closer to it with more atmosphere and mood.
Higuera: Regarding Scrooge and this story, what have you been staying with you over the years?
Alexander: I love this story. That’s about redness. The man is truly shown, rejoices in the opportunity to understand the stupidity of his way, redeem himself and bring happiness to those in need. And it has a ghost.
Higuera: You can only imagine the difficult task of visually capturing the ghostly emotional tones of Dickens’ classics in your artwork. How did you do it?
Alexander: That might have been the easiest part. I grew up in this story, and I always had images in my head if this was a great opportunity to finally let them go.
Higuera: What can fans expect from the final hardcover version, especially with the exclusive product of the Zoop campaign?
Alexander: The final hardcover version has multiple stretch goal options. They are sketch plates, distinctive plates, and even handheld plates. It is designed to flip into a book, depending on what you’re looking for. Not only that, you can add slip cases, print set stretch goals, and the availability of many original comic art such as Spawn and Sapien can definitely be added to some of Scrooge’s original 25-year-old drawings.
Higuera: You called this a creative conversation with your young self. What did you learn and discover through that process?
Alexander: There were so many bones of storytelling early on. I have come closer to this art from anything, not embarrassment. I’ve done it a long time ago and am enjoying seeing how good and fun many of those images are and keeping that energy up, showing what I can do to my younger self now. It was an incredible experience.
Higuera: Is there anything you would like to say to readers who are interested in the project?
Alexander: Yeah, this will not only be a great volume for fans of the original Dickens Story, but if you’re a fan of my art, this book has over 80 original illustrations. It’s just as beautiful as the illustrated book. Also, for fans of my work, I did more freehand, cartoons for this project. It regained a vibrant work and energy for me. I can really say I put my heart and soul in this book, and you will see it.
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol will be released on June 3rd only on Zoop, offering fans the opportunity to support the labor of love and get acquiring deluxe editions, art prints, original pages and more. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness one of the best Christmas stories ever told, seen through the eyes of the expressive contemporary artists of the comic.
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